Bastard | ✓

BASTARD: chapter forty-four

Big update. Make sure you read forty-three first.

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Today's the day.

With my arms tightly wrapped around Raiden, the last thing I wanted to do was let him go. After almost two weeks of training, Team B would be leaving today. Raiden would be leaving. I did everything I could to try and calm myself down. I had to trust that he'd be okay. This would all be over quickly and then he'd return home to me. That trust was the only thing getting me through because I knew if I stopped believing in it, I would break.

"Don't look so sad," Raiden tells me. "I'm not going to be gone for that long."

"I know, I know, but I can't help it," I admit. "Every time you leave my mind goes into overdrive. What if's run through my mind—"

"What if's that won't come true," Raiden tells me. "I won't let them. There's still so much I want to do with you."

"There you go thinking with your dick again," I accuse.

Raiden's eyes narrow in a teasing manner. "Actually, I wasn't thinking about that. Who's the horny one now?"

"Then what were you thinking about?" I raise an eyebrow.

"You," he tells me. "But not like that. I mean, the future after all this is over. I was thinking that maybe once this is over you and I can travel. You know, leave the pack and see the world!"

His eyes are wide with excitement and I stare at him with surprise evident in my own. "You want to leave the pack?"

Raiden smiles. "I've been thinking a lot about it and don't get me wrong, there are a lot of memories I have here, but I want to get out and see more of the world with you. I don't want to just stay here when there's so much more out there for us to explore. Neither one of us has seen much outside our packs so I think it could be really fun. We'd obviously still stay in contact with everyone but it would be our little adventure. If you'd want to of course."

The way Raiden stares at me makes it hard to say no even if I wanted to, but to be honest, I don't. Hearing his plans get me excited too. Traveling with him to new places and meeting new people sounded fun and to be honest, it sounded like what we just needed after the turbulent few months we endured.

"I'd love to," I tell him, my own smile beginning to form. "It sounds like it could be really fun."

Raiden grins at me and I step closer to him, leaning in to kiss him. Raiden complies and when we stay there for a few minutes before separating.

"I'm looking forward to it," Raiden tells me. "Try and think of any place you really want to go to when we come back."

I nod my head and open my mouth to speak, but the sound of Tatum announcing it's almost time to go cuts me off. I glance over to where he's standing. He looks much better than the last few times I'd seen him which makes me happy.

With a sad smile, I lean in and kiss Raiden one last time. "Be safe and come back to me."

"You know I will," he tells me, arms wrapping around and pulling me into a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Raiden pulls away and his eyes turn. I follow his gaze to where Maia stands. Unlike Raiden, she wouldn't be coming on the trip but would be watching over the pack instead just to be safe. Standing beside her is the dark-skinned girl that had accompanied the Red Eclipse alpha. They seem to be talking, smiles on both of their faces that cause my eye roll to raise. The way they stared at each other had me wondering if they were mates.

"I should go see her before I go," Raiden tells me, not bothering to comment on the girl standing beside her. Something told me that he knew it was none of our business and Maia would tell him when she felt the time was right.

Raiden breaks away from me and moves toward Maia. When he gets there, he talks to the two before pulling Maia into a hug. It made me happy to see them getting along much better. I knew that their bond meant a lot to both of them and I was glad that they were working on fixing it.

It also made me happy to see Maia much happier. Though I had a feeling that the two of us would still butt heads from time to time, I didn't mind. It made me happy to see her acting more freely.

"Let's head out!" I heard Tatum call out.

Raiden pulls away from Maia before making his way back to me. With one last quick kiss and hug, he moves toward the trucks that other wolves begin to load into and joins them. I fight back the sadness that begins to fill me and smile at him.

Once everyone is inside, the cars begin to leave and I watch until they fade in the distance. As much as it hurts me, I push the feelings down. Just because Raiden was gone didn't mean that I didn't have anything to do. Tomorrow would be the day when we leave to go to Onyx's trial and the day when our plan truly begins to start.

Soon we'd be getting Beta Reo back, helping the rescues, and ending this once and for all.