At Dawn, in the Forest

Chapter 14

"Did you have something to eat yet?" Aiden asked.

Dawn shook her head. As she stood there partly under the tree and partly under the hot sun she became aware of the temperature outside. It was frustratingly hot. Why did she climb up that tree while the sun got at its highest point? She wasn't used to any extreme temperatures as it was always a steady twenty-one degrees in the lab. And her body let her know how unpleasant it felt. She scrunched her face and wiped the sweat of her forehead.

"Let's get inside where the AC is on," Aiden suggested. He had taken them to the kitchen and started making a rich sandwich, with lettuce, tomatoes, salmon, and pesto. All ingredients were nutritious and tasted good together, according to Aiden. Dawn just sat there, she didn't have a particular desire or liking to what went between the two slices of bread. She had forgotten about how good food tasted as she always got some grey mush at the lab, that looked like porridge, but wasn't anything like it at all. Even now she was free and had a couple of well-balanced meals, she had a hard time enjoying them. She had to focus on taste.

Dawn sat down on one of the barstools up against the kitchen island. There was something peaceful watching Aiden moving around in the kitchen and building two sandwiches. The way he effortlessly moved between the counters, cabinets, and fridge made the illusion he was floating in the air. He was swift and knew his next move after the other.

Once done Aiden stretched over the kitchen island and settled the plate with the salmon sandwich in front of Dawn. "Here you go."

"I am not hungry."

"I could hear your stomach growl when you were up in that tree. I know this might be hard, but now that you have the freedom to listen to your body, I would recommend doing so," Aiden finished his tip of advice with a wink. Trying to sound and appear rather playful than serious. He knew anything that would remotely sound like a lecture would only result in resistance from Dawn.

Silently and carefully Dawn ate her sandwich. After a couple of minutes, she finally could focus on what she was eating. There was still a fear lingering that somebody would take her food away. Even though the grey mush was horrible, without some fuel in that lab it was even worse. But once tasting the rich flavours of the salmon and pesto she almost moaned in content.

Aiden tried hard to suppress a chuckle. Just as Dawn wanted to ask if something was wrong, Max entered the kitchen. "Yo, Aiden, just the man I was looking for."

Aiden's face turned serious and he raised a brow. "Max, what have I told you about addressing me as one of your 'buddies'?"

Max face paled and his joyful demeanour changed into a much calmer and serious one. "My apologies, Beta Aiden. I forgot." It was now Dawn who raised her brow. She hadn't known that Aiden was a Beta. For some reason, she couldn't picture him in a high rank. She didn't know why, but there was something about Aiden that rather told calmness and kindness than screaming power. Or maybe she had forgotten how people in higher ranks were in packs and created a stereotype in her head.

Dawn tuned back into the conversation when Max was done speaking to Aiden and put something in front of her. "I need you to fill in these forms. I need them filled out at the end of the day." He lay a pen next to the forms and made his way out of the kitchen.

"Why do I need to fill these out?"

Max stuck his head around the corner. "It's for the council." Again he tried to leave but Dawn beat him to it. "What council?"

Max sighed. "You need to fill it out so the council will know your story. Once they have your testimony they will look at other evidence and if all goes well you may choose a pack of your choosing to stay in."