Desert Heat (Complete)

{Allie’s P.O.V.}

After Dorian and I went to go see Lavender for an hour or so, we came back home and called it a night. There were still pack members partying, which was perfectly fine with us because that’s how it was every year. Even though Dorian said cleaning could wait, most of the pack members that stayed up all night were still courteous enough to take the trash out, make the backyard presentable, and tidy up the packhouse before they called it quits. We never had to worry that the house would be a pigsty.

Dorian and I were lying in bed just snuggling in each other’s arms after an hour of passionate lovemaking,

“Are you okay, baby?” he asked me.

“I’m fine, why?”

“You seem quieter than normal,”

“I’m just enjoying this moment of peace being in your arms,”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” I replied and looked up at him.

“Why haven’t you gotten any of the tattoos done yet?” he asked. That was actually a really good question. Brandon had finished all of the designs I asked for, but I never got any of them done.

“I don’t know to be quite honest,” I responded. “I want to get them done, but can’t seem to find the time to just sit still long enough,”

“Well, tomorrow should be a pretty chill day, did you want to get one of them done tomorrow?”

“Dorian, tomorrow is Christmas, I don’t want to ask the tattoo artist to work on Christmas,”

“Sergei is unmated and lives with his mom, I don’t think he would mind, baby,”

“But still,” I replied. I would never want to bother someone on Christmas day.

“Let me text him and ask,” Dorian said, and I nodded. I guess asking wouldn’t hurt. Dorian reached over to the nightstand and picked up his phone. I saw him type a quick message and place the phone back down on the nightstand. After he did, he wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

“I love being in your arms, I just feel so safe,” I whisper to him.

“I love you, baby,”

*ding*

I was about to reply when Dorian received a text message. He reached over and grabbed it,

“That was fast,” he said as he opened the message. “Sergei says that he would be happy to work on your tattoos for you. His mom is out of town visiting family in Russia, so he’s alone this year,”

*ding*

“He also says that if you’re up for it, he can do one right now,”

“Right now? It’s past midnight,” I replied.

*ding*

“He said that he’s outback and is bored,” I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “It’s up to you, baby,”

“As fun as that sounds, Brandon has the drawings, and I don’t want to disturb him and Leah,” I reply.

“Good point, tomorrow after presents it is then,” I saw Dorian type away the message and put his phone back down. “Now, are you ready for another round?” I giggled as Dorian got on top of me and smothered me with k****s before making love to me again.

The next morning, training was canceled because it was Christmas. All of the grandparents brought the pups back to the house bright and early. All of us were gathered by the giant Christmas tree where presents were scattered all over. The guys handed out all of the gifts to respective packhouse members,

“Lacie,” Dorian said.

“Thank you, Alpha,”

“Yo, Simba this is yours,” Mikey said

“Pax here’s two for you and one for Ava,” Lucas said

“I got one for Eleanor over here,” Brandon said.

“Allie, this is for you,” Andre said, and I took the gift.

“This big one is for Sawyer,” Dorian said and pushed a large box to Leah.

“Aries, here,” Brandon said tossing him a box

This went on for about an hour until all of the gifts under the tree were disbursed to the respective recipients or parents if the gift was for a pup.

“Alright, let’s go to town!” Brandon shouted and everyone started to open their gifts. Wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows were flying all over the place.

“Ahh! A teal KitchenAid standing mixer! Thanks, babe!!” Katie shouted to Simba. “Oh, and a gift card to ULTA!” Katie lunged herself at Simba and gave him a big k**s.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! The red floral Gucci tote!” Savannah squealed. “Thank you so much baby!” she straddled Nick and kissed him hard. I guess she had been wanting that bag for a while.

“NO! Paxton!? You didn’t!?” Ava shouted.

“What is it?” her sisters asked in unison.

“Pax is taking me to Athens, Greece!” she squealed in a very high pitch while shaking a bunch of papers in excitement.

“Paxton, I hope you submitted your time off,” Dorian said.

“The trip isn’t until mid-June Alpha, so don’t worry. I will be sure to submit my time off request accordingly,” he replied.

“Ava, don’t forget you have to do the same with me and Dr. Quinn,” Sin told her. Ava nodded with a huge smile on her face.

“Brandon! You did not!” Leah yelled. We all looked over and saw that Brandon got Sawyer a toy Audi that he can physically sit in.

“It’s remote control sweetcheeks, we control where he goes,” Brandon said while laughing. He unboxed the car and got it set up. As soon he was done, he put Sawyer in the car and Sawyer let out a huge giggle.

“Brandon Kane, you better not let my sweet grandson crash,” Bridge yelled out while opening her own gift. “My heavens, Joseph, what is this?” she asked when she saw a jewelry box in her hands.

“This, my beloved, is a gift from Brandon and Leah,” Joe said. We all looked, and Bridget pulled out a gold locket that had small gems on the front cover. Bridget opened it, and she just started to cry.

“What is it?” people around them asked.

“It’s pictures of Brandon and Leah on one side and the other side is of Sawyer and Danica,”

“Wait, I got one too,” Helena said.

“As did I,” Eleanor replied.

“Actually, we got all of you similar gifts,” Dorian replied. “You guys have done so much for us. Raising us, accepting our mates for who they were, and now you’re helping us with our pups. We never have to ask you guys to watch them for us, you always volunteer. Hell, sometimes we have to ask you if you have them because they always seem to go missing,” everyone just laughed at that. “So, all of us got together and got lockets for all of the grandmothers, but the gems are your respective birthstones. And for the grandfathers, we got you guys new Rolexes with our family photos as the backgrounds within the face,” As Dorian said that Ben, Joe, and Ethan opened their gifts and saw the watches.

“Ben? Eleanor? Sam and I also wanted to give you two gifts for always helping out with Keegan, even though you don’t have to,” Lucas said handing Ben a box. Ben took it and unwrapped it and his eyes nearly jumped out of his head.

“Lucas Hardwick is this…”

“It is…”

“Where are on earth did you find this?”

“I actually found it at a Total Wine, it was the only one they had available, and I know you love your brandy,”

“Hardy Cognac Printemps. There are only 400 of these available in the world,” Ben said holding up the box.

“Ben, you better share that with us,” Joe said.

“Eleanor, this is for you,” Sam said handing Eleanor a very small gift bag. Eleanor took out the tissue paper and pulled out a small envelope.

“Samantha, what is this?”

“It’s a $3,000 gift certificate to the spa at the Wynn for you and Ben,”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Eleanor said and gave Sam a hug.

“No, thank you for taking care of our son like he was your own grandbaby,” I couldn’t help but smile at the image before me.

“Oh my god,” Lacie exclaimed and we all looked at her. She was also holding a small jewelry box. When she opened it, there was a beautiful ring inside. “This isn’t…”

“No, Precious, it’s not an engagement ring,” he replied.

“AWWW!!” All of the ladies exclaimed in disapproval. All of the men just laughed at us.

“It’s a promise ring,” Aries told her.

“A promise ring?” Lacie repeated.

“Yes,” he got down on his knee and put the ring on her right ring finger. “This ring is solidifying my promise to you to love you unconditionally, protect you with my life, and cherish you as the most precious thing in my life. You are my everything Lacie, and I promise to always give you 100% of my heart and to make you as happy as I possibly can,”

“Awww….” All of us ladies just swooned. Even I swooned, mostly because it was just that romantic. Their first Christmas together, and he was already doing it perfectly.

“What kind of stone is that?” Sin asked.

“It’s Amethyst, it’s the February birthstone,” Lacie replied. “Thank you, Aries, I love you so much,” they got stood up and hugged each other. I loved seeing Lacie so in love.

“Alright, all you hoes open the gifts I got for you,” I tell all the girls. They all opened their gifts which were all exactly the same, and this included Lacie.

“What!?” Leah shouted.

“No way!?” Sam exclaimed

“Allie, this is for real?” Dani asked

“Bitchhhh…” Sin said with a smile

“Luna?” Lacie looked at me confused.

“What is it!?” all the guys asked at the same time.

“Before any of you answer that, guys, open yours too,” Dorian says. All of the guys including Aries open their gifts that were in boxes similar to the girls’.

“Dude is this for real?!” Brandon asked.

“Dorian, you can’t be serious!” Mikey exclaimed.

“Boss?” Lucas looked at him confused.

“Alpha?” Aries was just as confused as Lacie.

“Sacré bleu,”

“Okay, now that the grandparents and the rest of the house are out of the loop, how about sharing what you all received,” Benjamin demands.

“Dorian and I planned another trip this year, this time for Dorian’s birthday, and it is an all-expenses-paid vacation to the Maldives,”

“Wait, if all of you leave, then who is going to run the packhouse?” Katie asked.

“Dad?” Dorian looked at Benjamin.

“I get to be the boss again? Sure, why not!?” Ben said proudly, and we all laughed.

“When? And how long are you kids going be away?” Helena asked.

“A week,” I reply. “We’re going to leave the Saturday right after I finish school, and then be back the following Sunday,”

“And don’t worry mom, we’ll make sure you get to use that gift card Sam got for you before then,” Dorian said.

“Michael, you better not be taking my grandson again,” Helena scowled

“We’re not mom. I’m sure it’s an adult thing only,” Mikey replied.

“Okay, now that we got that out of the way, Raquel, Sylvia, please open your gifts,” I tell the twins’ nannies. They both look at each other and open their gifts.

“Awww!!!” they both exclaim when they see their gifts.

“What did you get?” Sin asked.

“The Alpha and Luna got us framed pictures of us each holding the pup we respectively watch…” Sylvia said looking at a picture of her and Demarco.

“…And the frame is engraved with our names that say Best Nanny Ever,” Raquel added while looking at the picture of her and Daisy.

“Thank you!” they both say to Dorian and me. While we were watching them enjoy their gifts, and others opening their gifts and going gaga over the things they received, Aries shouted in disbelief,

“NO WAY!” We all look at him and he’s holding a sniper rifle.

“That better not be loaded!” Benjamin shouts.

“It’s not,” Lucas replied. He would know since he’s the expert. “That can’t be what I think it is,”

“It is sir, it’s the British L96A1,” Aries replied. “Precious, did you buy this for me?”

“I did. Seeing, that you’re still an active bounty hunter, I figured getting you something you can use on the job, or just something to play with, out in the desert would make a good surprise,” Lacie replied.

“Aries, you have to let me use that,” Lucas said. “I have been dying to use one of those,”

“Lucas, are those good rifles?” Dorian asks.

“Boss, the L96A1 is considered to be the best rifle in the world,”

“Then why doesn’t my company have them?”

“Because they are hard to come by Alpha, very hard to come by, and they’re manufactured in Britain. Precious, where did you get this?” Aries asked her still in shock.

“I have a friend in London that works for MI6, and he’s a skilled sharpshooter. I asked him what the best rifle would be, and he said that one. So, he was able to get all the paperwork in order and had it shipped here,”

“This the best gift I have ever received, other than you of course,” Aries replied. Lacie just smiled proudly.

“If they are the best, we should get some for your team, Lucas,” Dorian said.

“YES!” Lucas exclaimed in pure excitement. Everyone just laughed at him, and Sam rolled her eyes. That was probably the most excited I’ve ever seen him, other than when Keegan was born.

“Lacie, do you think you can reach out to your friend in MI6 again and see if we can potentially do business together?” Dorian asked.

“Of course, Alpha, though I can’t make any promises,” she replied.

After everyone opened all of their gifts, we all worked together to clean up the packhouse. All of the Omega staff came by about an hour later and cleaned up the backyard and threw out the rest of the trash. Dorian texted Sergei to come by at noon so he could work on my tattoos and we told Brandon so he could get the stencils ready. Dorian and I took the twins to go see Lavender.

When we got there, we set the twins down and shifted into our wolves so the twins could play with them. Bandit was so huge that you would be scared of having him next to two babies, but he was so gentle with them. He let them crawl all over him, pull on his ears, and tail. Daisy would bite him on occasion, and he would just let out a small growl to get her to stop. Demarco loved Mercury, and he would always nuzzle her face and slobber all over her.

Dorian and I always wonder what the twins’ wolves will look like when they turn 18, and we’re excited to find out. We are not excited to see them grow up though. We loved seeing them as babies, big babies, but babies, nonetheless,

Dorian?

Yes, baby?

Do you really think it’s okay to leave the packhouse for a week completely unattended?

We’re not, my dad, Uncle Joe, and Uncle Ethan can easily watch over the packhouse while we’re away.

As long you’re okay with it.

It’s for my birthday, of course, I’m okay with it. Plus, it won’t be filled with drama like the s**t we went through while we were in Florida. And it’s not like we have an enemy to deal with.

No, we have my assistant’s crazy older sister to deal with and her mate’s ex-lover that tried to kill them.

That’s not as bad as s**t we had to deal with almost two years ago, Allie.

True, but it’s drama, nonetheless.

Even though I couldn’t see it, I knew for a fact that Dorian rolled his eyes at me. We stayed at Lavender’s memorial until it was time to head back. We shifted back into our human forms and headed back. We let the twins walk on their own once we got back to the backyard, and the nannies took them from there. Dorian received a mind link from Brandon saying that Sergei was in my office completely set up and ready for me.

“Alpha, Luna, Merry Christmas,” Sergei said

“Merry Christmas,” we both replied.

“Luna, I hear that you are ready to get your first tattoo,”

“Yeah, well, the first couple of tattoos,” I replied.

“The Beta has shown me all the designs that you came up with, I must say, they’re very original and I would be happy to put them on your body,”

“Uhhh…” I looked up at Dorian.

“Luna, I’m gay, don’t worry,” Sergei said.

“Oh, okay. That’s good to know,”

“Gizmo, which one did you want to do first?” Brandon asked.

“Let’s do the twins’ names on my wrists first,” Brandon nods and hands Sergei to already made stencils.

“Luna, I’m going have to sit on this chair here, and place your arms flat on the table,” Sergei instructs. I tell him I want Demarco’s name on my left wrist and Daisy’s name on my right. He rubs some kind of lotion on my skin and places the stencil where I want it to go. He rubs it to make sure all of the ink transfers and peels back the paper. “Does that look okay to you?” he asks me. I nod and smile. Suddenly, I see him grab a syringe full of something,

“Wait, what is that?” I ask concerned.

“It’s wolfsbane Luna,”

“WHAT!? Why do you have wolfsbane!?” I freak out. Sergei looks to Dorian and Brandon confused.

“Baby, the process of tattooing is essentially cutting into your skin, you have to be injected with wolfsbane in the area where it’s going to go, so it doesn’t heal over while he’s working,” Dorian explained.

“YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT SOONER!” I shout

“Gizmo, I thought you knew this,” Brandon replied.

“HELLO!! NEWBORN WEREWOLF!!” I point to myself stating the obvious.

“Luna, please do not worry, since the areas where these tattoos are going are small, I won’t need to inject you with much. You will only feel slight discomfort,” Sergei explains. I pout a little bit, and Dorian gives me a reassuring nod. I nod my head, and Sergei injects my wrist avoiding my veins.

“Alright, all you hoes open the gifts I got for you,” I tell all the girls. They all opened their gifts which were all exactly the same, and this included Lacie.

“SON OF b***h!” I scream as I feel it stinging my wrist. “Dorian, how the hell did you and others get all of your f*****g tattoos done!?” I ask while Sergei starts to work. I could barely feel the needle of the tattoo gun, but the wolfsbane was definitely causing me some discomfort. “Brandon, you said I could have this done while pregnant,”

“Yeah, you could have. The wolfsbane is only injected through the first few layers of skin and tissue Gizmo, it doesn’t go through your bloodstream. If you had gotten these done while pregnant with the twins, they wouldn’t have been in any danger,” he explains. I just scowl my face at him and watch Sergei work. An hour later, Sergei finished both of the tattoos of the twins’ names and they came out perfect.

“Sergei, do you have time to do one more?” I asked him.

“I have all day Luna,”

“Brandon, Lavender’s name please,” Brandon smiles and pulls the stencil he had made for me over a year ago.

“This is beautiful, Luna. If I’m not mistaken, this is the name of the pup you lost, correct?” Sergei asks, and I nod my head. “It was beautifully designed. Where would you like this go?” With that question, I take off my shirt and my bra and show him. “Okay, lift your right arm and hold your breast with your left hand,” I do as he says, and he places the stencil while Brandon holds a body mirror so I can see.

“Right there,” I tell Sergei when I see where places it. He takes his marker and marks the corners on my body and then has me lay down.

“Okay, Luna, lift your right arm over your head…perfect, and now I’m going to recline this back just enough to where gravity will keep your breast out of the way,” I nod, and he does what he needs to do. He does all the same steps he did before, only this time, he has to inject the wolfsbane in a higher dosage which makes me scream in pain.

“Come on, Giz, it’s not that bad,” Brandon teases.

“f**k YOU BRANDON!!” I shout in annoyance and tears falling from my eyes.

“Brandon, this is Allie’s first time experiencing wolfsbane, show her a little sympathy a*****e,” Dorian says to him.

“Fine, I’m sorry Gizmo,” Brandon replies in a not-so apologetic tone. I stuck my tongue at him and just endured through the pain. Lavender’s name took almost three hours to do because Sergei had to work through all of the flower petals on the lavender bouquet. Once it was done, Sergei sat me up and Brandon held up the body mirror one time so I could see the finished product.

“I love it! Thank you, Sergei!” I kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re welcome Luna,”

“Sergei, while you’re here, go ahead and put the names of my pups on my ankles,” Dorian says.

“Of course, Alpha,” Sergei creates new stencils for Dorian and gets to work. Dorian isn’t phased by the wolfsbane whatsoever. I guess having the majority of his body covered in tattoos made him immune to the discomfort. After Sergei was done with those, we still had some time for him to Lavender’s name on Dorian’s h*p. Brandon had already drawn out a smaller version of it last year, so this one didn’t take long at all either.

“You okay?” I ask Dorian when Sergei was done

“I’m perfectly fine,” I look at his h*p, and I smile seeing Lavender’s name on him. Even though it was in the middle of a bunch of other tattoos, it stood out because it was in lavender purple ink.

“Luna, the Beta has shown me the other two designs, and though I am happy to do them for you, we will need to wait. These are much larger, and will require a lot more wolfsbane,”

“Yeah, let’s hold on those. I don’t think I can handle any more of that s**t today,” I tell him, and he chuckles.

“Just let me know whenever you are ready,” he replies, and I nod.

“Sergei, how much do we owe you?” Dorian asks.

“Please, Alpha, no need. Consider it my Christmas gift to you and the Luna,”

“Oh my gosh, Sergei are you sure?” I ask in shock.

“Yes, I’m positive Luna. It was a pleasure giving you your first tattoos. Though, I can tell you the larger pieces will cost a pretty penny, especially that big wolf one that will go on your back,”

“That won’t be an issue,” Dorian tells him. Sergei cleans up, gathers his things, and leaves.

“So, what is the aftercare for these?” I ask.

“No bathing for a week, no shower for three days, and keep it moisturized,” Brandon says. “Unscented lotion only,”

“For how long?”

“Until it stops peeling. Which should be about two weeks,” I looked at the tattoo in the mirror again, and then down at my wrists. I was so excited to have finally gotten some of these done. I could already tell that Lavender’s tattoo would stick out like a sore thumb when I wore a bikini.

Now that these were done, I couldn’t wait to go shopping when Cianna got here and celebrate the New Year with everyone close to me, and our wedding anniversary.

{Heather’s P.O.V.}

“Yes! f**k me!” I shouted to the random omega currently pounding me from behind as my face was flat on his bed.

“Mmmm…” he g*****d and m****d. I picked this guy up from the club that I worked at. He wasn’t from my pack, so I didn’t have to worry about anything. “I’m going to c*m!” he shouted. I pulled away from him and made him c*m on my chest. There was no way I was going to let some random werewolf c*m inside of me.

When he was done, he passed out on the bed. I cleaned myself up in his bathroom, and got dressed,

“Where are you going?” he asked me

“Home,” I replied

“Seriously? We just had s*x, you can stay the night you know,”

“Yeah, no thanks,” I tell him and leave his place. I order an Uber and head home. It only takes twenty minutes, and when I get to the condo building, I see that the lights in my unit are on. I figured it was Lacie visiting for Christmas. I run in and get in the elevator. Once I get to my floor, I open the door to my unit and call for Lacie. “Lacie, is that you?”

“I’m not your sister,” I hear my father’s voice.

“Ugh, what do you want dad?”

“Your mother and I were wondering where you were? You were supposed to be home three hours ago and come have Christmas dinner with the rest of us,”

“I was at work, and then I got caught up,” I said throwing my bag on to my couch and sitting down.

“Don’t lie to me Heather, I can smell the stench of a man on you,”

“So?”

“Heather, are you sleeping around again!?”

“What does it matter dad, I’m single!”

“That doesn’t mean you go opening your legs for random men Heather! I thought you were over this stage of your life!”

“I would be if Deacon would take me back, so blame him,”

“Dammit Heather, how long is it going to take you to get over this! It’s been over four months!”

“I’m never going to get over it! My mate rejected me because of Allie! Had she not gotten involved, then this never would have happened! Deacon and I would be happy together! I wouldn’t have to sleep around to get out of my s****l frustration!”

“HEATHER!”

“f**k OFF DAD! If you’re going to keep badgering me, then get the f**k out of my condo!”

“DO NOT SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY HEATHER HAMILTON! I MAY BE YOUR FATHER, BUT I AM STILL THE ALPHA!” he shouts in his Alpha tone. It doesn’t even faze me anymore. I get up and go to my room and slam the door. This had to be the shittiest Christmas ever. My sister was gone and living with her mate, happily in love, and never bothers to call or text me. Deacon refuses to acknowledge me, and my parents are constantly lecturing me and making my life a living hell.

I knew that I didn’t want to be here during New Year’s, so I decided to book another trip to Las Vegas. It was only the place I could go alone, and not be judged by anyone. It was a city full of nothing but tourists. Once I booked my flight, I looked up things to do alone and saw a bunch of different night clubs, but all of the ones I found were catered to humans. I went on the special websites for the supernatural and found a night club that catered specifically to the supernatural,

“Trifecta,” I read the reviews and the description. “This sounds perfect. Maybe I can pick up a hot guy while I’m there,” I reserve my spot on the guestlist, so I don’t have to pay at the door. I text my manager at the club and get the last minute ‘okay’ to take off since it was my loss anyway.

I needed an outlet from all of the negative energy around me, and this was the only thing I could think of.