Chapter 8: Never Letting Go
1442 Words
“I can’t leave, and you won’t make me,” Asher said, his voice loud as he walked behind Aria.
Aria had left the cave after a while. She had gone hunting, and Asher followed her against her will.
“Asher of Blackthorn,” Aria said. She paused and turned to Asher, who had been following her. “I could take away your voice right now if I wanted to. So, could you not push me? I have asked you to leave me alone, I have asked you to go back to your pack, and even if you don’t want to be there in the meantime, that’s fine. Just... just go be somewhere else, far away from me.”
“It’s not going to be that easy,” Asher smirked.
“Oh! Please. It’s as simple as turning your back and walking in that direction,” Aria said as she pointed towards the vast forest behind Asher. “You’re healed, you’ve fully regained your strength, and you’re capable of resuming your wolf duties. Far. Away. From. Me.”
Aria stepped closer to Asher as she spoke those last words. Her palm placed on Asher’s chest as she pushed him gently, gesturing for him to leave. Asher, confused but not offended, grabbed both her palms in one grip. He held her firmly, tight enough for her to be unable to release herself from his grip, but not so tight that she felt pain.
“I don’t know if you think you can actually send me away,” Asher chuckled softly. “I am not leaving.”
“Then I will... I will leave, I will let you take the cave, live there, and do whatever you want. I would be the one to leave,” Aria said, her eyes locked on Asher’s.
“Anywhere you go, I will follow.”
“What do you think I’ll need you around me for?”
“Protection—”
“I can protect myself. I have done it countless times. In fact, I was doing it before I stumbled upon your half-dead body. Just in case you’ve forgotten, Asher. I am a powerful witch with strong magical abilities,” Aria said as she successfully released herself from Asher’s grip. “I don’t need a large, smelly dog for that.”
Asher couldn’t say anything. Hell, he didn’t have anything to say. He stood there as Aria released herself from his grip, turned, and walked away from him. But none of what she said had stopped him from following her.
“You’re stubborn, I see,” Aria said, her brows furrowed.
“Let’s hunt, Aria. Isn’t what we’re here for?” Asher said as he walked past her.
“There’s no we,” Aria murmured.
“We shall see about that,” Asher said as he walked ahead.
They walked a little further until Asher caught the scent of a white-tailed deer. He alerted Aria, who quietly took her position behind a tree so as not to scare away the deer. Suddenly, the deer appears as it bends down to eat some leaves. Aria looked in its direction, turned her face away, both her hands clasped together, her eyes shut as she murmured.
“What... what are you doing?” Asher whispered.
“Can you please not interrupt me?” Aria whispered as she responded to Asher.
“Are you trying to cast a spell?” Asher chuckled quietly. “Let me show you how it’s done.”
“What... what are you doing?” Aria whispered. Her face was in complete shock as she watched Asher strip himself.
“I’ll need these when I’m done.”
Asher’s eyes locked onto the unsuspecting deer, his gaze burning with a primal intensity. Without warning, his body began to shift and contort, his limbs elongating as his senses heightened. Aria watched in awe as Asher’s transformation took hold, his muscles rippling beneath his skin like a living, breathing entity.
In a fluid motion, Asher’s body morphed into that of a majestic wolf. His fur a thick, silky coat of gray and black. His eyes, now a piercing red, gleamed with a hunter’s instinct as he crouched low to the ground, ready to strike.
With a burst of speed, Asher shot forward, his paws barely making a sound as he chased down the terrified deer. Aria held her breath, her heart pounding in her chest as she watched the hunt unfold. Asher was a force of nature, his power and agility on full display as he expertly closed in on his prey.
In a swift, merciful motion, Asher took down the deer, his jaws closing around its neck with a deadly precision. Aria felt a shiver run down her spine as Asher stood victorious, his chest heaving with exertion as he gazed back at her with a triumphant glint in his eyes.
Aria grabbed his clothes from the ground as she ran over to Asher and the dead deer. She threw the clothes at Asher as she fell on her knees, her hand placed gently on the body of the deer as Asher morphed back into his human form.
“Thank you for your sacrifice,” Aria whispered.
“How about a thank you directed to me?” Asher chuckled.
“Shut up and put your clothes back on,” Aria said. “Since you’ve refused to leave, you’re going to have to get busy and be useful.”
“I think I just proved myself on that,” Asher said as his hands rested on his hips.
Aria sighed. “Carry it.”
“What?”
“Carry it. We have a long way to go, and we need to take it back to the cave,” Aria repeated. “So, carry it.”
Asher laughed.
“And what’s funny?” Aria asked, confused.
“Did you think I was going to let you carry this animal by yourself while I’m here?” Asher smirked. He pulled the deer closer as he lifted it and dropped it over his shoulder. “I’ll gladly do the dirty work while you keep being pretty and clean. Besides, I am a dirty large dog.”
Aria frowned her face in disgust as Asher walked past her carrying the deer on his shoulder.
“Don’t... don’t,” Aria murmured.
Asher paused. “What are you talking about?”
Aria got closer to him and paused, her eyes instantly locking onto Asher’s. “Don’t for a second think I can’t get my hand dirty.”
“Woah! It’s just a compliment—”
“Keep it to yourself,” Aria said as she continued walking, now ahead of Asher.
After a while of walking in silence, no one spoke a word to the other. Aria took a step into the cave, and in that moment, she felt a huge presence. Someone had come into the cave. Nothing was stolen, every item still the same way Aria and Asher left them, but still, Aria couldn’t ignore the strange feeling that someone had found her hiding spot and had looked around.
“What is it, Aria?” Asher asked as he dropped the deer roughly on the ground.
“Someone was here,” Aria answered.
“What?” Asher asked again.
“I can feel it. Someone was here, and not just like they found the cave, but like as if they were looking for something in particular,” Aria answered. “This is all your fault.”
“Please, you have to relax, Aria.” Asher pleaded.
“Why don’t you tell that to your brother?” Aria argued.
“Rowan?”
“Seems like the search for your body is still on.”
“How is it possible that he finds me here? I thought this place was protected?”
“Yes, it is. Protected but not invisible. He can find the cave, but he will never catch your scent here, just as you can’t smell him. But I can, I still remember his scent from that night, it reeked of greed.”
“He can’t find anything about me here, so it’s really not my fault that he found this cave.”
“But he found some of my items here, and some are items only a witch or a sorceress would possess. Don’t you see, Asher? What if he goes and reports of a witch hiding in a cave deep inside the woods? I would not only be hunted by humans, but I would be hunted by the wolves too.”
“You won’t be hunted. I will never allow that.”
- Writer
