Chapter 2 Thaddeus

Thaddeus's POV

Age now 27

It's been 6 years since the day I was rejected. The rejection was beyond painful, it took over a month before the pain fully subsided.

I woke up with night sweats every night. I woke screaming in pain each time one of those episodes rolled through my body. 

The episodes where my body went through withdrawals from the loss of the mate bond, from losing that part of my soul, that I forever lost when he rejected me. 

It was so hard to focus for the first week or two. Not to mention the fact that I was so weak, and so tired I could barely push myself in the wheelchair. I had no appetite and could barely eat or focus. 

It took me almost a year before I felt like myself again. But I wanted nothing to do with love. I didn't even bother looking for a second chance mate.

That was until 3 years after the rejection. Three years, before I started to wonder if maybe I could find someone who would want me?

So I began to look again... When I visited other packs, I would look. I would go throughout the territory to see if I could smell my mate.

When I went to Conventions, I was always looking. But after a while I started to lose hope. Then, as more time went on, I officially had given up.

I've given up on looking for love, for a second chance mate. I don't think the Moon Goddess is going to grant me one. 

After all the time that has gone by, I don't think I want one. My last mate made it clear that no one is going to accept me or want me as a mate. No one is going to want a cripple. I know that's why she didn't even bother giving me another mate. Who's going to want a pathetic person that can't even use their legs and is stuck in a wheelchair?

Sure, I may be the toughest, and strongest Alpha... My wolf is even stronger, but... 

I'm still stuck in a wheelchair when I'm in human form...

Who's going to want that?

My wolf is amazing though. His name is Zeus, and he's so black he almost has a blue hue to him.

He has golden eyes and is massive! Taller than any wolf I've ever seen. Alpha wolves are generally taller than all others, but he even towers over other Alphas. 

His strength is unmatched and he is ruthless.

I'm so thankful my paralysis did not affect him. The doctors ran tons of tests and couldn't figure out why only my human form was affected, but not my wolf. They said it was a miracle, it's completely unheard of. 

Whatever the reason, I'm just thankful he's not crippled like I am.

....

We're heading back home to our territory, coming back from River Pack, which is two hours away. They were having a rogue problem that we had to help with. 

Rogues are wolves who have either been kicked out of their pack, or left on their own. Some are born as rogues, if their parents don't have a pack and are rogues themselves.

Once you leave a pack, for whatever reason, you become a rogue. The longer they remain a rogue, the more likely it is they'll become wild and feral. Rogues attack and kill other wolves and packs at this point. 

But not all rogues are bad, some maintain their sanity and humanity. But the vast majority do not, those are the ones that attacked River Pack.

I took my Beta and Lead Warrior, along with 50 warriors to help River Pack. And now that we're all done, we're heading home. Most ran home in wolf form, while the rest of us drove back.

As I drive, my Beta, Xander sits in the front, and my Third in Command, Marcus is in the backseat. 

I'm ready to toss both of them out of the car, since these two just won't shut up! Well, mostly Xander won't shut up. Marcus just keeps complaining about him.

And yes, I'm driving even though I can't use my legs. People in wheelchairs can actually drive a car. Most of the devices are aftermarket like mine. I have a lever to the right of my steering wheel, you push it in one direction for gas, and the opposite direction for breaks.

I could let someone drive for me, but I don't want to. I like my independence, I like being able to do things myself.

I groan as Xander keeps going on and on about all the hot she-wolves from the other pack, while Marcus and I roll our eyes. 

Suddenly Xander holler's out, "Hey guys.. Why do fathers take an extra pair of socks when they go golfing? …

In case they get a hole in one!" 

Marcus rolls his eyes while Xander laughs, and I groan.

"How does the moon cut his hair?...

Eclipse it!" Xander says, laughing.

"Thaddeus, if you don't kick his ass out of the car I will!" Marcus growls out from the back seat.

I groan as I run a hand over my face. 

"Xander, shut up or I'll toss you out of the damn car like Marcus requested!"

He huffed while folding his arms across his chest pouting. 

"You guys are no fun!" he mumbles under his breath.

No, you just like to have a little too much fun! I thought, remembering what this idiot did back at River Pack. 

Michael is the Alpha of River Pack, and while there, I had to save this poor mutt from a pissed off she-wolf's brother. 

His name is Anders, and he is a bear shifter, so he is huge! And not just in height. 

Apparently Anders walked in on Xander going to town on his little sister, which he did not appreciate. 

As this was going on, I was outside the pack house talking to Alpha Michael when we heard the commotion. 

We both turn our heads, just to see a very naked Xander running down the street with a look on his face of amusement, and I think terror?

Is it even possible to have both of those expressions on your face at once? With this goofy ass, I guess it is.

Anders chased him while yelling every profanity he could think of at Xander.

"Get back here you fucking mutt! 

That was my little sister you asshole!

I'm going to rip your fucking dick off then shove it down your throat!"

I would have laughed my ass off, it was quite a sight to see! But at the same time quite embarrassing since it was my Beta, and I'm in front of the pack house with their Alpha, not to mention all the people standing in front of the pack house. And not just warriors, women and children were standing around as the scene unfolded. 

Thankfully for Xander, Alpha Michael and I were able to handle the situation before it escalated out of control. 

Xander's no wimp, he's quite strong and an excellent fighter. Otherwise he wouldn't be my Beta.

I'm sure he could have handled his own, even with Anders being a bear shifter. But for the sake of their friendship, and the sake of my sanity, Michael and I stepped in.

After being scolded, Xander pouted like a little child for the first half hour on our way home.

Then for the next hour and a half, his goofy ass wouldn't shut up. At one point I got tired of his shit and slammed on the brakes. Since he didn't have a seat belt on (which I was aware of, and the reason I did it) his forehead was introduced to my dashboard. 

That gave me some satisfaction, and somewhat allowed me to put up with his shit for the remainder of the drive.

....

Tonight's a full moon. We have a full moon celebration every month, to celebrate and give thanks to our Moon Goddess.

The whole pack gets together, and we have a cookout and a bonfire at the pack house. Then at midnight, we do a pack run, which I lead since I'm the Alpha. 

The events start at 5:00pm and it looks like we're getting home with an hour to spare before everything starts.

Getting home, I enter the pack house and head to the elevator to go up to my room. The entire fourth floor is the Alpha's floor, it's like my own apartment up here. 

I head into the bathroom that I've had designed specifically for me since I'm in a wheelchair. 

I skipped the bath since I'm running short on time, and took a quick shower instead before getting dressed for the event. 

I came out of my bedroom to find Xander had made himself at home again in my living room. He's sitting on the couch, playing video games and eating me out of house and home. 

I swear, I don't know how this guy keeps his figure with the amount of junk he shoves in his mouth constantly. 

He cocks his head around the couch to look at me with a mouth full of food, and a goofy expression on his face. 

"Hey, what's up?" he says, with his mouth still full of food.

I roll my eyes then snatch the bag of chips out of his hands, and start picking up the rest of the food he has displayed all over the coffee table. 

"Man, I don't see how you can keep eating all this shit! We're about to go downstairs and have a feast and you're up here loading up on all this junk." I said, wondering where half of the stuff even came from. I definitely don't remember buying a bag of Doritos, or this bag of donut holes!

"Hey man, that's okay! I still have room for all that too!" he says, still chewing on his food. 'What a pig!' I think to myself.

"All that work I did today at Michael's worked me up quite the appetite." He says, and I smirk at him.

"Yeah, all the work with that she-wolf, huh!" I said, and the idiot smiled.

"Hey, I can't help it, she came onto me!" he said with his hand on his chest, faking his innocence. 

"You know, you need to learn to keep that thing in your pants!" I scolded.

"What are you going to do when you find your mate?" I asked.

He just mumbled something under his breath as I went into the kitchen to put everything away. 

As we get outside everything's already in full swing. They set up a row of tables under the tent to make a buffet for the food.

Everyone brought a dish, so there's tons of food with different meats, including the pig that was roasting.

The bonfire was also well underway. It's a huge bonfire with wood logs around it for everyone to sit on. All the children are playing off on the left side and the rest of the pack mingles and laughs, while having a good time. 

Usually when we're inside eating at the dinner table, everyone has a specific spot they sit at. But when we eat outside we don't, with the exception of me. I always sit at the head of the table.

I settle in at the end of the table in my wheelchair and begin eating.

Moments later Zendaya walks up and sets another tray down next to mine.

I laughed at Zendaya, who obviously didn't think I grabbed enough food.

"Hey, don't laugh at me! I saw how much you put on your plate, and that's nowhere near enough! Besides, you didn't even get any of the damn pig!

My grandmother's been helping Grace with that sucker all day! She'll whip my ass if she knows you didn't eat any of it!" Zendaya says, giving me a firm look before laughing.

"Well in that case, I better eat this plate first!" I say, as I switch the plates around to eat some of this delicious pig.

"So where's that wonderful mate of yours?" I asked, since I didn't see Marcus anywhere.

"Hopefully not out there killing Xander. They did a quick run out to the front gate, they should be here any minute.” She said, then I chuckled.

Marcus loves Xander like a brother, but Xander definitely knows how to be the annoying little brother. He knows just the right way to get under Marcus' skin. Especially with his lame dad jokes, which Marcus can't stand!

Just as I opened my mouth to say something, Xander came running out of the tree line, running for dear life. He kept glancing back toward the tree line every few moments. 

As he approached our table Zendaya turned to face him, just to get a pair of shorts thrown in her face.

"These are yours now!" Xander says, as he slides around my chair then plops down in the seat next to me.

His chest heaves as he desperately tries to catch his breath. He reaches into my plate and grabs a chicken leg, and I look at him, giving him that 'what the fuck look', but the idiot simply smiles at me and takes a bite.

Zendaya pulls the shorts off her face, then holds them out, looking at them. Right at that exact moment a very naked, and a very angry Marcus came running out of the tree line growling.

He instantly spotted Xander and ran right for us, but came to a halt when he saw what was in Zendaya's hand.

"So you're the one who took my damn shorts!" Marcus said, as he plucked the shorts out of Zendaya's hand, which he quickly slipped on then sat down in the seat next to her.

"If you wanted me naked all you had to do was ask." he said, smiling at her as he put his elbow on the table while resting his face on his hand. He smirked at her as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Zendaya rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"This man!" she says, as she reaches into her plate.

"And this man is all yours!" Marcus said as he waved his hand from his head down his body in a showing fashion.

"Xander, you need to stop spending so much time with my mate! You're starting to rub off on him!" Zendaya said, before popping a piece of chicken in her mouth.

I laughed, but Xander's face lit up.

"Shit, now I'm spending even more time with him! Before you know it we'll be finishing each other's sentences!" this idiot said, before taking another bite of my chicken!

Marcus groaned, while running his hand down his face as he let out an exaggerated breath.

"Please baby girl, please let me kill him!" Marcus pleaded with his eyes closed.

Zendaya laughed as she rubbed his back.

"Stop acting like you don't like it! You know you love his goofy ass!" she said.

"Of course I love the idiot! That doesn't mean I can't dislike him at the same time!" Marcus said, then Xander's face lit up again.

"Aww, I love you too, big brother!.... Or little brother, you are kinda shorter than me!" Xander said, with the biggest smile on his face.

Marcus growled and Zendaya placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Xander, if you want to live to meet your mate, I highly suggest you stop poking the beast!" she said, while rubbing Marcus's back. He opened his eyes, then looked at her smiling.

....

Border patrol was light tonight because of the event. Rogues aren't usually a problem for us because we're surrounded by neighboring packs around almost all borders. With the exception of an area on the west side where the river runs through. It's one of the areas that doesn't border another pack.

The river usually keeps the rogues out because it's wide, so we don't normally have a problem there. 

Rogues are usually afraid to come into our territory because of how large my pack is. They're also afraid of my wolf and my warriors. So I was a little surprised when I received a link while sitting down eating.

One of the border patrols on the west side said we had rogues breach our territory from that corner. 

I was pissed! I backed away from the table and turned around in my wheelchair. 

I lunged forward and shifted instantly, shredding my clothes in the process.

Xander and Marcus were about to join me, but I told them to stay put and keep an eye on everything here. 

"There's only six of them so I can handle it." I said to them through the link before I took off.

I got there just in time, they had one of my patrols on the ground clawing away at him. I jumped on the first one, clamping my jaws down on his throat and ripping it out as I shook my head.

I kicked with my back legs at the one coming up behind me. I turned around then growled as I launched for the next two, quickly taking them down which gave my warrior time to get up and take care of the wolf closest to him. 

I killed the other one and my patrol knocked out the last one. I had one of my warriors take him to the cells for interrogation. 

After making sure everything was safe and secure, I headed back. Once I finally made it back, it was time for the pack run to begin. 

The elderly and everyone who was not able to shift stayed behind with the children.

Everyone who was able to shift followed me to the clearing to shift.

Since I was already in wolf form, I howled at the sky, signaling for them to shift. Everyone instantly shifted then raised their heads to the sky and howled at the moon, to give thanks to the Moon Goddess, before taking off into the woods with me leading the way. 

It's such an exhilarating experience to run with the whole pack during the full moon. With the moon lighting the way, the wind blowing through my fur, and being surrounded by my pack, it doesn't get any better than this. Almost... If only I had a mate to share this with... But that will never happen.