Veritas

Chapter 36

"He's the reason for all of it!" Aislinn shouted angrily, tears of frustration and hatred shimmering in her eyes.

Upon being embraced by Ryan, she just stood still, trembling with rage. "He planned dad's death, or at least knew it would happen! And because of that, and because I saw it, mom and I were exiled and she died! Because of him I don't have my wolf! It's all his fault, all of it! He's a monster!" She practically screamed, before burying her face in Ryan's chest to try to catch her breath. She could feel her heart racing, her blood pounding in her ears, and she was still shaking with the adrenaline coursing through her. Ryan was rubbing soothing circles on her back, trying to calm her; but, she could feel his rage rolling off of him in waves. He was feeling exactly what she was.

And so her thoughts continued. What would she do with this information? Revenge. That's what she needed. She wanted to kill her supposed mate, or at least hurt him...But how could she hurt the strongest, and arguably most guarded werewolf in the world?

"I can't believe that" Rei said quietly, but loud enough for Aislinn to hear and snap her from her spiralling thoughts. Her comment was directed to Gwen, though, who gave a questioning hum in reply.

"I've followed the King. You and I have both kept tabs on the Royal Pack, and this doesn't make sense. Why would the King want to sabotage his own kingdom? Risking the barrier of the Royal Pack territory is ridiculous" Rei reasoned, trying to work through the illogical pieces with the one individual who was still calm and mostly detached from the situation.

"Maybe it's a sign of goodwill" Gwen offered with a shrug. "I think having witches on his side would help both species immensely, honestly" she admitted.

"But the barrier is there to ward against vampires and witches alike, so he's opening it up to both if he tampers with it. There's no point in joining forces with both, so what possible reason is there?" Rei insisted, not wanting to believe her King was the monster they were portraying him to be.

"We could always go ask him directly" Aislinn said with deadly calm. She had decided that the best way to seek revenge was to first get close to the monster.

Gwen let out a mocking laugh. "Yeah, great idea. 'Hi Mr. Leader of the Werewolves, sir. Could you tell us why you're openly turning your back on your own kind to work with vampires and witches?'" She said in a fake voice, pretending to bow to an invisible King as she spoke.

"Stop it, Gwen" Rei said with a sigh, knowing she was just going to wind up upsetting Ryan and Aislinn more.

"What do you propose, then?" Ryan demanded of the witch, surprising his mother with keeping his cool.

"Hm" Gwen hummed again in thought. After a brief moment, she shrugged and laughed. "Sorry, got nothing. I guess the plan is to go ask him, then!"

Ryan rolled his eyes, but Aislinn was internally celebrating this development. To kill a King, one must first be within killing distance of a King, after all.

"You once said that he's banned all unmated she-wolves from entering the Royal Pack. How do we get in when two of us are unmated she-wolves?" Rei asked, hoping that Gwen had come up with a plan to resolve this issue. She wanted to get into the palace to discover the true culprit behind the underhanded plots happening in the palace, and save the reputation of her beloved ruler. She had to believe that the dreams were only a snapshot of what was going through his mind, and not actually his reality.

Gwen reached into her coat's deep pocket and pulled out three necklaces. "With these" she replied, trying to hide her pride in her creations. "They're talismans I created using the hair you gave me, one for each of you. They'll alter your scent, voices and appearance...So all three of you will appear as men!"

"But I am a man" Ryan responded, temporarily distracted from his murderous rage by the magical items before them.

"Yes, but you don't want your scent or voice recognized, and I figured disguising your appearance was a good idea too. So that's what you get!" She snapped back at him, offended he was trying to find fault in her plan or her talismans.

"Thank you, Gwen!" Rei cut in, stopping the two before an argument broke out. She stepped forward and held her hands out to receive the talisman. What Gwen placed in her hand was a necklace of strong, black, leather-like cord with a small pentagram-shaped stone inscribed with various markings. As soon as it touched Rei's bare hands, it began to shimmer.

"Try it on" Gwen urged.

Now, Aislinn and Ryan were both temporarily distracted from their rage and hatred. The two turned their attention to Rei, as she placed the talisman over her head. The instant that the stone hit her chest, Rei's body began to glow. Sounds of cracking and shifting as if she was shifting could be heard, and moments later the glowing stopped.

Aislinn gasped.

Ryan made a choked sound of disbelief.

Gwen burst out laughing and shouted "you're hot, Rei!"

Gwen's statement caused the tall, muscular man now standing in Rei's place to blush. Where Rei had longer hair, the man's hair was cut fairly short, but still long enough for that bed-head look. Despite having a similar shape to Rei's blue eyes, the man's didn't hold the love and warmth that Rei's had; instead, his were cold and gave a sense of danger.

"Now say something" Gwen urged, grinning so big it could practically be seen from under her coat.

"Uh..Hi" Rei tried, her feminine voice now deep, but silky smooth to the ears.

"Oh, I'm loving this" Gwen said, laughing again. "What do you think, Ryan?"

Ryan shook his head in disbelief. He felt like he was looking at his doppelgänger, and didn't know how to feel about it. He'd always known most of his looks were from his mom's side of the family; but, this was an odd way to see just how true that was!

Seeing that Ryan was a bit too stunned to answer, Aislinn gave Gwen and Rei both a big grin and decided to answer for him. "I guess he calls you dad now?"