Desert Heat (Complete)

{Jedediah’s P.O.V.}

The eleven-hour trip to Red Mountain was ridiculously long and went by a lot slower than I had anticipated. I was getting more and more anxious the closer we got to the pack territory. After all of the heartache I suffered under this pack’s rule, I swore that once I went to Dorian’s pack, I would never return— no matter what. And now, here I am, about to confront the man that helped raise me in my late teen years and would potentially have to challenge him for the pack, if the information I was looking for turned out to be true.

“Mon Loup?” I turned to face Vivienne who was holding my hand.

“Hm?”

“Are you alright? I can feel your nerves as if they were my own,” she said softly and rubbed her thumb across the back of my hand.

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Penny for your thoughts?”

I smiled and was about to answer her when Andre chimed in. “Vivienne, he’s going back to the place that was once home to confront the man that has possibly lied to him his entire life, and where his ex-mate, who ridiculed him for being an Omega, basically stomped on his heart for six years. Of course, he is not alright!”

“Je ne t’ai pas demandé!” she shouted at him behind us.

“You didn’t have to ask me. It should be clear as day!” he argued back.

“Andre! Shut the f**k up!” Dorian shouted from the driver’s seat.

“What did I do!?” Andre complained. “I don’t even know why I have to be here!”

“Because if our theory about Jed and Scanlan is correct, then your sister is going to be the f*****g Luna of the Red Mountain Pack! That’s why your a*s is here!”

“Leave him be, Dorian, he’s just whining because he had to leave Dani and Monique, again,” Vivienne maintained, sticking up for Andre.

“Yeah? Well, guess what? I just left my heavily pregnant wife again too!” Dorian spat. “After arguing with her about why she couldn’t come with us!”

“Let me guess, Gizmo wanted to come because she wanted to see Michaela’s face when Jed announces his pedigree?” Brandon speculated from the passenger seat. Dorian looked at him once and just rolled his eyes. I couldn’t stop the snicker that came out of my mouth. Allie was an easy book to read. She was petty—there was no doubt about that—but she had a lot of love, and I was glad that she and Vivienne were friends. Allie could teach Vivienne so much about being a Luna, and I had no doubt in my mind that the moon goddess gave Vivienne to me because she was more than deserving of that role.

“Jed?” Dorian called out.

“Yeah?”

“Where the hell is the gate?”

“There is no gate. Just drive on through?”

“Where the f**k are the border guards?!” Brandon protested while turning around to look at me.

“What border guards?” I replied with the insinuation that this pack never had any.

“Are you telling me that this pack is out in the middle of nowhere and exists without any gates or guards?!” Dorian yelled while looking at me from the rearview mirror. I just nodded once.

“Hence why my pare … I mean, the people who raised me were killed in a rogue attack. And why Michaela’s mom was also killed,” I replied.

“The f**k?” Brandon and Dorian both reacted while looking at one another.

“Bro, if you are the rightful Alpha to this pack, then you better fix that s**t! That’s reckless and irresponsible!” Dorian growled out.

“Trust me, I know. And so does Scanlan, but he never cared, even after his mate was killed. He just assumed they were once-in-a-lifetime incidents,” I answered.

“If it happens more than once, then it’s not once in a lifetime!” Brandon stated the obvious. I just lifted my brow in agreement and sighed. As I watched the trees disappear and the view of the mountain became more prominent, Vivienne’s hand tightened around mine. I looked at her again, and she gave me the most loving and warm smile ever. I couldn’t help but give her a chaste k**s. I looked down and put my hand on her small belly bump.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her.

“I am okay, Mon Loup. They are too. Do not worry about us. Let’s handle what we need to handle, and then we can deal with the fact that we are inevitably going to be parents,” she responded and kissed me softly on the cheek.

“Yo, we’re here,” Dorian announced. I looked up through the front window of the Tahoe, and sure enough, the packhouse came into view.

“Wow, now they have guards coming out,” Brandon retorted. I tilted my head up again, and what do you know, I saw Seth leading a few of the pack guards to the front of the packhouse. Now that I was in front of it again, it made me wonder if the packhouse was always this small. Dorian pulled up to the front of the roundabout, parked, and got out of the car.

“You’re trespassing,” Seth said to him and tried to size Dorian up. It was kind of hilarious to see, given that Dorian was a good six inches taller than him and probably weighed 100lbs more than Seth in muscle. Anyone could easily see the fear in Seth’s face along with the rest of the guards as they looked Dorian up and down.

“Come on, I think we should save them before Dorian decides to run over them like a bulldozer,” Brandon suggested as he got out of the car. I shook my head while laughing and followed his lead. Brandon went around while I opened the back door and stepped out. Vivienne followed behind me with Andre not far behind her.

“JED!?” Seth exclaimed when he saw me.

“Seth. How are you?” I greeted him.

“What the hell? What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I need to meet with Scanlan. Is he here?” I replied.

“Yeah, he’s in his office, like always. But hold on, who are these guys? And who is she!?”

“Seth, this is Dorian Shaw, Alpha of the Desert Moon pack.” Seth and others snapped their heads toward Dorian and started to tremble.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you for being disrespectful. Though, I should kick all of your asses for leaving your pack lands so f*****g vulnerable that anyone can drive onto it without notice!” he spat at them.

“Ignore him. He owns the biggest security company in Nevada. Security is his life,” I told them. They visibly relaxed a smidge. “That’s Brandon Kane, the Beta of Desert Moon. This is Andre, the Delta, and this beautiful specimen is my mate, Vivienne.”

“I am also Andre’s younger sister,” she replied and smiled.

“Is your mate a vampire?” one of the guards named Isaac questioned.

“She’s a hybrid,” I responded. “And I would appreciate it if you fuckers stopped ogling her!” I growled. They jumped back at my sudden outburst.

“Sorry,” they all murmured and lowered their heads.

“Seth, take us to Scanlan!” I demanded. Seth gave me a strange look, but nodded his head anyway and led us inside. As we passed through the rest of the guards who had parted like the Red Sea, Dorian tossed the keys to the Tahoe to Isaac.

“If you so much as scratch that, you’re paying for it,” he warned him.

“Either Alpha Shaw is psychic, or he just got really lucky that he tossed the keys to the one pack member who drives like s**t,” Seth mentioned to me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

When we walked into the packhouse, it was as if the time came to a halt as every single pack member who was inside just stared at us as we entered. It didn’t take long for the mumbling to start as single females started to giggle and gossip about how good-looking Dorian and the other guys were. And of course, single males were ogling Vivienne. I felt her go rigid and glanced down at her and her eyes were black—and I mean really black—which was strange in and of itself since her eyes could never be completely black because of her being a hybrid, but yet, they were.

“Mon Coeur, look at me,” I said to her and cupped her face. Sure enough, her eyes were pitch black. “Your eyes. They’re black.”

“Well, of course, they are, women are ogling you, and it makes me want to rip their hearts out!” she snarled. I stood up straight since she’s never snarled like that before. She has growled plenty of times, and of course, hissed when her vampire side took over but never snarled.

“Vivienne?” Andre touched her shoulder and she looked up at him. “Sacré bleu, Jed is right. Your eyes are completely black.”

“Quelle?” Andre took out his phone, snapped a photo, and showed it to her. “Sacré bleu!” she exclaimed and grabbed the phone. Her eyes immediately went back to their icy blue and she was in awe just as much as we were.

“Hey, we’ll deal with her eyes later. We’re here for a specific reason,” Dorian redirected us. We nodded our heads. Vivienne turned around to stare at the still mumbling females and hissed at them while showing her fangs. They all jumped back and avoided her gaze.

“Baby, behave,” I leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“Only if they do.” I shook my head and held her close to me. Either she was becoming even more possessive or the hormones from the pregnancy were kicking in.

Seth led us to Scanlan’s office through the packhouse, but unlike Dorian and other Alphas we have met, his office was on the first floor. Dorian questioned it by looking at me. I just shrugged my shoulders. I knew Dorian did things a certain way and ran his pack a lot more strictly than others, but there were a few things that were uniform in most packs, and one of those things was the Alpha’s personal office. It was always on their floor of the packhouse and should be under lock and key, but not Red Mountain.

“Don’t look at me, I have no idea,” I told him as Seth pushed the door open without even knocking.

“Seth, what can I … Alpha Shaw?! Jedediah!?” Scanlan exclaimed when he saw us at the door. “What is going on here?” he asked with a slight irritation in his tone as he saw he was practically being ambushed.

“Apologies, Alpha, but they just pulled into the territory. Jed said that he needed to speak with you,” Seth explained.

“Alpha Shaw, what is the meaning of this? You should have called first!”

“Well, Alpha Scanlan, I would have. But then my wife had this brilliant theory that if we told you we were coming, then it might give you a chance to fabricate a lie, and we couldn’t have that,” Dorian replied, refusing to beat around the bush.

“Fabricate a lie? What on earth are you talking about!?”

“Seth, get out,” I ordered him. He nodded his head and closed the door behind him. But before it closed completely, the door burst open, and a screaming Michaela ran in.

“IT’S TRUE! OH, MY GODDESS! YOU’RE REALLY HERE!!” she wailed as she threw herself at me.

“The f**k!? Get off of me!” I shouted and shoved her off. She landed on her a*s, and I dusted myself off. Vivienne growled at her, and it was then Michaela noticed her with me.

“WHY IS SHE HERE!?” Michaela yelled and got her to her feet.

“She’s my mate, obviously,” I snapped. She glared at Vivienne, but then I saw something flicker in her eyes. It was minute and sudden, and she quickly composed her expression, but something definitely got her brain churning. I didn’t dwell on it too much, but it was strange.

“If you’re not here for me, then why are you here?” she sneered.

“Official pack business with your dad,” Dorian answered on my behalf. “Now get out.”

“This is my pack! You can’t order me around! Just who the f**k do you think you are!” she screamed at him and poked his chest. Ah f**k.

“Michaela!” Scanlan shouted at her. “Get out.”

“But dad!”

“NOW!” he roared.

“UGHGHG!!!” she grunted in frustration and stomped out of the office like a tantrum-throwing child. Brandon walked to the door that was just slammed shut and promptly locked it. He turned back around, crossed his arms, and just stayed there. Andre joined him and they stood guard, just in case.

“My apologies for my daughter’s behavior, Alpha Shaw. You seem to rub her the wrong way,” Scanlan said to him.

“The feeling’s mutual,” Dorian mocked.

“Now that we’re alone—well, sort of—can you please tell me why it is you just barged onto my pack lands without notifying me?” Dorian didn’t answer. He crossed his arms and then looked at me.

“What?”

“Tell him,” he said to me.

“Me!?”

“No, I’m talking to Vivienne. Yes, you!”

“Jed, what is going on here?” Scanlan asked me.

“Alph, I mean, Zach, I’ve learned a few things recently, and I wanted to ask you a few questions about it,” I told him. I watched as his stance changed. It went from being stand-offish to defensive and worried. I looked over at Dorian and he at me, and we both knew the other noticed it as well.

“Wha … What did you need to ask?”

“Who was the Alpha before you?” I asked him straight out.

“Wha … What … What do you mean?” he stuttered again.

“It’s an easy question to answer, Zach. Who was the Alpha before you?” The fact that he wasn’t answering that it was his father made me worry that perhaps Dorian’s theory was right. What if my birth father was the true Alpha of this pack, and Scanlan took it from him? His eyes darted from side to side, but he still had yet to answer me. “Zach, why won’t you answer me!?” I asked, getting more and more irritated.

“If you don’t want to answer us, how about showing us the pack hierarchy records?” Dorian suggested to him. Scanlan’s eyes widened in horror.

“The pack what?” I asked him.

“You’ll learn about it soon, but it’s basically a family tree, only for ranked members of a pack. It lists any and all ranked members from the very first, the founder of the pack, and goes all the way down to who currently runs it. Take Desert Moon, for example, it goes back several hundred years to the very first werewolf who founded Desert Moon. Ironically enough, their surname isn’t Shaw. It’s Davenport. But one of the Alphas didn’t produce a son, and their only daughter was mated to someone who was the second in line to inherit their pack. But, after being mated to an Alpha female, he became the Alpha of Desert Moon, and that’s how the Alphas of Desert Moon went from being Davenport to being Shaw. Ever since then, all Alphas proceeding Zion Shaw had sons. However, Kane and Rays have always been Beta and Gamma, respectively. Now we’re just adding Dubois to it for Delta.”

“So, you’re saying that all packs have this, what, hierarchy record?” I asked him.

“They should. It’s an absolute law for werewolf packs,” Dorian responded looking at Scanlan who was visibly shaking.

“What’s the matter, Alpha Scanlan? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Brandon pointed out from the door. He didn’t say anything and just kept looking around the office like he was trying to plan an escape.

“Zach?!” No response. “ZACH!” I called out to him again. “ZACHARY SCANLAN!!!” I roared, shaking the entire office. His eyes immediately darted to me, wide as can be, and he paled even further. “Where.are.the.records?” I gritted my teeth. He took his sweet time in answering, but when he did, he squared his shoulder and scowled.

“Burnt to ash.”