Are you my Aria?

Chapter 9

Damon’s POV

“Yes, you want me,” I whispered, my voice thick with desire…and something darker. Desperation.

If she wanted me… if we gave in… maybe that would be enough. Maybe the chains would shatter. Maybe I’d finally be free.

My lips hovered over hers, so close I could taste the heat of her breath. Her lashes fluttered. Her body trembled beneath my grip.

Then…

BANG!

The door burst open.

“I’m sorry, Lord! I didn’t know you were here!” Selene gasped, bowing her head in fear.

Ivy flinched. I blinked like someone waking from a trance. The moment shattered.

I yanked my hands away from her and vanished….teleporting straight into the cold solitude of my own chambers.

I stood there, fists clenched, chest heaving.

What the hell are you doing, Damon?

I dropped to my knees.

My hands trembled, guilt sinking its claws deep into my chest. My head bowed low, touching the marble floor. My voice was a whisper against the silence.

“You told yourself you’d never touch another. You told her…Aria…you’d be loyal. Forever.”

But here I was… ready to betray her memory.

The chains around my body pulsed violently. A sharp, searing pain struck me like a whip made of fire. I gasped, curling into myself as I clawed at my chest, begging for relief that wouldn’t come.

You deserve this, I thought bitterly.

All I wanted… was to die. To vanish. The curse wouldn’t let me…not until she, my bride, removed the chains.

And once she did…

I’d disappear.

I’d finally be able to join Aria. My first and only love.

Tears burned behind my eyes. As I broke, my mind drifted..no, plunged…into the past…

~~ 999 Years Ago - The Past ~~

“Alpha Damon!”

I turned sharply. My Beta's voice carried through the wind like a blade.

“The demons!” he shouted, panting. “They've taken Lady Aria!”

My blood ran cold.

“No…”

I didn’t wait for details. I shifted into wolf form, my paws tearing across the forest floor like fire. My heart roared louder than the thunder above.

When I reached the demon grounds… the stench of blood hit me first.

Then I saw her.

Aria.

Lying still. Her white dress soaked in red. Her beautiful, gentle eyes…lifeless.

I collapsed beside her, my hands shaking as I cradled her cold body. “Aria… please…”

But she was gone.

Gone.

A scream tore from my throat, not that of a man…but a beast. I held her tight as if I could bring her soul back with sheer will.

Then… they came.

Demons. Dozens.

I fought like a man possessed. Until I couldn’t.

Until they knocked me down, drained me, cursed me.

Chains…ethereal, invisible…latched onto my body and soul, forged in dark magic.

“You will not die,” the demon lord hissed. “You will suffer… until your fated bride finds you. Only then will you be free. Only then… will you vanish.”

I tried everything to end it. Sword. Fire. Drowning. Nothing worked.

The curse was absolute.

And so, I waited. Century after century. For my bride.

For death.

~~ Present - Damon's POV ~~

I blinked back into the present, cold sweat covering my skin. My breaths came in short, broken gasps.

Ivy couldn’t be Aria. She was… too modern. Too bold. Too shameless. She dressed like sin, spoke like a rebel, and had a mouth that made my blood boil.

And yet…

There was something about her that made the chains react.

That made me react.

Why her?

Why did I want her?

No… she couldn’t be Aria.

Because if she was…

Then fate was playing the cruelest trick of all.

And I wasn’t sure I could survive it twice.

Then I heard footsteps…soft, steady…pulling me out of the spiral in my head.

She stepped into the room.

Ivy.

Her presence wrapped around the space like a quiet storm. She paused at the door, her posture stiff, cautious… guarded.

“I’m here at your service,” she said, bowing slightly, her voice neutral, her eyes not meeting mine.

And just like that, something inside me cracked.

The ache returned…sharp and breathless.

But laced within it was shame.

The moment I saw her, something deep inside me stirred..a ripple I couldn’t control.

Not lust. Not anger.

It was… aching.

Real.

Raw.

And before I could stop it, a tear escaped the corner of my eye.

I hadn’t cried in centuries. But there she stood, like a ghost I couldn’t explain, and I felt the overwhelming urge to throw myself into her arms. To hold her like I’d lost her a thousand times.

But I didn’t.

I clenched my fists instead, swallowing that strange pull like poison.

“You won’t have too much to do,” I said, forcing my voice steady. “Just… stay beside me. I want to read today. When I ask, you’ll get the books I want.”

She nodded once, silently. But her feet didn’t move.

“Come. Follow me,” I added, turning away, ignoring the pain twisting in my chest.

Still, she didn’t budge.

I stopped. “Don’t worry,” I said over my shoulder, voice quieter now. “I won’t force myself on you anymore.”

That finally made her move.

She followed behind as we walked toward the old library. The scent of dust and paper greeted us as I pushed the door open. A thousand stories slept here. Words that outlived kingdoms. Some even older than her bloodline.

I sat behind the massive desk. She stood, watching me…hesitant, curious.

Her gaze drifted upward.

“Wow… This is amazing,” she breathed out, eyes sparkling with childlike awe. “So many books.”

I frowned. “What’s amazing?”

She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. “The smell of books,” she said, twirling a little, her hair dancing with the breeze coming from the cracked window. “I love it.”

I froze.

The image was too familiar.

My vision blurred for a moment…

~~ Flashback - 999 Years Ago ~~

“See, Damon, come in! Look at all the books!” Aria had squealed, pulling me by the hand into a little bookshop nestled in the heart of the capital.

She twirled between the shelves, the smell of old parchment thick in the air. “I love the smell of books,” she laughed, hugging a dusty novel to her chest. “Doesn’t it make you feel safe?”

Back to reality my breath caught in my throat.

Exactly the same words. The same tone. The same smile.

No.

It couldn’t be.

I stared at Ivy….her joy so real, so alive. Could she be…?

No. No. Aria looked different. And Ivy…she was too bold, too modern, too…

Why am I seeing Aria in her?

My chest tightened.

“Leave,” I barked suddenly. “Go.”

She stopped twirling, startled.

“Why?” she frowned. “I want to read.”

She stepped toward a shelf, climbing a chair to reach a book. My heart kicked up in panic.

“Get down from there!” I snapped.

But it was too late.

She slipped.

In a flash, I caught her.

She landed right into my arms, her face inches from mine. Her blue eyes locked onto mine, wide and glowing. Her hair fell across her cheek, catching the light.

My heart stuttered. Then raced.

What the hell?

I stared, stunned, unable to breathe.

Then panic took over.

I shoved her off me, roughly. She fell to the ground with a gasp.

And I turned…ran…before I lost control again.

What is happening to me?

Was I… sick? Dying? The curse was meant to end me, but what if my heart was finally breaking…literally?

“Selene!” I shouted. “Call the doctor. I need help…now. My heart… it’s racing. Fast. Be quick!”

“Yes, my Lord!” she called back and disappeared from the hall.

But before the doctor could arrive, Ivy stepped in again…calmer this time, holding something in her hands.

Drawings.

“Who’s this?” she asked, examining one of the ancient sketches. Her voice was soft, puzzled.

My eyes widened in horror.

I flew at her, snatching the drawings from her hands in a rage.

“How dare you touch this!” I growled, my voice inhuman. My wolf surged forward beneath my skin, itching to tear.

She stumbled backward, falling to the floor, her body shaking.

Just like that, the rage evaporated.

I closed my eyes and stepped back, gripping the papers to my chest.

Breathe.

Control.

These drawings… they were almost a thousand years old. Memories inked in agony. Visions of a woman long gone.

I faced Ivy slowly.

“Never touch my things. Especially these.”

She blinked, still trembling. “I… I touched them because something happened.”

“What?”

“I… I saw something.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “A vision. It was old. Ancient. A man…an Alpha. Not a Lycan. He was handsome. He stood in a bookshop with a woman who laughed and danced around him.”

My heart stopped.

I stepped closer, eyes searching her soul.

“What did you see?”

She tilted her head, brows furrowed. “Just a moment… but it felt so real.”

I couldn’t breathe. What…. My biggest fear.. could it be?

“Are you…” My voice cracked. “Are you really… my Aria?”

Her brows shot up.

“Who’s Aria?”