Unveiling The Unknown

Chapter 1

Aaron’s POV

"Aaron, I’m pregnant," Sierra said. I’m not sure if my brain was taking in what she was saying. My face was frozen, mouth wide open, while Sierra looked over the balcony rail, the blanket pulled tightly around her. Cole was just as frozen as I was, drool hanging out of his mouth; it had been open for so long. He was utterly lost for words, and so was I.

"But I... We always… When?" I stammered, trying to absorb this new information bomb.

"Apparently, even the best birth control can't stop your torpedo sperm," she said, still not looking at me. Sierra had said she wasn't ready for kids yet and wanted to wait a little longer. How was this going to work? Not that I didn't think she would be a fantastic mother, she would be, but now we also had to contend with this child being the future High Alpha.

"Wow," I breathed, thinking about what this would mean. "How far along are you?"

"Three weeks. Dr. Kinsley said that's why you haven't noticed a change in my scent. That doesn't happen until around five weeks," Sierra replied. Werewolves were only pregnant for up to four months, instead of nine like humans. Every synapse in my brain was firing simultaneously with his news. Part of me wanted to be happy; this was what I wanted, but I could feel the anxiety coming from Sierra. I'm sure everything we had learned about her powers and our future son or daughter was terrifying. Being happy was something we could do later; right now, my mate needed comfort.

"I know this isn't exactly how we wanted it," I said, turning her gently to look into her stunning hazel eyes. "And I know you're probably scared, too, but we can do this."

"How are we supposed to raise the next High Alpha? Doesn't that mean they're going to have powers?" Cole asked, shaking himself from his frozen state

"Probably, but thinking like that isn't helping," I told him.

"What does Brooklyn think about the whole thing?" I questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, she's over the moon," Sierra laughed. "She's been waiting for this for a long time."

"What's your main concern here?" I asked, wanting to get on the same page as her.

"That she's gotta have to raise your kid," Cole barked. Ignoring him, I tried to focus on Sierra and how she was feeling.

"Just that I'm so young, and I have things I wanted to do before I had kids. This black market thing is really important to me," she replied.

"We can still do all that and anything else you want to do," I reminded her. "We have an entire pack to help raise the next Alpha."

"I know, it's just a lot right now," she said. Pulling her in, I hugged her tightly to my chest.

"Have you told your parents?" I questioned.

"No, I wanted to tell you first," she mumbled into the fabric of my shirt.

"Do you want to go do that?" I asked, not wanting to push her if she wanted to take some more time to work through this mentally.

"You better warn Mom, don't go freak out," Cole told me, which was true. When Danny told her she was pregnant, my mom just about burst through the ceiling; she was so happy. Aria was almost two months old and the most spoiled child in this pack. It was coming to the point where we would have to have an intervention to get my mom to stop buying Aria things she didn't need.

"Sharon's going to go out and buy me every baby item known to man," Sierra laughed.

"I was just thinking the same thing," I replied, resting my chin on her head. "Do you want me to ask our parents where they are? It's probably easier to tell them all together; maybe that will keep my mom in check."

"Sure," Sierra said. We walked back into the warm comfort of our bedroom.

"Mom, Dad, David, and Maria? Can Sierra and I come to talk to you guys? We have some news to tell you," I sent out in a group mind link.

"Sure, son," my dad answered. "Do you want us to meet you in your office?"

"That would be great," I replied.

"See you in a couple of minutes," my dad said, cutting the link.

"Okay, time to shine," I said, smiling at Sierra from my position in the middle of the room. Sierra dropped the blanket back on the bed, and we walked to my office, getting there before anyone.

"You know, I do have to admit, I can't wait to have a little one opening this door and running in yell Daddy," Cole said, a dreamy look on his face.

"That is a nice thought," I told him, trying not to seem too excited. It was still very early in Sierra's pregnancy, and anything could happen. Sierra seemed to have relaxed a little more; I no longer felt waves of anxiety coming off her. Maybe the relief of finally telling me had helped her. We didn't have to wait long before our parents filled the room. Maria looked worried as if we were about to deliver bad news.

"Should we make them think we're about to tell them something terrible?" I joked with Sierra.

"Maybe not. I'm not sure my mom can handle the thought of any more negative information," she replied, nodding to Maria's furrowed brow.

"Maybe next time," I said, giving Sierra a playful wink.

"I’m sure you’re wondering why we asked you to meet us here," I began.

"Please tell me no one else is after either of you," Maria said, half joking but half serious after what we had been through.

"Sierra, do you want to take it from here?" I asked, looking sideways at her, perched on her chair beside my desk.

"Okay, well, I guess I’ll just come right out and say it," she said. "I’m pregnant."

"I think she sounded happier that time," Cole said with a smile.

"Oh my Goddess!!" My mom exclaimed, her face lighting up as she jumped to her feet, almost leaping over my desk to wrap Sierra in a hug.

"Get out of here!" Nathan exclaimed, a huge smile spreading across his face. Maria looked speechless, sitting in her chair staring at Sierra like she was waiting for her to say, ‘Just kidding.’

"You’re being serious?" Maria asked, mouth hanging open.

"Very," I replied, taking Sierra’s hand in mine. My mom had released her, and now Maria leaped to her feet to throw her arms around Sierra and me.

"My first grandchild!" Maria squealed. "This is amazing news!"

"Congratulations, both of you," my dad said, reaching across the desk to shake my hand.

"Thanks," Sierra said with a sheepish smile. "It was unexpected."

"I know, but how exciting for Aria to have a little cousin so close in age?" my mom said, looking at my dad with hearts in her eyes.

"We still haven’t told Danny or Caleb yet, so please let us be the ones to tell them," I said, eyeing my mom more than anyone else.

"We won’t say anything, right Sharon?" My dad said, looking sideways at her since she had returned to her seat next to him.

"I’ll do my best, but you better tell them quickly," my mom smiled.

"Since we have you all here, there’s something else I wanna talk about," Sierra said.

"Is she gonna tell them about her plan with the black market?" Cole asked.

"Probably; I mean, they’ll find out anyway," I replied.

"After my time in the smuggling ring, I feel strongly that I'm meant to do something about it," she told them.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked, looking confused.

"I feel like I need to help the people still trapped. There has to be a way to take down at least a ring near us. Maybe not all of them, but one is better than none," she said.

"We went back to the original place where Sierra was being held, and they had moved everyone out. So we only got to help those at the auction," I reminded everyone. We had returned to where she had been held a week after returning to Emerald Sky. It had been deserted, and no trace of anyone had been left. Sierra felt guilty for not going sooner, but we had so much else going on that we didn't think about it right away.

"You barely made it out of there alive the first time," Maria reminded us. "Why would you want to go back?"

"Because there are thousands of supernatural creatures that need help! Think about Ipri, Ladreo, and Selceips. We have all the new pack members because we managed to free them. All the families that were reunited because of what we did!" Sierra said, sounding resolved in her decision.

"Yes, but should you be doing those things now that you’re pregnant?" my mom asked, exchanging a look with Maria.

"I’m only three weeks; the baby isn’t falling out of me right now," Sierra replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, but…" Maria began to protest, but Sierra cut her off.

"I’ve already made my decision to do this. Aaron supports me, and I’m just letting you all know as a courtesy," Sierra said sternly. "I didn't bring this up for you to try and talk me out of it."

"Maria, Sierra is capable of taking something like this on. Look at everything she's done so far?" Nathan said, more in a tone letting her know to drop the subject.

"Alright," Maria huffed. "I'll keep my opinion to myself and help with whatever you need."

"Thanks, Mom," Sierra smiled.

"So, what's your plan exactly?" my dad asked now that the euphoria of the baby news had subsided.

"I'm not sure; we haven't gotten that far in the planning process," Sierra said.

"We haven't planned anything," Cole joked.

"Maybe we should bring Danny and Caleb into this conversation? They might have some ideas about how best to go about this," I said.

"Should we bring Ipri, Ladreo, and Selceips, too?" Sierra asked. "They might be able to give us a better insight into the smuggling world since they were there longer than I was. I could call Amisra too; she was their prisoner for four years."

"Yeah, I don't see why they couldn't help us. I think Ladreo is with Josh today, but we can fill him in when he gets back," I said. "I'll mind link Caleb if you want to see if Ipri is with Justin."

"I'm sure she is; those two are rarely ever apart from one another," Sierra smirked. Justin and Irpi had initially wanted to move into a house together but then agreed to live in the pack house once they saw how nice their room would be. We put them in a separate wing on the third floor, and they have been enjoying it so far.

"Caleb, can you and Danny come to my office? We have something we want to discuss," I said.

"Sure thing, boss," he replied. I could see the faraway look in Sierra's eyes, indicating she was talking to Justin.

"Okay, Ipri and Justin are coming, and they're going to grab Selceips, too," she said.

"Think Amisra will come around to the idea of getting revenge on her brother?" Cole questioned.

"I have no idea; I think she could go either way," I responded. It seemed like the mood of my mom and Maria were the two of them dying to bombard Sierra with baby questions, so while we waited for the next set of people to arrive in my office, I did anything I could to keep the topic of conversation away from babies and pregnancy.