Desert Heat (Complete)

{Arie’s P.O.V.}

“Dorian, Aries’ and Lacie’s house caught on fire,” Mikey said. I stood up from Lacie’s bed and just looked at him.

“WHAT!?” I shouted.

“Dude, I seriously f*****g thought you were dead,”

“What the hell happened to our house!?” Lacie shouted.

“Lacie, why are you in the hospital? What happened to your face!?” Mikey asked.

“Mikey, answer the f*****g question, what happened to our house!?” I shout at him.

“It caught on fire somehow, and then it got so bad the flames flowed over to two more houses,”

“Oh my god! Did anyone get hurt?!” Lacie asked concerned.

“No, all the houses on your street are currently vacant, thank the moon goddess,”

“What about our house?” I ask him.

“Dude, it’s gone. They were able to put the fire out, and the pack fire inspector is over there now to see what could have caused it,”

“This is my fault, I must have not turned off the stove all the way,” Lacie said with tears in her eyes.

“No, Precious, if that’s the case, then it was an accident,” I tell her and pull her close to me.

“Aries, the stoves were off when we went to your house,” the Luna said.

“Luna are you sure?”

“I’m positive. That’s one of the first things I looked at before leaving because I’m anal about s**t like that,” she replies.

“Then how else could our house catch on fire?” Lacie asked.

“I turned off all the lights and stuff, and we don’t use candles or oil lamps, so nothing could have accidentally caught on fire,” I say to everyone in the room.

“Hold up,” Mikey said, and I saw his eyes cloud over. We wait a minute and Lacie is holding onto my hand. “That was the fire inspector, he says that it was arson,”

“ARSON!?!” we all shout.

“f**k! It had to be Maya!” I growl.

“Who the f**k is Maya? And why is Lacie in the hospital!?” Mikey asked again.

“Maya is another Jessica, and think of Lacie as another version of me,” the Luna said.

“What the f**k? Aries, your ex beat up Lacie and then set your house on fire?” I nod my head, and the Mikey throws his hands in the air and grunts.

“Mikey, go find every Maya there is in the pack and bring Aries their photos. It’s bad enough she attacked Lacie but burning down their home can be seen as attempted murder! I want her found!” the Alpha commanded. Mikey saluted and took off.

“Well, it looks like you two will be permanently be moving into the packhouse,” the Luna said. I looked at Lacie and we both just nodded in agreement. Buying a new house right now would be pointless until Maya was found. She would just burn that one down too. “You guys need to eat; I will bring you your food. I can’t trust anyone right now. We are also going to have guards outside your room, Lacie,”

“Yes, Luna,” I watched as the Luna’s eyes clouded over. About ten minutes later, two men showed up.

“Joel, Leroy, you two will watch over this room until I say otherwise. You will be relieved by Nick and Paxton in the morning. Alternate bathroom breaks along with Aries,” the Luna commands.

“Yes, Luna!”

“No one is allowed in this room unless it is a ranked member, Lucas, Sam, or Dr. Quinn. No nurses without Dr. Quinn is that understood!?” the Alpha commanded.

“Yes, Alpha!”

“I will be right back with your food,” the Luna says. She and the Alpha leave, leaving us with the guards. I climb into bed with Lacie and hold her tight.

“I’m sorry Precious,”

“Stop it, you have nothing to be sorry for. This is on Maya, and no one else. It was her choice to fight with me and it was her choice to set our house on fire,”

“I know but if I had never slept with her…”

“Then it would have been some other crazy b***h that wanted you to herself. I’m not mad, I’m just upset we lost our home,”

“Once Maya is dealt with, we can get a bigger house within the territory,” I tell her, and she nods. About 45 minutes later, the Luna comes with two omegas carrying trays of food and bottled water for us. Luckily, it was meatloaf and mashed potatoes that the Luna whipped up herself so Lacie could eat comfortably. After we ate, the omegas took the trays, and they left with the Luna.

Not too long after we ate, Lacie fell asleep. As I tired as I was, I planned on staying up most of the night with the guards. I kept them company out in the hall because I felt bad that they had to pull an all-nighter protecting Lacie. I found out both of them are still unmated, as well, which is why the Luna chose them for the overnight duty. The other two guards that were coming were mated, so the Luna never made them leave their mates at night.

After a few hours of chatting with them and letting them take a fifteen-minute break each to use the bathroom, and sit down for a bit, I decided that I would try to get a few hours of sleep before Lacie woke up. I crawled into the bed with her and held her close. She immediately snuggled into my chest. I rested my chin on top of her head and fell asleep.

After what felt like a good couple of hours of sleep, I started to feel something soft and warm on my lips. I opened my eyes and found Lacie lightly kissing me. I pressed further into her and she giggled,

“Did I wake you?” she asked sweetly

“Yes, but in a good way,” she smiled and kissed me again. “What time is it?”

“Just past eight,”

“s**t, I slept longer than I wanted to,”

“You needed rest, the guards just changed posts, and the Gamma is also outside in the hall. I told him not to wake you,”

“Precious, why did you do that? I need to identify Maya,”

“I know what she looks like too, so I did it for you,”

“How long have you been awake, precious?”

“Not long, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes,” I nodded and kissed her forehead.

“Mikey,” I called for him. He came in after a few seconds.

“You good?” he asked, and I nodded my head. “Alright cool, so check this, I have good news and I have bad news,”

“Good news first,” Lacie says

“Okay, out of the 476 pack members, there is literally only one adult Maya, and Lacie already IDed her,”

“And the bad news?” I asked.

“She’s nowhere to be found,”

“f**k!”

“We talked to her parents, and they have no idea where she is. When Lucas and Andre went to go arrest her, her closet was a mess and a lot of her personal items were missing,”

“That f*****g b***h is on the run,”

“Want to hear something more ridiculous?”

“What?” I asked knowing I wasn’t going to like whatever it was he was about to tell us.

“Maya told her parents that you were her mate, that you two already fully mated, and were just waiting to mark each other until you two were ready. She also told them that you cheated on her with Lacie and that she was going to have Lacie executed,”

“WHAT!?!” Lacie and I both exclaim. I knew Maya was crazy, but I didn’t think she was completely insane.

“Yeah, when Lucas and Andre explained to them that wasn’t the case, and what Maya had done, they begged for Dorian to spare her, but you already know that’s not going to happen,” I nodded when he said that. “They were told that as soon as Maya is found and judged, that they will also be banished,”

“Wait, why would her family be banished, they did nothing wrong,” Lacie asked.

“Remember when Gizmo told you about how she lost her first pup?” we both nodded. “Well, the guy that helped build the bomb that killed her was a pack member, a team lead in Dorian’s company to be exact,”

“Wait, that pack member, Hank, or whatever. The one that the boss put a 10 million dollar bounty on?”

“TEN MILLION?!” Lacie exclaimed.

“That’s the one. You see, because of his f**k up and betrayal, Gizmo banished his wife and his two young pups as part of his punishment,”

“The Luna banished a mother and two young pups? That seems kind of harsh,” Lacie said.

“It was, but that was the point. After that, Gizmo, Dorian, and the other ranked members, along with an Elder agreed that if a pack member commits a crime serious enough for banishment or death, the entire bloodline of that pack member would also be banished,”

“Wow, I didn’t think the Luna could be that cruel,” Lacie replied.

“Trying being in Gizmo’s shoes. Finding out that someone you trusted and cared for helped kill your unborn pup,” Mikey said. “It was a hard call on Gizmo’s part and she felt regret for a while afterward, but even Dorian’s mom said she would have made the same choice if she was still Luna” he continued. Lacie nodded in understanding. “Anywho, there’s a warrant out for Maya’s arrest right now, and since Christmas is only four days away, Gizmo isn’t letting anyone leave the territory until after the pack Christmas party. After that, if Maya still isn’t found, and then Dorian will put out a bounty for her,”

“I want to fulfill the bounty!”

“Nope, Dorian has already forbidden you from doing that,”

“But Lacie is my mate!”

“That’s exactly why Dorian forbids you from going after her. We all know that you will kill her on sight, and she needs to be brought back for judgment before the Elders. If by chance, they press for execution, then you will be allowed to kill her yourself,”

“And if they don’t push for execution? Then what, they just banish her?”

“Yeah, there’s not much else, but think of this way man, either way, that b***h is done for,” he said with a big grin. “I’m sure you want to kill her, and I don’t blame you. All of us would feel the same way if we were in your shoes, but it all depends on if Dorian can get the elders to agree or not,”

“I get it. So, I guess since she is on the run, then we just wait,”

“Yeah, but Gizmo still wants you to move into the packhouse, permanently, at least until Maya is dealt with. Then you guys can move out again or stay, it will be solely up to you,”

“Really? The Luna says we can stay even after Maya is found?” Lacie asks.

“Yeah, since you’re her personal assistant, it honestly would be easier for you and for her, but, again, it’s all up to you guys and what you want. I can tell you right now though, Gizmo is pushing for the death penalty,”

“Why?” Lacie and I ask in unison

“Because Gizmo, has been a victim of assault, twice, when she was human, and she technically died both times. She doesn’t take s**t like this lightly, and she also considers Lacie a friend, and Gizmo protects her friends, physically and legally,”

“Wow, I didn’t know the Luna cared so much,” Lacie leaning her head against my chest.

“She takes her friendships with anyone very seriously. Want to know why Gizmo hates your sister so much?” Mikey asks Lacie.

“Why?”

“It’s not because she’s a spoiled brat or because she attacked Gizmo, it’s because your sister almost ruined her friendship with Deacon. Deacon didn’t call or text Giz for over three months. Had she not texted him on Thanksgiving, then she wouldn’t have heard for him goddess knows how long,”

“I knew the Luna and Deacon were close, I didn’t know that they were that close,”

“You have to understand, Giz grew up alone. She was orphaned at two, grew up in the foster system, and was never adopted. She didn’t have real friends or a family. So, after she came here, and started forming real friendships and relationships with people, she does whatever she can to protect them, and cherishes each individual person with all her heart,” I knew the Luna had a hard life before becoming a wolf, but I didn’t know she went through all the things Mikey explained. I already had respect for her because she was the Luna, but after hearing all of this, I had even more respect for her.

“Thanks, man, I appreciate you doing all for this us,” I tell him and shake his hand.

“No problem, you guys get some rest. Gizmo will be down in an hour or so with your breakfast. Also, do me a favor Aries, mind link Lucas yours and Lacie’s clothing size, Gizmo is sending him and Sam out to go shopping for you two to stock your new room in the packhouse. Just enough until you two can go out on your own,”

“I will, thanks,”

After about another hour, the Luna came in again with the same two omegas from last night and gave us our breakfast. While we were eating, Dr. Quinn also came in to check on Lacie,

“Good morning, I’m sorry to disturb your breakfast,”

“It’s okay doctor,” Lacie said, and Dr. Quinn started to run the same tests from last night and checked all of Lacie’s wounds.

“Well, all of the scratches and your l*p have fully healed. The head wound and cheek bruising are still visible, but it appears that concussion is already gone. You definitely have very strong wolf genes to be healing this quickly,”

“Can I be released?” Lacie asked eagerly. I just smiled and shook my head.

“Unfortunately, no,” Lacie scrunched her face and pouted. “I still want to keep you for another 24 hours until that head wound heals, and your cheek bruising in more yellow in color. It’s still a bit blue, which means it could still be broken,”

“Yes, doctor,” the doctor smiles and leaves. Lacie finishes her breakfast and the Luna sends the omegas away.

“I wonder how Cianna is doing?” Lacie asks.

“She’s doing great,” the Luna responds. “I spoke with her yesterday right before dinner actually, she’s having a blast,”

“That’s good. Is Lucian taking care of her?”

“Of course, he is. I’d kick his a*s if he wasn’t,” the Luna replies, and Lacie just smiles. “I’m going to head out because we need to start decorating for the Christmas party and don’t you worry about anything Lacie. You concentrate on healing, and Aries, you concentrate on making her feel loved and cherished. I will have your new room on the second floor prepared by the end of the day,”

“Second floor?” I asked

“Yeah, there aren’t any first floor rooms left, and besides, first floor rooms are for single mid and high-level omegas. Lacie is the daughter of an Alpha, she’s my personal assistant, and she has a mate, so you guys will get one of the larger guest rooms that has its own bathroom,”

“How many bathrooms are in this house?” Lacie asked.

“I honestly have no idea, but there’s a lot, and I know that there are still like five or six rooms with their own bathrooms vacant on the second floor, and three on our floor,” Lacie’s eyes bulged out of her head and she just shook her head in disbelief. “Anyway, get some rest, I’ll be by later with your lunch,” she waved and left. I looked over at Lacie, and her eyes were starting to get heavy,

“Precious, are you sleepy?”

“A little,”

“Go to sleep, then. I’ll lay with you,” I said as I got into the bed with her. She snuggled as close as she could and immediately fell asleep.

“Aries,” I look up at one of the guards. “If you want to get some shut-eye, go right ahead, Paxton and I can handle this,”

“Thank you,” he smirked and turned back to his position in the hall. I pulled Lacie close, and I too fell asleep.