Her Arranged Alpha Husband by Alicia Banks

Chapter 30

Teri

Seeing Ben’s face and that he was in one piece after almost a week of not knowing, was one of the biggest reliefs that Teri had ever felt in her life. His arms felt like heaven when he wrapped them around her. Teri closed her eyes to the feelings that were going through her. She couldn’t believe that he was there, and Ben seemed just as surprised to see her.

“How are you here?”

Teri sighed. “Why, because you thought that locking me in was really going to stop me from leaving? It was actually your mother that kept me from going after you. She is a bit scary when she wants to be.”

Ben didn’t know how to thank his mom. She had kept his wife safe, his children safe, and there was nothing better than that. He frowned when he heard it though. She had gotten out and if not, if he would have been smarter, she would have died. Ben didn’t know how to feel about that.

“The cabin was burned up. I thought you were in there, Teri.” His voice broke with the last of it, and Teri could see that he had thought that she was dead. He hadn’t taken it well by the way he was looking at her then, his lower lips practically quivering.

Teri let him pull her back to his heaving chest. She had been so worried about him, her and Jill. They’d tried not to talk about it, but after days of not hearing anything, Teri was ready to burst. Now, she felt the same way, but her implosion would be a good one this time, she was sure of it. Teri just wanted things to go like it should.

Jill left them to it for a while because she was likely thinking that Ben and Teri needed that time. Ben was emotional and Teri had never seen him that way before. She could feel the love that was pouring out of him and when he held her tight, Teri felt complete. The nights she had spent lying in bed, wondering and waiting. It was torture for Teri. There was no other way to describe it than simply torture.

His mom came back in after a while. She had tea for everyone, and Teri could tell from the way she was holding herself that Jill’s nerves weren’t all the way gone. She had other things that she wanted to talk about. Teri wasn’t sure what those things were. The two women had gotten to know each other well in the time they’d spent together, but Jill was still wrapped in mystery.

“It is time for you to tell us what happened, Ben. I need to know.”

Ben sighed and Teri could feel the tension rising in the room. Another moment where she didn’t know what was going on, but she knew that it wasn’t going to end well. Teri wanted to know what she was missing. Her mind was only on Ben and now that he was back, she was able to breathe again.

“I think you know what happened, Mom.”

“I need you to tell me.”

“You want to hear it said out loud?” He sighed louder and then shrugged like he wasn’t going to worry about it anymore. “Fine, I killed dad and several of his guys that worked underneath him. I smashed the stones, got their power and I took the throne.”

Jill smiled in the barest way and Teri was glad that it was out there. She didn’t know what to say to everything he’d just said, how the end had worked out as good as it could.

“I am sorry that you had to take him out.”

Ben agreed that he was sorry too, but he didn’t regret it enough that he would hope to go back and not do it again. He wished that he didn’t have to kill them, but Teri was never safe with them alive. He told Teri that she didn’t have to worry about it then, and Teri didn’t know what to say. She was sorry that he had killed James, and Mark she would find out, but she did feel safer. Knowing what they had done to Ben made it easier for Teri to accept what apparently had to be done on his part.

Teri didn’t want to let Ben go. She stayed right next to his side on the couch, halfway on his lap. She didn’t know if she was ever going to let him out of her sight. Teri was sure that she was going to have to figure out how to let go figuratively, but not yet. When he went to go to the bathroom, she had to fight the urge to go with him.

Jill saw her look and assured her that everything was going to be okay. Was it true? Teri had no idea if it was or not, but she was grateful that there wasn’t anything to be done about it.

“I can see that you are still worried that something will happen.”

Teri agreed. She had a bad feeling, had one since she found out she was getting married. Was that the dread that she had lived with, was it enough? Teri liked to believe that it was, but there was a part of her that knew better than that. She knew that there was something else, like it wasn’t bad enough. It was just sitting there on the outside of her mind, waiting, and Teri was driving herself crazy with it.

Jill told her that there was going to be an attack on the village. “Don’t worry though, I saw it coming. You aren’t the only one that can see ahead. They will come, our enemies will have to see for themselves that we don’t have the stones anymore. Ben will show them that he is the one that possesses the Pearl’s power, and they will leave it alone. Trust me, this is all going to work out just fine.”

Ben was back and Teri watched Jill kiss her son good night and tell him that she would see him in the morning. Teri was glad that Ben was giving her the eye when it finally came down for the two of them to be alone. She had waited a week for him, which didn’t seem like a lot, but when he had that look on his face and lust in his eyes, it felt like an eternity.

Teri was quick to let him drag her all the way onto his lap. She giggled when he nuzzled her neck. “I thought I had lost you, Teri.”

She told him that she wasn’t going anywhere, and Ben seemed to like that answer. They kissed, but Ben wasn’t ready to let her go, not even for a minute. Like her, Ben seemed unable to think about anything else but what had happened before. “You know, I watched that cabin burn down, and I thought that nothing was ever going to make sense again.”

Teri told him that she was okay, everything was fine, but Ben wasn’t having it. He just held her tightly and they hugged for the longest time, Teri facing him with her arms around him. “I am so glad that you are back, Ben. I was so worried that I was never going to see you again.”

Ben told her again that he was never going to let her out of his sight, and Teri wondered how they could manage it. She was willing to try. As he started to kiss her, Teri’s mind went blank, just like it did when she was with him. When she was with Ben, nothing else in the world mattered but the two of them. That moment was no different.