A Broken Alpha

Third Person's POV It's been six years since the day Thaddeus was rejected. The rejection was excruciating, and it took over a month before the pain entirely subsided. Initially, it left the Alpha weak, making it hard for him to do daily tasks. Food was the farthest thing from the Alpha's mind, and he only ate when he was forced to. Even when he tried to eat, the Alpha would fall asleep in his wheelchair. The nights that should have been welcoming and restful turned into anything but that. At night, the body experiences withdrawals from the loss of the bond, resulting in painful episodes that, at times, lasted over an hour. The Alpha woke every night sweating and screaming in pain. In the beginning, those episodes came several times a night. As more time passed, the episodes became fewer until one day, they were gone. It took almost a year before Thaddeus felt like himself again. But he wanted nothing to do with love and hoped he didn't have a second chance mate. He didn't want to

Third Person's POV After reaching the river, Zeus drops the bag in his mouth and then shifts to Thaddeus. The Alpha pulls his swim shorts on and then turns to grab the rest of his things from his bag. When Thaddeus turns and reaches for his bag, he finds Xander has already dug through it. Thaddeus tilts his head and exhales as he watches the goofy Beta before him. “Xander, for crying out loud! Give me back my damn straps!” Thaddeus scolded the idiot, who took his leg strap and strapped his legs together before trying to waddle toward the water. “No! I'm a mermaid!... Hey, I have a good one for you. How do you recognize a nerdy mermaid?... She wears an algaebra!” Xander fell into a fit of laughter after delivering the punch line to his joke. Thaddeus tried not to laugh but failed, and he chuckled, earning a bright smile from Xander. “You're an idiot!” “Why thank y-” Xander began to say, but his words were cut off when he face-planted into the dirt. Thaddeus laughed harder a

Third Person's POV Thaddeus saw Aiden's shocked expression, which told the Alpha that the Omega didn't know they were mates. ‘How did he not know?’ Sure, it was the first time he felt the tingles from the bond, but couldn't he smell me? Couldn't he smell that I am his mate? Doesn't he feel the pull of the bond? Didn't his wolf tell him that I'm his mate? He had to have spoken the word at least once! The Alpha wondered, his thoughts racing. The Alpha had so many questions, so many things he wanted to ask his mate. Before the Alpha could open his mouth to ask the questions at the tip of his tongue, there was a knock at the door. Xander didn't wait for a reply. The Beta cracked the door open and popped his head in. “Hey, they're here,” Xander said, and then his face lit up when he saw his Luna was awake. Xander pushed the door open and entered the room with a smile beaming on his face. “Hey, kid! It's good to see you're finally awake!” The Beta said, and Aiden scowled at his

Third Person's POV The meeting with Alpha Michael only left Thaddeus with more questions. Michael believes the people watching his territory are scouts. But from where and why? The scouts weren't just watching River Pack from outside its territory. They have been caught deep within Michael's territory several times during the past week. However, it seems their main focus is on the southeast corner, where Michael's territory connects to Thaddeus’s near the river. The same place Aiden was found. Could they be looking for him? If so, are these the same people that hurt him? The Alpha is exhausted by the time he finally makes it back to his bedroom. Thaddeus disappointed he's returning so late, and he didn't get to say good night to his mate. Thaddeus enters his bedroom as quietly as he can. He approaches the bed and smiles at what he sees. Aiden is sound asleep cuddling his pillow. The sheets are wrapped around him, tangled around his legs with his foot sticking out. It's an ador

Thaddeus's POV I set everything aside after we finished eating and figured this was a good time to ask him some questions. I was hoping maybe I could finally figure out who did this to him. "Aiden, can you tell me who did this to you?" He immediately looked nervous and looked down into his lap, fiddling with his fingers. I hate that someone hurt him, and made him so afraid to talk to me. "I know you are afraid to talk to me, I know you don't know me, but I promise, I would never hurt you! You're my mate sweetheart, I would never hurt you! I care about you... I want to know what happened, who did this to you? You don't have to be afraid to talk to me, I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe here, I won't let anyone ever hurt you again!" I said, hoping to get through to him, hoping that maybe he'll start trusting me. He looked up a little, but I could still see he was afraid to look me in the eye still. That broke my heart. Because that only means one thing, it's been beaten into