LOGINShare
Chapter 6: A Shadow of the Past
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Morgan froze after passing through the doorway and Aria watched from behind as his shoulders heaved up and down. Then, to her surprise, he calmly and quietly announced, “The engagement is off.” With a quick turn on his heel, he brushed past Aria out the door and started down the hall.
I’ve angered him. Aria thought as she stared after the stony figure of Morgan as he marched down the hallway. Shouting from the bedroom followed after him, but Aria was too engrossed in thought to comprehend what words were being said. I’ve hurt my friend. I’ve failed him. I need to leave. I shouldn’t even be here. I belong in the forest.
Morgan stopped his march and turned toward her. A quick surprised look crossed his face before a somber and thoughtful expression replaced it. His mouth opened and he started to say something, but his words were drowned out by the
Related chapters
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 7: The Aftermath
Aria lay alone on a stone bench in the garden. Morgan had let her out of the castle, hoping it would help calm her nerves, but her mind swirled as she strained to grasp at memories that might explain what had happened in his room that morning. Only foggy remnants came to her. Flashes of a little girl running through some forgotten forest. An old woman with long silver hair. A village of little wooden houses. Was the little girl her? And how long ago did these flashes of memory take place? Were these memories even hers or were they things she’d seen as a wolf? Aria groaned in frustration and adjusted her position on the bench. Her thoughts now turned to the events in Morgan’s chamber. His body had responded to her advances… but why? He knew she’d been a wolf. Was it possible that he could yet love her even as she was? The idea was ridiculous. She had been naked and what man wouldn’t take
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 8: Overwhelming Desire
Aria spent the better part of the day wondering the catacombs of hallways above and below the castle. She’d found many fascinating rooms including dance halls, torture chambers, prison cells, the armory, and trap doors in the guest rooms. The only place she didn’t seem to find was the library. Back on the gallery upon exiting yet another maze of hallways, she sat thoroughly frustrated and heaved a sigh. Perhaps this castle didn’t believe in keeping records on its various rulers and their accomplishments. It would be nonsensical, but they could be entering a change in times where such things didn’t matter. Come to think of it, she hadn’t ever seen a scribe in the king’s study or recording any of his meetings. If this was the case, her plan had just flown out the window.She decided to wonder outside the castle. It was a cool day but not too chilly, so the front doors of the fortress were
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 9: The Three Witches
Confliction filled her as she paced outside Morgan’s chamber door. She knew he was inside, but couldn’t bring herself to scratch on the door this time to be let in. After he’d stormed away in the archives, she’d left the building to clear her thoughts in the garden and had been avoiding him since. She’d been so angry with herself for causing him so much frustration. How could she tease him like that? How cruel could she be? And then she’d had the nerve to be angry that he’d finished the deed himself. What was he supposed to do? Mate with her as a wolf? She gave her large head a violent shake. She was so foolish! She paced with her paws hitting the stone harder now. She didn’t have control of the transformation, yet. Did she really think she could offer him enough time? She’d gone after him with no thought of what it would do to him. She’d only been thinking of herself. She had no
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 10: Whispers of Doubt
The next morning a shiny black carriage trimmed in gold was pulled through the gates by six black horses in golden trimmed harnesses. The carriage was escorted by eight mounted knights wearing engraved armor and behind them entered three more carts drawn by four horses each, piled high with various shiny treasures, foods, and gifts for the king. Whoever this was, desperately wanted to show off their wealth and impress the royal family. Watching from the portico, Aria was passed by King Aaron as he breezed by her to welcome the guest. From the front carriage emerged a tall woman decorated in the finest blue silk and black lace, with a full head of plumes and dark, shiny braids. “Good morning, King Aaron.” She said through bright red painted lips and offered a curtsey as he took one of her hands and kissed the top of it. She offered a crooked smile and began explaining briefly the contents of their finest that occupied the three carts that had fol
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 11: Princess Sophia
“There you are little one.” A man’s voice entered into Aria’s head that sounded like Morgan’s. She stretched against the stone near the hearth breaking away from the fog of her dream. It was cold against her body, the fire must not even have embers burning. She slowly opened her eyes and turned her head toward the male voice. A few inches from her face was the tip of an arow drawn in the strings of a tight bow held by a sneering Prince Philip. Her heart leapt into her chest and her eyes widened. How was she going to get out of this? He snickered at her alarmed expression. “You didn’t think I’d let you get away with what you’d done, did you?” He paused as if to let it soak in, though she knew he didn’t believe she could understand him, “I saved your life. I invited you into my home. I gave you food and a warm place to sleep. The
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 12: New Enemies
Hearing all of Morgan’s praises after the hunt and hearing him brag about her lifted Aria’s spirits. Especially when Sophia’s scowl made her face twist in ugly shapes. Aria couldn’t have been more pleased at making the woman so unhappy and successfully taking Morgan’s attention from her. Her tail hadn’t stopped wagging since his first positive word toward her. He’d then invited her up onto his horse and she road behind him the entire way back to the castle. Philip was waiting at the doors standing on the castle portico with his arms crossed over his chest. He had donned a long sleeve shirt that hid the tight wrap he’d covered his forearm with. She was surprised he’d not made a fuss about his arm – a sure way to get her kicked out of the castle. But, she supposed, he may not want her gone. As long as she was within a bowshot, he could get his revenge. A cold chill spread over Aria’s body as he stared her down while M
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 13: Gradual Changes
Feeling confident in her gown, but hoping the wrong person wouldn’t see her in it, she strolled out onto the gallery overlooking the mass of guests exiting the dining hall. It would seem she’d missed the meal, but she was counting on Morgan to save her something or at least ordering the servants to bring a tray to his room for her. She stood on the gallery surveying each person. She didn’t see Morgan and assumed he was still in the dining hall talking with other guests that enjoyed extended drinks at any hour. She slowly descended the stairs, her first time doing so with only two legs. One step at a time, she watched her feet and took the descent slowly, careful to hold the banister railing for support. The action felt strange and she was sure she’d trip over the dress and fall the rest of the way at any moment, but no sooner than the thought crossed her mind did she reach the bottom. As she looked up, she noticed a man watching her,
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 14: Poisonous Relationships
Aria woke from her spot on the bed with a stabbing pain in her gut. Her vision blurred as she tried to make out the bed posts and her legs wobbled underneath her as she tried to stand. Eventually she got her balance, but her stomach twisted inside as it pushed its contents up her esophagus. She stumbled to the edge of the bed and hurled. She heard Morgan shoot up behind her as her legs gave out again and she collapsed, falling off the bed to the hard floor below. “Aria!” Morgan threw the bedsheets off his legs and climbed over the bed and hopped down next to her lifting her off the floor to a standing position. “Aria, what’s the matter?” If only she could tell him. She didn’t have the strength to think. Her body felt completely depleted of energy and the world was spinning around her. OH, NO! Again, her stomach clenched in her abdomen and pushed more of its contents up. The action was repeated
Latest chapter
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 32: Almost Realizing
Absalom took a while to recover from the return of his memories. Aria hated to admit it but she was worried about him. Since she’d met him she’d never seen him so weak. She’d had to help him up from the floor and walk him to one of the tables in the outer room to sit down in what remained of their sunlight. She then walked through the village remains and found a home near the archive building that was still mostly intact and would protect them from the weather and provide some protection from lurking danger as well. After explaining its location to Absalom, she helped his heavy body up from the table and allowed him to lean on her a bit while they walked to the house. His body was hot against her skin and she tried to not notice.“Absalom, did you have a family before the attack?” She hoped she wasn’t bringing up painful memories but she was curious. She feared she was starting to really care about him. He’d been a Duke and Dukes usually had families, didn’t they?“I had a si
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 31: Striving for Truth
“Are you going to help or not?”Absalom’s voice sounded distant and when Aria looked up he was across the room studying a wall. Reluctantly she pushed up from the ground and shuffled her feet to another wall, angry that she’d let him get to her like that; angry that she was now so downcast; angry that her stupid body longed to please him and still longed for his touch. None of it made sense. She set out on this journey to be with Morgan. To become a full human or get control of this shape shifting so she could marry him and displace that stupid whore on his arm. Her chest burned and she held back a sob. She wasn’t sad; she was angry. She couldn’t remember ever being so angry in her life. Her fist pounded the wall but no sound erupted from the solid fortress and for that she was thankful. The last thing she needed was more mocking from Absalom. She could feel his eyes burning into her back now, but refused to give him the satisfaction of her attention and backed away from the
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 30: Give in to This Feeling
The doors opened but that was all. No threat they could see awaited them on the other side, so they cautiously stepped through the archway of the open door leading downward. Cold walls surrounded them and darkness engulfed the hallway they walked down. Soon, blue light began to illuminate their path from ahead and they emerged into a large underground cavern. Above where the walls met the ceiling was a strip of gel glowing blue and illuminating the room. The same was along each of the eleven pillars down the center of the room and at the base of the walls near the floor. There were no books or scrolls covering the walls, but instead what lined the walls were slabs of stone. Over the walls, on pillars, and in rows looking like book cases. Etched into every piece of stone in this cavern were more of the symbols they had discovered in their attempt to get into this place. “I hope there are no more riddles to solve.” Aria looked over to see that Absalom had turned back into his h
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 29: The Blood of a King
“I don’t recognize this one but it is similar to the symbol for blood.” He put his hand to his chin and brushed his goatee. Aria walked around to stand beside him so she could see the symbol he was studying. Instead, her eyes fell on Absalom. His eyes became intense and his jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth. Though his features were hard, she couldn’t help but think how handsome he was. It was a different kind of handsome than Morgan. Absalom embodied a type of regal-ness that demanded respect with his edgy jaw and muscular neck. His skin seemed slightly weathered yet healthy. Had he wanted to, he could have been an amazing leader in the human world. Even a king. His demeanor demanded respect. His jaw twitched again and his eyes flickered toward her but his head didn’t move, “Are you going to help me or just stare at me?” A chill shot down Aria's spine and she jerked her nose toward the wall and heard him huff next to her. Then out of her peripheral vision she saw him
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 28: More Riddles
Where is it? Aria’s head spun around looking for the vile creature that had invaded her body. “It’s gone.” Absalom’s voice rumbled through the air and he sighed heavily, then brought a hand up to rub his neck. “You did it.” He rose his eyes to meet hers and lifted one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile. Inside she beamed. “Think you can do it again?” Aria was silent for a moment and dropped her head watching the floor spin. The whole ordeal had taken much of her energy. How did I even do it? At first when she’d changed, Morgan… his smell… his touch… the thought of…! She stopped and looked up. Absalom’s glowing green eyes were pinpointed directly at her. “But it wasn’t your memory of Morgan this time, Aria. I tried that.” Aria huffed and tried to look away but couldn’t pull herself from his fixated gaze. Then her mind wondered back to her fight with the phantom. Flashes of Absalom’s voice commanding her to quiet, listen, and remember flitted through her memory but
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 27: An Unespected Breakthrough
Aria’s mind wrestled with the strong anger inside her. Somehow a surge of it seemed to overtake her along with a great sense of hopelessness. She struggled to open her eyes, but everything was black. Revenge her mind told her. Was it her mind? Her voice sounded different. Death, it said. When she opened her eyes, the world was in faded colors around her… except for him. Who was he? Her eyes honed in on a red form that was… wolf! Aria growled in her throat. She hated wolves. Wolves had trapped her away in a dark place. Wolves had killed her! Heat surged into her chest and she lunged at the large form in front of her. The wolf was quick to dodge out of her way, but she spun around to face him again. A noise sounded in her head, but it was inaudible. Still it tugged at something inside of her but an involuntary reflux pushed it away. Her body seemed to move on its own and she walked to where a scrap piece of a metal rod lay on the ground and picked it up, then began swi
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 26: A Ghost from the Past
Aria looked up and down the wall investigating any etching that resembled a word. On the wall in front of them, there was nothing. Absalom searched the floor around the tiles they’d been stepping on, nothing. Aria backed away from the wall and began to investigate further out on the floor. Other tiles were found with similar words that had also been on the wall mural, but none of them were the one they were looking for. From across the room, she heard a loud growl and raised her eyes to see Absalom with his arm behind his head grabbing a fist full of hair. The sight made her smile in amusement. He hadn’t seemed to be the type that was easily rattled, always so noble and in control of himself, even when he was driving her up the wall with his “tests”. She made it to the opposite wall where empty shelves lined it in elegant stony form and began to walk along it casually glancing up and down the shelves when an idea struck her. “Absalom!” His head snapped toward her and her sto
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 25: A Puzzling Experience
Three days later, Aria was still in her human form. She frowned as she pondered what could possibly be the cause to the seeming eternal human form. Absalom said nothing to her about it and she wondered at that too. Her human form used to last only moments and while two months ago she would have given anything to maintain her transformation this long, now it was hindering her mission. Aria grunted as she tripped over an exposed tree root and Absalom, who had been walking ahead of her, quickly turned around ready to attack, then relaxed as he realized there was no threat.“You should be more careful where you’re stepping.” Aria scowled over his obvious comment. Absalom grunted and turned back to his path. Aria was so deep in thought, she neglected to notice the familiar terrain Absalom was leading them through as she pushed a red leafy bush branch aside. She didn’t realize where they’d been headed until the dark wolf statue materialized in front of them as then entered Absalom’s
Werewolf Origins: Aria The Beginning Chapter 24: The Village of the Unmarked Wolf
After hours of walking, Aria’s feet burned with raw spots and cuts from the ruthless forest floor. Absalom hadn’t slowed since exiting the cave and his quick walk kept her at a slow jog. Her body was tired and though trying to breathe, she hadn’t a moment to ask any of the questions pressing on her mind. Absalom had stayed silent, barely uttering a word besides the occasional this way or watch your step. “I thought you said this village was just up ahead.” “It is.” His rumbling voice immediately silenced her desire to complain. His ability to demand her respect still annoyed her as did the urging from the wolf inside to submit to the desires he drew out in her. They climbed over more fallen trees and emerged onto a well-worn path. Absalom turned his nose up into the air and sniffed. Aria wondered that he could still use his wolf abilities in his human form. He stood still for a moment and then resumed walking. The path began to turn down into what appeared to be a ravine. T
