(what I imagine Xander to look like in the pic above)

Age now 27

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

I woke in night sweats every night. I woke screaming in pain each time one of those episodes woke me. The episode of my body, going through withdraws from the loss of the mate bond, from the loss of 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 my wheelchair. I could barely eat, I could barely focus or function.

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 walk the pack territory to see if I could smell my mate. If I could scent them.

When I went to conventions or if another pack visited, 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, a second chance mate.

I don't think the moon goddess is going to grant me one.

And after all this 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 making me another mate.

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, he's solid jet black, almost has a blue hue to him in the moonlight.

He has the brightest blue eyes and he's massive! taller than any wolf I've have ever seen. Alpha wolves are generally taller than all others, but he even towers over other Alpha's.

His strength is unmatched and he is ruthless.

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

Whatever injury you get while in wolf form or human form it applies to both sides. So if you get hurt in human form your wolf will have the same wound and vice versa. Whatever the reason it didn't happen, I'm just glad it didn't affect him.

Right now we're heading back home to our territory. We're coming back from The River Pack that is 2 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 they leave their pack they become rogue. The longer they remain a rogue, the more wild and feral they become. They attack and kill other wolves and packs.

But not all rogues are bad. Some maintain their sanity and humanity. But the vast majority do not.

I took my Beta and lead warrior along with 50 warriors with me to help the River Pack.

Now we're all on our way back in a caravan of SUVs heading home.

I'm driving while my Beta Xander is in the front passenger seat, and my third in command Marcus is in the backseat, and these two just won't shut up. Well mostly Xander won't shut up. Marcus just keeps complaining about Xander.

And yes, I'm driving and 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.

So here we are, driving back and Xander won't shut up! He keeps going on and on about all the hot she-wolves from the other pack while Marcus and I are rolling our eyes. Suddenly Xander calls 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 from the back seat.

I groan as I run a hand over my face.

"Xander, shut the fuck up or I'll toss you out of this 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.

While we were at Alpha Michaels of The River Pack, I had to save this poor mutt from a pissed off she-wolf's brother.

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

Apparently Anders walked in on Xander going to town on his little sister which he didn't appreciate.

I was outside the pack house talking to Alpha Michael when we heard this 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,

"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 because it was my Beta and I'm in front of the pack house with their Alpha.

And.... There's a bunch of people, women and children also 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 I think he found it humorous to cause a scene. He definitely gets a kick out of it.

After being scolded before we left, Xander pouted like a little child for the first half an 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 bullshit for the remainder of the drive.

....

Tonight's a full moon. We have a ritual where every month on the full moon we have a cookout and a bonfire. We also do a pack run at midnight which I lead. 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 go into 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.

When you walk in there's a double sink to the right with no cabinet space underneath the sinks so I can get close enough to actually use the sink in my wheelchair.

Then there's a big walk in glass shower on the left with a built-in bench. I can literally roll my wheelchair right in there if I want.

At the back of the bathroom is a big jet tub which I use quite often since it's soothing on my muscles. Especially after training hard.

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

I come out of my bedroom to find Xander had made himself at home in my living room 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 his mouth full of food and a goofy expression on his face.

"Hey what's up?" He says with a mouth full of food.

I roll my eyes at him then snatch the bag of chips out of his hand. I 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.

"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.

I smirked at him,

"Yeah, all the work with that she-wolf huh!" He smiled,

"Hey I can't help it, she came onto me!"

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

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

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

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

Everyone brought a dish so there was 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 were playing off on the left side and the rest of the pack mingling and laughing, while having a good time.

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

I pull up to the end of the table and set my plate down.

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

I laugh at Zendaya who obviously didn't think I took 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 need 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 switched 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's skin. Especially with his lame dad jokes which Marcus can't stand!

Just as I opened my mouth to say something, Xander comes running out of the tree line. Running for dear life as 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 side then plops down in the seat next to me. Desperately trying to catch his breath. He reaches into my plate and grabs a chicken leg.

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

He instantly spotted Xander then 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.

He 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 then down his body in a showing fashion.

"Xander, you need 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 no, I'm spending even more time with him now! Before you know it we'll be finishing each other sentences!"

This idiot said before taking another bite of my chicken!

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

"Please baby girl, please let me kill him!" Marcus said 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!"

"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!"

Marcus growled, 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 from that corner.

I was pissed! I backed away from the table and turned around in my wheelchair. I then lunged forward and shifted instantly, shredding my clothes in the process.

Xander and Marcus was about to head off with 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 him in 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 then clamped my jaws on his throat and ripped it out as I shook my head.

I kicked with my back legs at the other one that was 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 nearest him.

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

After making sure everything was safe and secure, I headed back.

Once I made my way back to the pack house 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 head to the sky and howled at the moon to give thanks to the Moon Goddess then took 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.