raiden

After spending the night at the Red Eclipse Pack, it was time for us to start heading back home. With everything that we learned, it meant that we were going to have a lot to talk about and that we'd have to speed our rescue mission up. We were no longer just rescuing Beta Reo, but now there were much more creatures that needed our help.

Once I finish packing my bag into the car, I glance back over at Nara. The whole time that we've been here, she's been down. After we finished talking to Alexander, he practically bolted out of the room to get away from her.

"Nara!" I call out to her. Nara looks up at me with curiosity. "I know that after everything it's a bit of a long shot, but maybe you should try talking to Alexander one last time before we go."

Nara's eyes travel behind me and when I turn around, Alexander is standing there with Inez. Though they aren't looking at us, I know that he has to at least feel that she's close.

Nara shakes her head. "I don't want to force him to be with me if that isn't what he wants. After everything that happened between you and me...well, I don't want to put myself in that situation again."

With that, she climbs into the backseat of the car and lays her head on the window. I can't help but frown before turning and heading toward Alexander. When he sees me, he stops talking to Inez.

"Can I speak to you?" I ask him. Alexander nods stiffly and I pull him to the side. "Look, Man. I know that after everything with Alpha Demos, you rejected Nara and while I can't force you to be with her, I just want to say that she really didn't know what he was up to. Nara's a nice person and she's been through a lot. You don't have to be with her, but if some part of you still does want to then you should talk to her in the future whenever you're both ready."

Alexander's eyes look past me and at Nara's form. He goes silent for a minute before saying, "I'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking," I tell him honestly before turning to go.

"Raiden, you ready?!" Beta Gaius calls out once he's finished talking to Alpha Aaila.

I nod and move toward the car. "Yeah!"

Beta Gaius smiles and turns to Alpha Aaila one last time. "Thank you for allowing us to come, Alpha it truly did help."

Alpha Aaila simply smiles and waves him off. "Nonsense. I hope you do manage to put a stop to Alpha Demos and know that the Red Eclipse stands with you and is willing to help at any given point. We're only a call away."

Beta Gaius nods. "I'll be sure to tell the Alphas that, I'm sure they'll appreciate it."

Once they're done talking, Beta Gaius gets into the car with Nara and me. As we start to leave, Alpha Aaila and Inez both wave at us. And before we're completely out of sight, I catch a glimpse of Boston as well. His eyes connect with mine and I wave to him. He doesn't bother to return the wave, but I don't let it bother me.

"Ready to get back to Cloud?" Beta Gaius asks and I smile.

"Yeah, I'm ready to finally talk to him."

He returns my smile. "Good."

As we drive, Beta Gaius and I talk amongst each other about everything from our mates and packs to our families. It wasn't hard to see why he was a beta — the man was likable and easy to talk to. The way he talks about his pack, mate, and friends shows just how much he cares about them. The smile wasn't just on his face, you could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes. He truly cared about those around him.

Part of the way through the ride, Gaius' phone begins to ring.

"Can you put that on speaker?" He asks me.

I do so and almost immediately an annoyed voice begins to speak.

"Why the hell can't you stay out of trouble?!"

My eyes widen along with Nara's but Beta Gaius just smiles. "Hello to you too. I'm assuming that you've already gotten the rundown from Gray?"

"All I ask for is one day where I don't have to hear about you dumbasses getting yourself into more trouble, is that so hard? And now I hear that there's more of you this time?!"

The Beta just shrugs even though the caller can't see him. "Well, it's not as if we try to find trouble per se. It's more like trouble finds us."

The caller scoffs. "Yeah, and I'll find you and kick your ass if I have to come back down there again."

The phone call ends and despite the angry words, the beta has a big grin on his face.

"What was that about?" I ask reluctantly, not sure if I really want to know or not.

Beta Gaius looks at me, his eyes bright and he says, "The councilman is coming."