Thaddeus POV

After running around for a while trying to blow off some steam. I finally came to the river. I went over and took a drink from it then laid down with my head on my paws, my wolf whimpered as we laid there.

Both of us were heartbroken. I should have known better, I should have never gotten my hopes up.

As I ran through the forest, the words that I haven't heard in so long, played back through my head as if I just heard them. The words that were once so distant, from the years that have passed, were suddenly loud and clear again. The disgusted look on his face as he looked at my legs was clear again.

I'm not sure how long I was actually there, trying not to think of their happy little reunion. Trying not to think of the mate I thought I had, but just lost, But it seemed like quite a while.

Zeus whimpered again before we heard the sound of a twig snapping.

I shot up, looking in the direction the sound came from. I let out a low growl in warning, at whoever it was.

But I relaxed, as Marcus came walking out from behind a tree

"Whoa Alpha! Down killer it's just me." He said as he approached me.

Marcus walked over and sat down beside me. He chucked a few rocks into the river as I rested my head back onto my paw and stared at the water.

"So what happened? Why did you run off?" Marcus asked.

I scuffed at him.

"You saw what happened!" I responded through the link since I was still in wolf form

"He had his arms all wrapped around her and she just clung to him like a fucking leech!" I yelled in the link.

"It's obvious, he already had someone, a girl who actually had legs that worked!... Not a guy in a wheelchair."

"Hey man, it might not be what it looks like. Maybe they were just good friends." He said.

I just huffed at him and turned my head back towards the river, and laid my head back on my paws.

Sure didn't look like it, and it sure didn't feel like that was all it was. If that's all it was, then why did it hurt so bad? I thought to myself.

"Come on man, let's head back. There's only one way to find out what's really going on." Marcus said, as he reached over and rubbed Zeus's head.

I huffed at him for rubbing our head, and he just chuckled at me.

"Asshole!" I said to him which made him laugh more.

As I came back into the pack house, I heard voices coming from the TV room off to the left. I took a deep breath in before slowly letting it out as I tried to brace myself for what I was going to see.

However, as I entered the room, what I was expecting to see, wasn't what I actually saw. I was confused when I saw the female was sitting in Xander's lap. Xander had his arms wrapped firmly around her, and his face was buried in her neck as she giggled.

'Okay I'm definitely confused now!'

I thought, then cleared my throat, causing everyone to look at me with the exception of Xander. He still had his face buried in her neck. She pushed back on him as she turned red, trying to get him to look up. She was obviously embarrassed by her predicament.

I looked over at Aiden, who was sitting on the couch across from them, and he gave me a soft smile.

"Would someone care to explain what's going on?" I asked, my voice coming out a little harsher than I intended, which made Aiden quickly look down into his lap and start playing with his fingers. The smile on his face instantly disappeared and I cursed myself for scaring him.

The girl sitting in Xander's lap finally pried herself away from his clutches and bounced over to me with a little too much happiness for my liking.

She came to a stop in front of me, practically bouncing to a stop, then stuck her hand out to me.

"Hi my name is Abigail, I'm Aiden's sister!" She said, and I looked at her shocked. 'Aiden's sister?' I thought to myself.

She looked down at her hand that was still extended toward me, then looked me in the eyes again. As if asking, "are you going to shake my hand or what?"

That snapped me out of it, and I cleared my throat as I reached out and shook her hand.

"I didn't know Aiden had a sister." I said, letting go of her hand.

She looked over at Aiden, before looking at me again.

"Yeah, he said he doesn't remember me. I've been looking for him ever since we got separated. It's been so long I thought I would never find him."

"How did you get separated?" I asked.

She looked down as the smile left her face. She started playing with her fingers, the exact same way Aiden does.

"I think we should talk about this a little bit later." She said in a quiet voice.

That made me a little uneasy, and more curious than ever to hear what she has to say. But seeing as they just found each other, I guess I'll wait.

"So, what's going on here with you and Xander?"I asked.

Xander popped up off the couch with a big Goofy grin on his face, as he walked over and slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

"I found my mate!" He proudly exclaimed with the biggest smile on his face.

"Wow that's wonderful, congratulations man!" I said, shocked since this whole situation was nothing at all what I thought it was. And I'm thrilled for my best friend, that he finally found his mate.

"Yeah can you believe it, I finally found her!" He said as he picked her up, then took her back to the couch and sat down with her and his lap.

I looked over at Aiden, and saw he still had his head down. I let out a breath, and went over to him.

As I approached, he immediately tensed up. I leaned forward and gently cupped his cheek.

He slowly raised his head until his eyes met mine. I swear my heart skipped a beat, then melted as I looked into those beautiful eyes of his.

'Goddess I love him!' I thought to myself as I lightly stroked his cheek with my thumb.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I said, in a soft voice. He gave me a soft smile, then closed his eyes and leaned into my touch.

I wanted to pick him up so bad. I wanted to scoop him up and place him in my lap. I wanted to wrap my arms around Aiden, hold him and never let him go!

But our moment was ruined at the sound of Abigail's giggling. I looked over my shoulder, toward the dining room and remembered we never did finish our lunch.

"Well, we should go finish lunch." I said.

Xander got excited just mentioning food. 'I swear this man can eat more than anyone I know!' I thought to myself, smiling as I watched Xander flip Abigail around so she was straddling his lap, then he stood up. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she let out a yelp, at the sudden movement.

He then proceeded to carry her into the dining room as she giggled.

"You know I can walk!" She said.

He slapped her ass and she gave another yelp.

"I know but I want to carry you!" He said, smiling at her while looking into her eyes.