Finding Aria

Chapter Eleven

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. I do have the outline for the rest of the story done its just getting it into words that I'm happy with and of course the time to type it :P Hope you all enjoy this chappie and the picture of the library :)

Chapter Eleven

Aria's POV

It was all too much. I felt my head spinning, the tension, the kissing, the bite. I can't take this, I thought as panic started to set in, Oh my god, we were just kissing....and then he bit me..... I felt my body shaking and was pulled into Lincoln's chest. I squeezed my eyes shut and my hands fisted in his shirt as I tried to calm myself down. He just sat there holding me while running a hand through my hair. It felt like hours but was probably only ten minutes before I finally composed myself to look him in the eye. I fear laced with anger and pulled back to give Lincoln a piece of my mind.

The words vanished when I saw the concern in Lincoln's eyes. Oh hell, I thought in defeat as I shut my eyes taking a calming breathe before returning to look at him stating, "We need to talk."

Lincoln's POV

The anger I felt from Aria vanished when our eyes met and I watched and waited as she seemed to calm herself down. I didn't know how to feel. I'd marked her. She is my mate, but I certainly hadn't planned on marking her tonight, not that I would take it back now. I felt the bond between us go stronger and my wolf was yipping in happiness at having finally marked our mate. The only thing left is the claiming, my wolf stated happily.

Aria's eyes open and all I saw was a calm caution. "We need to talk," she said in a light tone. It was finally time to explain.

I turned more towards her grabbing her hands in both of mine as I rubbed circles into them saying, "I'm sorry if I hurt you Aria." I paused a moment, "I intended to explain everything to you the first day, before you left for home, but I didn't want to frighten you off. You are very skittish, less now though, that sometimes I hold back." I waited for her to take it all in. One of her hands slipped out to cover one of mine and started to mimic the circles I was making on her hand.

"Then tell me now, Lincoln. Explain everything to me. What is the whole thing about being mates and the bite," she pleads to me.

"To explain everything I need to tell you about our history," I stated taking a deep breath as I recalled the memories of our ancient tale. "Man has been around for a long time. Many generations ago a man came across a giant wolf trapped in a cave. Great vines ensnared the wolf, but they were no regular vines. They were enchanted vines made from silver. The wolf itself was no ordinary wolf, he much like Fenrir for Norse myth, big and monstrous. He talked to the man asking for help saying, 'I have not much time left to dwell here. Could you spare some of your water so I may quench my thirst before I pass on?' The man was not sure what to make of the wolf, but figured no one, or beast, should die while thirsty. So the man came closer and brought is water with him. The wolf drank all of the water before suddenly turning on the man. His teeth sunk into the man's arm while the man tried to fight the wolf off. Wrenching his arm away the man backed away from the wolf only to fall to the ground as pain racked his body.

'What did you do to me. Why? Why did you bite me?' the man exclaimed as his body started convulsing on the ground.

'I have given you a gift young one. A great an powerful gift. You will be a leader of many and honored for centuries to come. Time will come when you understand the gift I have given you. A wolf you are now as much as you are human. A new age has come and many challenges will knock on your door, but the gift I give will bring glory to all,' the wolf said as his eyes slowly closed and he fell into his final slumber.

The wolf was right. The gift he had given the man was very powerful and would bring glory to the new age. The new age of werewolves. The man became the father of werewolves," I continued, "We now refer to him as Father Bane, the first werewolf. It took many centuries before Father Bane found his mate. Her name was Sara. He placed his mark on her neck to show the bond they had. It became instinct for other werewolves that when one finds their mate the urge to mark them as their own is very great," I stopped looking into Aria's eyes as she listened intently.

"Was the urge to...mark me strong?" Aria asked meekly.

"Yes," I said simply. "As I said before, a werewolf only gets one mate in their entire life and not all are lucky enough to find their mate. I am lucky to have found you Aria. A mate means everything to a werewolf. Every decision I make are second to  your well being and happiness. You are my world, Aria. You are my mate. The urge to claim you is even stronger than to mark you as my mate," I state as I analyze Aria's expression to my last statement.

She takes in a deep breath and its almost like she is pondering how to word something complicated. "Claim me? Gracie mentioned the term 'claim' but I'm not familiar with it..."

"Claiming means that I would make you completely my mate and we would join as one in every way physically possible," I said cautiously, unsure of how she would respond.

A blush swept across her face and I felt a grin slip onto my face. "Oh....," she said quietly. Silence passed and we continued to just sit there, her hands in mine, as I absentmindley traced her hands. After what seemed like hours, Aria's hand turns in mine to squeeze mine as a small smile filters across her face. "Tell me more about Father Bane and Sara," she said as she moved closer to me resting her head on the side of the sofa, while looking at me with intrigued eyes.

Excitedly I started in, happy my mate was interested in werewolf history, "Father Bane, being the first werewolf had to find out about all kinds of thing and seemed to get in a lot of trouble. Sara was dragged through all of it and often gave Father Bane a hard time. She was the ultimate mother, you see. The greatest adventure I think was...."