Veritas

Chapter 31

Today was the day.

Aislinn's supposed birthday.

As they'd done before, the trio found a small body of water for Aislinn to be by when she, hopefully, shifted. They set up camp, and tried desperately to keep themselves occupied with anything but thinking of midnight.

Aislinn and Ryan had trained together, Rei had hunted for food, and then the three tried whatever they could to occupy themselves as the seconds ticked by. Ryan was secretly hoping for a rogue to appear, just to give him some distraction.

Despite his hopes, the evening remained a peaceful one. They had even taken the risk of lighting a fire at night, in a camp they hadn't scouted thoroughly for days. It didn't matter, they were all on alert; and yet, all distracted by thoughts of what tonight could mean.

Lying on her back by the fireside, staring up at the stars burning brightly in the inky black sky, Aislinn let out a heavy sigh. She wished so desperately that she could see her parents again...To hug them, tell them she loved them, and to apologize for being the cause of their deaths. Of course, she also wished she could ask them the million questions she had burning within her mind and her heart; but...Mostly, and especially on the eve of her birthday, she just missed them.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ryan said, rousing Aislinn from her thoughts by leaning over to tap her on the forehead.

Aislinn jumped a little from being so abruptly pulled from her own little world, so she sat up to give Ryan a scowl in response.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, Ryan merely chuckled at her scowl. "So ladylike" he teased.

Rolling her eyes, Aislinn gave him a light shove to his arm. "Good thing I don't care if you think I'm a lady or a caveman" she replied, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Real mature" he said flatly, trying to keep his face serious; his amusement and adoration for Aislinn shone through in his eyes, though.

"Well, for all we know, I'm like...Twelve. So maybe I am mature for my age!" She shot back with a laugh.

With a warm smile, Ryan scooted closer to Aislinn and threw an arm around her shoulder. "Listen, nobody here has any shadow of a doubt that you're...At least thirteen" he teased, absolutely elated that Aislinn was the one to bring her age into their banter since he was stressing over whether to bring it up.

"Pfft, thirteen! And you're twenty now? How sad that thirteen-year-old me is able to hold my own against you!" Aislinn said with a big grin, shoving Ryan's arm away from where he had it around her shoulders. "And get your wolfy paws off of me, someone might think you're coming onto a child" she added, poking his nose.

Rei, who had gone back to her writing when their banter had begun, paused her pen over the page to look up at Ryan. While her son had never admitted it to her, she felt it was quite obvious that he had feelings for Aislinn. It was one of the additional reasons that the situation was so heartbreaking. Until Aislinn met her wolf, they wouldn't know for sure the date of her birth. Without that, they also wouldn't know the date she'd be able to recognize, and be recognized by, her one true mate.

For Ryan's sake, and for the love that Rei held for Aislinn, she was hoping that the two were indeed mates. On the other hand, though, if Aislinn wasn't Ryan's true mate, then having feelings for her could just lead to pain for him. Rei didn't want Ryan to have unrequited love, and she also didn't want him to expose his feelings for Aislinn until they knew whether the two were mates. Only recently had Rei begun to fear that there was any danger of that...Once Ryan's jealousy for Drystan reared its ugly head, though, Rei was on high alert. She had decided that if Aislinn didn't shift this time, then a talk with Ryan was needed to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

Fortunately, whether age or just her lack of socializing with her upbringing, Aislinn seemed completely oblivious to Ryan's feelings. Rei snapped out of her thoughts to see the two were having a thumb war. She shook her head with a smile, realizing that her fears of Ryan letting something slip just then were unfounded. And so, she returned to writing in her journal.

"One-two-three-four I won th—agh!!!" Aislinn wailed when Ryan managed to break his thumb free from the pin she'd had it in. Moments later, thanks to his longer and stronger thumbs, Ryan had pinned Aislinn's thumb and declared his victory.

"Not fair" Aislinn pouted.

"Aw, cheer up" he said, ruffling her hair into a mess. "Tonight, you'll grow up big and strong and be able to beat me! Just not in thumb wars, 'cause look at these babies" he adding, giving her two thumbs up.

Aislinn gave him a smile, but it held sadness. His comment was sobering for some reason, despite their earlier banter around age. "And if I don't?" She asked quietly, looking at Ryan and then at Rei. "We're so close to the Royal Pack lands...We aren't finding a witch, are we?"

"I will bring us a witch if you don't shift tonight" Rei vowed. "She is a witch I trust entirely" she added in an effort to give comfort to them.

"How come you have a witch that you trust, and I didn't know that?" Ryan demanded.

"There are many things you don't know yet, my love. It's not time for you to learn them; but, it may soon be time for you to meet my old friend" she explained, giving her son a small smile. She hated that she had so many secrets; but, to protect her son, she'd do whatever it took.

"That is hardly a satisfactory answer!" Ryan said in protest.

"Well, we don't have time to discuss it" Rei said, shutting her son down with no room for argument. "It's time...Let's prepare."

Ryan and Aislinn looked at Rei, and then each other, in shock. They'd managed to bicker and banter the time away so effectively that midnight was sneaking up on them. In a flurry, the two were up, undressed, and with Ryan shifted into Kenji, at Aislinn's side.

Rei stood beside Aislinn, and held her hand, while Aislinn kept a hand on Kenji's fur so the three felt connected. Aislinn closed her eyes and focused on her heartbeat, trying to keep her breathing calm as she waited.

"Ten...Nine...Eight..." Rei began, counting down the final seconds to midnight.

Aislinn took a deep breath and gave Rei's hand a tight squeeze, beginning to tremble with anticipation and fear.

"Seven...Six...Five..." Rei continued, returning the squeeze to Aislinn's hand.

"Four...Three...Two..." Aislinn counted in her head. This was it, the moment of truth, the moment that would prove to her if she was really a wolf. If her parents had lied to her for her whole life about the circumstances of her birth. If she'd meet a witch that Rei considered a friend.

Most importantly, though, if she'd keep being a burden on her loved ones.

"One"