Chapter 29

~Aaden POV~

It had been one week since Derek had spoken to me. He hadn't come to bed, he didn't lean in to kiss me, nothing. When I did see him, he avoided eye contact, and if I spoke, he'd merely nod. To say that my chest ached from it was putting it lightly. I had thought that one day a baby would strengthen our love, not destroy it.

For the first time since our fight though, I had him cornered. He wouldn't make a scene in front of the pack, I knew that for sure, and I had to say what I was feeling.

"Good morning Derek," I said, standing next to him. He 'hmmed' a reply, not looking at me. "All right," I said, trying to hold back my anger, "you can be angry at me all you want, but I'm going to talk and you're going to listen." He then glared down at me, his eyes red and pissed, but I didn't look away. Instead, I felt better knowing I had his attention. "I am your wife, Derek. Much more than that, I am your mate and I can take you being angry with me, but acting like I don't exist is another thing! You say I don't care, that I don't think about you because I've chosen to carry our child. You're wrong." I stressed my words, putting emphasis where I felt it best. "Part of being your Luna means I bear children, to help you build a biological pack. So, that pack started a lot earlier than we meant, but we'll get by. You may not believe it right now for some reason, but I love your rebellious ass. I love you, but you're wrong. You think making me get rid of this baby will restore what was before, but it won't. If you make me get rid of this baby, I'll never forgive you. If you want to talk to me about it later, I'm waiting."

With that, I quickly turned on my heel and walked out, ignoring the looks coming from the packmates close enough to hear what I'd said. Truth be told, besides Farren, Spencer, Silas, and Vlad, no one knew I was pregnant. We, and by 'we' I meant Farren and myself, figured it would be best to keep it on the down low. But now, I didn't care. So what if everyone knew now or later? I was getting bigger every day, even if it was virtually unnoticeable. Six weeks yesterday. I was six weeks along now, and yeah, I might not show until I was three or four months, maybe more, but so what? Lost in my thoughts, I wasn't paying attention and bumped into Farren. "Sorry." "It's cool," she said. She was mad too, but not in the same way Derek was. She at least had the decency to admit she didn't like my decision, instead of attacking me with words or outright ignoring me. "Farren, I'm sorry that I've upset you," I said, going on before she could answer, "I'm not sorry however for the choice I've made. I hope you can forgive me."

She sighed, then reached out to put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm really worried Aaden." She said. "I'm not, I'm scared," I chuckled, "but not worried. You shouldn't be either. All I'm really concerned about is Derek." "Aaden, really, truly put yourself in his place. In all of our places. Yeah, you mean more to Derek, of course, because you're his mate. But to everyone else, you're an ally, friend and sister. None of us want to lose you. You're literally a month and a half along, you can't feel it move, and it's not even breathing. Why would you risk dying for it?" I sighed, then spoke gently, "Did you know, that eighteen days after conception, the baby's heart starts beating?" "No, I didn't know that. Why does that matter?" "My point is that regardless of shape and size, the baby is a person. It has as much right to live as you and I do. Who am I to take that life away or let someone else do it for me? I can't expect you to understand, but from the moment I found out I was pregnant, I was a mother. I could no more kill this baby if I was holding him or her in my arms."

Farren's eyes were distant, but lit with mild understanding. "And this is how you feel about it?" "Yes, absolutely. You don't have to support me, you can be angry, but please, do not try and convince me to get rid of the baby." "Okay Aaden." I felt bad that she suddenly looked defeated, but I wasn't going to take the easy way out. I'd heard before that being a mother was one of the world's hardest job, and that involved making decisions that weren't about you. This was one of those cases for me. Getting rid of my baby would be a selfish act, even if it was for someone else.

Taking her silence as an excuse, I stepped around her and walked up the stairs. I needed some fresh air. I wasn't going to complain that everyone was against me, even if they might be right now. I understood their upset, but I didn't agree with it, and if they needed to be angry to deal with it, that was okay. I opened the balcony doors, closing them behind me again and settled into a chair nearest the edge of the pavilion. If it's only you and me Baby, we're going to be okay. I was surprised then by how lonely I felt. I hadn't felt Derek's arms around me in almost a week and a half, I hadn't had a decent conversation with Farren or Spencer in that same time, and everyone else avoided me, I supposed in an attempt to not anger Derek. I sighed, crossing my legs, and rubbing the baby. Today was cloudy, the evening gray, but the day was yellow. The haze around us was neither dark nor shine, but in between. It felt perfect considering I was living in darker shades right now.

I started slightly when I heard the door behind me open.

"Aaden."

I turned in shock, because that was the last voice I expected. Jessica stood in front of the now closed door, looking unsure yet determined. "I'm sorry Jessica, would you like to sit down? I wasn't planning on being out here much longer." "Stay. I want to talk to you." I didn't want to get in an argument here and now. I wondered what I'd done to draw her attention. As far as I knew, she had come here to defend the feelings of her Alpha. "Stop twitching," she said, "you're making me agitated." "I'm sorry, but in case you haven't noticed, I've been dealing with a lot. If you're here to gripe at me-" "I'm not here to gripe at you." She interrupted me, her eyes glowing yellow. "Okay."

"I wanted to say that I don't know for sure what is going on, but it's obvious you've done something. Derek is more of an asshole than he's ever been, and that's saying something. But I've noticed that Jared, Ethan, Vlad, even Farren and Spencer have been walking around like they got steel bars implanted in their spines. Before I ask you to tell me about what's going on, I'm going to explain to you why I am the way I am. As my Luna, you annoy me, but I respect you. I didn't think you'd be able to live up to the Luna title, I thought you were weak and whiny, and that your affection for my Alpha was foolish and untrue." Well, that was unsurprising, but I appreciated her honesty nonetheless. "I can see now that I was wrong. The look on your face when Derek ignores you reminds me of, well, me. I used to have a husband too."

I felt bad when surprise lit my face. It's not that she wasn't beautiful, and I believed somewhere deep down, she could be kind, maybe even funny, but what I knew of her was stiff hatred and avoidance. A sad, regretful smile shaped her mouth and she crossed her legs. "Yes, even poor, sad, angry me. I joined this battle for personal reasons, not just because Derek did. I've been a part of Derek's pack since the beginning, and he's a loyal and good Alpha. When he spoke of entering this war, I was one of the first to agree. I was seventeen when I met Tyler. Tyler was the Beta of another pack. He was tall, brave and stupid as all hell, but I loved him anyway. When I turned nineteen, we got married." Shifting slightly, she pulled a chain from her shirt front. On the end of it was a male's gold wedding band. Longingly, she looked at it, no doubt reliving a happier memory. "He knew how badly I wanted a baby, so we agreed to go ahead and have one if we could. Having a baby then was fine, the war wasn't as progressed as it is now. What we didn't take into consideration was rebel vampires." Her pain hit me in a great wave. Her eyes closed tight and much to my surprise and dismay, a single tear streaked down her cheek. Pulling the little shoe from her pocket, she cradled it in her lap. I wanted to cry with her, but without thought, I reached out and put a hand on her knee. She didn't shake it off like I was expecting, and instead looked up to me. "We had the baby I'd dreamed of. Seven pounds, four ounces…eighteen and a half inches long. She was perfect. Blue eyes," she said, blinking her own, "Rust colored hair, just like her dad. She was soft and sweet." She shakily took a breath, gazing out to the horizon. "When the rebel vampires broke into our house six months later, we hadn't been expecting it, even though there were plenty of warnings. We just never thought, 'well, why not us?'. Tyler woke me up, and I hid Carmen in what I thought was a secret room. We'd had no idea the bastards had found it. I heard a commotion outside, and when I went and checked it out, I took a few licks but killed two vampires. When I looked to Tyler to see if he was making it okay, there were two vampires holding him to his knees. I didn't make it in time to stop them from plunging a silver knife in his chest. He died in my arms."

My own pain was great, and I couldn't imagine hers. I hadn't known this woman at all, and I felt ashamed that a few weeks previously, I'd dreamed only of putting her in her place. If I lost Derek in front of me, I'd be cold too. "When I laid him down, I went to get the baby. I was crippled from the pain, and the only thing I wanted was her in my arms. I'd lost my husband, but I knew I'd always have a piece of him in her. When I reached the entrance to the hidden room, the door was open. I knew better than to go in there, because I already felt that the only news that awaited me was bad. I went anyway…"

Her eyes died, no longer lit with tears or feeling. Without realizing, her claws grew out, digging into the skin of her thighs. Blood colored the denim of her jeans. "Carmen's little eyes had never opened, at least I'd like to think. Her skin was no longer roses and cream. She was as pale as any sheet of paper, her tiny body cold. Evidence told me that some heartless fucking vampire had drained her of her blood."

I felt like I was going to throw up. I covered my mouth with my hand, feeling bile in my throat, and tears in my eyes. That poor baby girl. No one deserved to die that way, much less an infant. "Jessica…" "I swore from the moment I buried them, with Carmen in Tyler's arms, under the big oak tree in our yard, that I would kill every fucking vampire I came across that wasn't for my rights. I will hold to it until the day I die." She suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand, looking me in the eyes. "Tell me if the rumors are true. Are you pregnant?"

"Yes," I said. I expected her to be angry, but instead she asked another question. "Are they trying to push you to have an abortion?" "Yes." "Are you?" "Never." She relaxed immediately, sitting back in the chair.

"Good, because I'm going to defend your rights to be a mother."

**This was a difficult chapter to write. Jessica's backstory is tragic, but she's going to use her anger and sadness to defend Aaden and the baby. She's definitely going to play a big part in Aaden's pregnancy. I hope you all enjoyed, please feel free to leave reviews! Have a good one!**