It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy being a member of the Alaskan Shifter Council, because I did. I got a thrill out of being on the board, because I liked the prospect of giving myself a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Granted, the part I loathed about the whole theatrics of it all was the fact that every time I went to a dinner hosted by the council members, it annoyed me that I felt the need to kiss ass to the higher-ups and plant on a fake smile just to make them feel powerful and boost their egotistical and fanatical minds.

I felt like maybe I was selling myself out, just to remain an established and well-liked and respected member of our shifter society.

I walked in the door of the large banquet hall in a grandiose hotel which was located and proudly sat in the center of Anchorage.

Everything in the hotel was covered with crystal, gold and marble. Floor to ceiling windows encompassed the surrounding of the hotel and offered substantially remarkable panoramic views of the snowcapped mountains in the distance, just off the cusp of the horizon.

“Riley Crow, what a pleasure to see you this evening.”

I hadn’t even walked through the set of double doors when one of the elders approached me. Great. Now I had to plant on that miserable suck-up smile.

“Councilman Harbor, what a delight to see you here as well.” I shook the man’s hand, pumping it with a firm grip.

“Well look who it is.”

I turned around to put a face with the voice, but I knew before I even looked that I recognized it.

“Hello, Alpha Jones,” I said with a smirk.

Alpha Jones returned my glance with his own smug and pursed lips. “I didn’t expect to see you here at the meeting tonight,” he said with a trace of condescension in his tone.

I shifted my weight and sized him up. “Why would that be exactly?”

He exhaled a dramatic sigh and crossed his arms together. “I don’t know…a little bird has been telling me all about your liaison’s through the community, trying to find an Omega.”

I clinched my teeth, but held my composure and took a deep breath to remain calm and collected in front of these elitist shifter members.

“Maybe you should have your ‘little bird’ (I enunciated with air quotes) brush up on their fact checking skills because that little assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

In reality, it was true that I was on the hunt for a decent Omega who could bear me children, but I had no idea this was debatable as public knowledge. How boring, but at any rate I wondered if through no fault of my own, I had developed some type of unfavorable reputation out there for being an Alpha player.

Alpha Jones’s eyes darkened and narrowed in on me, but he only grunted in response. “Well it looks like you have a lot to catch up on,” he finally said. “We need to see you at more shifter meetings if you plan to be re-elected to the council next year.”

“I have no doubt that my services are well equipped and respected enough to get a few votes,” I quipped back.

“Hmmm….” Alpha Jones trailed off and then swiftly turned on a heel. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some further mingling to tonight.”

I glanced back at Alpha Harbor who merely rolled his eyes. “He’s always been a sour pot.”

“To put it lightly,” I teased.

“We are happy to have you around,” Alpha Harbor assured me with a twinkle in his eye.

“Thank you, sir,” I told him. I respected him immensely and he was well known throughout our shifter community too.

I knew that he was getting up there in years and I hardly ever saw him running through the woods anymore, hunting or getting fresh air on four legs.

“Are you speaking tonight, Alpha Harbor?” I asked curiously, just making friendly and polite conversation.

Alpha Harbor opened his mouth to respond, but was cut short by another high profile and powerful Alpha shifter in the area.

“No, but I am.” Alpha Jenson walked up to us, looking as jovial and charismatic as ever.

He was head of the treasury department, regulating the special taxes and cost for activities and community advantages posed only for shifters to use.

“Alpha Jenson,” I said enthusiastically because I actually did like this one. “It’s so good to see you.”

Alpha Jenson cast me and Alpha Harbor a slight bow. “And to you as well,” he chimed with genuine appeal.

“Alpha Jenson, what pressing issues are plaguing our shifter community that you will be speaking on tonight?” Alpha Harbor asked with intrigue.

“Well,” he began with a smile. “I’m delighted to announce that the majority of matters I’ll be discussing during my time up at the podium tonight will involve the massive undertaking we are about to embark upon.”

Alpha Jenson looked positively pleased with himself and appeared as if he were going to burst with the secret unless someone gave him a tiny nudge to proclaim whatever it was.

I decided to appease him with the question. “What might that be, Alpha?”

He grinned with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “Let’s just say that we have a recreational project hanging in the balance and if we receive the proper funding for it, I have a feeling that Alpha’s and their pups alike will thoroughly appreciate and enjoy the new options out there for sports and exercise.”

“Sounds captivating,” I said and grinned at him. “Let me guess, you will be up there tonight using your charming appeal to convince people to throw money at you?”

Alpha Jenson’s laughter bellowed through the large event hall. “My dear boy,” he said and placed a warm hand on my shoulder. “You have always been spry indeed.”

“I know the community will enjoy having a recreation center like that,” I admitted with a smile.

“Thanks, my boy.” Alpha Jenson slapped me on the back with affectionate enthusiasm. “Just be sure to donate to the cause, if you can.” He tossed me a wink for good measure.

“Absolutely.” I laughed.

“Come to think of it,” Alpha Jenson said with a furrow of his brow. “I am glad I ran into you tonight.”

“Uh-oh,” I took a deep breath. “I’m not sure how I should interpret that.”

“Don’t worry, son,” Alpha Jenson said, using another pet name even though we weren’t even in the same pack. “Somebody came into our offices looking for you.”

“Looking for me?” I pointed to my chest. “Who would be coming into your treasury offices looking for me?” I was perplexed.

Alpha Jenson shrugged. “It was a young fellow. An Omega, that much I remember.”

“How long ago was it?” I blurted out, needing more information.

“Not too long I suppose.” Alpha Jenson pondered my question reflectively by staring up at the ceiling as if he were trying to rack his brain for an acceptable answer.

I glanced over at the stage that had a banner sprawled across it on display with the words “New Moon Dinner.” Underneath the print in smaller letters was the words ‘hosted by the Alaskan Shifter Council.’

I glanced back at Alpha Jenson. “Like as in, a few weeks ago, a month?”

I felt embarrassed to press him, but I was nervous. It had been a month and a half since I’d seen Kyle that fateful morning back at his loft.

I didn’t know whether Kyle would have been the Omega searching for me, but deep down I wanted it to be him, longed to see him once again.

Ever since he had given me that devastating news that he had to move to Siberia under the sham of an arranged marriage, my hopes of ever seeing him again crumbled to dust and were whisked out the window to blow away in the wind.

I’d placed Kyle in the back of my mind, intentionally pushing him there so I wouldn’t have to think about how much I wanted him, longed for him and saw his gleaming asshole open and swollen for me.

I’d always had issues with resisting the temptation of an Omega in heat, but now that I had met Kyle he upped the bar. I didn’t want to settle with any Omega now that I knew what was out there.

Truth be told, I just wanted Kyle and I hated the fact that he was just out of my reach. As an Omega, this bothered me because I was used to getting what I wanted.

The fact that Kyle was untouchable to me just made me want him even more and soared that desire to new and miserable heights every morning when I had to remember that I woke up without him beside me.

“It might have been within the past week that he came in here looking for you.” Alpha Jenson shrugged, unbothered by my beeline of questioning. He was a good, lighthearted soul.

“You are certain he was looking for me?”

Alpha Jenson nodded. “Yep. That much I do remember. He said specifically he was looking for Riley.” Alpha Jenson placed a finger on his chin as a separate thought came to him. “Although, when he asked for ‘Riley,’ he didn’t divulge a last name. I just assumed it was you…but I suppose there’s the off chance that there’s another Alpha Riley out there somewhere.”

“Hmm…” I whispered under my breath. “I guess there is a possibility of that being an accountable factor.”

Then, excitement surged through me and my heart pumped with enthusiasm. “Did he tell you what his name was? You know, just in case you passed along the message to me like you are doing now, and I’d be able to have a name to go along with the search?”

I stared through Alpha Jenson, clinging to my breath in hopes that his answer would tickle my ears with the one name I wanted to shout from the mountain tops.

“Yep…” Alpha Jenson nodded proudly. “He said his name was Kyle. I remember it because I have a grand pup named Kyle.”

I tried to keep my composure, but, on the inside, my emotions were leaping on the boundaries of pure adrenaline and hope.

“Thank you,” I told Alpha Jenson. “I don’t suppose Kyle left a number for me to call him at?”

I knew it was a lifeline into being able to see Kyle again, but I couldn’t get my hopes up in the event that Alpha Jenson said no.

I was teetering on the edge of collapse, but I knew if I saw Kyle again he would wash away all my lonesome suffering.

“I’m sorry, Riley, he didn’t leave a number for you.” Alpha Jenson appeared to be genuinely apologetic.

“That’s okay,” I said with a chuckle, trying to wave it off as unimportant, but inside I was going crazy with emotions that I was having trouble digesting.

Then, as if the universe was throwing me a bone, I remembered something else. I knew where Kyle lived. I had spent the entire weekend cooped up with him, having wild sex in his loft apartment.

I would just venture over there to talk to him. There was no harm in that, we could be friends. I was too curious to know why he was searching me out and I knew I’d need an answer.

Part of me just wanted to see his face again and smell his intoxicating and inviting Omega scent.

I couldn’t promise myself that I wouldn’t want to pounce on him the minute I saw him, but I had to take the risk.

I just hoped that once I arrived, he’d be home and willing to let me inside. Oh how I wish that statement could be construed in two different ways.

I knew I’d be useless and distracted if I stuck around the shifter dinner. I only had a certain window of opportunity to reach Kyle and I hoped it wasn’t already too late.

I glanced up at Alpha Jenson and Alpha Harbor. I gave them a free spirited smile. “Gentlemen,” I began. “Will you please excuse me?”

“Of course.” They nodded and gestured with politeness.

“Thank you,” I said and shook their hands once again in departure.

I raced from the room and as soon as my body hit the cold Alaskan air, I immediately shifted. It would take too long for me to get to Kyle’s loft on foot or by car.

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, pouncing through the woods and then halting at the tree line where Main Street and Kyle’s apartment was.

My breath left traces of fog that suspended in the cold night air. I stood there panting, staring at his loft.

It only took me a minute to compose myself. Shifting back to human, I took another deep breath and jumped through the frozen and cracking puddles on the sidewalk.

Every leap I took made my heart pound with longing for Kyle. There was a tiny light on in one of the windows of his loft, bringing me joy and relief.

In a matter of minutes, we would finally be reunited.