Chains

Chapter 32 - Redemption Part I, Human

A/N: I wanted to explore Pete's situation after losing Levi. Pete is the villain in this story, but he wasn't always a bad guy. He was a good Alpha until he rejected Jaxon. Sometimes the villain is irredeemable, sometimes they can turn a new leaf. If they were good guys before they turned bad, is reform possible?

The timeline of here doesn't necessarily follow right along with the timeline of the rest of the story.

Finally, I'm so excited that my story has gone from 30 reads to nearly 900 in just a couple of days. Thanks for reading my story and I hope you're all enjoying it.

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Pete

Living with the Full Moon pack has been more difficult than I could have ever imagined. Without Levi I feel half... alive? Is that even the right word? Everything feels numb; my vision, hearing, taste, smells. It's all dull. Half missing. After a lifetime of vibrance, it's as if my head is all stuffy, like when you have a cold. I even had a cold so I know what that's like now; my first cold ever was miserable. How do humans do it? Gah! I feel so, so pathetic!

I miss Levi so much. Even though he had been completely silent for years, he was still there. I could always feel him. Now he's really gone, and I miss him with all my soul. I spent weeks in bed after getting here. I've had uncontrollable bouts of crying when I don't want to see anybody. I've gone days without eating until my dad came in and forced me to eat something.

There are days that I miss Jaxon too. Not the sex or the parties, but just knowing that he was there, close by. It must be a part of having had a mate bond with him. Looking back now, I wish I had made an effort to get to know him instead of rejecting him outright. I made a terrible mistake and threw away the one chance at pure happiness the Moon Goddess had given me. He was given a second chance at happiness and I hope it works out well for him and his new mate. Am I jealous of them? Sure, a little. Who wouldn't be?

My parents have been helping me get through everything. At first I thought they were going to be judgmental; especially after hearing about what I'd done to Jaxon. Whatever they think, though, they're keeping it to themselves for now.

Alpha Andrew has been great as well. He's been helping me adjust to my new life. He's better to me than I deserve, and I am adjusting, I tell myself, to life without a wolf. I run through the woods on two legs now instead of four; my movements seem slow and clumsy. Some days are harder than others.

Now is the time to move on and try to put my life back together as best I can as a human. I've found a small studio apartment in the nearby town. It's close to the pack but I'm not reminded every minute of every day about what I lost. Alpha Andrew owns several businesses with branches here in town and I'm going to be working for him managing one of them. It's a small advertising agency. My training to manage a pack makes this an ideal position for me. A job that is perfectly suited for my training, the last years at the pack notwithstanding. All of the employees of the agency are humans, but they know about werewolves, several of them being mated to pack members. There are three women and two men and they've accepted me into their group.

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There's a sandwich shop not far from the office that I pass on my walk to work in the mornings. I didn't bring a lunch today so I've decided to give it a try. Sandra, one of my co-workers said that their sandwiches are good. Tanya, who is a vegetarian, said that the hummus on multi-grain was her favorite.

The aroma of fresh baked bread fills the shop as I opened the door and entered. Apparently they bake their own bread for their sandwiches. At least the bread will be fresh. There are three people behind the counter, an elderly couple and a young man in his twenties.

The older woman looks up at the jingle of a small bell above the door and smiles. "Welcome to our shop. Please take a moment to look at our menu and let us know what you would like." And she pointed to a large white board on the wall behind them. They offer a large variety for such a small shop.

I look over the menu and make my choice. "I'll have a Reuben on rye, that sounds good. I'll also have a large soda and chips."

I watch as they make the sandwich and move over to the cash register to pay.

"That'll be $7.75." The young blond smiles and I glance up at him.

I'm met with the most stunning brown eyes I think I've ever seen; I can't look away. After a moment that seems to last forever, a light blush covers his cheeks and his smile becomes shy.

"My name is Pete Danver." I hand him a ten dollar bill. "I work at the NorthStar Advertising Agency just up the road."

"I'm Avery, I work in this sandwich shop." He suddenly becomes cheeky as he counts my change back into my hand. 

 "Would you like that to go, or will you be eating here?"

"I'll be eating here, of course." I reply, changing my mind on the spot. I had planned to take it back to the office, but I somehow wanted to get to know this guy better. I see something in his eyes that says he might be interested in me too. Yeah, I'm interested in a guy, so what?