Unveiling The Unknown

Chapter 5

Aaron's POV

Monday had finally arrived, much to the anxiousness of Sierra and myself. Yesterday, we sat down with Caleb to come up with fake identities and a fake pack to belong to. Caleb would be coming with us on occasion as our Beta, so we needed him to know the same story we did. Sierra would use the name Addison, and I would be Chris, using the last name Elliot. Caleb was going to be Mason Bentley. Our pretend pack was called Black Crest, and we were from northern Canada. Danny had wanted to join, but I didn’t want everyone coming into this ring with us. More people meant more chances for slip-ups and being found out. My mom had also thrown a fit about her doing something so dangerous with Aria at home. Maria and my mom tried again to talk Sierra out of her plan, but Sierra held firm, and they backed off eventually. We had already eaten breakfast and were in our closet, trying to find the best clothes that said, “We’re rich and keep supernatural creatures hostage.”

“What about this?” Sierra asked, coming out in a red pencil dress with cap sleeves and a square neckline.

“That looks beautiful,” I said, doing up the buttons on my white dress shirt.

“You said that about the last three dresses,” she huffed, turning towards her rack and riffling through again.

“She acts like we don’t think she’s beautiful in anything. She could wear a brown paper bag, and we’d still fu*k her,” Cole said, staring directly at Sierra’s a**.

“You should wear that dress. I love that color on you with your hair,” I said, grabbing my suit jacket to put on. First impressions were everything when it came to something like this. From what I had seen in the room when we had rescued Sierra, everyone was dressed more formally.

“Really?” she asked, turning and smiling at me.

“Yeah, Cole’s been staring at your butt this entire time,” I added with a wink.

“You weren’t supposed to tell her!” he laughed. Sierra’s long red hair fell down her back in beautiful waves, that she had spent about an hour perfecting it in the bathroom. She sat down on the lounge chair to slip on her black pumps, which had always been my favorite on her.

“I prefer it when she’s not wearing anything at all,” Cole growled, watching Sierra’s movements, ready to pounce.

“Are you ready?” I asked, trying to ignore Cole’s push forward to take over.

“I think so,” Sierra replied, checking her makeup in the mirror.

“You look stunning,” I told her.

“Thanks,” she smiled, blushing almost the same shade as her dress. It made me laugh how she still blushed at the smallest compliment after so much time together. “Do I look pregnant?”

“Is this a trick question?” I asked, watching as she examined her body in the mirror, turning from side to side.

“No, seriously,” she said, sounding concerned. “I know I’m gonna have to go through the awkward stage where I don’t look pregnant; I just look bloated.”

“I think you look beautiful,” I replied.

“That’s not what she wanted to hear,” Cole said, covering his eyes.

“You didn’t answer the question,” Sierra said, looking at me in the mirror and raising an eyebrow. I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, placing my hands on top of hers, which were resting on her stomach.

“Well, you are pregnant,” I reminded her. “But I don’t think you’re showing yet. No matter what you look like, you’ll always be beautiful to me.”

“I don’t think we should tell anyone in the underground I’m pregnant. I’m not sure how they’d treat me if they knew,” she said.

“You also need to be careful not to shift; Brooklyn’s a dead giveaway that you’re a primordial wolf,” I reminded her.

“That's true, and I can’t use my powers either,” she added.

“Not unless she wants to be locked up again,” Cole said.

“Not funny!” I growled, not looking to think about what Sierra had been through.

“Are you ready?” she asked, turning on my arms and looking at me.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied, gently kissing her glossy lips. Taking her hand, we left our closet and went into the hallway. As I expected, when the elevator door opened, the entranceway flooded, with everyone waiting to say goodbye to us.

“They know we’re not leaving for war, right?” Cole joked, glancing around at smiling faces and unhappy ones, thinking this might be the last time they would see us.

"You guys didn't have to wait for us," I told them. "We're coming back tonight."

"I know, but we wanted to see you before you left," my mom said. "Sierra, you look beautiful, glowing even."

"Thanks, Sharon," Sierra told her.

"You look like you're ready to spend a lot of money," Caleb joked, holding a tiny Aria in his arm like a football.

"That's the idea," Sierra replied.

"I'm not sure how late we'll be or if we'll have anyone with us, but we're going to take one of the larger SUVs," Aaron told them.

"We'll make sure to have guest rooms ready just in case," my dad told me.

"Caleb and Danny are in charge while we're gone, but we'll have our phones on us if anything big happens," I reminded them.

"Don't worry, boss," Caleb said, placing his free arm around Danny. "We've got everything under control."

"The pack's going to burn down," Cole joked. Caleb might have had a childlike disposition, but when it came to taking care of this pack, he was a great leader and took his job seriously, which is why I'd chosen him as my Beta when I took over.

"We love you both," Maria said, stepping out of the long line to hug Sierra and me.

"Remember to breathe and look inside yourself," Amisra added in a gentle voice.

"Try not to get kidnapped again," Justin joked, winking at Sierra, who rolled her eyes. Ipri elbowed him in the ribs, which didn't hurt, but he pretended like it did for laughs.

"We still need to talk about your brother," Sierra said to Amisra; her other goal was to convince Amisra to let us get revenge against him.

"Let's get through this plan first," Amisra told her. We said our goodbyes and left for the garage, where one of the workers, Sam, had the SUV running and waiting for us. What we planned to do had gotten around the pack, and I think most people admired our desire to help other trapped creatures. The black SUV had dark tinted windows so no one could see in, which I liked for what we were doing. Opening the door, I helped Sierra up and into her seat. Thanking Sam, I climbed into the driver's seat. Heading out of the garage and toward the city, Sierra typed in the name of the store her parents had told us about.

"It looks like Caldwells is on Wood Street downtown," Sierra said, punching the address into the car navigation.

"Okay, hopefully we can find street parking not too far away," I said, adjusting the screen to look for a nearby parking garage if needed. "What will we say to these people once we go inside?"

"I don't know, I'm not even sure what Caldwells sells. They don't have a website, and the only thing it says online is the address," Sierra said, looking at her phone screen.

"Maybe that's a good thing," I told her.

"How so? Sierra questions, still looking for more information about this store.

"They don't want people to know what's inside," I said. "Maybe that means it's not for humans."

"I guess that could be true; we'll just have to see what it's like when we get there," Sierra said.

The drive took about thirty minutes and then another ten, circling the block, looking for a space on the street. Finally, we gave up and found a garage a couple of blocks away. The good thing about this day and age was that you could pay for parking in the city through an app on your phone, which made it much more manageable. Sierra put on her heavy tan coat, which I had gotten her for Christmas last year, and I pulled on my black overcoat. Everything about us needed to scream success, so I bought Sierra a new designer bag just for this mission. Walking to Caldwells didn't take long, but I hoped Sierra's feet would survive the day in her chosen pumps.

"Maybe boots would be better next time," Cole said, wincing just watching her walk. Arriving at our destination, Caldwells looked like a rundown shabby shop in a sea of bright and shiny storefronts. The sign was weathered and creaking in the cold breeze, and the windows were covered from the inside using tan shades.

"We're sure this place is still in business?" I asked, looking at Sierra, who checked her phone to ensure we were in the right place.

"I guess we just try and open the door?" she asked.

"If we get killed by some weird squatter, I blame Sierra," Cole said. Placing my hand on the bronze door handle, I pushed on the door, and to my surprise, it opened inward. Entering the dingy shop, we saw a store selling what looked to be witch items. It was dimly lit and smelled of mildew. My first thought was if Sierra should be in here in her condition. It was crowded with tables of different sizes, high shelves, and things behind glass cases. Going further inside, I could see eyeballs in some green liquid, spiders crawling around terrariums, and something that looked strangely like a severed head.

"What is this place?" I asked, passing a bowl full of pig feet, one of which still seemed to be twitching.

"Can I help you two?" a low voice said behind us. Jumping, I nearly knocked a box of glowing purple orbs off a table with my elbow. A woman stood behind us, her sliver hair pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head, her hooked nose pointed almost directly toward the ceiling. I wanted to say her brown eyes looked kind, but they surveyed Sierra and me with suspicion.

"Yes. We're looking for something," Sierra told her. The woman's nostrils flared while she continued to stare at us intently.

"Did that woman just smell us?" Cole asked, watching her through narrow eyes.

"What might you be looking for?" the woman asked.

"My husband and I heard that this might be where we can find supernatural things," Sierra told the woman.

"We have many supernatural things," the woman replied.

"Right, we're looking for something specific, more lifelike," Sierra added. "We heard you might be able to help us with that. Our pack is desperate for creatures." The woman's expression softened, her pinched face relaxing as she understood what we were asking.

"I think I can help you; follow me," the woman said, turning and disappearing into the rows and rows of shelves.

"Sure, let's follow the creepy woman into the dark back room," Cole said sarcastically.

"I think an Alpha and primordial can handle one witch," I told him. The woman stopped where a large rug was covering the floor; she pulled it back to reveal a trap door. Without using her hand, the door squeaked open, revealing a hidden staircase.

"Head down there, and you'll find a man at the bottom. His name is Eric. He'll be able to help you find what you're looking for," she smiled, showing only three very yellow teeth.

"Okay, this is our first time doing this," Sierra told her. "Are they being held downstairs?"

"No, this is only an information center. Eric will give you an address and time for when we hold auctions," the woman responded. "They happen about once a week all over the state."

"Thank you," Sierra told the woman.

"Where are you two from anyway?" she asked, looking us up and down.

"Canada," I told her.

"What, they don't have black markets in Canada?" she laughed.

"We just wanted to make sure any packs around us didn't see us. We have a treaty up there stating we won't buy from the black market, but my mate and I have other ideas," I told her as arrogantly as I could muster.

"Right, we'll down you go," she instructed. I looked at Sierra for reassurance, and she nodded. Taking hold of the rickety wooden railing, I descended into the darkness with Sierra behind me.