Veritas

Chapter 11

Three Years Later

Aislinn dashed at the huge, black beast before her. It let out a snarl and charged forward to meet her head-on. She waited until the absolute last second before launching herself into the air with all of her might, vaulting over the snapping jaws of the wolf.

She grinned as she landed heavily on the wolf's back, pleased with herself. The moment didn't last long, though, before the wolf bit down on her platinum hair and dragged her off.

Landing with a thud, she let out a surprised "oomph!" This elicited a wolfy chuckle from the black beast, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Ryan, you turd! You got wolf drool in my hair!" Aislinn shouted playfully as she sat up, dramatically wiping at her ponytail to try to get rid of the fake drool.

The large wolf rolled his eyes, then walked over to flop down next to her. The two had been sparring for hours, and while she didn't have wolf drool on her, Aislinn was certainly covered in sweat. Ryan was trying to emphasize that she needed to give herself a break; but, in stubborn Aislinn form, she refused.

"None of that, lazybones! We have plenty more daylight left, let's go!" She encouraged, nudging him with her shoulder.

Ryan let out a huff and rolled over with his back to her, choosing to ignore her. The two had grown extremely close since Aislinn joined the family, to the point where she confided in him about her dreams. After learning how her parents had helped her fight them, he offered to train with her for the same purpose.

Still, he underestimated the stamina that a she-wolf teen could have before she had ever even met her wolf. Early on, she outlasted him most days and had to help him drag himself to bed. He hadn't realized how much he'd come to rely on his wolf, so his human side wasn't as fit as it could be.

As all werewolves do, Ryan had met his wolf, Kenji, on his sixteenth birthday. He had only been able to shift for a few months when he and his mother first came across Aislinn. With his wolf now a part of him, his strength in human form was bolstered as well; but still, this barely-teenage pup was able to outlast him. It had been a humbling experience, to say the least.

After learning of her dreams and her history, though, Ryan and Kenji both wanted to grow stronger to protect their newfound sister. So, they trained harder than ever to be able to keep up with Aislinn. It didn't take them long to overtake her, though; and, in true brotherly fashion, both man and wolf made sure to rub it in her face whenever they got the best of her.

Aislinn let out a huff of her own, shoving at him now. "C'mon, c'mon! I have too much energy to burn!"

"She isn't wrong there" Kenji remarked to Ryan, amused by the girl's attempts to move him.

"Too bad. She'll be devastated if she's too tired to stay up tonight, and I won't let her blame that on me" Ryan replied to his wolf, shifting back to human form.

"Alright, hand-to-hand, I like it!" Aislinn said with a grin, jumping to her feet in excitement.

Ryan raised a brow and looked up at her. "You can't exhaust yourself today, you know. You need energy to be awake at midnight...Once you meet your wolf, you can let her run you into the ground before you sleep. I'm not doing it" he explained with a shrug.

Aislinn bounced on her toes, partially in annoyance, but mostly just because she had too much energy. Her excitement was fuelling her, she couldn't wait to meet her wolf and so she was more energetic than normal. She had to get the energy under control for tonight, why couldn't Ryan see that?

"I am so, so far from being tired, Ry! Come on, I have more energy than normal because I'm so excited. I'm not wearing out like you think I am. Even just one more round, please?" She begged, drawing out the word please.

Ryan shook his head, holding firm, choosing instead to close his eyes and relax in the sunlight that was filtering down through the trees. Before he knew it, though, Aislinn was on him and putting him in an arm bar.

"Hey! Stop that!" He protested, managing to shove her away before she could lock the move in place.

This elicited a laugh from her, and she gave him a playful grin. "You can just defend then, if you want to be that way!" She shouted before pouncing on him again.

Ryan let out a laugh, caving to Aislinn's silliness. The two wrestled on the ground playfully for a while before returning to sparring. During their match, Aislinn's excitement was palpable. Every punch, kick and lunge was essentially vibrating with the energy of her excitement. It filled Ryan's heart to bursting to see her so happy and excited for her birthday.

For obvious reasons, her birthdays since he'd met her had been fraught with anxiety and tears. This was a pleasant change, and he decided that she deserved a little extra spoiling because of it.

Spoiling in the form of kicking her butt, of course. One of the reasons that Aislinn loved training with Ryan so much was that his style reminded her of her father. Just like JJ, Ryan would never go easy on her; but, he'd drop his abilities close enough to her level that it wasn't a completely one-sided battle. Every time he'd land a blow, he'd explain to her what openings he saw and how he took advantage of them, as well as how she should cover herself.

So, while the exhaustion was necessary, the time spent with Ryan was a special bonus she held close to her heart. Which was where his latest blow landed, sending her flopping back on her butt.

"Ow" she mumbled, staying seated where she landed.

Ryan gave her a big grin as he approached, holding a hand out to help her up. "You asked for it! Actually, I believe you demanded it" he teased.

Aislinn rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah, yeah" she retorted, swatting at his proffered hand playfully. "I'll get up myself, thanks."

"Nope! You've been too much a pain in my butt today. It's supper time, I'm starving, and you're not delaying me any longer" he insisted, grabbing her wrist and hauling her to her feet.

"Hey!" She shouted with a laugh when he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "Just you wait! When I get my wolf, this will not be how our training goes anymore!" She threatened playfully, kicking and flailing around to try to force him to drop her.

"Pfft, I guess that means it'll be Kenji meeting her tonight instead of me. Can't have you two plotting early vengeance" he said with a chuckle, ignoring Aislinn's struggles while he walked back to their current home. He whistled a little tune as he walked, emphasizing how little Aislinn was bothering him.

"Turd" was what she finally mumbled, before letting out another laugh. The reality of what was to come in just a few more hours rolled through her again like an electric current, and ignited a giggling fit in her.

Ryan just smiled, his heart happy to hear those giggles. He knew that the future was always uncertain for lone wolves, and he wanted to cherish the happiness in the moment. So, despite his earlier insistence on his hunger, he opted to walk just a bit slower than normal to enjoy the music of her laughs.