Veritas

Chapter 12

As midnight approached, Aislinn rummaged around her meagre pile of belongings before pulling out an old, leather-bound book. Its soft surface was marred by blood stains, but the sturdy casing had protected the delicate sheets of paper within.

This had been Daisy's diary, and was now Aislinn's most cherished possession. Rei had happened across it amongst the tatters of Daisy's clothes, and she figured it would be important for Aislinn to have something that had belonged to her mom.

She was right; Aislinn had read over her mothers' thoughts day after day when she had first lost her. Now, it felt more like a tool to use to bring her spirit closer to her mom for special moments.

Meeting her wolf on her birthday was one of those special moments.

"I'm going to meet my wolf tonight, mom" Aislinn whispered excitedly to the diary. "I wish you and daddy were here to be part of it...To meet her. I wonder what she'll be like...I hope she's as fast as Emese, and as strong as Axel. I think I'd like her to be smaller, like Emese, though...It would make people underestimate me, and give me an early advantage. Daddy always said take every advantage you could" she continued in a more somber whisper, tracing her fingers over the soft leather cover.

Ryan had come to retrieve Aislinn, to let her know it was time to go. He and Rei had scouted the surrounding area to make sure all was clear, and found a nice spot for Aislinn's first shift. Now, all that was left was to find the birthday girl.

They had moved from their cave, and were currently residing in small rooms they'd dug out and hidden beneath the ground. Standing outside of Aislinn's makeshift room, Ryan's sensitive wolf hearing could pick up on her monologue, and caused him to pause.

"I miss you both so much" Aislinn murmured, a single tear slipping out of her eye. "I love you, please watch over me" she added, kissing her hand before pressing it to the cover. She stayed seated in silence a moment longer, hugging the diary to her chest.

Ryan waited a beat or two, thankful for the silence to give him a bit of a cover. He cleared his throat and called out "Aislinn, it's almost midnight. Are you ready?"

"Ready!" Was the reply from in the hidden room. It wasn't long before Aislinn emerged, face wiped of all sadness. A beaming smile hid any negative feelings that may have remained, but from the excited sparkle in her eyes, Ryan felt reassured that she was okay.

"Let's go, then. I'll race you" he said with a grin.

"I—" Aislinn started to reply, but she couldn't finish her sentence before Ryan had already started running.

"Hey! I don't know where it is, so I can't win!" She complained, chasing after him with a laugh.

"Excuses!" He called over his shoulder, laughing.

His lead wasn't so generous that Aislinn couldn't close the gap, and so that's what she did. Instead of a race, their little run turned into a bit of a sparring match as the two tried to shove and trip each other. By the time they barrelled through the bushes leading to the small lake Rei and Ryan had found, Aislinn was on Ryan's back and giving his head a noogie.

Rei watched the two make their entrance, and simply shook her head with a smile. "I'm glad we did a check for anyone in the area, or you two would have certainly given us away" she said, trying to scold them; however, she was unable to contain her own laughter at the sight of the two.

"Sorry, mom" Ryan said with a grin. "I was minding my own business when this thing pounced on me" he explained, grabbing onto Aislinn to try to pull her down.

"Give your mom some credit when you make up stories, and at least try to make them sound authentic" Aislinn retorted, giving his hair a playful tug before jumping off of him.