She’s leaving, and for the first time, I feel fear.
“No.”
“I have to go back.”
I step up into her. She doesn’t step back. She isn’t afraid.
“Winter must end, and we have to go back to our worlds,” she insists.
“No.”
She smiles, amused, and stands on her tiptoes, leaning up against me. I hold still, barely daring to breathe in case she stops doing what she’s doing, but then her lips touch mine, and I’m lost.
I pull her against me, holding her up, her arms wrap around my shoulders, the kiss so tender turns hungry. It is the most powerful, magical, transcendent moment. I am completely lost to her. She is mine, and I, from now until forever, am hers.
Her scent, one of wild woods, fills my nose and lungs; it dances on my tongue.
I know I will never forget that scent. Or this omega in my arms.
She pulls back.
“I’ll come back,” she promises. “Next winter, I’ll come back, and if you’re here, I’ll give you my name, and we will stay together forever, if you wantthat? It is us written in the fabric of eternity; I can feel it. I will come for you, my Alpha.”
I turn as she backs away, keeping her in sight.
When she disappears, I change and chase her, but she’s gone like she never existed.
I wait on the hill, staring up at the stars. The winter snow is soft, drifting down around in swirls that I think she will love. I wipe my hands on my long white robes and then quickly smooth them, adjusting them so I look perfect.
The stars fade, and the sun rises, and my nervous excitement fades to a deep sense of dread.
Why didn’t we exchange names? Where is she? Maybe this was a game to her? No, she liked me, that kiss was everything, those moments we shared, it was like we were one. She would be here if she could.
“I’ll wait.”
For three days and nights, I stand on the hill as the snow turns to jagged shards of ice, and my temper fades to despair, throwing me into a maelstrom of my devastating thoughts.
She hasn’t come.
Something has happened.
I don’t even know where to start looking.
I search the frozen forests, retracing our paths. The creatures that live there hide deep in their burrows, barely daring to breathe until I pass. I leave an icy world of devastation in my wake.
I go to the beach, and the waves freeze solid, like a picture snapped in time. But upon the shore, it is only I and the endless sand. The salt on my tongue, the cold in the air, the bitter howling of gale force winds, and the bleak emptiness of my chest.
For three long months, I re-walk our paths.
She never returns. There is no sign of my omega.
The howls of my longing and pain last well into spring, but no one dares approach me; no one dares tell me about where my love has gone.
And even though I scream and call to the worlds, I find no answers.
In desperation, I go to a place I’ve not been in decades, walking into the gold and cream elegance that is the Hall of Petitions. The gods see me and step back, nervous, fearful.
I slam into the hall, and the High Alpha, Beta, and Omega stop themselves mid-word. The Alpha is the God of Music, and he’s a slim and uniquely handsome male who I have never met before.
