Veritas

Chapter 24

Aislinn anxiously looked at Rei, noting the woman had suddenly paled and looked ready to throw up. Ryan, too, had noticed the change in his mother and moved to be beside her.

"Mom? You don't look so good...Are you okay?" He asked gently, placing a hand on her arm in case she suddenly needed support.

Drystan watched the scene silently, and curiously. He was intrigued by Aislinn's anxiety in explaining her dreams to him, as well as the sudden shift in Rei's demeanour after learning about the plot of Aislinn's dream. He found it peculiar how seriously they were taking things, and it made him wonder if perhaps they believed these were more than dreams. Still, for the moment, he kept his thoughts and questions to himself, and continued to take in what was occurring before him.

"I'm fine, truly" Rei said, realizing she was worrying the kids. She stood up straighter and shook her head, giving a forced smile. "It's just...The idea of the King himself being involved in this is just..." she continued, but trailed off because she couldn't find the right word.

Aislinn just shrugged, looking down at her feet while she mumbled "well, good thing it's just a dream...Right?"

Rei and Ryan exchanged a look, then both looked at Drystan. Once again, the reality of the stranger in their midst smacked them in their faces. It was one thing for him to know that Aislinn had such frequent and unusual dreams; but...For him to know that they sometimes came true? They didn't want to risk that.

"Yes...But the idea of it...I mean, really, if it's like your...Friend here says, then maybe the King is aware of what's happening, or is even participating in it" Ryan suggested with a nonchalant shrug, trying to steer the conversation away.

"He would never!" Was Rei's vehement response, shocking her son.

"Uh...What makes you think that?" Ryan demanded with a raised brow, surprised his mother was so passionately protecting the Alpha King.

"I just know" she said, her cheeks turning red as she realized her outburst was out of character. "He's known to be an honourable man, and he has nothing to gain by participating in anything to do with witches or vampires" she spat.

"A man in power, who seems to have everything he requires, will always have enemies. He towers high above us all, with the greatest distance to fall...He has the most to lose, and potential enemies lurking at every turn; many right beneath his nose...I could see an alliance with either vampires or witches benefiting the King and crown, quite frankly...Werewolves would thrive even more without at least one of the other races muddying things for them" Drystan reasoned.

"He's got a point" Ryan said, nodding as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Rei bit her bottom lip, seemingly to stop herself from another outburst to defend her King. Noticing her frustration, Drystan opted to move away from the topic of royalty, and back to the one he was more interested in.

"So...You have peculiar dreams, Aislinn Jones? Please, tell me more about these, I am intrigued" he said quietly.

Ryan was back to Aislinn's side before she could blink, as if he wanted to physically restrain her from speaking to the vampire. "We don't know you, nor trust you; so, don't go acting like you can just be all Buddy-Buddy and ask her whatever you want" he all-but-growled.

"Ryan" Aislinn said in a chastising tone, placing her hand on his arm to let him know he could back down. "I told you before that I believe his story...I really think it's okay that he knows" she insisted.

"Knows what?" Drystan asked, fairly certain he knew what Aislinn was going to say.

"Well...I know this will sound crazy, but...Sometimes the things I see in my dreams...They've really happened, or they end up happening" she admitted quietly, sheepishly. "Really, I think it's a coincidence, though!" She added, growing louder and more animated. "I mean, it's ridiculous to think of someone's dreams showing them things that happened or will happen, right? And since they don't all always happen, then of course it makes sense that the rest are coincidence. I just have lots of anxiety so it's probably just that; but, it's super weird, and it's happened my whole life, so—" she rambled, nervously awaiting her new friend's reaction; but, not stopping to give him a chance to respond.

"Ash, stop" Ryan grumbled, facepalming as she just unloaded everything for the vampire.

Drystan stared at her, looking her up and down as if he was only just seeing her for the first time. This elicited a warning growl from both Rei and Ryan, who didn't like that he was so blatantly checking Aislinn out in front of them. The truth was, though, that he was actually just realizing her appearance for the first time. He didn't register how many similarities she shared with some of his former pack mates.

"You say you are from the Tranquil Waters pack...Were both of your parents from there?" He asked.

Confused by the random question, Aislinn nodded her head. "Um, yes, we were pure Waters members for a few generations actually...Why?"

"Well...To answer that, I first must explain my history a bit more. I had previously told you, Aislinn, that my pack was the Moon Thread pack" he began, eliciting a gasp of recognition and shock from Rei. Undaunted, he continued on. "What I did not explain to you is that the Moon Thread pack is the pack that births and houses the Oracle. Even amongst my own pack, the Oracle was an extremely mysterious being...To protect them, their abilities were mostly hidden from the world, and even their own pack mates. We knew what is likely common knowledge to the world...Oracles are born from one among the Moon Thread pack only. Only one Oracle can exist at a time, so an Oracle's abilities cannot manifest while another lives" he continued, pausing to allow the others to absorb this information.

After a brief pause, he continued. "Not only would your 'dreams' align with you being from the Moon Thread pack, but there were some among us with similar colouring to you...Your light hair and eyes, I vaguely recall them in others...And so, Aislinn Jones, I theorize that you are from the Moon Thread pack, and are our next Oracle."