Veritas

Chapter 20

Aislinn sat up in her makeshift bed abruptly, the confusion from her dream being enough to rouse her from her slumber. It wasn't the dream that had her rising so quickly, though; it was the thought of how Rei and Ryan would react to a vampire's scent in their camp. She needed to explain it to them before they freaked out.

Strangely, though, upon looking at her surroundings, Aislinn realized she was alone. While it wouldn't have been unusual for Rei and Ryan to run off immediately to search for their midnight guest, they absolutely would not have left Aislinn alone. Her stomach dropped, and she began to fear she'd made a horrible mistake.

She got up and hurried out of the cave, into the chilly morning air of autumn. In her panic, she hadn't even thought to throw on her shoes or warmer clothes, and came rushing out barefoot onto the frosty ground.

"What are you doing?" Came the deep and amused voice of Ryan, who was standing nearby at a fire he was creating.

Hearing his voice, and then seeing him in one piece immediately had relief washing over Aislinn. She let out a breath, and visibly sagged from the tension leaving her body. Ryan noticed this and frowned.

"You okay, Ash?" He asked with concern.

"Yep! Sorry, yeah, all good. Just had a weird night..." she explained vaguely, wanting to tell the story once Rei was there as well.

"More dreams, eh?" He asked, turning his attention back to the fire.

"Well, yes; but, this one was really weird" she explained, walking over to join him.

He gave a disapproving look to her feet, then the rest of her. "Well, I want to hear all about it; but, you should get something warmer on. And some shoes."

Aislinn rolled her eyes at his concern. "I'm a werewolf. I may not have my wolf yet to really keep my temperature up; but, I can handle this. It's fine" she insisted.

Next thing she knew, she was engulfed in the sweater he was wearing. She had to admit, the warmth that still clung to the shirt from Ryan's body was soothing to feel all around her; almost as soothing as being engulfed by his scent.

His sweater swallowed her, since he was much larger in build than she was. He might as well have given her a blanket, since the sweater would have practically gone to her knees if she stood. She would never complain, though, even if she felt he was being overprotective. The gesture warmed her heart, and brought a smile to her face.

"Now you're going to get cold" she teased the bare-chested man before her.

"Hardly" he grumbled, still displeased her feet were exposed. He seemed to have decided the fire was the only way he'd be able to keep her warm enough, so he set about stoking it and coaxing out bigger flames.

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, with Ryan focused on his task, and Aislinn watching him. Once he was satisfied with his fire, he sat down next to Aislinn on the ground and grabbed her legs, pulling her feet into his lap so he could warm them up with his hands.

"Hey!" She protested with a laugh. "I'm telling you, I'm fine."

"Yeah, thanks to me" he said, giving her a sideways grin now that he was almost satisfied she'd be warm enough. It wasn't quite winter yet; but, it was November, and not unusual for it to begin snowing.

"Anyways, tell me why this dream was weird. Aren't they usually?" He asked.

She just shook her head with a smile, deciding if it made Ryan happy, she'd tolerate his fussing. "Well, they all have their strange points I guess...This one was just weird because it was a dream of a room. That was it...No people, no talking, just an empty room" she explained to him, wiggling her toes in his hands in an effort to make him laugh.