Bearly a Chance: A Second Chances Romance (14 page)

Ben pointed out the broken door, then nodded to Arcos once. "Lead the way, conquerer." He felt his lips twist in a half snarl when Arcos winked back at him before proceeding out the door. Damn arrogant ass. Oh well. At least he'd been a halfway dependable arrogant ass. Ben glanced back. Delilah stepped out of the hidden door, and slammed it shut behind her. Her gaze met his, fierce and angry. She turned back toward the door and mumbled a few words, enough to make magic flare once more, then fade. The door vanished from his sight.

Aria stiffened in his arms as the magic flared, and whimpered. Tears trailed down her cheeks. Damn. Her time with the gods has overloaded her, made her too sensitive to magic. Ben held her gently, shushing her, reminding her it was going to be alright. He ignored Delilah's pointed look, and with a heavy sigh, lifted his tormented mate into his arms and staggered out the shop and down the sidewalk towards Victoria's cabin. He heard Delilah mumbled again and paused to toss a sharp command to stop over his shoulder. It was too early for the humans to be up and about in this town, and any shifters would be sure to keep their mouths sealed about what they saw transpire, and the ragged foursome trudging down the street.

***

Aria shivered in Ben's arms when magic flared around her. Damn, that hurt. She felt tears trailing down her cheeks, and whimpered in pain. It was like being electrocuted, constant shocks running up and down her nerves until she almost wanted to die. She slumped in Ben's arms and prayed the torture would end soon. And that Gran would have answers to the rest of her questions. But the biggest question that remained was one nobody could answer. Nobody but her. And maybe Ben.

She was still shivering when she felt Ben scoop her up in his arms like a child. Even with his grunt of effort, and ragged strides, she felt safe and secure with him. Her head rested lightly on his shoulder, just above his heart and the thud thudding sound of his heart combined with the warmth of his chest eased her shivers a bit. Not entirely, but enough that she was more here. She fought sleepiness, but startled awake when he tossed a sharp no back over his shoulder.
No, what?
Right, no magic. Because magic fucking hurt.

Despite her gradual return to reality, the refrain Diana had said echoed in her thoughts on endless repeat.

Claim mate, guard guardian, avert fate!

They'd gone looking for answers, and found one. But the new questions that had been raised were tearing her apart a piece at a time. How could a human or a half guardian claim a shifter mate? How could a shifter guard a guarding and what fate were they trying to avert. Damn cryptic gods and witches and stubborn shifters anyways. Part of her wanted to curse all of them to the deepest hells, but the rest of her realized that whatever this was: it had been set in motion well before her time. Still, she'd never intentionally let another bear the results of her own actions, and she was damn sure not going to let the results of today echo over to Faith and Gran if she could help it.

Still, the mate, guardian, fate thing was like an itch she just couldn't quite reach. One that desperately needed scratching.

As her shivers finally stopped and her body warmed, she left her nebulous questions and worries behind to rejoin the rest of the world. She looked around, curious, only to find that she and Ben were snuggled up on gran's log futon and a fire was roaring in the fireplace. She couldn’t remember the walk back to the cabin. The living room was filled to overflowing. Apparently every person the four of them had called for help had come running. Despite the fact that they were all too damn late, she was grateful for their presence. Especially Candi's. She and Bryce were huddled on the floor with Faith making adorable vroom sounds and pushing cars around a rug with roads printed on it.

“You made it anyway, Candi. Thank you,” Aria whispered. Candi returned her thanks with a bright smile and a nod and then went back to entertaining the toddlers.

The gentle creak of the twin rocking chairs caught her ear, and Aria glanced over only to spot Gran settled in like she’d been waiting for hours. Surprisingly enough, Arcos was seated in the matching chair, rocking vigorously. His eyes never strayed from Faith, and he seemed to be fascinated and enchanted by the babe. Well, who wouldn’t love those delicious curls and that bright smile? Still, Aria felt her stomach curl at the sheer intensity in his gaze. She was just glad Faith was too occupied to notice the strange man watching every move she made.

Something about the glow in Arcos' eyes made her mamma instincts kick into high gear. She had enough trouble figuring out what being different meant for her babe, and now she had to figure out how to guard the child from pretty much everyone around her, based on that greedy glimmer.

Damn all gods, and spawn of gods. Except her Faith.

And maybe Ben.
Aria couldn't help snuggling just a bit closer to him before she sat up to face the rest of the day.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Aria sat up slowly, still a bit weak from the night she'd had. All her focus was on Faith playing on the floor with Candi and Bryce. From Faith's reaction, all her focus had been on mommy. The second Aria was settled in a seating position, just a bit apart from Ben, Faith dashed across the room and clambered into her lap. Her joyful cries were almost overwhelming. Aria was by turns elated and saddened that her overnight absence had affected Faith to this degree. She'd never been apart from her babe over night before, and although it still didn't feel like they'd been apart overnight to her, Aria could tell from Faith's babbles that to her, it had been forever.

Aria listened, and nodded along in response to Faith's obvious questions. She shot a sideways glance toward Ben, and by extension, toward Arcos. Both shifters were watching her baby with almost puzzled expressions. Their identical frowns would have been hilarious if the overall situation hadn't seemed so hopeless to Aria. But she was determined to keep Faith out of the drama they'd dealt with, and shield her from any further upheavals if at all possible.

"I can almost understand her," Ben whispered. He reached out, his big hand open flat, and grinned when Faith obliged his wordless gesture by giving him a sharp, resounding five in return.

"It's a start, I suppose." Aria said. She hated to admit it, but Ben was good with Faith. The girl was fascinated by her father, and in short order had clambered out of Aria's lap and into his. A small, jealous part of Aria missed the warmth and comfort of his lap, but the rest of her was ready to get down to business. After a few more stolen moments with her girl.

From the slow curl of Ben's mouth as Faith went about tweaking his nose and tugging on his hair and ears, Aria figured he was smitten. Good, because she had some answers to find, and was damn sure one of three people would be able to provide them with enough convincing. She just had to figure out which of three was the safest bet to confront first. Aria reached over, and tickled Faiths ribs, delighted with the baby giggles that erupted. The sound was music to her ears.

She leaned in close, breathed in the combined scent of sweet baby, and possessive shifter, then whispered to her girl. "Mommy's going to the kitchen to talk to grandma."

Faith nodded, never once losing concentration on her self-imposed mission to torment Ben. Aria flashed a grin at him, then continued. "You play here, with Ben. And Candi, and Ethan. If you need me, I'll be just around the corner."

Aria's heart almost tore in half when Faith's wide, silver lined eyes met hers. "Mommy stay." The soft plea had tears welling in Aria’s eyes. .

"I'm not going far. Just to the table." Faith nodded at her words, but that trembling lower lip convinced Aria she still wasn't certain about the situation. "Maybe you Ben, and Bryce could play on the floor behind the couch? Then you could still see mommy?" Faith's quick nod was enough for Aria. She wasn't about to deny her babe the comfort of keeping mom in sight under these circumstances.

“We have to go. But I needed to make sure you were alright after that phone call.” Candi stood and hugged Aria and Faith tight.

“I’m okay now. Thank you so much for being here.” Aria felt her smile tremble as she watched her best friend gather her things. Then Candi and a yawning Bryce stumbled out the front door.

Aria glanced back up at Ben. Her breath came sharp and short when she saw an identical silvery ring around his eyes. "You okay?" She desperately hoped the answer was yes. His sharp nod didn't reassure her, but the way he stood slow and easy and stepped over the couch to settle on the hardwood floor behind it did. If she could count on him staying, she'd surely think he had daddy written all over him with the way he was caring for Faith. But those twin silvery gazes had her worried. Were their bears urging each other into mischief? Could Ben resist any of Faith's demands? Aria shrugged then rose and slipped over to the table. She guessed they'd find out one way or another. At least they were all safe in Gran's cabin. Safe inside Gramps’ old wards.

Aria settled gingerly onto one of the old wood chairs at the table. Delilah sat to her right on the U-shaped bench, leaving the opposite seat open for Gran. Gran sat, and slid a steaming mug across to Aria. She picked it up, blew on it without looking and then took a sip. The heavenly scent and sweet taste hit her at the same time.
Hot chocolate! Yum. Also, crap
. Gran never served chocolate unless things were dire.

"What happened, Aria?" Gran's voice was surprisingly smooth and deceptively calm. The shifter swirl highlighting her eyes cued Aria to just how upset gran must have been when Ben carried her into the cabin.

"We met Faith's ancestors. I think." Aria still struggled with exactly what had happened. "Arcos tried to take over their territory. Sort of?" She felt her voice quaver on that last question as the sheer gall of the older shifters actions finally hit home.

Gran shook her head and slammed her cup onto the table, spilling a few drops of cocoa. "I don't care about that, child." Gran paused, and visibly collected her thoughts with a couple deep breaths. "What did you learn? More importantly," Gran shook a finger in Aria's direction, then continued. "Why were you damn near unconscious when you stumbled home?"

The biting tone in Gran’s voice had Aria's palms sweating, and hands trembling. She took a moment to wipe her hands on her worn jeans before answering. Last thing she wanted was another shifter challenging the gods, fallen or otherwise.

"I got an answer." Sort of, she added silently. Gran's cocked head invited her to continue, so she did. "Faith's a throwback like we thought. But, throwbacks are strong enough to overpower the gods. And there was something about claiming my mate, guarding the guardian-" Aria pointed at her chest, and continued in a rush, "and averting fate.”

By the time she'd finished talking, Gran’s eyes were wide as dinner plates.

"Did you say guardian?" Gran's voice was low and growly. "As in, you're the guardian?" Gran's claws tapped the table in a precise one-two-three pattern. But the silver swirling in her eyes didn't change.

Aria swallowed another gulp of chocolate.
Need more energy for this.
Finally, she met her gran's gaze straight on and nodded once. At her gesture, all hell broke loose.

Gran yowled, her eyes flared green and then she shifted in a blur of silver. The giant red fox darted over to Aria and snuffled her from head to toes with a cool wet nose. Aria burned in reaction to the shifters’ magic. Gran’s eyes, blue and filled with worry, scanned every inch of Aria, indifferent to the fire consuming her from within. Finally unable to bear the pain any longer, Aria muffled a scream and fought to rise from her chair. Her movements were clumsy with pain.

A second and third set of roars added to the chaos. One deep and bellowing challenge, the other a smaller, higher echo. Fuck, Faith and Ben had shifted. Damn nosy old vixen anyways. Aria fought for relief with each breath she took. Her back arched and the chair toppled to the ground behind her. She'd have followed it if a large furry shoulder hadn't propped her up. Her body tingled in a whole new way at Ben's steady support. Aria tried to reach out and catch Faith but she was too slow.

Delilah chanted low and long, and the amber mist that rose at the witches call doubled the heat and pain coursing through Aria.

“No, Faith-,” Aria squeaked when her cub launched toward the witch, mouth wide, claws extended. Delilah was so intent on the adult shifters and the spell she wove that she didn’t notice the cub until it was too late.

Faith landed and chomped down on Delilah’s arm. Hard. The small white cub growled and shook her head ferociously, like a dog with a stuffed toy. Delilah’s chant tumbled out in one final pain filled breath. The chaos stopped cold with the end of the witches chant. Amber light transmuted to ash and coated the entire room, and everyone in it.

Didn’t think that worked anyplace other than the shop.

The echoing silence after Del’s monotone chant sent Aria tumbling back bonelessly into Ben’s steady support. She felt another hint of the same electric pain Delilah’s magic generated as silver flared in her peripheral vision. Then Ben’s strong arms hugged her tight to his chest, and supported her gently.

The cub glared at Delilah, and issued a low harrumph, almost a command.

The witch sat immediately, her face twisted in anger. Then she placed her hands flat on Gran’s table. Despite the blood pooling below her forearm, Del remained stock still, a living statue. Aria could just hear the witch’s whisper. “Why isn’t it working? The damn spell is supposed to be foolproof against shifters.”