by Hart, Alana
Ben needed to be sure, so he borrowed the bear’s senses for a quick scan of the room. The only people in view were Delilah, Arcos, and Apollo. The only scents lingering on the air were theirs. The light had taken Aria, and even the scent of Aria. And apparently the light had taken Diana too. But why? How? Ben rose up on his hind legs, bellowing rage and betrayal, then stalked toward the light slamming it with his paws. No matter how he tried, there was nothing there, nothing but that immense, numbing cold.
Bear wrested control of their form from Ben as his human mind crumpled under the unbearable possibility that Aria was gone from his reach forever. Ben felt bears’ furious roar rumble through their chest, felt their paws scrabble for purchase on the slick marble before finally launching them full speed directly at Apollo. Apollo jolted sideways, but bears’ charge was unstoppable. They collided with the god in a tangle of limbs and fur and teeth.
Bear's claws tore and ripped at everything they touched. Ben winced at the damage the hard marble was doing to their back claws and feet. Their teeth snapped and tore. But he couldn't help cheering the damage they were inflicting on one of two people responsible for stealing their mate. Blood ran red and silver and the tang of iron rose hot in the air. As Bear leaned in, jaws opened wide to go for the jugular a wave of heat and pressure slammed into them. It wasn't enough to truly budge their bulk, but they skidded a short ways across the marble floor. Apollo was blasted across the room by the wave, well out of their reach. Bear lowered his nose and sniffed at the trail of blood the god left, then turned to face this new enemy.
But there was no threat. Just the fading of quicksilver light and the slowly solidifying forms of two women. Diana and Aria. Bear roared and raced forward, desperate to get between Aria and the goddess before she did any more damage to their mate. They made it to Aria, just in time. She toppled in slow motion, limp and vacant-eyed. Bear dove beneath her, and leaned into her as she toppled, providing a safe landing spot. Ben couldn't guarantee his self-control if their mate was injured again. They both huffed a sigh of relief as they felt her weight settle against bears strong, thick shoulder. It didn't take much effort to keep her upright, and from the slight sounds she was making, she'd be awake and aware soon. Bear turned and snuffled her hair, searching for injuries. But he couldn't scent anything more than Aria's signature lavender shampoo, and the underlying pheromones that called to them, insisted they belonged together forever.
Just as bear puffed in relief at her lack of obvious injuries she started to stir. Bear damn near purred when her gentle hand caressed his shoulder. His mate recovered quickly and stood tall and strong, ready to face any further enemies. Bear and Ben were fascinated by her strength and determination and troubled by the frown and furrowed brow on her face. Bear gurgled happily under her continued attention, content that she was safe for now. But Ben was desperate to figure out what the goddess had wanted and why her magic had slammed his mate so hard. He could feel her hand trembling with each stroke. His keen hearing finally picked up the thinnest of whispers. He’d have bet money Aria said ‘claim mate, guard guardian, avert fate.’ She kept repeating the sentence, eyes growing wider and body stiller with each repetition.
Frustrated with his inability to truly help their mate, bear slunk back into the shadows of their mind. Ben groaned as fire raced up his spine and down his extremities. His overtaxed muscles shivered with exhaustion. No way was he shifting again today. Maybe not even for the next few days. Teeth gritted, Ben levered himself up from all fours and stepped up beside Aria. He could still hear her chant, low and fast. He pulled her close, hugging her tight to his chest. His entire body jolted to attention when she leaned into his gentle embrace. For a moment, he could believe all was right with their world.
Then Delilah shattered the moment. Her voice rose high over the rumbling growls Arcos couldn’t seem to contain, and light flared, cutting off his line of sight. Apollo vanished behind the witch’s curtain. Ben peered around the half of the room he could still see, seeking further danger. But the only living creatures present were him, Aria, Del, and Arcos.
A shrill whistle claimed his attention. Delilah waved him toward the doorway and mimed standing guard. She pointed once at him and Aria, and gestured sharply toward the door. Ben nodded once, loathe to leave her alone. But he could feel Aria’s body shiver faster with each moment they remained.
Shock. Shit, what happened with her and Diana?
Ben couldn’t help worrying at the possibilities like a dog with a bone. He guided Aria gently step by painful, trembling step toward the door. Bear huffed at their retreat, but Ben could tell the beast’s reserves were almost as tapped out as his own. His trembling legs drove home the hazards of too many shifts too close together. Ben paused to adjust his grasp on Aria, and tried to lift her clear of the ground and speed their progress. Every single muscle in his body protested his efforts, sending him collapsing to one knee, weak, trembling and nauseous. He sensed motion out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see Arcos trudging toward them.
Before Ben could speak, Arcos gathered Aria up in his arms like a babe. Ben sensed a strange mixture of pride and derision in the fleeting glance Arcos tossed back at him before trudging toward the exit. Despite the other man’s slumped shuffling movements he still had enough reserves to do what Ben couldn’t.
Bear roared in protest at the situation and shoved strength into Ben’s entirely too human muscles. That strength burned, icy cold and stiff. Not so much, Ben fought to stop the flow before bear did irreversible harm to them both. Bear roared and then went eerily silent. Ben could feel the beast rummaging for the why behind his demand. He could tell when the answer became clear, the roar stopped abruptly, and what felt like a guttural purr tickled through their link.
Ben grinned, and strode strongly toward the door, determined to catch Arcos and Aria before they made the bottom of the staircase. He felt the air pop just as he stepped through the door, then heard Delilah’s shout of “Incoming.” Before he could do more than curl in on himself a bit, Delilah stood behind him, pressed back to back with him. He heard and felt the door to the gods slam shut and didn’t even try to stop the sigh of relief that emerged.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, bear.” Ben felt Delilah’s hand slam into his back, sending him stumbling down the hallway to the staircase. “Got to clear the first door before we’ll be safe.”
Ben nodded his understanding and stepped up his pace until he was damn near sprinting down the staircase. Breathe, step, breathe step, he repeated to himself as he ran. Delilah’s footsteps echoed close behind him. Just hope the shop is secured. Don’t want to call on bear again today.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ben followed Arcos through the secret door into Delilah's shop. The shop was exactly as secure as they'd left it. The shattered door flopped in the light morning breeze. Ben suppressed a shiver when he realized the sunlight he was seeing was morning light, NOT even sunset. Damn. They'd spent a whole night wrangling with the gods. And for what? Bear slunk from the shadows of Ben's mind, exhaustion readily apparent in every place their thoughts collided. Ben borrowed bear's keen senses, searching for any danger. Nothing moved but the door.
Ben stalked over to Arcos. He motioned short and sharp, insisting his father put his mate down now. Arcos complied with a smug smirk and a knowing twinkle in his gaze. "Bear problems, son?"
Ben shuddered as rage surged up only to roll back down. He didn't have the energy to argue. "Not your son, ole man." Ben slipped over and wrapped his arm gently around Aria's ribs, keeping her steady on her feet. She shivered and stared around vacant-eyed. Still shocky, he'd bet. Damn gods anyways. He fought the urge to ask her just what had happened when she'd been pulled elsewhere, but from the steady increase in her shivers, the best bet was probably to get her back to Victories and get her warm and focused.
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 wink
ed 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 si
lvery 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?"
