The Luna's Betrayal

Chapter 7

Sierra's POV

Sitting in this second meeting, the time was dragging on. There was really no need for me to be here, and I wasn't sure why Ivan insisted I needed to be. Finally, after an hour and a half, they called an end to it. Gleefully exiting the conference room, I had every intention of calling it a day and heading home. Unfortunately, Ivan had other plans for me.

"Sierra, since you and Josh seem to know each other. Would you be able to show him around and help him get acquainted with everything?"

"Absolutely not! It’s Friday and we’re going home! Tell him no! Just because we know him doesn’t mean we wanna spend time with him!" Brooklyn knew full well that I wasn’t going to say any of that to my boss.

"Sure, that’s not a problem."

"Girl, you’re the problem." she said, rolling her eyes at me. I set my things down on my desk, before heading over to Josh’s office. "Is this giving you PTSD? Because it sure as he** makes me remember."

"It’s not gonna be that bad. He apologized and seemed like he’s got a good attitude about the situation."

"Sure, that’s what he told us." Ignoring her, I knocked softly on the half open door,

"Josh? Are you busy? Ivan wanted me to show you around the place."

"Are we able to do it later? Trying to get this office in order is driving me crazy." He looked very disheveled, with books and papers scattered haphazardly around the room and desk. Taking pity on him, I entered his office to offer some help.

"Do you want some help?"

"Seriously? That would be amazing! You’re not too busy?" He looked at me with appreciation and desperation, as he glanced up from the stack of papers in his hand.

"No, I’m supposed to be showing you around, so technically that’s what I’m doing. I’m showing you around your office," I joked. Brooklyn rolled her eyes in annoyance at my joke. "Where should we start?" The mess he had made on the floor was impressive for only being in this office a few hours. He had two large bookshelves that were bare. It seemed he had taken everything off with the intention of going through it.

"Well, originally I wanted to go through everything, but I think that might have been a mistake."

"Yeah, the guy in here before you wasn't the most organized person. He lost one too many manuscripts and finally got the boot."

"I guess he didn't bother cleaning anything up, did he?"

"Unfortunately, not. He wasn't happy about getting fired, as you can imagine." Taking a seat on the floor, I began pulling papers towards me to start organizing. "Why don't I start organizing piles for keep and toss?"

"Okay, I'll keep working over here trying to figure out what pages go with what manuscript. It looks like somehow everything got messed up." The two of us worked in silence, with the only noise coming from the movement and rustling of papers.

"I really appreciate the help," Josh finally said.

"It's no problem. I'm not usually here on Friday's so I don't have much to do."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I only come in on Monday and Wednesday. I do the rest of my work from the... from home."

"Does Aaron do the same?"

"He goes in slightly more than me, but he has a lot more to manage." Brooklyn was throwing her head back and sighing at our small talk. She really did not like Josh after the way he treated us.

"Duh."

"You know what, it was a long time ago, we are with someone else. Get over it!" She turned away from me and flopped down so I was staring at her tail. At least now she wasn't going to annoy me.

"I heard that!"

"Sierra, did you hear me?"

"What?" I asked, snapping back to reality.

"I asked how things have been with Aaron?"

"Oh, sorry I was umm, lost in thought." He looked slightly confused for a second. "Things are good though, quiet." Brooklyn turned her head to look at me with raised eyebrows.

"Well, it's been quiet lately," I told her.

"That's good. So, if you got married a year ago, that means the two of you..."

"We were only together for a little while before it happened. Yeah, everything happened pretty fast."

"Well, I'm happy for you," he said with a genuine smile before going back to going through papers.

"Do you believe me now that we can forgive him for what he did?" I asked Brooklyn. She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not letting my guard down just yet." There was a knock on the door and Meridith stuck her head in.

"Sierra, Aaron's on the phone. He says he needs to talk to you right away."

"Why didn't he just call my cell?" I started feeling for my phone, and realized I must have left it on my desk.

"He says he did, but you didn't answer."

"Sh*t," I said, leaving Josh's office and walking with Meridith to the front desk. She handed me the phone.

"Hello?"

"Sierra, what the he**! I called you like twenty times!"

"Sorry, I was in a meeting and then I was away from my phone because I left it on my desk. What's so urgent?" I asked.

"Danny's in labor."

"Holy fu*k!" Meridith looked at me, shocked by my use of language in the office. Usually, I tried to keep very professional while I was here.

"Are you able to come back? She wants you here."

"Of course, I'll be right there!" I slammed the phone back onto the receiver and looked at Meridith slightly panicked. "I have to go, my sister-in-law's in labor!"

"That's amazing! Go!" I raced to go find Ivan and let him know. Josh stuck his head out of his office before I did.

"Everything okay?" he asked. He must have heard me yelling.

"I have to go home, my sister-in-law's in labor!"

"Oh wow, congratulations!"

"Thanks, I have to find Ivan and tell him."

"I can find him if you just want to go. I'll let Ivan know what's happening."

"Tell me what?" Ivan said, coming out of the kitchen.

"My sister-in-law's in labor. I have to go home now!"

"Oh, sure! That's amazing!" The look on my face must have been manic because Josh stopped me on my way to my desk with a concerned look.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to drive you home?"

"No thanks, we remember what happened the last time we were in a car together," Brooklyn said.

"Shh!"

"I'm okay but thank you. I appreciate that." Collecting all my things as quickly as I could, I all but ran from the building to my car.

"Would you calm down! You're going to give us a heart attack!"

"Sorry, this is just so exciting! Caleb and she have been waiting for this moment for so long."

"I know, but we won't be able to enjoy being an aunt if you kill us!"

"Okay, okay." I got into my car and took a couple of deep steadying breaths. It was going to take me around thirty minutes to make it back to the pack. I didn't know how long her labor was going to take, but I hoped it would be a while. My mom always said the first labor was always the longest. When I was younger, she always loved telling me she was in labor with me for over twenty-four hours. Then I reminded her, at least she was a wolf and totally healed within less than an hour.

"See, once we do have pups we don't have to go through weeks or months of pain like humans do!"

"Yes, but then you have to keep a pup alive," I reminded her.

"Why are you so worried about having pups?"

"I don't know," I told her. It wasn't entirely untruthful. I always thought I wanted kids growing up, but now that I am an adult and the possibility is real, it was scary. That was something I would deal with later. Right now, I needed to focus on Danny and helping her. Driving as fast as I could, I pulled through the pack house gates in only about twenty minutes.

"Aaron, I just got here. How's Danny doing?"

"She's good, sleeping right now thanks to the meds they gave her."

"I'll just park and be right there."

"Okay, we'll be here." Coming into the parking garage, I took my usual spot next to Aaron's truck. This wasn't how I imagined our reunion after a few days apart.

"You're telling me," Brooklyn whined. Racing to the hospital, I found Aaron and my parents sitting in the waiting room.

"Hey!" I said breathlessly. A broad smile spread across Aaron's face when he saw me. He got up and closed the distance between us in three strides, taking me in his arms.

"I missed you!" he said, capturing my lips in a hungry kiss that might not have been appropriate for the place.

"I missed you too," I said once he let me breathe. Caleb came striding out of the double doors behind us.

"Sierra! Danny's gonna be so happy you're here," he told me, coming to give me a hug, which is when I noticed he was shaking slightly.

"It's okay," I whispered softly to him, trying to ease his nerves. We broke apart, and he tried to smile at me but failed.

"How is she?" I asked him.

"Good, still sleeping. Dr. Kinsley said we probably still have several hours to go."

"Do you need us to get you anything?"

"No, thanks. We have everything we need in the bags we packed, but if anything comes up, I'll let you know."

"Since we have so long to go, why don't we go and let you have some space," my mom said, coming to stand next to me.

"That sounds like a good idea," Aaron added. "Caleb, let us know when it's time and we'll come back." We each took turns, giving him a hug.

"Everything's gonna be okay," I reassured him. "Danny's in good hands." Aaron took me by the hand as we walked from the hospital and out into the cold December afternoon.

"I have to get back to work," my dad said. "I'll see you guys at dinner." He walked towards the houses that were being constructed.

"I'll go make sure their apartment is all ready for when they come home," my mom told us.

"They're so subtle," I said to Aaron.

"They knew what that kiss in the hospital meant," he purred seductively. I bit my lip in anticipation, as we walked to our apartment.