Veritas

Chapter 64

"Aislinn? Are you alright?" Drystan asked, slowing his racing pace down to make sure she was okay when he felt her jerking awake.

"Mhmm" Aislinn replied sleepily, rubbing her eyes. She felt a bit more relieved now, knowing that Gwen would be able to find Rei and Ryan. At least her family wasn't entirely alone against a kingdom of werewolves anymore.

Uncertain how to reply to such a simple response, Drystan nodded in acknowledgement and then continued running. Aislinn was on Drystan's back, her cheek resting on the icy skin of his shoulder as she watched the walls rush past her. There was no light at all in the tunnel, making it harder for her to see; fortunately, Drystan's superior night vision removed the challenge entirely. Feeling the wind rush through her hair as they flew through the tunnels reminded her of riding on the backs of her wolf family, and made her heart ache a little. Additionally, the air and Drystan's icy skin caused a shiver to run through her.

Feeling the wolf shiver, Drystan skidded to a stop immediately. "You are cold" he observed.

"No, you are cold. I'm just getting cold" Aislinn retorted in a playful manner.

"Semantics" Drystan retorted, setting Darius down on the ground so he could help Aislinn off of his back. "Take some time away from me" he instructed.

Aislinn obeyed and climbed down from his back, still wrapped in his shirt. "Does it feel weird having a little heat generator on your back?" She asked, her curiosity returning as most of her fears had been addressed for the moment. The King wouldn't recognize her as his mate, and Rei and Ryan would have a powerful witch helping them, so she could focus on the present again.

"I imagine similar to the feeling you had of sleeping on an ice pack" Drystan responded, his voice still monotonous; but, Aislinn knew he was trying to carry on her own playful banter and it made her smile.

Once Drystan picked Darius up again, tucking him under his arm like a football, he and Aislinn began their trek anew. This time, though, their pace was much slower as Aislinn walked beside Drystan in a comfortable silence, using the cold emanating off of him as her guide in the darkness. Eventually, though, and to Aislinn's surprise, Drystan broke the silence.

"You seem much calmer after your rest" he observed.

"I am...I had time to think some things through" she responded, not wanting to tell him about conversing with Gwen in case he just thought she was crazy.

"What things?" Drystan asked, wanting to keep the conversation going.

"Well...I was worried the King would recognize me when he woke up. Rei has a friend who's a witch, and she gave us talismans to disguise us while we were in the Royal pack...But mine is no longer disguising me. I was scared that meant he'd find out I'm his mate, and I didn't know what that would mean" she explained.

"The King is...Your mate?" Drystan asked hesitantly. "How can you be certain if you still do not have your wolf?"

"Oh! Well, uh...It's hard to explain. The witch basically figured it out, and it's part of why I don't have my wolf yet. He hates me so much that it's impacting my wolf through the mate bond" she explained while twisting her hands anxiously. "Since he wants to kill his mate and all, I was stressing over it...But, I need my wolf for him to figure it out, right? So it'll be okay" she added.

Drystan took this information in silently, seeming to be mulling it over in his head. After a few more quiet moments between the friends, he spoke again. "So you had the opportunity to kill the King, or leave him for dead, and chose to rescue him despite the danger to yourself?"

"Yeah. I mean...He doesn't have a son, and I didn't know his dad was still around, so I've just assumed for a while that if he died, we'd lose our structure. With no Alpha King, I was always taught that we'd crumble as a society...With what seems like a war on the horizon, it's more important to save him and werewolf kind instead of myself" she explained with a sigh. "Even knowing the former King is there, though, I don't understand why he gave his throne to his son while he was still alive...So I figured it was best to continue protecting the current King" she reasoned.