Desert Heat (Complete)

{Jedediah’s P.O.V.}

Four days have passed since I left the territory for my first mission with the team. Although it was an exciting way to start my new job, I had to admit, I hated how long everything was taking. We went to Brussels only to move destinations to Luxembourg one day into the job. Whoever this psycho was, he was good. The hardest part was the fact that we had no idea what this guy looked like.

Admittedly, it was for that same reason werewolves made some of the best trackers. We didn’t actually need to know what this guy looked like, we were tracking him based on our sense of smell. It was Amos and his half of the team that ultimately followed his trail to the airport in Brussels. This guy had the nose of a bloodhound, and it was no wonder he was a team lead.

I accompanied Amy and her part of the team, and it was our turn to stake out the hideout Amos’ team had tracked this guy to. Our job was to obtain solid confirmation that this was the guy the human authorities were looking for so Amos could make the call to Mikey back home. “Goddess, I didn’t realize how boring stakeouts would be,” I grunted to Amy.

“Seriously, you think this is boring? At least you have me and four others to keep you company. When I first got started, it was me and Amos, and that fucker doesn’t talk during the stakeouts. Be happy he assigned you to my half of the team for this job.”

“Yeah, I will totally make note of that,” I said. We all sat around in silence for a few minutes before I spoke up again. “So, how long has Amos been team lead?”

“A couple of years now. He’s been great too. He definitely is a natural-born leader,” she responded.

“What happened to the team leader before him?” I asked. As soon as the words left my mouth, she and everyone else tensed up a bit and gave me a hard look. “What?”

“Sorry, talking about the previous team lead is a bit of a sensitive topic for us,” a team member by the name of Albert said. I just furrowed my brows at them.

“Jed, you know what happened to the boss and Luna’s first baby right?” Amy asked. I nodded my head. She only lifted her brow and then lowered her eyes.

“Oh, no f*****g way,” I said softly. They all just cast their gazes down to the ground. “f**k, I’m sorry. I had no idea that guy was your previous team lead.”

“It’s okay, we know you didn’t know, but now you do,” Amy said. After that awkward moment, I decided to keep my mouth shut for the rest of the night. I already felt bad for Dorian knowing that someone in his pack had betrayed him that way. Hearing that it was someone that held such an important role within the pack and at this company really irked me. This guy didn’t simply betray Dorian and Allie, he betrayed his team. I saw how the guys followed Amos around and respected him as much as they would the ranked members. So, to find out that their previous leader betrayed them that way must have hurt, a lot.

We all took turns getting some shut-eye throughout the night and, by the time the sun was coming up, we never saw a single soul leave the building we were watching. Eventually, Amos and the others relieved us as they took the morning shift.

{Allie’s P.O.V.}

“What do you mean Dr. Quinn took a leave of absence!?” Dorian asked as he tried to make sense of our conversation. As soon as he got home, I bombarded him with the drama that unfolded today with Dr. Quinn, Avery, Celinda, and Leroy. When I finished telling him how Luther really died and got to the part that Celinda wasn’t actually his biological daughter, I relayed the fact that Dr. Quinn had requested time off for, goddess only knows, how long.

“Well, you can’t actually blame her for doing that, babe,” I replied while standing in the doorway of the bathroom as he washed his face to get ready for dinner. “Imagine finding out that your daughter-in-law broke your son’s heart because she was a gold digger, and that your only grandchild isn’t your grandchild.”

“I can’t even imagine, but she’s also the attending physician of the pack hospital.”

“She said that she’s going to transfer all of her active patients to Dr. Boyd and that she will find a suitable, temporary replacement.”

“Ugh …” he sighed and g*****d while rubbing his face vigorously. “Why is there so much f*****g drama just piling up on top of everything that we’re already going through?”

“Because our lives are anything but boring,” I said in response. I took one look at his facial expression, and I could visibly see the amount of stress that has been piling up on him. “Babe, what’s wrong?” I asked him while caressing his arm.

“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Dorian, you’ve been in a pissy mood for the last few weeks, and it’s starting to show.”

“I’m not pissy, Allie.”

“Yes, you are. You yelled at Daisy the other day when she asked you to have a tea party with her after you got back from work. You never yell at her, and you’ve always looked forward to your after hour tea-time with her,” I countered. He looked at me and I could see he felt so defeated. “Dorian, I don’t need Sin’s power of mind-reading to know that something is wrong.” He let out a deep sigh and sat on the ottoman that was tucked under the counter between our bathroom sinks. He gestured for me to sit on his lap, which I had no issue doing. He held me tightly and rested his head on my shoulder.

Dorian wasn’t as clingy as he was when we first met, but when he was really stressed or feeling apologetic, he always seemed to want to be close. It was like having another child. Only he was soon to be 32 and three times my size.

“Remember when Amber mentioned that we had a distant relative in Michigan who was a high-level Alpha?” he asked, and I nodded my head. “He had called me that day asking for a favor.”

“Okay, is that a bad thing?”

“Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t, but in this case, it might be,” he said. I just looked at him and waited for him to continue. “This is kind of hard to explain, but Wyatt’s great-grandfather is dad’s great-grandfather’s cousin’s cousin,” he explained, and I lifted my brow like he was speaking Martian just now. I hated when family trees were complicated like this. “He’s a few years younger than me, and he has a mate who is a really rare wolf. Even rarer than you and the others. He and I had a falling out about ten years ago and, believe it or not, it had to do with Jessica.”

“Ew! Why are you bringing her up!?” I exclaimed. That b***h’s name left a bitter taste in my mouth, and sometimes I wish I could turn back time so I could have killed her myself instead of Eddie and Mitch.

“Wyatt slept with her while she and I were dating,” he responded. My mouth dropped at how scandalous this all was turning out to be.

“Wait, hold up,” I said waving my hands. “How long had you and Jessica been dating when Wyatt came in and put his d**k inside of her?”

“About three months. It was one of the reasons she and I broke up,” Dorian replied. “I was already going to dump her, you know with the whole impotence bullshit I went through, but that was also when Wyatt decided to sleep with her after he visited one summer.” I watched as Dorian’s eyes flashed black. At first, I thought Dorian was having a jealous moment, knowing that his cousin had slept with his then-girlfriend, but then I knew it was something else.

“Wyatt didn’t sleep with her just to sleep with her, did he? He slept with her to rub in your face that you were having libido problems at 24.” Dorian nodded his head and cracked his neck.

“Wyatt was barely 18, and Jess was 22 or something like that. He had also just become Alpha of his pack.”

“That fucker,” I responded. Dorian smirked.

“Yeah, so hearing from him because he needed a favor just brought up some bad memories.”

“I see, well, whatever issues you have with your man-slut distant cousin doesn’t give you the right to be a d**k to everyone at home, especially your daughter who sees you as her hero.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’ll try to check my attitude when I come home.”

“Good. Now that we have that out of the way, what the f**k are we going to do about Avery Quinn?”

“I don’t think there is anything we can do. I can’t banish her for having affairs. It’s not like what she did was illegal per se. Distasteful and disgusting, sure, but not illegal. She didn’t break up any mates, or commit statutory rape, at least not from what you’ve told me.”

“What about the insubordination to me and Sin?”

“That’s a week in the cellar at most, but that’s not something that’s punishable by banishment. Everyone disobeys us once in a while, but it’s never so bad that we would have to banish them.” I hung my head in defeat. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault. She’s toxic, and she ruined both the lives of her daughter and Dr. Quinn. I mean, you had to have seen her, babe. I don’t think I have ever seen Dr. Quinn look so hurt, or lost. Her mate died over two decades ago, and to find out that her only son actually did die in vain, I can’t even imagine what is going on in her mind right now.”

“Well, we’re going to just have to give her some time.”

“What if she doesn’t overcome this?”

“Then we may have to let her retire and find a more permanent replacement.” I nodded my head and let out a heavy sigh. “How are Leroy and Celinda?” he asked.

“I honestly have no idea right now. Celinda was so heartbroken when Dr. Quinn practically told her that she wasn’t her granddaughter anymore. Celinda basically lost her entire family, and the only person she has now is Leroy,” I answered. “I gave him a few days off to help comfort her.” Dorian nodded his head and kissed my cheek.

“Let’s get the twins and go down to dinner,” he said, changing the subject immediately. I nodded, and we went to the nursery to find Daisy and Demarco.

“Hi, mama!” Daisy shouted at me. I smiled and leaned down to k**s her cheeks. Demarco came running over and almost made me topple over because he threw his entire body weight against me. “Dada!!” Daisy squealed when she saw Dorian. He picked her up and threw her in the air. I was happy to see that she didn’t hold any grudges towards him being an a*****e to her the other day.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Did you find a dress for next weekend?” he asked me. I smiled and nodded my head. “You bought shoes, didn’t you?” I smiled even bigger and nodded even harder. I rolled my eyes when he squinted his, and of course, Sylvia and Raquel just giggled.

“Girls, did the twins get washed up for dinner?” I asked, redirecting the conversation.

“Yes, Luna,” they replied in unison.

“Great, you two may have the rest of the night off. Dorian has some making up to do with Daisy, so we will play with them after dinner,” I told them both. They bowed their heads and left.

Although there were broken hearts and drama earlier in the day, that didn’t prevent Sin from getting her good news confirmed from Dr. Boyd. Sin decided that she didn’t want to wait and blurted the news at dinner, which had everyone in an uproar of excitement and congratulations. Mikey was jumping up and down like a little kid on Christmas, and he wasted no time in telling Helena and Ethan.

“Dude! We finally get to have our moment!” Mikey shouted at Dorian.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Dorian replied with a smile as he helped Daisy with her chicken wing.

“Okay, everyone has had or is on their second pregnancy, except for me and Dani,” Sam mentioned.

“Don’t forget about half-pint,” Brandon added.

“Nah! I’m good with one for now. Meredith is already a handful as it is,” she replied, shaking her head.

“Do you think our kids will be mates like Demarco and Danica?” Mikey asked as he sat back down.

“That would be exciting!” Leah exclaimed.

“How would that work? I mean, rank and all that?” I asked.

“Well, if we have a girl and she does happen to be the mate to Mikey and Sin’s new pup, then she would end up with a Gamma title, but she could produce Alpha pups,” Dorian answered. “She would obviously be a second in line Gamma, but Gamma nonetheless.”

“But if you guys have another boy and we end up with a girl, which I’m really hoping for, then she would hold a rank just below Danica. Demarco being the oldest male in your family automatically puts him next in line for Alpha, and his mate, Luna. But if for whatever reason that doesn’t work out, then the title would transfer over to the next male in line. If you have a boy, it would be him, but if not Sawyer would get that title, and then the hierarchy would really change.” Mikey added.

“What? What about Daisy!?” I shouted.

“Sorry Giz, but females take the title of their mate, so even though Daisy is an Alpha wolf by b***d, her rank would be Omega,” Brandon replied.

“Dad already explained this to you when they were born, baby,” Dorian reminded me.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think that Daisy would literally lose her birthright,” I responded.

“It’s the way it’s always been,” Sam told me. “Even I had no problem losing my rank when I met Lucas.”

“WHAT RANK!?!” we all shouted. Even Lucas was stunned at what she just said.

“Oops,” was all she could say to us.

“Babe, you were a ranked wolf?” Lucas asked. “Why didn’t you ever tell me this!? We’ve been married for almost ten years!”

“Because rank was never important to me. I love you for who you are, and I didn’t care that you were an Omega. It didn’t seem like it was necessary to tell you. I’m surprised you couldn’t tell when we became mates.”

“What rank did you hold?” Leah asked.

“Beta.” All of our mouths dropped. “Albeit; my parents were low-level.”

“What the crap!” I shouted. “Who else has a secret they want to share with the table!?” Everyone just looked around and didn’t want to say anything, but Dani looked like she needed to say something.

“Spill it, Dani,” I told her.

“Ummm …”

“Amour, tell them,” Andre said to her with a smile on his face.

“We’re getting married?”

“WHAT!?!” Everyone at the table screamed, scaring all of the pups. Meredith started to cry and so did Danica. The older pups were surprised, but they didn’t shed tears. Daisy clung to Dorian, but that was about it.

“Where is the ring!?” Sin asked, grabbing Dani’s hand.

“I have to get it from my mother,” Andre replied. “It is a tradition that the family heirlooms be passed down from woman to woman in the Dubois family. She will be coming back with Vivienne after Jed returns, and I will do a proper proposal then.”

“Wait, so does that mean you got her dad’s blessing?” I asked him.

“Oui, that day we confronted them after the incident with Harry. We have just been so busy with work, drama, and of course, everything with Vivienne and Jed, that I have not had a chance to really say anything. But, Dani and I have discussed it, and we will be having the wedding in France. Mostly due to the fact that my father will be inviting his entire coven.”

“YESSSS!!!” I shrieked with pure happiness. I jumped out of my seat and ran to them, pulling them into a simultaneous hug by their necks.

“Allie, Dani can’t breathe,” Dani croaked out as she tapped my arm from hugging them too tight.

“Oh, my bad,” I said and let go, but hugged them again for good measure.

“Please tell me that we’re all invited!? I’ve never been to France!” Lacie said cupping her cheeks as her expression became dream-like.

“Duh, all of you are invited. Andre and I were thinking we could make this our annual trip?” Dani said more as a question than a statement. I looked at her and then at Dorian to gauge his reaction.

“We will have to table that for later, Dani,” he replied to her. “Unfortunately, with everything going on, I don’t think we can afford for all of the ranked members to leave the pack again the way we did last year.”

“Oh, okay,” she answered. “Would it be okay if us girls at least went to New York to buy my wedding dress next weekend?”

“Oh, no can do, babe,” I told her. “Dorian and I have a charity event that we have to attend next weekend.”

“You guys can go the week after, assuming Allie’s pregnancy doesn’t get in the way,” Dorian said with a smile.

“Sweet!”

“Dani, will my Vivienne be in your wedding party?” Andre asked.

“Of course. She’s part of this group now too.” Andre’s face darkened, knowing that meant he would more than likely have to put Jed in his wedding party as well. That just made us laugh at him because his disapproval of Jed was still so visible. He liked him, we all knew it, but he would never admit it.

I looked back at Dorian who wasn’t even paying attention anymore. His undivided attention was on the twins, yet his face was so dark. I didn’t know what was going on with him, but something told me it had to do with more than just his cousin calling. Or the fact that we still have drama after drama trying to take over our lives. Whatever it was, it was bothering him to no end, and I knew that I needed to do something about it before he lost his sanity.