Desert Heat (Complete)

{Allie’s P.O.V.}

“Lacie, would you like to be my personal assistant?” I ask her.

“Me?”

“Why not? I ask. “I’ve been needing one for a while now. Being in school full time, I’m falling behind on my Luna duties, and my brain is all over the place. I need someone to help keep my calendar for packhouse stuff,”

“But why me?”

“Lacie, you’re the daughter of an Alpha, why not you? You know how inner werewolf politics work better than anyone. It’s not like I can just hire any Omega to do this job. I need someone who knows the ropes, and I can trust. You also won’t have to work every day, and you don’t have to follow me around all the time. I can just mind link you as needed, and vice versa,” I tell her. I see her make thinking face and c**k her said to the side. I wait a moment, and Lacie smiles.

“Yes, Luna, I would like that very much,”

“Perfect, come to my office and we can talk salary and benefits,” I say and get up. I give Dorian a quick k**s. “Everyone, get ready for Christmas planning, once I’m done with Lacie, we can start making lists of everything that needs to be done,”

I take Lacie to my office and close the door. I grab an employment application and have her fill it out. Once she is done, I looked over it, and see that she has no other work experience except for babysitting. It doesn’t bother me though. She seems to be competent enough to maintain a calendar, plus, it will give her something to do while Aries is away.

“Alright, let’s talk about money, how much do you want?” I ask her.

“You’re letting me decide?”

“It’s your salary,”

“What does an Omega typically make when working in the packhouse?” she asks.

“The lowest anyone makes in this house is $45,000 a year. That may seem like very little, but they don’t pay rent on their townhomes, and most end up buying theirs from us anyway. They pay for their utilities and electricity and other things like the internet, car insurance, all that personal jazz. So, it’s enough to make ends meet and still live comfortably. But you’re also not working any regular job in the packhouse, you’re going to work for me directly, so you will get more than that,”

“How much more?”

“How much do you want?” I wanted her to pick her own salary because I wanted her to determine her own worth. I hated jobs that forced you to work for only a certain amount without any negotiations or some kind of incentives.

“Ummm…$60,000?”

“Okay, not bad, but I was thinking more on the lines of $75,000,”

“Really!?” she exclaimed.

“Yes. I’m the Luna, I can give you whatever salary I see fit. I honestly want to give you more, but I need to see how you do first,”

“Luna, that’s more than enough, thank you!”

“Good, so we have salary taken care of. Let’s talk about the benefits. Everyone in the packhouse gets the same benefits, regardless of what level you are, unless you’re ranked or a high-level omega like Lucas, Sam, and our personal guards,” she nods and keeps listening. “You will get 30 days of paid personal time off, and you can use those however you see fit, just so long as you give me two weeks’ notice first, you don’t get sick days since we don’t actually get sick, and the chance for an annual bonus and raise based your performance,”

“What about health insurance?”

“Health insurance? Why on earth would you need that? We have a hospital connected to the house,”

“But what if something happens and I need medical care?”

“Lacie, you’re a member of this pack, you get free medical service. The hospital is paid for by Dorian. That includes dental, vision, and anything else that would ever be needed,”

“I do?!”

“Yes, so does Aries. Why on earth did you think you would need to pay for medical services?”

“Because that’s how it was back at Snell Island,” she replied. I was shocked. Pack members had to pay for medical services?

“What? You had to pay to see your pack doctor?” I asked her.

“Not me, personally. Ranked members and their family got free services, but Omegas had to pay, and even if you get medical insurance for the pack doctor, it was still expensive,” she explained. I was shocked. Amber didn’t mention any of this me.

“Oh wow, um okay. Yeah, s**t doesn’t work like that here. We take care of our pack members as Dorian said, we are one big a*s family here. The only thing you pay out of your pocket is for food, personal s**t, and some bills,” I tell her, and she smiles and nods. “Perfect, you start today and you’re going to start by helping us plan this damn Christmas party,” I tell her and hand her a legal pad and pen.

“Thank you, I’m so excited to have a real job,”

“You’re welcome, I’ll have Sin process your paperwork. You get paid every two weeks okay?”

“Yes, Luna,”

“Great! Now, will you go down to the conference room and gather all of the ranked females? I need to stop by Dorian’s office first,”

“Yes, Luna,” she stands up and leaves. I sigh with content and make my way to Dorian’s office.

“Knock knock,” I say knocking on the door and opening it slightly.

“Hey baby, how did it go?” he asked.

“Perfect, I’m making her start today since she probably has nothing better to do,” I tell him and sit at the chair in front of his desk.

“What’s wrong?”

“She said something to me that was quite alarming,” I said. He looks at me and waits for me to continue. “Babe, did you know that Omegas at Snell Island have to pay for medical services?”

“What?”

“Yeah, Lacie said that only ranked members and their family gets free medical aid. All other pack members have to get medical insurance and pay for services. Even with insurance, it’s still expensive,”

“No, I had no idea. Amber never said anything about that,” he replies.

“Do you think she knows?” I ask. He thinks about it and shrugs. “Can we call and ask? Because I think that’s kind of f****d up. You would think that them paying rent to live there was bad enough, but paying for medical services…”

“Sure, hold on,” he says and pulls out his phone. I watch him dial and then place the phone on his desk and put it on speaker,

“Hey, little brother!”

“Hi, Amber, I have Allie with me,”

“Hi, Amber!”

“Hi, Allie! What’s up you two?”

“Sis, did you know that your pack members have to pay for medical services?”

“What? No, they don’t. Where did you hear that?”

“Lacie told me,” I answered.

“What? That’s not true,”

“I don’t think Lacie would lie about something like that, Amber,” I tell her.

“Allie, how did this come up in conversation anyway?”

“I hired her as my personal assistant because she asked for a packhouse job, but there were none open, so I just gave her this job instead. We were going over benefits when she asked about health insurance. When I asked her why she would need it, she assumed that Omegas had to pay for medical services here. I asked why she thought that, and she said that Omegas in your pack have to pay for medical services, even with insurance,”

“Ronnie and I don’t have to pay for us or the kids,”

“Lacie told me that ranked members and their families get it for free, but Omegas don’t,” I explain.

“Wait, hold on, I have never heard this before in the 20 some odd years I’ve been here,” we hear shuffling around, and then hear her call out for Ronnie. We here mumbling and whispering and then more shuffling. I just looked at Dorian and he shrugs his shoulders. After a few more minutes of mumbling and shuffling, Amber came back. “Hello?”

“Yeah, we’re here,” Dorian answered.

“Ronnie had no idea either, and he double-checked with Henry and Melanie, and they also had no idea. Henry checked with a kitchen Omega, and they confirmed what you just said,”

“Wait, neither you guys nor your Gammas had any idea?” Dorian asked.

“No, we literally had no idea. I need to go. I need to investigate this. This may be something very bad,”

“Okay, bye,” Dorian said and hung up.

“I hope I didn’t start something I shouldn’t have,” I say, and bit my bottom l*p.

{Lacie’s P.O.V.}

It’s my third day as the Luna’s assistant and I am really enjoying it. Even though she is my boss in more ways than one, she always says please and thank you, and never barks orders. She always phrases everything in the form of requests and has no issues with repeating things to me if I can’t write them down fast enough. I started to use my phone to record most of the meetings just in case I did forget something.

Aries is still away on business but should be coming back tomorrow. I hated being away from him, but he was making money for us, and so was I. I ended up taking up the Alpha on his offer to stay in the packhouse until Aries came home. I couldn’t wait to be in his arms again. Just knowing him a month, and he became my entire world.

Aries had to be the sweetest man I had ever met. The men in Desert Moon were all very respectful and kind. There are a few bad apples that try to hit on me, but when they see I am marked, or hear who my mate is, they back off. Even for a low-level omega, Aries had a reputation as a bounty hunter, and being good friends with the Gamma also kept me protected from unwanted attention.

I was in the conference room with all of the rank members, including Sam and Lucas going over final plans for the pack Christmas party,

“Lacie, did you get all of that?” the Luna asked.

“Yes, Luna. Pack members are able to decorate their own homes according to pack guidelines and keep decorations up until January 2nd of the new year, and no decorations are allowed cross into a neighbor’s property. Any grievances are to be taken up with Gamma Mikey,”

“Good. Also, the packhouse is to be decorated the same as it is every year, so we don’t have to worry about details on that part,”

“Allie, we have about fifty more pack members this year, so we will need Mrs. Johnson to prep more food than last year,” Leah said.

“Yup, I already made Mrs. Johnson aware,” Allie replied.

“Gizmo, what is on the menu this year?” Brandon asked.

“I guess we since have all of the other stuff detailed out already we can go over the menu now. Lacie, ready to write this all down?” Allie asked me. I flipped the page in my legal pad,

“I’m ready,”

“Okay, we’re going to need 25 turkeys, 30 hams, 20 pot roasts, 600 tamales…”

“Wait, is this all for the packhouse?” I asked.

“Huh? Oh no, sweetie, this is for the entire pack,” Allie replied.

“What!?”

“We do things very differently here Lacie. See, Thanksgiving is where families spend their own time together, and the packhouse feeds the packhouse, and straggler Omegas, like your man, those that are single with no families,” Sin explains to me.

“Right, but for Christmas, we celebrate as an entire pack. Every household cooks a ham, turkey, or roast with the help of a kitchen omega, so it all comes out the same. The tamales are made by Sin, and three of the other Latin American pack members in one of their homes,” Leah added on.

“And all of the side dishes are made here in the packhouse since we have the grill, and the three ovens that can fit up to four trays at once,” Sam concluded.

“Ohh…Wow, that’s amazing,” I said with excitement.

“Hahaha, it’s a lot of hard work too, which is why we plan so far in advance, but everyone likes it, and everyone has fun at Christmas Eve dinner. We open up the backyard and put out all of the tables and chairs and open up all the French doors so everyone can go in and out as they please. Since it’s a lot colder during the winter, it feels nice to let the fresh air into the packhouse,” Dani replied.

“Are we good Lacie?” Allie asked.

“Yes, we are, please continue Luna,”

“Where was I? Oh yeah, tamales. We need 600 tamales, 20 trays of mashed potatoes, 20 trays of green bean casseroles, 15 trays of potato salad, 10 trays of caramelized sweet potatoes, 10 trays of tempura veggies, 10 trays of deep-fried shrimp, 10 trays of scalloped potatoes, 10 trays of garden salad, 10 trays of Caesar salad, 10 trays of Swedish meatballs, 20 baked salmon fillets, 10 trays of stir-fried noodles, and 15 trays of grilled mixed veggies. Lacie, did you get all of that?”

“15 trays of grilled mixed veggies. Yes! I got all of it, Luna,” I showed her the list to make sure everything was correct, and she gave me a thumbs up. “So, who determines who makes what?” I ask.

“I take care of that part,” Brandon said. I just nodded. “Do me favor Lace, bring that list over so I can take a picture of it,” I went over to the Beta and he snapped a quick photo. “Damn, you have clean handwriting,”

“Thank you,”

“Lacie, will you make two more copies of that list? Keep the original with you, put one in my office right on top of my desk, and give the third copy to Mrs. Johnson, please,”

“Yes, Luna,”

“Please do it right now. Mrs. Johnson needs the list so she can figure out finances and quantity of everything,”

“Of course,” I go to the copy machine and make two hard copies of the list. I leave the conference room and go straight to the Luna’s office place one copy on top of her desk, and then go straight to the kitchen. “Umm… I’m looking for Mrs. Johnson,” I shout over everyone,”

“Right here sweetheart,” a lady that looked to be in her fifties comes over to me with a huge smile.

“Oh, hello. My name is Lacie Hamilton, I’m the Luna’s new personal assistant, and she asked me to give this list to you,” I say while handing her the list.

“Ah! The Christmas party dinner list, I was wondering when she would get this to me. This is perfect, thank you, Lacie,”

“You’re welcome!” I bow my head and go back to the conference room. When I walk in, everyone was whispering and stopped talking as soon as I came in. “Uh, did I interrupt?”

“No, not really,” Allie says. “Lacie, hun, when did you say Aries was coming back?”

“Tomorrow, why?”

“Ah…three…two…one…” she counts down and then suddenly I hear a roar in the living room.

“LACIE!!!” I run out into the living room and see Aries in a panicked state.

“Aries?!” I call to him. He looks over and sees me, and immediately runs over and engulfs me in his embrace. He breathes in a few times, and I feel him start to calm down. After a minute, he calmed down fully and pulled away cupping my face,

“Where were you!? I came home and you were nowhere to be found,” he said with tears in his eyes.

“Oh my god, Aries, why are you crying? I’m right here!”

“Precious, I thought you left me, or that something bad happened to you,”

“Why would you think that? I was here in the packhouse the last few days working,”

“Working?”

“Yeah, I’m the Luna’s new personal assistant. I’ve been helping the ranked members plan the pack Christmas party,”

“I tried to mind link you but there was a block,”

“I was instructed to put one up by the Alpha, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were coming home early,”

“Ugh!” he grunted and hugged me tight again. I hugged him back and let him take in my scent to relax. “Precious, next time, leave a note on the kitchen island for me. Sometimes I finish my contracts earlier than anticipated,”

“I’m sorry baby, I promise to leave a note next time,” he pulled away and kissed me.

“Why are you working? I thought I told you that you didn’t need to?” he asked.

“I was bored and lonely while you were away. So, I asked for a job, and the Luna offered me a position as her personal assistant. I’ve also been sleeping in a guest room here so I wouldn’t be alone at night,” I explained to him.

“I’m sorry, Precious, I didn’t realize my being away would make you lonely,” he hugged me and cradled my head.

“It’s okay. It’s just something we have to get used to now. Besides, I’m really enjoying working for the Luna. It’s good money, and I don’t have to be with her all the time if I don’t want to. We can work via mind link most of the time,” I tell him.

“Are you sure that’s okay?” he asks.

“It’s perfectly fine, Aries,” I hear Allie’s voice. I turn around and she and the Alpha are just smiling at us.

“Alpha, Luna, please accept my apologies for my outburst, I was just…”

“Aries, no need, I did the same thing when Allie first came to live with me. I had a panic attack when she disappeared from our room in the middle of the afternoon, and she was just in the kitchen eating,” the Alpha said cutting off Aries.

“Yeah, and I like seeing you panic like that. It just shows how much you love her, and as your Luna, that makes me happy,” Allie said.

“Luna, you have no idea how much I love Lacie. She’s so precious to me,” Aries said, and I just leaned against him.

“Glad to hear it. Lacie, you are excused for the rest of the evening,”

“Did you two want to join us for dinner?” the Alpha asked.

“With all due respect Alpha, perhaps another night. I’ve been without my mate for five days, and I would like to take her home to make up for lost time,” Aries said bowing his head. I knew what he meant and I immediately blushed.

“Go then, we won’t keep you,” the Alpha said laughing. Aries took my hand and we went home.

Once we got inside our townhouse, Aries immediately pushed me against the door and crashed his lips into mine. He forced his tongue in and tasted me all over. I dropped my legal pad and pen and wrapped my arms around his neck. I missed him so much. His k****s were rough and passionate, and his taste was like fresh air in my lungs.

“f**k, I’ve missed you, Precious,” he said to me as we caught our breath from the k**s.

“I’ve missed you too. I hated that you were away,”

“I don’t have any contracts lined up for the time being, so I’m all yours babe,”

“Good, I didn’t think I would miss you as much as I did, but it was like I was going to die because you weren’t home. I realized how much I really do love you,”

“Oh, my precious, I love you more than you can ever know. If I didn’t work for the Alpha, I would have said f**k it on the contract, but it’s not up to me,”

“The Alpha said you plan on retiring, is that true?”

“It is, once I hit 15 million in my net worth, I’m going to retire,”

“That’s a lot of money,”

“It is, and I’m almost there,”

“But you said you were only at high seven figures,” I looked at him confused. How did he expect to make it to 15 million in such a short period of time?

“I did, but this last contract was worth three million, I get half of that, and the other half goes to the boss,”

“What!? Your services cost that much?”

“Yeah, I’ve been doing this since I was 18, and other than Mikey and his pops, who are both retired, I’m one of the most sought after bounty hunters, so the boss charges a lot for me,”

“The Alpha sets the price?”

“No, the person who set the bounty sets the price, but if they specifically ask for me, the boss doubles it, so I get my fair share and so does he,”

“Wow, no wonder the Alpha makes so much money,”

“So, I’m hoping my next one or two jobs gets me to where I want to be, and then I will retire. Then, you and I can concentrate on our future together, and hopefully make some pups along the way,” the moment he said pups, my uterus started to hurt with want. I’ve always wanted my own pups, and I was excited to see myself as a mother.

“Well, we can always practice making them, for the time being,” I said caressing his cheek. I watched his eyes turn black and he took me straight to our room where we made up for the lost time.