Aries
Chapter 23

This will be the last new chapter updated. Here on, other chapters will be edited and no more new chapters will be added.

To the old readers, I made some changes in chapter 21, because of which I had to split it into two. Don’t worry. That scene is not taken but moved to this chapter.

New readers, please to tell me about the continuity of this story. I am editing and tell me if you find something odd or off.

The clearing was… clear tonight. Under the thousand stars that lit his face, I could stay there, at that moment forever. With my breath held in just in awe of the male before me.

Just when I was about to pry my eyes off him, my ears caught a sound it had never caught before. It was the loud thud of the heart he had chosen for his life on earth. It was thrashing against the bony cage he had trapped it in.

Though there was about five feet distance between us, I felt it as if it was no longer than five centimetres. The moon shined kindly upon us and the stars played a teasing game of hide-and-seek. Occasionally a night bird would fly over us or a cricket would call out to its friends, but other than that, it was just me, Aries and our thumping hearts.

“This place,” I began, wanting to break that unknown silence. “Is not what it seems like, is it?”

He stared at me for a long time before he said, “You’re right. Long ago, when the worlds were being built, there were connections between the worlds. With time, the connections faded save for the Dungeons, Chasms, Tunnels and a few more. But some connections remained and this place is one such connection. Since it connects space, it connects time and matter too. What abstract here in this world may not be abstract in other. What three dimensional here need not be so in other worlds. Everything is a string of connections. Perhaps that’s why you saw those flashes. Flashes from the past.”

“You are saying that they may not be my memories?” I asked.

“After what Mizar told us,” Aries said. “I believe that those maybe your memories. That’s why I brought you here. If you want, we can try to find who you are.”

“If I am not ready?” I asked in a hoarse voice.

“This place is not going to run away, Lyra,” he said. “We can come here anytime you want.”

I sniffed. “Better get over with now.”

He nodded and licked his lips. “You want me to guide you or you can meditate on your own?”

I squatted in the spot I had last time and closed my eyes. “I will do it on my own. Just that, if I get trapped, pull me out.”

There was a hum and nothing else.

I shut down all the senses and tried to recall the flashes again.

My eyes could see nothing, but my ears could hear the whimpers of someone. When I forced my eyes, I could see that I was somewhere in the Origins.

“I can’t believe that they both are gone!” a female whimpered.

“Is Cosmos that cruel?”

At this point, I could recognise Tucana’s voice anywhere.

“Sometimes,” a male said. “I miss the Abyss. It was equally cruel there too, but at least we knew it was cruel. This is totally different. I can’t bear this.”

“Roslyn… I pity her,” Tucana said. “She is a star and she is suffering in Abyss.”

“The Abyss would have squeezed the innocence out of her,” another female said.

“Do you know?” another male asked. “What Cosmos did to Leo and her?”

“Leo?” I asked. When did I accept it was me? “I thought we are talking about Ophiucus and Volans.”

“Cosmos ripped both pairs apart,” Tucana whispered. “She allowed our sister and Leo to live while she put Ophiucus and Volans under deep slumber.”

“Do…” the first male began. “Do Polaris know about this?”

“If he did,” the first female said. “He would not allow this to happen.”

“What of…” my voice began. “What of Csilla? She too is not available?”

“Csilla had gone reclusive,” Tucana said. “Ursa used to talk to her frequently and now contacting her is a difficult task.”

“Guys!” a new voice said. “Aries had gone berserk and Cosmos is going to throw him in the Abyss.”

There was a panic in my voice. “What do you mean? Aries is a Warrior. Why would he be thrown there?”

The third male said. “Ursa was trying to stop it. Apparently, Cosmos tried to erase the memories of all of us in the Warriors.”

“That’s outrageous!” Tucana interrupted. “He can’t… Canis can’t forget me.”

“Listen,” the third male snapped. “I don’t know how many it worked on, but while doing so… Cosmos messed with Aries. In his mind, she made it appear that Ophiucus and our sister were the same people. While she changed his memory like that, he thought of the tortures both went through and he went berserk. Other Warriors… they forgot about us. Cosmos… she changed just his like that.”

“So?” I breathed heavily. “She had to throw him in the Abyss?”

“Not just him,” the second female said. “She even messed with Gemini. Bad. But unlike Aries, he did not go berserk.”

“How would you know this?” Tucana asked.

“You are not the only one who is in contact with the Warriors,” she said. “We all are. I just… worry for Lyra here.”

“She can’t throw him there,” I kept whispering. “She can’t.”

While a warmth surrounded me, I kept whispering just that over and over again. “She can’t throw him there.”

Someone shook my body and I gasped as I pried my eyes open. Aries was shaking me and I was still whispering what I had in that memory.

“Lyra?” he called in a soft voice. “Are you with me?”

I nodded and my vision was blurred. The despair and the pain I felt in the flashes rocketed through this body. It took me a whole minute to calm down.

“What was that, Lyra?” he asked after my breath came down to normal. “Who can’t throw who where?”

I bit my lips and touched my forehead to his. But this time, I sent the memories to him. There was a barrier in his mind, but I could easily breach it.

After this flash got over, it was Aries who was thrashing on the ground. His body arched as if I had injected a strong dose of strychnine poison in him. Then his body curled and his hands wound over his flexed knees. His lips were sealed, but I could see that scream that was threatening to come out.

He flinched away when I tried to touch him. I tried again and used my force to hug him tight. He tried to move from my embrace, but I would not let go. Was it how it was when I first had the flash of memory? He had not let go of me then, I would not let go now.

Slowly, his ashed quivering lips pressed together and he opened his eyes. When his silver ones met mine, his eyes became glassy. Like he remembered something far yet could not recall it.

I pulled his head on my lap and pushed his hair from his face. “I am sorry. I should not have-”

He coughed before he said, “You did right. My memories were altered alright. I just wish I could know what was.”

“You did not come to know what was altered?” I asked.

He shook his head lightly. “No. I tried to remember, but I could not. But… the female who meant a lot to Leo is not Ophiucus. I mean, she did mean a lot to us both, but she is not the other one. I don’t even know if I am making any sense.”

“You don’t need to,” I whispered. “You don’t need to.”

He cleared his throat and then rested his head comfortably on my lap. “Feels good.”

I frowned. “What feels good?”

“Just being here,” he said. “With you.”

A blush rose to my cheeks. “It does.”

Silence filled us again and this time, it was comfortable. Like it was there for us to bond more.

I sighed. “What happened back then?”

“Don’t know,” he said. “But it is more than what I know. Or more than what I remember. I have to have a talk with others though.”

I hummed. “As much as I like it here, can we leave? I want to go out and have something solid. Forget about this for just two hours.”

Aries smiled and for a second everything was alright in my world. “A dinner it is.”

*************

“So…” he drawled as we stood on the outskirts of a city in the East Coven. “Fancy restaurant or somewhere cosy and warm?”

I stared at him before I shook my head. “You own Steel don’t you?”

He nodded slowly. “I do.”

“Do you know how big company it is?” I asked incredulously.

He blinked. “I own it. I think I do.”

I exasperated. “I never see you work. That’s why I am asking.”

He frowned. “You want me to go and work?”

I groaned and threw my hands in the air. “I am asking how it is still working perfectly? Like you are not there and…”

“I check in there once a while,” he said, shrugging. “Like a minute ago when we were running here, I checked in with Regina, my assistant. She gave me all the updates in that second and I told her what to do further. If you are a star, you can do many things and to be honest, I can be here and still read the minds of all the employees there.”

“Isn’t that a hassle?” I asked.

He thought for a second and then said, “I got used to it more likely.”

“So…” I asked as we both began to walk down the night market. “You just check in there once a while but get your work done and still earn?”

He hummed. “If you put it that way, yes. But by Cosmos, you make it sound like I don’t work at all and yet earn.”

I gasped. “I never meant it in that way-”

He threw his head back and laughed. “I know. I started that in an impulse. Leo began a sports car brand, Capricorn a chain of hotels and Taurus a shipping business and I invested in weapons.”

I shook my head. “I think we can go somewhere warm and cosy. I am definitely not dressed for somewhere fancy.”

He gave my attire a lookover. “My T-shirt and pant. Sounds good to me.”

I swatted his arm and found a bustling little diner. I thought we had to wait, but I forgot the advantages of having a star with you. He just changed the memory of the diner girl and she gave us two seats at the corner of the diner where no one could see us. In addition, he made me sit in such a way that I was blocked off from the diner.

I shook my head and ordered some fries and a pizza while he ordered smilies and a double cheeseburger. Together we ordered vegetable soup and some lemon soda to go with.

“How do we pay?” I asked after the waitress left.

“I asked Regina to net transfer the cash,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”

He held my hand. “Just eat food and don’t worry.”

I glanced at the way he was holding my hands. “What is this?”

“Don’t people hold hands?” he asked.

That confusion on his face was so darn cute. The way his forehead crinkled and his eyes danced everywhere but on me.

I smiled. “People do.”

The confusion left and a smile flirted back. “Good.”

When our food came, we ate, sharing our food. For a moment, I thought of a cute teenage movie I had seen two years ago where the male lead would take the female to a cosy hotel and they would have a date. Why did this scene have a strong resemblance with that?

Before I could contemplate, Aries asked, “What’s your favourite food?”

I placed my slice of pizza down and gave it a deep thought. “Actually, I don’t have a favourite food as per se. I eat if I am hungry. But… I really do love everything my father cooks. You?”

“Spicy and cheesy,” he said. “Nothing can beat this combo.”

I laughed. “True that.”

“What do you do in your free time apart from hearing music?” he asked.

I blinked and smiled. “I did not know that we are playing twenty-one questions.”

“I can’t think of twenty-one questions,” he said. “So… let’s cut the number down.”

I laughed again. “Okay. I do love to… what do I do? I use most of my free time to catch up with my sleep. I do many all-nighters and have a lot of sleepless nights in the lab. So… if I get time, I sleep. Apart from that, I do listen to music and if I have a lot of free time, I help my mother in her candle making.”

“You make candles?” he asked in wonder. “You could have potentially begun a business.”

I shook my head. “My mom should have. She made candles of all shapes, sizes and designs and scents. But sometimes, I don’t make candles, but carve them. I know, weird.”

“Not weird,” he said. “Just different.”

“You… do gardening in your free time,” I said. “Run your business and train the princess. Did I get it right or did I miss something?”

“You got everything,” he said with a satisfied smile. “It’s actually terrifying how well you know about me.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You make me sound like I am your stalker.”

“Stalker and a slave,” he commented.

“Shut up!” I said, throwing a fry at him, which he caught it skillfully with his mouth by the way.

“Ain’t it true?” he asked cheekily.

“You know what else is true?” I asked. “Aries hiding things from Lyra.”

That smile from his face vanished and he sipped his soda. “How did you know?”

“I sort of guess it,” I said. “I mean… I don’t know how well you can read me, Aries. I can read you up pretty good.”

“Read me up pretty good?” he said. “Damn good. Does nothing ever slip past by you?”

“Many things do,” I said.

“And I don’t?” he asked.

I looked into his eyes and for a minute I forgot to breathe. There was a question in his eyes for which my heart was beating an answer. I could literally feel that muscular organ trying to break the bony cage nature gave it for its own protection.

“You don’t,” I whispered.

His gaze left my eyes for a moment before they swept across my lips, my face and finally on my eyes again. He leaned in just as an inch. Was it to tell a secret or was it to kiss?

Before I could find the answer to that, the waitress came to collect our empty dishes and with her arrival, whatever spell we had woven around us, snapped. Or rather retreated back shyly.

“Bill will be paid,” he said and stood up.

Taking the last sip of my soda, I left the diner with him. While many did give me a weird look for the attire I was wearing, I ignored them all. Who cared about this anyway? I was wearing his shirt and others could go to hell.

He carried me in his arms suddenly when we were on the outskirts of the city and he began to run. I wound my hands around his neck and buried my face in his chest. For that one second of the run, I was in haven.

But it all came crashing down when he stopped on the beach, in Varian’s property. We were back to where the night had begun.

The entire night had been a rollercoaster for me. Finding so many things to uncovering nothing at all.

My emotions, they were still raging on. If anything, it became even higher after dinner. And that run… it did things to me. If I had been afraid that he would find out what I was feeling earlier, I was sure he would have known by now. The lock I had put over me completely melted when we went to that diner. There was something in that diner that made me forget who I was, who he was and made me think that we had been a couple on a date. That was all. If he had been lost to me as I was to him, he would not have noticed the change, but if not, he would have. But being here, he definitely would notice the change and I had to hide before he did. Or at least bring the subject up.

Biting my lips, against the warning of my mind, I walked towards my room. It was a good thing that it had another door that led to the beach.

Ignoring his heated stare, I walked through the garden he maintained. Tonight the night flowers had bloomed to their highest and were calling the insects.

Smiling at the flower, I opened the door and took a step in when I felt him stand behind me. How could I ever outrun him?

Signing, I entered the room and turned to see him softly close the door behind him.

“What do you want?” I asked.

He folded his arms across his chest and smirked. “It’s my room, too.”

What was wrong with him? This was not the Aries I knew. Did someone possess him? I frowned and leant towards him to catch a whiff of his scent.

And that was a mistake I made. My breath caught. I had not noticed this at the diner. I would have noticed even a slight change about him. I had caught his scent so many times and tonight was the first time there was something else in his scent.

Something that had my blood roar to the call of his. That tried to snap the restraint I had put on myself. That wanted to possess me and I would have gladly let it.

It was the scent of his arousal. And it fed mine.

I gasped, but my lungs refused to let go off the air permeated with his scent.

Could stars have their own aphrodisiac? Could someone have added in his food? I had to check the diner again.

His eyes darkened. “You... you can smell me? Since when?”

I gulped and opened my mouth, but only air left. He came another inch forward, forcing me to step back.

“Since when?” he asked and this time in that soft voice of his.

I moaned out loud. This was not me. Something had indeed happened tonight.

“Si-since I met you,” I gasped.

He froze. “From the beginning?”

I nodded and bit my lips. I could no longer trust my voice box.

His gaze narrowed down on my lips. “Impossible.”

I peeked up. “What do you mean? You never allowed me to scent you?”

He shook his head. “Never. I always had my guard up. That’s why I wonder how you can smell me.”

He had never allowed me? That what was that smell that his skin gave off? The scent of his body wash? I mentally snorted. If so, I should have been able to explain that scent. It was a smell I have smelt only on him.

“How could this be possible?” I whispered back.

He came another inch closer and I refused to move back. When he saw this, the corners of his lips tilted up.

“That’s what I am asking you, Lyra. How is it that you can?” he asked. “Tell me what you smell.”

I shook my head. “I can’t.”

He shrugged. “Try me. Only a few can smell me and they have said what I smell like. I want to hear your thoughts.”

A blush out of nowhere lit my face. “I can’t because it is not something if earth. All I can sense is a hint something fresh yet mangled with embers of death. And it is quite different at different times.”

He nodded and leaned in. “What do you smell now?”

“Arousal,” I whispered.

He groaned at the back of his throat. “By the Moon! The things you do to me, Lyra.”

I moaned again when his tongue licked the shell on my ear. His breath hot on my neck. “I wish... I could only wish.”

Seeing the curls of his black hair, I brought my fingers and ran it through them. It was as soft as I thought it would be. What shampoo did he use? It would help a lot of girls.

My other hand decided to be bold and move on his back. Seeing that I was no longer holding back, he brought his arms around my waist.

“Your scent, it drives me crazy,” he admitted in a low voice in my ears. “So filled with need.”

This was not the star, the Warrior I knew. Yet, Not a single cell in my body moved.

“Do you think that that puny wolf can give you anything?” he suddenly growled.

As if my body was not already on fire born from the flames from him.

“W-what?” I managed to ask through my lust.

“That wolf who claims to be your mate,” he said, nipping my ears and eliciting a gasp. “Eric.”

I blinked and frowned. If I was not wrong, he was jealous. That tone of his voice gave it away. I suppressed my urge to laugh. Who was he to me to question this? We had been on just one date and it was not even a date.

It was me who had a stupid crush that turning something more each day with him. Could what Ant said to be true?

“Eric?” I said, chuckling. “You said he claims. I am not his mate, Aries.”

He pulled back a little and what I saw took my breath away.

Vulnerability and insecurity were visible on each angle of his face. For the first time, he had no guard up. Nonesoever. I could even hear the beat of his heart.

But why should this star be insecure? He could have anything he wanted in a blink of an eye. Do anything he wished. He had no authority over him save the Cosmos itself.

Placing one hand over his heart and using the other to push away the curls from his face, I asked, “What is it?”

“Andrew,” he said. “Had you given him a chance in the past, Lyra, he could have been your mate. Will you choose another?”

I smiled. “Where are all these thoughts coming from, Aries? Did you not hear what I told Andrew?” Then I groaned, “I said to him that I could be... By the Moon! I could be fucking you. I said I could claim you. You ask me this question?”

He closed his eyes. “Sorry. Something in me snapped. When Mizar was talking about the bonds and then I was thinking about everything else.”

I nodded and willed my heart to beat under my control and not to the rhythm if his heart. “I am not going to choose Eric or Andrew. Rest well.”

An infinity of silence washed over us and to my surprise, it was not a bit awkward. We both could have moved away from each other, but we clung on.

“Forgive me,” he implored after a length, running his hand through my hair that had come out from the ponytail. “When I heard that Alpha Eric say that you were his mate, Lyra, I will admit, I was overcome with raging jealousy. I wanted to storm into his pack and raze it down to cinders.”

What was about him tonight? He was all sweet at dinner and now he was all possessive. What was wrong with him?

Then he said something in a language that I sure did not belong to Earth. While my brain did its best to translate it, I could not understand anything more than a few words. It was like there was a seal over the memory I had. There were a few words which I could understand as, ‘life’, ‘soul-bound’, ‘time’ and ‘heart.’

“What did you say?” I asked just to confirm what I heard was right.

But he ignored me. “When that Andrew said he wanted to be your mate, I wanted to throttle him. How could he say he wanted to be your mate? As if you are an ordinary female.”

I looked in his eyes to see the passion and something warm in those silver eyes. A shiver ran up my spine when what I felt for him became clear to me. The lust that had been pumping in me, faded, giving away to a much stronger emotion. I now knew that I merely did not like him. Like was a weak word for what I felt for him.

That one gaze had been my undoing. It spoke so loudly and clearly what he felt without a filter and it stunned me.

“In that food court, I had wanted to announce to everyone that you were mine,” he said, leaning in again and whispered the last word in my ear. “But then, you did it and it satisfied me to no end.”

I tried to laugh. “I claimed you. It is not the same as you-”

He chuckled darkly in my ears. “Trust me, darling. It is the same. Is it because I am a star and you are a shifter that you think it won’t be?”

I did not have anything to say. I simply nodded.

He rested his head over mine as he muttered. “When will you see?”

But what was he trying to mean? Who was he to me to ask these questions? Was... Could it be possible for me to be his Soul-Bound? If it was, why was he not telling it to me?

I wanted to pull my hair. Don’t people usually found where they stood in a relationship before heading somewhere else? Or did the directly jump into this?

“What are you doing, Aries?” I asked. “What are we?”

“Whatever you want us to be,” he whispered. “I will no longer lie, Lyra. I like you. A lot. If you do, we can take this further, but if you don’t. Say it now. I will try to walk away with the little dignity I have left.”

I rested my arms comfortably around him and used his body as leverage to stand up to his height. I snaked up one hand to his head and brought it down.

“You doubt what I feel for you?” I asked. “Even after today’s… date?”

“Remember when I once said that I would be able to read you like I breathe? I can feel your emotions, Lyra. I can read you as much as you can read me. But the right thing would be to ask your consent. I bet it should be before the date. Do you care about the order?”

“I don’t care about the order. And you ask me while trapping me in your embrace?” I smiled.

He grinned and that took my breath away. “Oh! This is to make sure that you don’t run away.”

I rolled my eyes. “I can run from you?”

The grin widened. “Now you are understanding.”

I shook my head. “But... but you have seen so many in the past. Must have. What makes me different? There must be quite a few-”

“There must have,” he agreed. “But I have never seen them as I do now. Why so... I hope you can understand it one day.”

I nearly pouted. “Why can’t I understand now? Was it something that has to do with the vision you saw?”

“No. I still can’t recall the vision. That’s why I was a bit bothered tonight. Next date, Lyra, I will be sure to not even think about anything but you. I am saying you can’t understand because I am afraid of losing you,” he said.

I glared at him as I glanced at his lips. The full lips that I was sure could have never kissed a creature of earth.

I licked my own. Finally tired of the battle I had with my mind and heart I leaned in. Just a few centimetres, I would know how it would be to kissed by the male you loved.

He leaned in and everything stopped for me when his lips brushed against mine.

What I had felt before was nothing compared to what I felt now. This was not a kiss as per se and I was already gone.

My body lit on fire and each nerve endings cane alive. And that traitor heart of mine mimicked his heartbeat, which was quite fast. It was a delicious feeling. I simply wished to be drunk in his kisses. I brought my hands behind his neck.

When I had fallen for him, I never knew. Was it when he held me during the times I cried or was it when he knew when and how to push me to my limit? Or was it when he showed me his caring side, vulnerable side? When was it?

Or did it even matter?

It scared me. This feeling. It was fast. I had known him for a month and a half and yet... I felt it was fast. Or was it slow? Was there a time limit?

These questions would surely cause me a huge headache.

He gave a little pressure to kiss me deeply when another pressure in my head tore me apart.

Groaning, I pulled away to see that Brent was screaming at me via our pack link.

Seeing that something serious was happening, Aries let go of me and took a few steps back.

I tried to open my mouth but he shook his head as he left through the back door to the gardens.

I snapped in our link. What is it?

Andrew, Alpha, Brent said. He is acting weird.

Did you call me to inform that?

What is wrong with you? Rhaze asked. Why are you so agitated?

Could I say that they had interrupted a special moment for me? That Aries might withdraw into his closed personality again? That he might regret his decision of kissing me?

Something had possessed him to open up and I was glad for that. These people had to spoil it. Just had to.

When I was going to meet Andrew next time, I was going to rip his throat apart.

He is harming himself, Alpha, Brent said. He was cutting himself with a dagger.

This caught my attention. What happened?

Don’t know, Brent said. He said it had something to do with Nira.

That was when Rhaze butted in. Reece linked me. Said she tried to link you but you were busy. She said that the West a pack is going to kill Nira.

Why? I asked.

Dunno, my sister replied.

I saw Aries’ silhouette out there. Was he waiting for me to finish up?

Rhaze, I said. Connect with Reece to check our situation in West Pack. Brent, take care of Andrew. He is important. Sedate him if you must.

Done, Alpha, Brent said. He is sedated and sleeping. I will monitor him.

I will contact Reece, Rhaze said.

Then both left the pack link.

I sighed and opened the door to let me out. Cool winds greeted me.

“It was something happening between Andrew and Nira,” I said. “I am sorry.”

“It is I who should be sorry,” he said.

“Why?” I asked. “What?”

“I should explain why it is you for me,” he said. “Why it will always be you.”

I took a step forward. “Why?”

He shook his head. “Not now.”

I sighed. “Why not? If not now, then when?”

“I am a coward,” Aries said. “Right now, I am. When I find my guts again, I shall say. You should know before you think about giving me a chance. I tried to take that chance from you tonight and I would have if not for the interruption.”

I frowned. “Aries-”

Before I could finish the sentence, he began to shift. Was it going to a wolf or other skin he traded nowadays at night?

As he traded his one skin for another, Midnight stood before me for a second, gazing into my eyes with that silver eyes before walking into the night.

A/N: How was the chapter? I hope it did have the substance it had in the original draft.

As for Taurus, there will be an update tomorrow. I did not forget it. I just thought that if I wrote Taurus after editing Aries, you guys would understand Taurus better. That’s all.

And... people, please stay safe because of the pandemic virus. Always use the sanitizers and handwashes as frequently as possible. Avoid going to crowded places and try not to touch your eyes, nose and mouth with your hands. If you are using a mask, don’t touch the side that faces the environment. Stay safe guys. be careful.

Until next update,

~Quill

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