Paths Crossed

Chapter 4

A little update for all you lovelies! As always thank you all for the reviews, faves and follows! They always make me want to write more! Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 4

Aria glanced over when a shadow darkened the open door to her hospital room. The tall, dark haired man stepped past the threshold and met her gaze cautiously. His hand came up to rub at his eyes as if they were tired of the scene before them and she could swear he mumbled something to himself.

Beside her bed, Field smiled and gestured at the new addition. "This is Shane. He is one of the task force members who was in the SUV tonight."

"Oh!" Aria turned and gave him an embarrassed smile. "Thank you for bringing me here. I can only imagine I gave you all quite a scare by running out in the street like that."

The tall man rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the floor before giving her a shaky smile. "Yeah, you certainly did. I'm just glad you're all right. You are all right, aren't you?" His eyes flicked between her and the New Species nurse.

"She's doing just fine." Field said, giving her a fanged smile. "In fact, once we get the okay from one of the doctors, you should be all right to go home if you want. Although you'll need to take it easy for a few days."

"Thank god." Shane mumbled, looking heavenward briefly. He stepped forward, moving to the side of her bed. "I hate to admit it but you had me pretty freaked out. I'm just so glad to see you're okay."

Aria smiled at the poor man. He looked like he'd been beating himself up over the whole incident. She put a hand on his thick forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze. She opened her mouth to reassure him when a soft rumbling growl caught her notice.

She glanced back to the door to see another man standing there. His large body filled the doorway entirely, shoulders almost brushing the jam on either side. His hair hung to his shoulders in a mixture of chestnut and jet like nothing she had ever seen before. Steel grey eyes were narrowed at the scene before him and his full lips were drawn in a grimace, revealing fangs to give him a vicious look.

Aria's heart stuttered in her chest and she felt her hand grip Shane's arm reflexively.

The soft growl from the man in the doorway grew until it became a full snarl.

"Ascension?" Shane said, seemingly stunned at the spectacle. He reached out and put a hand on Aria's shoulder to calm her.

"Do not growl at the female, Ascension." Field demanded, coming around to stand between the end of Aria's bed and the doorway, blocking her view. "If you can't control yourself, leave."

The big male silenced his growl to utter a bitter curse before turning on his heel and storming down the hallway.

"What was that about? He was doing fine a few minutes ago." Shane questioned Field. "He's usually so even tempered."

Field turned back to the two humans and shrugged. "I have no idea. I've never seen him behave that way." The New Species nurse came up to the side of the bed again and patted Aria's knee through the soft blanket. "I apologize for that. I hope that won't alter your view of New Species. We are not generally violent. Ascension just seems to be grumpy today."

Aria smiled at the nurse. "Don't worry, I won't hold it against you."

XXX

Ascension growled as he slammed his first into the brick wall at the back of the men's dorm. He paced back and forth, pissed at himself. He couldn't believe he'd made such an ass of himself in front of the female!

Damn it all to hell! The adorable little female had turned to Shane for comfort because he couldn't keep his shit together. The sight of her touching the task force member had made his blood boil. It had taken everything in him not to stride over and rip Shane away from her.

He growled viciously and dug his hands into his hair to tug at the strands.

"Tough day?"

Ascension whirled around and glared at Slade who leaned casually against the wall. "What do you want?" His voice came out rougher than he'd meant it to.

"I was informed you had a slip of temper when you went to visit the female involved in the accident last night. Care to help me understand why you felt the need to growl at her?" Slade asked, quirking an eyebrow in an all too human gesture.

Ascension rubbed the back of his neck to ease the tension and flicked his eyes to the side, not wanting to reveal too much to his friend. "I wasn't growling at her."

"Oh?" Slade intoned, letting the silence stretch between them.

Ascension rubbed harder at his neck as he pictured the female's hand on Shane's arm. The growl that bubbled up in his chest surprised even him. He glanced at Slade who just stared at him patiently.

Ascension turned and started pacing again. He watched his feet eat up the ground as he strode to the edge of the building and turned to stride back. On the third trip he managed to stop with his back to Slade and stared up at the clear sky.

"She was touching Shane."

It was all he could get out. The only explanation. The image was eating him alive and he couldn't understand it.

"And you didn't like it?" Slade hazarded a guess.

Ascension shook his head. "I wanted to throw Shane across the room. I can't explain it. I just couldn't stand the idea of her touching another male."

Slade was silent for a moment, contemplating, before he walked up behind Ascension and put a reassuring hand on the male's big shoulder. "I do believe your in over your head, my friend."

"What do I do, Slade? I have never dealt with a human female before."

Slade smiled. "This is a topic I can offer a lot of advice on. Go to the female. Talk to her calmly. Try to keep the growling to a minimum. Explain you were just out of sorts."

"Do you think she will forgive me for scaring her?"

"Human females are more forgiving than you would think. Just be gentle with her." Slade assured. "Now, go see the female. I delayed the doctor from releasing her."

Ascension closed his eyes briefly and bowed his head. "Thank you."

"It was no problem." Slade shrugged the appreciation off. "I want to see you happy, Ascension."

Ascension sighed and figured that might be the case but he'd need all the luck he could gather to get her to give him another chance.