Desert Heat (Complete)

{Allie’s P.O.V.}

Lacie and I have been awake for a full three days now, and we both feel great. Mercury is talking to me again, and Lacie said that her wolf Samara was speaking to her too. Dr. Quinn and Dr. Boyd have been keeping a close eye on both us to make sure we don’t relapse. The pack members have been sending flowers, gifts, and lots of get well cards to both her and me.

Dorian has been working in the hospital room, while I recovered, which I was not surprised by at all. He takes lots of breaks and makes sure that I’m comfortable. He called Amber and Deacon the same day I woke up, and they are all going to be flying in to see us over the weekend; however, Lacie’s parents said that they weren’t going to come but talked to Lacey via video call. I found it strange, but I didn’t want to press the issue. I was ecstatic to hear that Evelyn accepted Deacon and was now the Luna of Yellow Moon.

Ben and Eleanor brought the twins by, and I burst into tears the moment I saw them. The thought that they were about to grow up without me broke my heart. I made a promise to myself and to them that I would never be that reckless ever again. The thought of my babies growing up without me was something I never wanted to imagine for as long as I lived. Dr. Quinn didn’t want me picking them up while I was still healing, which was honestly fine by me. In the six weeks, I was out, Demarco grew to 45 pounds, and Daisy was just over 35 pounds.

Dorian was working on the small table in my hospital room, and I was reading a book when Aries brought Lacie over,

“Hey, guys, mind if we join you?” Aries asked while helping Lacie walk.

“Come on in,” I said. Dorian made a few more keystrokes, and then closed his laptop. “Lacie, how are you feeling?” I asked

“I’m good but trying to figure out how to talk again sucks,” she replied while sitting down on the couch in my room. “What about you?”

“I’m good, and same about the walking thing. Though, this is my second time having to learn to walk again after being hospitalized,” I replied annoyed. “Seriously, how many times have I been hospitalized in the last two and a half years?” I asked looking at Dorian.

“Too many times to count,” he replied and kissed my temple and sat down next to me on the bed and we faced Lacie and Aries.

“Hey, so the reason why I wanted to come by was so that the four of us could talk,” Lacie said. The guys looked at her, and I could see the concern on their faces. I knew where this was going. “Can you guys tell us what happened exactly?” she asked. I turned and faced Dorian, and gave him a look, indicating I wanted to know too. Dorian let out a deep sigh,

“You two were poisoned by something called Dimethylmercury. According to Dr. Quinn, Vlad, and Lucas, it’s a fast-acting poison that only affects those with werewolf DNA,” Dorian explained.

“Vlad, he’s the vampire techy chemist guy at the firm right?” I asked, and Dorian nodded.

“Also, the poison has no cure. Vlad said that more than 85% of wolves who are exposed die within a few hours,” Dorian continued. “But since you’re a blessed wolf, baby, and Lacie is the daughter of an Alpha, your strong genes allowed you two have a fighting chance,”

“Even then, Dr. Quinn said that you two surviving is as close to a miracle as it gets. Even strong wolves and ranked wolves have died from this,” Aries added.

“Okay, so we know how we were poisoned, what we were poisoned with, and now we just need to figure out the who,” I said, but when I did, both Dorian and Aries tensed up and avoided eye contact. I sat straight up and looked at Dorian. This guy still had the worst poker face in the world. “Dorian?”

“Aries?” the guys looked at each other.

“You know who did this, don’t you?” I asked both of them, but they didn’t answer. “Dorian!?” I shouted but he just bit his tongue, so I looked at Aries.

“No, Allie please,” he begged. He knew what was coming.

“Aries, answer the question!” I shouted in my Luna tone. He grunted and closed his eyes. He looked at Lacie with sorrow and guilt.

“It was the bartender Chris and two female associates” he answered.

“Who!?” I shouted.

“Maya and…” he looked at Lacie again and hung his head.

“No…” I whispered and looked at Dorian, and he nodded. “Oh my god,”

“What?” Lacie asked. No one answered. “Tell me!!” she hit Aries in the arm.

“Precious, the other female associate…” he started to say and paused. He took a deep breath and took her hand in his. “…It was your sister,”

-

It’s been over an hour and Lacie still hasn’t stopped crying. Who could blame her? Heather, her own flesh, and b***d was responsible for almost killing Aries, and also almost killing her,

“Lacie,” she looked at me with her big puffy red eyes. “I can’t imagine how hurt you are right now, but as an Alpha’s daughter, you know what this means right? What’s going to happen to Heather?” she didn’t even answer, she just cried more. Of course, she knew what it meant. Heather attempted to kill multiple ranked wolves, of which two were Alphas. There was no turning back for Heather now. She was going to die.

“What about the bartender?” Lacie asked through her tears.

“He’s dead,” Dorian replied. We both looked at him. “I put a bounty on his head, and Fury found him in Belgium about a week ago. He confirmed that it was Heather and Maya that poisoned the drinks,”

“Did you put a bounty on Heather and Maya?” I asked.

“They’re signed and ready to be put out…” Dorian started to reply and paused to look at Lacie, who just started to sob again. “…But we were waiting to see what happened with you two,”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I know you, baby, if I put those out as soon as I got them signed, and you woke up after they were already dead, you would have been pissed that I didn’t wait for you,” he said to me. Damn, he knew me so well.

“I waited to put out the one for Maya because I know you would want to see her pay just as much, Precious, am I wrong?” Aries said to Lacie.

“No, you’re not wrong,” she whimpered.

“You also waited to see if they would tip their hand, didn’t you?” I asked Dorian, and he just smirked.

“It’s just like what we did with Tucker, we waited patiently, and he made mistakes. So, I’m hoping Heather and Maya make a mistake too,” he replied.

“I can’t believe her,” Lacie said sitting up and wiping her tears. “I can’t believe how evil my own sister is,”

“Lacie, there’s more to Heather that you need to know about,” I tell her. She looks at me. “Lacie, do you know what it means to be an impure wolf?” I asked.

“No,” she replied, and I just looked at Dorian. He explained to Lacie what it was and that Heather was one because of what she did. Lacie was horrified and disgusted at the same time. Then Dorian explained that Evelyn was Deacon’s new mate and that Heather more than likely would have felt the bond she had with Deacon officially break because he marked Evelyn, and she marked him in return. Even Aries didn’t know any of this and was just as shocked as Lacie.

“Lacie, did that all make sense to you?” I ask.

“Yes, it did. So, you’re basically saying that my sister was never meant to have a mate because she is a disgusting murderous narcissistic w***e?”

“Pretty much,” Dorian replied.

“Do my parents know about this?!”

“They didn’t at first, but when Dorian, Deacon, and I went to your old pack to get Archie to sign Heather’s death warrant and bounty, Amber laid it on pretty thick out of anger because of what happened to you two,” Aries said.

“Amber and Ronnie even threatened to leave Snell Island and come back to Desert Moon if you died, baby,” Dorian said to me, and I looked at him in shock. “I told her not to do that because of Cam,” I sighed in relief.

“Hold up, how the hell do Heather and Maya even know each other?” I asked.

“We don’t know,” Aries answered.

“How did they know we were going to be at the club?” Lacie asked.

“Heather and Maya were both on the guest list, but according to sales records that Brandon pulled up, Heather had booked her spot at least a week in advance, and Maya four days later,” Dorian answered.

“Heather was also the one that was trying to get the VIP lounge the day before, when the club manager called Brandon,” Aries added.

“So, that would mean, those two met in the four-day time frame before Maya bought her spot on the guestlist,” I say, and they nod their heads. “And if Heather was trying to get the VIP lounge for her and Maya, but couldn’t because of Brandon, who is the owner and said no, then Stefan would have told Heather this…”

“Then she could have relayed that information to Maya,” Aries added.

“And since Maya used to be a member of the pack, she would know the owner of Trifecta is Brandon, and that we go to the club every year for New Year’s Eve,” Dorian concluded.

“But Heather wouldn’t have known that Deacon would be there,” I said.

“She also had no idea that Cianna was mated to Lucian. My parents said that they kept Cianna’s mate’s identity a secret from her,” Lacie replied.

“She also would have seen Evelyn giving Deacon a lap dance during our little show on the dance floor,” I added.

“But my sister was in love with Deacon, why would she try and kill him?”

“Actually, we think her target was Dorian,” Aries said.

“WHAT!?!?” Hearing this made Mercury surface. “NO ONE TOUCHES WHAT’S MINE!” she roared. Dorian immediately pulled us into his chest and cradled our head.

“Breathe baby, breathe,” Dorian cooed us. A few deep inhales of his scent calmed her, and she gave me back control. I still needed a little more time though. After a few moments of Dorian holding me close, I was calm enough to get back to the conversation at hand.

“I’m good,” I tell Dorian and he slowly lets me go. “Why do you think Heather was targeting Dorian?” repeating this made Mercury stir and growl in my mind. I had to push her back and keep her calm.

“According to Cianna, Heather constantly blamed you for Deacon rejecting her. She said that Heather kept saying you took her mate from her and that she going to get back you,” Aries explained.

“Get back at me? So that means, killing my husband?” Aries nodded. “Okay, so Maya’s motive is simple, she wants to get back at you because you left her, and then found Lacie, even though those two events aren’t even remotely tied together. Heather’s motive is to get revenge on me. How the hell does the bartender fit into all of this?” I ask.

“He apparently had a crush on the fairy twins, but they didn’t reciprocate,” Dorian replies.

“Oh, so seeing them flirt with Deacon and Apollo, not knowing that they were mates set him off,” I replied

“That still doesn’t explain my sister though. She loves Deacon, why would she allow him to be a target?” Lacie asked.

“At this point, we think it was just collateral damage,” Aries responded. “There was no way they would know which drinks went to who, so we think they just dosed all of them,”

“So, Brandon, Mikey, Andre, Lucas, and Lucian were all just collateral damage,” I say, and Dorian and Aries nod. “Wow, those bitches are as good as dead now,” I say with no remorse. I look at Lacie. “I’m sorry, Lacie, but I can’t allow your sister to live, not after hearing all of this,”

“No, I understand Allie. Even though Maya was the one after Aries, Heather being involved just shows me that she doesn’t care about who she hurts, even her own sister,” Lacie teared up again. “The moment she decided to put this plan into motion is the moment that our bond as sisters died. I no longer have a sister,” she said leaned her head on Aries’ shoulder.

“Baby, do you want me to put out the bounties?” Dorian asked.

“Not yet,”

“Why?”

“I want to do the same thing we did with Tucker; I want to wait and see if Heather shows us her hand. We’re going to let her think we don’t know it was her and Maya that did this. We’re going to make everyone think we don’t know, that includes Snell Island. I want Heather to come out into the open and get comfortable, and when she least expects it, I’m going take her down. Maya is as good as banished anyway for what she did to Aries and Lacie, so I honestly don’t care about her,”

“What about Deacon and Evelyn?” Lacie asked.

“What about them?” I reply

“If Heather finds out that Deacon has a new mate, what’s to stop her from going after them?”

“Remember, Heather is still an enemy of Deacon’s pack. If she even tries anything against him or his pack, let alone Evelyn, he will not hesitate to kill her,” I answer, and Lacie nods.

I didn’t think it would be possible to hate someone more than I hated Hank or Tucker, or even Devin and Jessica, but I hated Heather with a passion. She didn’t just try to take Dorian from me, but she and her new friend tried to take away all the men in my life that I care about. She tried to take away my family, and I would not stand for that. I was determined to make her pay for her crimes.

Two days later, Dr. Quinn and Dr. Boyd released Lacie and me back to the packhouse. Amber and the others would be arriving right before dinner. Lacie and I were able to walk on our own but still needed a little help. When we went through the living room, it was filled with pack members who were cheering for us and welcoming us back home. As soon as I saw Simba, I opened my arms for him to come to hug me. He had been so busy with packhouse duties, that he couldn’t come to visit when I woke up,

“Allie,”

“Simba,” he picked me up and hugged me tight, but not too tight. When he put me down, I saw tears fall from his eyes, and I wiped them away. “No crying, I’m okay,” I tell him, and he nods.

“Desert Moon pack, in honor of celebrating the Luna’s and Lacie’s recovery, tomorrow night we will have a big dinner, and everyone is invited!” Dorian announced and the pack cheered loudly, shaking the entire house. I saw Mrs. Johnson immediately go to Katie and they were ready to get to work. Even though Mrs. Johnson hated last-minute celebrations, I don’t think she minded this one.

After Dorian dismissed the pack, we headed towards the stairs to go to our room, but I paused at the bottom of the staircase,

“You good, baby?”

“Yeah, I’m just trying to decide if I want to walk up three stories,” I said staring the stairs in front of me and looking up to where our room was.

“Try taking a few, and if you get tired, I’ll carry you the rest of the way,” I nodded and slowly made my way up. I was able to make it to the second floor, but it felt like my legs were going to give out, so I made Dorian carry me the rest of the way. Lacie was able to make it no problem since she only had the one flight to do. Once we got back to our room, I was exhausted,

“Dorian, can we just stay in here until dinner?”

“Of course, baby, whatever you want,” he said while setting me down on the bed.

“Babe, I want to shower,” I tell him. He nods and heads into the bathroom to get the shower ready. Even though I had showered in the hospital, it wasn’t the same as showering in our shower. After a minute or so, Dorian came back out and helped me get undressed and walk to the shower. He got in with me so he could help me with washing my hair.

I stood under the hot water and just let it soothe my aching body. Being in a coma for six weeks gave me so many knots all over. After my hair and body were thoroughly drenched, Dorian had me sit on the bench and lathered my hair in my favorite Redken shampoo. He reached his fingers deep into my scalp and gave me a nice head massage while washing my hair.

“Oh, that feels so good,” I m****d.

“Stand up,” he said and helped me to my feet. “Hold onto me,” I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned back so he could wash out the shampoo. As he was doing that, I felt Dorian k**s my neck.

“Dorian, if you that, I’m going to turn into jelly and lose my grip,” I tell him, and he laughs. He continues to rinse my hair and then moves onto the conditioner. He has me sit down again and starts to comb in through getting rid of all the knots, tangles, and matted hair. He then put my hair in a bun and began to wash my body with my honey vanilla body wash. When he was done with that, he had me stand again, and just as when he rinsed the shampoo, I held onto his waist and he rinsed out the conditioner and soaps suds off my body.

After I was nice and clean, Dorian picked me up, I wrapped my arms and legs around him, and he sat down on the bench and just held me close. After a minute or two, I could hear Dorian sobbing,

“Dorian, what’s wrong?”

“Allie, you died,” he said. Those words instantly brought tears to my own eyes. “Baby, I actually witnessed you die, and I lost all control. I shifted in the middle of the hospital and injured three people. Dr. Boyd had to sedate Bandit, and the last thing I remember was hearing that horrible sound of you flatlining,” he said while still sobbing. I had no idea that any of this had happened. I knew I died, I felt myself drowning in Selene’s world, which meant I was dying in the real world. I had put Dorian through so much because of my opposition to admitting that not only did I want him in my life, but I needed him in my life.

“Dorian, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to put you through all this pain and suffering. This is my fault,” I tell him.

“Allie, I don’t know why I’m constantly failing at protecting you,”

“Hey, you didn’t fail me, I failed you,” I pulled my head back and made him look at me. “There’s something I have to tell you,” I explained to him what happened to me while was in a coma, and why it happened. By the end of it all, I was a blubbering mess,

“Allie, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Because I never needed anything or anyone before. Wanting and needing are totally different things, and I was afraid to admit that I need you, that I need our family, and that I need this pack. Dorian, I’m always afraid of being alone again, that one day, you won’t want or need me anymore,”

“What? Allie, you need to get that s**t out of your head right now, because that day will never come. I am going to want and need you until the day I die, which I’m hoping is another 100 years from now,” I couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit. “I love you, Allison Shaw, and I will always need you in my life. When I say I need you to live, I need you to live. If Daisy and Demarco weren’t in the picture, I would have committed suicide had you died,” when he said that I hugged his neck as tight as I could without suffocating him and cried. “Allie, I didn’t marry you because I wanted to, I married you because I needed to. I cannot live without you. Do you hear me?” I nodded.

“I can’t live without you either, Dorian, you complete me, and I need you. I need you to stay complete,”

“And you have me, baby. You will always have me,” I believed him. I was finally able to let go of my fear of being alone. That was never going to happen. I had Dorian and he had me.

We stayed in the shower just holding each other until the water turned cold. Once we were out, Dorian dried us both off and blow-dried my hair halfway. He then carried me back to the bed where we laid in each other’s arms until dinner.