Desert Heat (Complete)

{Jedediah’s P.O.V.}

“Are you sure, Dorian?”

“Yes, you stay with your pack. As much as I would love to have you here helping out, Viv is due soon. And given that it’s twins, it may happen even sooner than you think.”

“Dammit, I knew I shouldn’t have left.”

“Stop it, Jed. You’re the rightful Alpha of Red Mountain. You take care of your pack. If I need you, I will call you. I promise.”

“You better.”

“Huh? Oh, Allie says to give Viv her love and that she can’t wait to meet the twins.”

“I will deliver the message. You take care.”

“You too, Jed.” I hung up the phone with Dorian and looked over at Andre, Viv, and Dani, who were staring at me anxiously.

“Well!?” they all shouted in unison.

“Still no luck, but according to Abaddon, or Uriel as Dorian referred to him, Heather may be in demon hell?” I repeated with uncertainty.

“WHAT?! How?!” Dani exclaimed.

“Is she dead?” Andre asked.

“No. According to Aria, Gideon can travel to and from there without repercussions, and it seems that he took Heather there to keep her safe from Dorian. With her having attacked Allie that way and almost costing them Katrina, Allie is showing no mercy. Plus, Gideon seems to have shown his true colors to Aria, and she’s no longer willing to keep him safe from them. Especially now that she has a soul.”

“What? A demon has a soul?” Vivienne repeated.

“Yup. Sinbad thinks it’s a reward from the moon goddess. For using her dark magic for good,” I answered.

“What good? She’s a demon. What good could she possibly do?!” Dani asked, her voice full of disgust.

“I asked the same thing, and Dorian thinks it’s when Aria had kidnapped Allie. Instead of killing her, she gave her information that could possibly help. And she brought her back in one piece. That, and Allie thinks the moon goddess is trying to make amends with Aria. Because she’s the one who technically created an impure wolf for Gideon, who just happened to be Heather.”

“Make amends? So, your goddess thinks that she owes a demon because she basically broke up her s****l relationship between her and the Demon King?” Dani asked.

“Pretty much,” I replied. Dani huffed and rolled her eyes. Andre, Vivienne, and I didn’t miss the not-so-subtle hatred coming from Dani.

“Mon Cherie, what is the matter?” Andre asked her.

“I don’t like demons, okay!? Demons are vile, sadistic creatures. They think they own all of the dark supernatural and try to destroy them if they don’t succumb to their every will and command!”

“Okay …” I said, giving Andre a puzzled look.

“Daniella, Aria is not Harry.”

“DON’T SAY HIS NAME IN FRONT OF ME!” Dani screamed.

“Harry? The warlock that followed you home that one time?” I asked. “What does he have to do with this?”

“Who is Harry?” Vivienne asked.

“NO ONE!” Dani shouted at her. “MIND YOUR f*****g BUSINESS, VIVIENNE!”

“DANI!!!” I roared, slamming my hands on top of the desk. “WATCH WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO!”

“Mon Loup, it’s okay,” Vivienne said, putting her hand on my chest to push me down to my seat.

“No, it’s not! Dani, I don’t care if Vivienne is your sister-in-law, she’s still your Luna, and you will show her respect! Whatever issues or grudges you have with your ex-warlock lover are between you and him. DO NOT take your anger out on Vivienne!”

“What is with all of the screaming!?” Paulie shouted while running into my office.

“Paulie, don’t get involved! This doesn’t concern you!” I shouted at her.

“HEY! Don’t talk to me like that! I’m not just some Omega you can command. I’m your sister, and I’m also an Alpha by b***d!”

“Don’t test my f*****g patience right now, Paulie! Get the f**k out!”

“NO! God, you’ve been such an a*****e since you became the Alpha of this pack! You threatened everyone just a few days ago, and now, every time there is a small infraction, you want to banish the person. That’s not how you lead a pack, Jed!”

“And how the f**k would you know how to run a pack!? The last I checked, you were away from your own pack stalking my mate and me for months!”

“THAT WAS FOR YOUR PROTECTION! AND THE LAST I CHECKED, I GAVE YOU INFORMATION TO HELP YOU TAKE DOWN THAT b***h MICHAELA AND HER FATHER!”

“I DIDN’T ASK FOR YOUR HELP! I FOUND VIVIENNE IN TIME, AND I WOULD HAVE EVENTUALLY FIGURED OUT THE s**t MICHAELA WAS DOING WITH CLAUDE!”

“Right, after she and her father killed all of you first and butchered your unborn pups,” Paulie mocked.

“PAULETTE!” I roared, shaking the entire office. “I swear if you don’t shut the f**k up …”

“What, are you going to threaten to banish me too? It wouldn’t be surprising. That’s all you ever f*****g do! Threaten to banish everyone. Why the f**k did you come back here, anyway!? All you’re doing is running this pack into the ground!”

“GOD DAMMIT, PAULETTE!” I slammed my fists again while getting up, shattering the glass on top of my desk.

“JEDEDIAH, DO NOT SPEAK TO YOUR SISTER THAT WAY!” I heard my mother scream from the door.

“Why don’t all of you stop getting involved! Your advice isn’t wanted or needed, Mom!” I shouted at her.

“JEDEDIAH!!!” my father roared.

“Do you honestly expect me to be scared of you!?” I taunted him. “What right do you have to command me!?” I pointed and got into his face.

“You need to watch your tone with me, boy. I’m still your father, and I will beat you senseless if you continue to disrespect me.”

“Are you threatening your Alpha?” I growled.

“I’m your father before you’re my Alpha!” he shouted while shoving me back.

“Bart!” my mother shouted. I didn’t even hesitate to shove him back. I was getting sick of my family butting into my business where their opinions weren’t even wanted or needed.

“MON LOUP!” I heard Vivienne call out to me.

“Don’t f*****g touch me! You have no right to lay a finger on me!” I shouted at my father and pointed my finger at his face again. He slapped my hand away with one hand before slapping me across with the other. Gunner didn’t take too kindly to that and immediately took over. I shifted first, then my father did, and an all-out brawl was about to ensue. But before I knew it, Gunner was being tackled to the ground and not by my father. Gunner moved his face to see who had tackled him, and that’s when I saw very familiar emerald green eyes. Bandit got into Gunner’s face, and he was snarling at him. Even though Dorian and I couldn’t mind link anymore, Bandit and Gunner had a friendship and mutual understanding that allowed them to communicate without us.

I felt Gunner give me back control, and only then did I feel Bandit get off. I shifted back, and so did he. I looked over to see that Eddie and Mitch had subdued my father. After a minute or so, they all calmed down and shifted back as well.

“What the f**k are you doing here?” I asked Dorian. I put on some shorts and handed him a pair.

“Dani shimmered to Allie and me, and told us that you were acting like a pompous d**k and that you and your dad were about to f*****g kill each other!” he shouted in my face. “WHAT THE f**k IS WRONG WITH YOU!?”

“He’s power-hungry! That’s what’s f*****g wrong with him!”

“Paulie shut the f**k u—” Before I could even finish what I was going to say, I felt a punch to the face—and a hard one at that. It knocked me to the floor. I grabbed my jaw and looked up to see Dorian with his fist at his side and him staring daggers at me.

“Jed, I literally just told you to take care of your pack. And this is the s**t that I witness with my own eyes!?” I clicked my jaw and looked down at the floor. I felt a small hand on my shoulder and knew that it was Vivienne.

“Andre, what the f**k happened, dude!?” Brandon asked him.

“Things escalated fairly quickly after Jed hung up with Dorian a few minutes ago. It all started when Dani screamed at Vivienne when she had asked about Harry.”

“Why did that a*****e come up in conversation?” Mikey asked.

“We were talking about Aria getting a soul and why the moon goddess gave her one. I think Dani’s unresolved issues triggered her, and things just blew up from there.”

“Then I walked into a shouting match between Dani and my brother. I tried to de-escalate things, but then my brother blew up at me,” Paulie inserted herself into the conversation.

“Then Jed’s parents got involved, and that’s when the fight between him and his dad started,” Dani concluded.

“Alpha Shaw, though I appreciate you coming all this way, this has nothing to do with you or your pack. Personally, Dani should not have gotten you involved. She has no right to make those kinds of decisions. I kindly ask you to leave at once,” my father said to him.

“That’s not your call to make! And Dani has every right to make those decisions! You don’t!” I shouted at him from the floor and got to my feet. “If anyone should leave, it should be you, Bartholomew Ricard!” I saw the hurt flash in his eyes when I refused to call him Dad. “Get the f**k out of my office!” I snarled. He took my mother’s hand and dragged her out.

“You’re such a d**k!” Paulie cried and ran after them while slamming the door behind her. I let out a frustrated sigh and slumped back in my chair.

“What the f**k happened to the table?” Mikey asked, finally noticing all of the glass everywhere.

“Jed broke it when his family decided to try and break apart our squabble,” Dani answered and sat down as well. I felt Dorian’s eyes on me, which was why I didn’t make eye contact with him.

“Jed, seriously, what has gotten into you, man? This is the hundredth time Dani has either came to Desert Moon or texted Allie about you biting people’s heads off for.” I looked over at Dani, who immediately avoided eye contact.

“I don’t want this, man!” I said, jumping to my feet and walking around him to the window. “I don’t want to be Alpha!”

“Why not? It’s your birthright,” Brandon asked. I looked over my shoulder at them. I missed being with them—they were my pack, not Red Mountain.

“I missed the way things were! I was happy being an Omega and living in our townhouse at Desert Moon. Which doesn’t even exist anymore because of that fucker Claude. But this isn’t what I’m used to. I’m not a leader.”

“Mon Loup?” I turned to face Vivienne, and I could see the hurt and sorrow in her eyes.

“No, Mon Coeur, don’t blame yourself,” I told her as I walked over and hugged her. “This isn’t your fault.”

“But I am the one that wanted to be Luna of this pack,” she said into my shoulders and started to sob.

“And I’m the one that agreed to come here and fight for the Alpha title, which hasn’t exactly happened but still. It was a decision we made together. I’m just … starting to second guess if it was the right call or not.”

“This pack sucks!” Dani blurted out suddenly. We all turned to face her. “Seriously. This pack f*****g sucks. Everyone is old-school and stereotypical assholes. Monique is still being outcasted by the kids her age, and all she does is cry in her room now. She used to be a happy child because she had friends who loved her, for she is. And she had her mate with her. She looks for Sawyer all the time now. The other day, she even asked me when we could go back home. When I told her this was our home, all she did was pout and whimper. Even with Christine and Derek here, she’s the same outgoing little girl she was before. The pack members are so f*****g closed-minded about having a vampire baby in their pack that they’re treating her like she’s some kind of monster. One of the older pups even told her she hoped she got staked in her sleep! I mean, who f*****g says that to a THREE-YEAR-OLD!”

“WHAT!?!” we all yelled out in surprise. Dani immediately teared up and buried her face into Andre’s chest.

“My baby girl shouldn’t be bullied that way! She’s just a toddler! But the parents here won’t accept her! They don’t even accept Andre as the Beta or Vivienne as the Luna! It doesn’t matter how much Jed threatens to banish them for insubordination! They still do it!”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner!?” I asked her.

“What difference does it make! They see it as empty threats because your father keeps inserting himself into the rules you’re making!”

“What are you talking about?” I asked her.

“I overheard some of the pack members complaining to your dad. The ones who came with him said that they don’t trust you being Alpha and don’t “appreciate” you making threats like that. Your dad told them that if you did banish them, that he could overrule your decision.”

“That’s not how it works, Dani,” Dorian told her.

“Don’t you think I know that!? Everyone knows that! But Jed’s dad is undermining him behind his back, which is making it harder on all of us! THIS PACK f*****g SUCKS!” she cried even harder. “He even told the pack doctor to stop supplying us b***d.”

“HE WHAT!?” I bellowed with a mixture of shock and rage. I looked over at Vivienne, who had lowered her head. “Vivienne, did you know about this?” I asked her calmly. She closed her eyes. With tears streaming down her face, she nodded her head.

“Is he insane!? Does he not realize that you guys have to feed on b***d to keep your thirst at bay!?” Brandon exclaimed in disbelief.

“The pack doctor told me that Bart had said if we care about the pack and its well-being, that we would figure it out. And that the pack doesn’t have the money to be buying b***d and keep it in cold storage for us, nor should the pack members be asked to volunteer to donate,” Dani cried. I thought about what Dani was saying, and something suddenly clicked in my brain.

“Is that why Seth found a dead bison at the base of the mountain the other day?” I asked Andre, and he nodded his head.

“What the f**k? You guys had to feed on livestock!?” Dorian growled.

“Did Monique?” Brandon started to ask, but Dani shook her head.

“We fed on the Bison. Andre, Viv, and I. I drank a little more and then had the doctor extract some b***d from me so I could feed Monique. I didn’t want to traumatize her.”

“That’s it, I’ve had it with my father,” I said and stood to my feet. “Him undermining me is one thing, but him making pack-altering decisions like that without even saying one word to me is the final straw. My pups are going to be a quarter vampire. His grandpups. Does he f*****g expect them to feed off livestock too!?” I stomped to the door, and as soon as I grabbed the handle to open it, I heard a small whimper behind me. I turned around to see Vivienne’s face contort in pain. “Mon Coeur?”

“Vivienne?” Andre rushed to her side. As soon as he did, I heard a splash.

“Viv, did you spill something?” Mikey asked. We all looked down on the floor and saw a small puddle between her legs.

“Umm … I think my water broke.”