Chapter Two
“Beep. Beep. Beep.”
“Very funny, asshole.”Wade Parker rolled over and pulled the covers over his head, hoping like hell his wolf would get the picture and let him sleep a bit longer. It was Saturday for fuck’s sake. Not only that, the nightmares he’d been plagued with for months had finally stopped a few short hours ago, letting him catch up on some much needed sleep. His wolf just didn’t get the picture that it was the weekend. His time to sleep in if he wanted.
Nope.
Instead, his asshole of a wolf wanted to go for a run, which Wade had zero desire to do. He was perfectly content to spend his day alone, like he always did. If only his wolf would give him the peace and quiet he so desperately needed.
“Beep. Beep. Beep.”
“Seriously? If I smack myself in the head will you shut up and let me sleep for another ten minutes?”Wade asked, knowing damn well his wolf would annoy the hell out of him if he didn’t get up and get moving.
“Nope. The pack runs at 6:30 every Saturday morning. We’re part of the pack. Let’s go!”
“Can’t we skip it? Just this one time?”Wade would beg if he had to. Literally. Get down on his knees and fucking beg.
“And miss all the drama and gossip? No way. Move it, man. Besides, we need to scope out the chick situation. Bow-chick-a-wow-wow.”
“Oh, my God. There isn’t enough caffeine in the world to deal with you today.”
“You’re grumpy in the morning.”
“You’re a smartass always.”
“You’re just now figuring this out? Sucker!”His wolf rolled around on his back, enjoying the hell out of tormenting Wade the moment he opened his eyes.
For the millionth time in his life, Wade wondered why he hadn’t been blessed with a compliant or even less smartassy wolf.
Much to his disappointment, Wade rolled out of bed and made his way to the coffeepot. If his wolf wanted him to go for a run, he needed the magic morning elixir to make it happen. And pronto.
“That’s it, one leg at a time gets that ass moving.”
“I don’t know what your rush is. It’s not like we’re going to find anyone new or anything exciting. It’s bound to be the same shit just a different day.”
His wolf just didn’t get it, though. Going for a run was fun but heading out on the prowl hoping for a quick and easy piece of ass held little interest for him these days. Not since his all too brief hookup with Erin. He had known immediately there was something quite unique about her. She wasn’t like the rest of the females at Black Paw, and that suited him just fine. Not that there was anything wrong with them. But Erin,umpf, Wade sighed.
She was so much more. Mysterious and sexy. And mated to Lucas. His high hopes for a successful relationship came crashing down around him the instant he learned the truth.
It wasn’t like his moral compass pointed north or anything, but messing around with someone’s true mate?
Pass.
Hard pass.
That was some fucked up shit and he wanted no part of it. The whole situation with Erin and Lucas left a bad taste in his mouth. He wasn’t a good man or wolf, like Lucas, waiting to find his one true mate. There wasn’t one for him, because he wasn’t like the other wolves at Black Paw. He’d accepted that long ago—centuries ago.
“We need more than another fling. We need to find our mate,”his wolf remarked as Wade made his way to the coffeepot.“I’m tired of the same old, same old.”
Wade grunted in response.“We don’t have a mate who is destined for us and us alone. You should know this by now, and in case you haven’t noticed, we are nothing like the house-trained wolves around here.”
His wolf whined.“Just because we’re different doesn’t mean we don’t have a true mate. Odin wouldn’t do that to us.”
Wade ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. “Odin has nothing to do with a wolf’s mate. It’s up to the Fates, and we know how those bitches feel about our kind. Not only that, what mate in her right mind would accept us. Have you forgotten what and who we really are?”
Wade watched his wolf slink away in his mind, with his tail between his legs like a puppy who’d been reprimanded for wanting to play with his favorite toy. His mouth flew open and words that he never intended to speak spewed out, trying to lighten the situation.
“Look, I know how much you want to hope that our mate is out there somewhere. Who knows? Maybe she is. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up and then be crushed if we can’t find her.”
