Bearly a Chance: A Second Chances Romance (9 page)

“No time. It’s sort of an emergency. Thank you though. We’ll have to get together again for old time’s sake.” Aria said good bye and tucked her phone away in her jeans pocket. Her hand brushed against the home made spray she kept on hand just in case.
That spray might be enough to get some straight answers.

Got to go now, while I can. Maybe make it back before they notice I’m gone.
From the whispers she drifting through the front door, the others were still phoning for help.
Good, that'll give me a little time.
Aria sprinted a quietly as she could down the darkened street toward Del's shop. She just hoped that when they realized what she'd done, one of the three stayed to watch Faith. Human or not, she'd have their entrails for dinner if they put her baby girl in danger by bringing her to the shop.

***

Ben cursed softly when he hung up the phone. From the furious whispers Gran and Del were making, they were still explaining in depth. He hadn't had to explain much. Apparently dear old dad had been keeping a close eye on him. Bastard wasn't inclined to help though. Ben had barely gotten past the words baby sit when Dad interrupted. "Son, you made your bed, you lie in it," and hung up.

Which seemed odd, considering how he'd gloated that night Ben first shifted. But then it was probably for the best that Arcos didn't realize just what his granddaughter was capable of. Ben fidgeted in his seat. His bear was getting restless. Missing Aria, Ben thought. Bear snuffled, searching for Aria's scent, making sure she was alright. Alarm thrilled through them when they both realized Aria was gone. She'd made her phone call, but then she'd left. Bear roared in anger, and Ben fought once more to contain the beast. But this time he knew it was a losing battle. He threw a desperate glance at Victoria and Delilah, then bolted out the front door as quietly as Bear would let him. He paused on the front steps and looked back. Bear raised his nose and sniffed, checking on Faith. The babe had the sweet warm smell of peaceful sleep. Comforted a bit, Ben loosed the chains he held on bear. He felt his body tingle, and then bear burst through his skin with a roar, and Ben was just a passenger in an overly large, ponderous body. They trotted down the street, bear sniffing the wind and the ground, confirming Ben's suspicion that Aria had gone looking for trouble. Bear was delighted in his mate's courage and affronted by her duplicity.

Ben agreed with bear in this instance, which was a rare treat. They trotted down the middle of Main Street, watching the shadows and snuffling. Based on the scent it hadn't even been ten minutes since Aria had left. Bear didn't smell anything unusual, just his mate, determined to protect them. Determined to sacrifice herself to keep them all safe. Damn head strong woman.

***

Aria arrived at the front door of Delilah's shop out of breath. She'd sprinted the whole way without a thought of how she was going to get in the door until she was standing on the sidewalk looking in. Despite the chaos the hidden door had engendered in her life so far, the shop looked deceptively calm and normal. Aria didn't trust calm or normal any more. She pulled gently on the door handle. Nothing. Damn door was locked tight. Cursing, she looked around for something to knock the shattered glass out of the frame with. But the city council hired enough city workers to keep the place looking pristine. So Aria started pacing deliberately around the store, searching for a dumpster or a trash can or something that would protect her when she broke into the shop. She didn't dare consider what types of magical wards Delilah might have set. Besides, they ought to be somewhat friendly to her, since Gran and Delilah seemed to be on rather familiar terms. At least Del hadn't turned a hair at all the carved wards in Gran's house. Then again, the actual purpose of the carvings hadn't come up.

Aria struggled to focus her thoughts. She stumbled down past the side of the shop, into a little alley. No dumpsters. The alley was clean and well kept. Sometimes, Espen was too nice for its own good. Then her foot hit something sharp and hard in the dark. Since the trash can she'd checked was empty, Aria bent down to pick up the mystery object. It had the look of one of Delilah’s gemstones, only much larger, and unpolished. She shrugged and headed back to the front door. From the weight and heft of the stone, it ought to be enough to do the trick. If not, Aria would just improvise some again. She wasn't leaving until she got some answers, and talked the Gods and their soul-sucking door into leaving her babe alone.

Aria rounded the corner of the alley. She strode, head down towards the lighted area above the front door. It almost seemed a shame to use such a pretty, raw stone to break into the shop but she didn't see any alternatives. A low rumble caught her attention.
What the hell?
She looked up, suppressed a gasp at the giant white grizzly standing in front of Del's shop. Was that Ben? Her Ben. Aria felt her eyes widen, and fear surged in her chest. But she tamped it down, as the bear continued to stand stock still. He watched every move she made, but the rumbly growl had stopped. Now he seemed almost curious to her. Screw it, back up would be a damn fine thing, even if that back up came in angry bear form. Hell, maybe especially if back up came in angry bear form.

"Ben? That you?" Aria whispered. She dared a glance around, but surprisingly enough the streets were still empty. Apparently the tiny town was used to all kinds of critters wandering through after dark. In Aurora the cops would have been surrounding the place shotguns at the ready in case tranqs didn't work. Aria was shocked when her eyes met the bear's-Ben's-brilliant blue ones, only to see him nod once, slow and sure.
Damn, it was him! Hell yeah.
Despite her misgivings, and their history, she was glad he was here.

"I found this," Aria held up the rock. "I'm going to go in, and I'm going to get answers one way or another. You're welcome to come with." She gestured toward the shop, then stood stock still and waited for an answer. It didn't take long. The bear growled low and deep, his eyes flashed silver-just like she'd seen Ben's do- and then light consumed him. Energy crackled and hummed through the air, and when the light faded, Ben sat curled up, stark naked and shivering, on the step where the bear had stood.

Aria gasped. Damn, he was more gorgeous than she remembered. She grinned at the flush that rose to his cheeks. Felt her grin go even wider when he spoke.

"I haven't got any clothes. Do you think you could-" He mimed turning around, flushed even redder when she winked at him before complying with his request. She heard feet shuffling on the concrete, and risked a peek over her shoulder. Hell, it wasn't like she'd never seen him before, considering Faith was his. She was too late to get the full view, but from the looks of his toned back side, he'd grown up in the past few years.
Damn, down girl
, she scolded herself. Ben's backward glance and heated gaze that met hers let her know he'd caught her peeking. But she guessed he didn't mind, based on the flare of desire she saw in those eyes.
Double damn.
He reached back with one hand, and she placed the rock softly in his upturned palm. She shivered when their fingers met momentarily. Shit, that desire was so far from one-sided it was crazy. He flashed a grin at her, then drew his arm back, winding up almost like a pitcher. When he let the stone fly it rocketed through the already damaged glass door like a hot knife through butter. Aria tensed, waiting for all hell to break loose, alarms to sound, something.

But once the glass stopped tinkling to the ground, silence echoed down the street once more. Huh. For a powerful witch, this place was poorly guarded, Aria thought. She couldn't help drooling as she followed Ben's naked behind through the door.

His steps were light and nimble, and somehow he avoided all the glass littering the doorway. She sighed in disappointment when he headed straight for the small clothing aisle. She'd definitely enjoyed the view. Still, it was a bit unfair to expect a man to confront the gods in nothing more than his birthday suit. Aria turned toward the counter, and studied the tapestry that concealed the door that had tried to hurt her babe. She ran a hand gently over its silken threads, braced for trouble. But nothing happened. So she shifted the cloth aside, to study the door in more detail. She ran her hands around the edges of the door, searching for a way in. If she hadn't seen the thing glow, didn't know it was there, she'd never have noticed the faint outline it made in the wall. She couldn't feel any catches or hidden switches. Damn, there had to be a way in. She turned to ask Ben if he had any ideas, only to yelp and find herself flattened against that damn door when she ran face first into his purple-velvet covered chest. His gentle chuckle didn't ease her panic.

Her heart fluttered furiously in her chest at his reaction. He leaned in so close she could feel the stubble of his beard. They were damn near cheek to cheek when he whispered in her ear.

"See something you like, love?" Ooh, shivers raced up her spine. Something she liked indeed. But Aria refused to be distracted from her goal, no matter how tempting the man was, even in his purple robes. Robes! Yet somehow, he made them look
damn
sexy. Aria tried to peek around him when it occurred to her that someone ought to be following them by now.

"Looking for back up, mate?"
Wait, what did he just call me,
she thought. Mate? Fuck, she hoped she'd heard wrong, because if she hadn't life was going to be even more difficult. She swallowed the lump of desire mixed with fear that had lodged in her throat and nodded once.

"Pretty sure we're on our own with this one. Victoria's not going to leave Faith alone or in the care of someone who's not a shifter. And Delilah's not about to challenge the gods that probably rule her life." Aria wasn't so certain about his last comment. She'd sensed annoyance and frustration from Del, but he did have a point. Aria wasn't even sure she would challenge the gods in Delilah's position.

"So, how do we get in?" Aria patted the door behind her gently. "I didn't find a door knob or a hidden clasp, soo..." Her chest heaved when Ben pressed himself even closer to her. Shit, he wasn't going to pursue this here and now was he? They had work to do, damn it.

"I know how I'd like to answer that question, but it'll have to wait." His words were just a breath across her ear. She shivered again when he planted an impossibly soft, gentle kiss on her temple. "We've got some gods to topple and a cub to save." He pushed himself back from her, giving her space. Aria took a couple shuddering breaths and struggled to compose herself. He was a thousand times sexier than he had been back when they were together. Hell, she missed this, missed him. But now wasn't the time for missing things. Aria steeled herself inside, determined to go through with her plan. The confusion and desire roiling in her stomach would simply have to wait until she could ensure Faith's safety. Then she'd deal with the delectable puzzle that was Benjamin Torben.

Aria took another shuddering breath, patted her hair back from her face, then slipped under Ben's arm. He'd backed up enough to give her space, but his hands still rested on the door. She turned to look at him, curious. He hadn't reacted to her slipping away from him. And his eyes were closed, his face contorted, almost as if he was in pain. What the hell was he doing? She looked at the door closer, searching for something, anything that suggested it was doing to him whatever it had done to Faith. But the door remained stubbornly dull and wall colored.

Mystified, Aria started searching the wall around the tapestry, feeling for a hidden catch. When she didn't find anything she turned and ran her hand beneath the checkout counter. Gotta be a trigger here somewhere. No luck. She glanced toward Ben, but he remained stone still, a living statue challenging a dead god's door. His arms vibrated from tension, and he growled softly. The hairs rose on the back of Aria's neck at the ferocity in that sound. Hell, if she hadn't known their history, she'd have believed that to be the growl of one pissed off daddy bear hell bent on avenging his girl. Maybe she'd held a grudge for too long as far as him leaving goes. She hadn't had the chance to ask him outright yet, but from what gran had said, he hadn't had much choice in the matter. And here he was, backing her up against the gods of all things. What more could a woman ask for? Besides time, and companionship, and love and marriage, her traitorous, spiteful half chimed in.

She shivered as his growl grew even deeper. The air shimmered around him. Was he calling on his bear for strength? She wasn't even sure such a thing was possible, but nothing else made sense. The door was still dark. She looked closer. Was the crack widening at the edge? She gasped, and the door flew open on hidden hinges. Damn. Ben's growl subsided. He must have been expecting that because he didn't even jerk forward when the door flew open. He opened his eyes, and glared into the darkness that the door had hidden. Aria struggled for calm when she saw his eyes. Pure silver. No whites, no iris or pupil, just a wash of glowing, swirling silver. Fuck; that had to be a fight to stay on the edge of shifting for so long. Aria didn't dare move as she waited for something to happen. He couldn't ride that razor's edge forever. One way or the other he either had to shift, or set his bear free. The one time she'd seen Faith try this trick, the babe had ended up seizing for what felt like hours. She couldn't bear to see that happen to anyone again.

After a few moments the silver swirled furiously, then slowly drained away, like water draining out of a tub. Ben slumped, head down. His breathing grew heavy for a moment, and he shook furiously, like a hypothermic finally experiencing warmth. He composed himself with a couple long, deep breaths, then his gaze rose to meet hers. Brilliant blue eyes, twins to Faith’s, met her own.