Desert Heat (Complete)

{Dani’s P.O.V.}

Everyone was getting more restless with each passing day, but Allie and Sin were the worst off because their hormones were really starting to affect them. It’s probably been about a week since the guys left for Antarctica in search of Vivienne, and we were all getting super worried at this point. It didn’t help that none of us could ever get in touch with them, even though they were supposed to have their satellite phones.

After running out of things to do, we tried to spend the last week helping around the packhouse to keep things in order. And, of course, we also took the time to get to know Anna. This whole thing with Vivienne had put a halt on Brandon’s punishment of Sly for the incident with Leah. As expected, Leah had already forgiven Sly and swore to make sure that Brandon didn’t keep his promise to punish him.

It was strange having an archangel in the pack now, but she has already gotten along so well with everyone, especially the pups. We assumed that spending so many years taking care of young children while being held prisoner naturally gave her an affinity towards them, but they also doted on her like crazy. She told us that angels have a way with kids because when angels come from Heaven, only children are able to see them.

All of the girls and I were sitting in the common area of the packhouse while we hung out with our guards, their mates, and some other pack members. We were chatting amongst ourselves and preparing for another uneventful evening.

“Anna, do you mind recording that lullaby for me? It put Danica to sleep so fast, I must have it recorded,” Leah pleaded with her.

“Of course, Leah, it would be my pleasure,” Anna replied with a big smile. Leah squealed and clapped her hands with extreme delight. Before anyone had the chance to say something, the door flew open out of nowhere. We turned around and watched as all of the guys and their teams came running into the house like a stampede.

“What the hell?” Allie cried out, pushing herself to her feet. “Dorian, what … How? … When?”

“I’ll explain later, baby, but right now I need everyone to grab your pups and get down to the bunker immediately,” Dorian commanded.

“Mikey, what’s going on!?” Sin asked him as he was practically shoving her towards the packhouse bunker.

“Honey, we will answer all of your questions in a second. Just do as Dorian says, get to the bunker while I go get Allen!” The rest of us didn’t bother to question further, and we proceeded to follow Allie to the bunker while the guys ran upstairs to get the children. A few minutes later, the main bunker was completely full and the guys came rushing in with the kids in tow. Thankfully, they were still asleep despite the commotion. The guys laid them down in the bassinets prepared for the bunker, and we all waited for Dorian to tell us what was going on. What surprised me the most was the person I saw behind Andre.

“DAD!?”

“Hi peanut,” he replied nonchalantly.

“Dad, what are you doing here?”

“Andre called me and said that he needed my help with something important. So, I came to lend a hand.” I looked over at Andre and he just smiled at me. I c****d my eyebrow at him because I hated being kept in the dark.

“Okay, look …” Dorian addressed everyone and we gave him our undivided attention. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why we’re back and why we just started shoving you guys into the bunker. It turns out that Claude, the man who took Vivienne, had help from both a dark wizard and a vampire from a third-party coven. Splitting up into teams, we were able to apprehend both. Thanks to everyone’s combined skills and abilities, we found out that Vivienne has been right under our noses this entire time.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked him and looked back at Andre.

“Claude has a magical safe house underneath Jed and Viv’s townhouse. He has been spying on them ever since she and her parents came to visit. Essentially, because he has been stalking them since she and Jed found out they were mates, he was able to wait for an opportunity to abduct her while we were away helping Wyatt with his trafficking predicament.”

“Wait, are you telling us that there has been a vampire living on our land without us knowing!?” Allie exclaimed.

“Not on our land, under it.”

“What the hell!?” Sin shouted. “How are we supposed to find a magical safe house underground and below a townhouse?”

“That is where I come in,” my father answered. I snapped my head towards him and gave him the most confused expression I could. “Andre explained everything to me. Given that the victim is his younger sister and seeing as how he will soon be my son-in-law, that makes Vivienne family as well. Above all else, we protect our family.”

“Dad, how are you going to help?” I asked. I didn’t mean to sound presumptuous, but I was really at a loss for words seeing him in front of me, inside of a werewolf packhouse of all places.

“Mon Amour, if we were to send a vampire down to find this safehouse, Claude would find out almost instantly; however, your father being half warlock gives us an advantage,” Andre told me.

“How?” I asked, looking between the two of them.

“I can blink, my sweet girl. Remember?” my father said to me.

“Okay?”

My father sighed. “Sweetheart, they need someone who can go down there and scope out the place without getting caught. Blinking literally takes a single blink, and warlocks don’t leave behind a scent that would get them caught. We appear and disappear in the blink of an eye,” he answered.

“Right, and you’re just doing this out of the kindness of your non-existent heart?”

“Peanut, I thought we were past all of the drama?”

“I mean, we are, but you’re not the type of warlock that just helps others unless you have something to gain from it.”

“Respect, Daniella. I gain respect.” I pursed my lips together and looked at Andre. Again, he just looked at me stoically, as if to say that my dad was the only choice here.

“Dorian, I don’t get it. Why do we need to be in the bunker for you to be telling us all of this?” Allie asked him.

“Because we think that Claude has been staking out the pack territory at night while we were asleep, attempting to maintain the upper hand. That’s how he has been able to stay hidden for so long beneath our property. During the day he is in hiding while we’re out looking for Vivienne. And at night—”

“Oh my God, that fucker has been watching us while we slept!?” Allie snarled while cutting off Dorian. He just nodded. All of us girls gasped in horror.

“What the fudge! What is this guy, a peeing Tom!?” Lacie exclaimed and hugged herself as Aries wrapped his arms around her as well.

“Now that we have the explanation out of the way if you all will excuse me, I have some recon I must attend to,” my dad announced and blinked away. Just as fast as he blinked away, he returned. “Wow, that bastard really went all out when having that thing made.”

“What?” everyone replied.

“He’s down there alright, but I can’t get in.”

“What do you mean you can’t get in?” Jed asked him.

“I hit some kind of invisible wall, and it bounced me right back here,” my dad answered. We all furrowed our eyebrows at him. “Whatever magic was used to create it must be preventing anyone from getting in using magic. That includes blinking and shimmering.”

“That fucker really did go all out,” Mikey said.

“Hold on, what if he used the same magic that was used for the prison in Antarctica?” Jed pointed out. “If that dark wizard who betrayed the witches built it, then maybe our new evil Wiccan friends can take it down?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Dorian said. He looked to Andre who quickly made a phone call and, my guess, it was to Adrian.

“Hold up, how did you guys get home?” Sin asked. “I didn’t hear any cars outside.”

“Yeah, neither did I,” Sam chimed in.

“Their coven members shimmered us home as soon as we got in touch with Robert. We didn’t have time to go back to Argentina to retrieve the jets and then fly back home. It would have taken too long, and we’re on a major time crunch,” Dorian explained.

“What time crunch?” I asked.

“Dani, my father, and Louis believe that Claude is starving Vivienne to cause delirium,” Andre answered.

“What? Why?”

“In order to impersonate me and manipulate her into saying she loves him,” Jed replied.

“Oh god! He wants to re-mark her with his vampire venom!?” I exclaimed.

“Hello! Care to explain to the rest of us!?” Leah shouted. I looked back at them and gave them the cliff notes version of how re-marking worked for vampires.

“What a sick son of a b***h!” Sin yelled.

“Let me at him! Who the f**k does he think he is trying to screw with the mate bond that way! That’s just as f****d up as the s**t Heather pulled!” Allie added, trying to leave the bunker.

“Whoa there, my little wolverine,” Dorian said as he picked her up gently and put her back where she was. “You’re not going anywhere with a month left in your pregnancy. You can’t even shift right now.” Allie scowled at him. A second later, Adrian shimmered into the bunker with a woman we didn’t recognize.

“Good evening, my name is Serenity. I am the Wiccan mother of the dark coven that commissioned the exile prison. I have been informed that an escaped prisoner may be in a safe house underground that is guarded by the same magic?”

“That is the assumption,” my father said.

“Ah, a warlock, but not full-bred. A hybrid,” Serenity commented on my father before turning back to the rest of us. “If the magical barrier is indeed the same magic we used when building the prison, then I should be able to take it down quite easily. The problem is that we don’t know what lies beyond the barrier.”

“What do you mean by that?” Jed asked.

“There could be booby traps, silent alarms, not so silent alarms. He could even have his own army down there for all we know. If I disable the magical barrier, there’s no telling what will emerge from the ground.

“I have a question!”

“Yes, young Luna,” Serenity responded to Allie. “And a powerful one at that. Goodness, your aura is radiant. You and your Alpha. Quite the power couple, I see.”

“Uh, thanks? Anyway, back to my question. Is this magical wall strong enough to block a wolf’s mind link to their mate, or their pack?”

“Yes, it is. It’s the most powerful barrier that magic can conjure. Unbreakable without the correct spell,” Serenity answered. Allie made her thinking face. “I see the wheels turning in your head, young Luna. Penny for your thoughts?”

“I was wondering if Jed was close enough to the wall right as it’s being taken down, could he mind link, Vivienne? If she can hear him and he tells us where she is, maybe she can just shimmer to us?” Allie said.

“That’s only if he doesn’t have a contingency.”

“Even if he did, he wouldn’t risk placing one that could possibly kill Vivienne, if she were to escape. If what the guys and Dani said is true, and he wants to re-mark her for himself, he wouldn’t risk killing her. Then everything he has done would have been for nothing. Claude seems deranged but not stupid. He wouldn’t go through all of this to get her to be his and put a booby trap that could possibly result in her death. That would make no sense.”

“Allison is correct. Claude is not stupid. Desperate, yes, but not stupid,” Adrian said in agreement.

“Okay, so you want me to go underground?” Jed asked.

“No, silly, just stand in the townhouse. If the safe house he built is actually under the townhouse, then maybe just being in there will bring you close enough to Viv for a mind link to reach her. With you being a Supreme Alpha and her being your destined Luna, your bond to each other should be strong enough to allow your link to reach her.”

“She has a point, Jed,” Dorian said to him.

“But what if she’s too injured to shimmer out? Remember, he’s been physical towards her, and it’s been three weeks. She may not have the strength to shimmer. Especially if she’s been starved this whole time,” Jed countered. Suddenly, I had an epiphany.

“What if she just shimmered in place?” I asked. They all looked at me. “Remember, direct family members can track one’s shimmer path. What if she just shimmered in place. Just long enough for Adrian to pick up on it?”

“Dani, that is brilliant!” Andre shouted and picked me up, spinning me. He put me down and slammed his lips to mine. I couldn’t stop the m**n that automatically left my lips as I pulled him flush against me and deepened it. Our tongues intertwined, and I knew for a fact that I was leaking arousal because I sure as hell felt his rub against me.

“Ahem,” someone cleared their throat. We reluctantly pulled away and saw everyone was staring at us. My dad looked like he wanted to rip Andre apart.

“Hey, if we can’t tongue dance with our husbands, you can’t tongue dance with your fiancé!” Sam shouted at me. I buried my face into Andre’s chest as he kissed the top of my head.

“No one is tongue dancing with anyone until we get Vivienne back!” Jed insisted. “Serenity, please, help us take down the wall.”

“What do I get in return?” she asked, catching all of us off guard. f*****g dark witches. I should have known they would want something in return.

“I beg your pardon?” Jed replied with slight annoyance and anger in his tone.

“For taking down the wall. What do I get in return?” she said and as she eyed Jed like a piece of fresh meat.

“Serenity!” Adrian shouted at her.

“I’m just playing. Can’t a dark witch have a little fun?” she said in a not so joking manner as she eyed Jed again. “I’ve never been with a Supreme Alpha before,” she continued as she went to touch Jed’s arm. But before she could even lay a finger on him, he grabbed her wrist with one hand and her neck with the other, lifting her into the air. She immediately started to choke.

“Touch me again, and I will rip your head off and go find another dark witch from your coven to bring down this wall. I don’t f*****g have time for your stupid a*s games, Serenity. You will help us out of the kindness of your black heart because it was one of YOUR KIND THAT ALLOWED THIS HAPPEN!!!” He snarled at her as his eyes turned black with pure anger and then threw her to the floor. She began to cough as she glared up at him.

“Fine, be that way, you big brute!” she whined and stood to her feet as she massaged her neck. “Let’s go to this damn townhouse. The closer we are to the barrier, the faster it will fall once I say the incantation.” She took Adrian’s arm and he shimmered there.

“Dani, take Jed and Andre. Jed, once you’re able to reach her, whether she gets out on her own or Adrian has to go get her, be sure that they land outside of the townhouse in the front yard. We will have it completely surrounded by both our pack and their coven. The sun has already set,” Dorian instructed us. We all nodded and I shimmered them to the townhouse.

{Vivienne’s P.O.V.}

“WHY WON’T YOU JUST GIVE IN AND TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME!!!” Claude screamed in my face and slapped me as hard as he could, forcing me to fly out of the chair he placed me in. I instinctively held my stomach as I landed, trying to protect my pup. I prayed every second of every day while I was here that he didn’t notice the change in my body or my scent.

“You are a fool, Claude. Always have been, and always will be. You cannot break my bond with my mate!” I snarled at him. He pinched my chin and forced me to look at him. I spit in his face, and he slapped me again.

“Oh, but I will. You’re merely a hatchling, Vivienne. Soon, the thirst will become too great and in your desperate need for b***d, I will dangle a bag over your head. Let’s see how strong you are then!” he shouted and hit me once more for good measure before he stomped away. After the door slammed shut, Marco came and helped me up. I was starting to resent the Grand Elder for not stopping Claude when he attacked me. But I also knew that Claude had no idea who Marco was. His true identity.

“Vivienne, just hold on a little while longer.”

“I don’t think I can. I am starting to show, and I am still in the same tight shirt I was wearing when he first took me.” I wanted to cry so hard. I missed J.D. and my family. I missed the pack members. I honestly didn’t know how much longer I could take the beatings and starvation. I couldn’t keep feeding on Marco either. Soon, it wouldn’t be enough to sustain me and the pup. I needed to get out of here. Marco was about to say something when I felt immense pressure inside of my head that made me topple over again.

“Oh, mon Dieu!” I cried out as the pressure increased ten-fold.

“Mademoiselle! What’s wrong!?”

“My head! It hurts! It’s like someone is hitting me with a baseball bat!” I cried.

MATE! Tempest exclaimed. Mate is trying to link us! I can feel Gunner!

Hearing Tempest say that it was J.D. trying to mind link me, I quickly pushed Marco away and tried to concentrate on J.D. and our bond. The pressure intensified. Stronger and stronger. I felt like my head was going to explode when, suddenly, the pressure was gone, and all I heard was the most amazing sound.

Mon Coeur? Can you hear me?

MON LOUP!!!

Holy f*****g moon goddess! Finally! I’ve been trying to reach out for thirty minutes!

Thirty minutes? It’s been weeks since I have been taken!

Yeah, I know that, but … Ah, I’ll explain later, we don’t have time right now. Mon Coeur, I need you to listen to me carefully. Claude has been hiding you within the pack territory. You’re in a safe house that was built with dark magic and you’re literally under the townhouse.

Mon Loup, I don’t understand. Townhouse? Do you mean our townhouse?

Yes, our townhouse. Our home. Listen to me, I know he’s been starving you and hitting you. I’ve felt it. It didn’t get super intense until about five minutes ago. How badly are you injured?

Not as much as I should be. Tempest is trying to heal me slowly. And even though Claude has been starving me, I have been fed a little by my cellmate.

Cellmate!? Who is there with you!?

No time to explain, Mon Loup. How do I get out of here!? Are you coming for me!?

I can’t because I can’t go underground. But if you can, try to shimmer to me. Shimmer to the front yard. If you’re too weak, try your best to shimmer in place even for a few seconds. Your dad is here. If he can feel it, he can track you and get to you.

I will try, Mon Loup. I will try.

Vivienne?

Yes?

I love you, Mon Couer. I love you so f*****g much. You and our baby.

How did you …

Your dad could sense it after you were taken. Our pup’s scent had mixed with yours. Just hold on, love. You’ll be in my arms soon. And we have a party waiting for Claude if he decides to follow.

I cut off the link and looked at Marco who had a knowing smile on his face. He must have known I was mind linking J.D.

“Do what you need to do,” was all Marco said. I concentrated on my vampire side and focused all of my remaining energy into shimmering. I already knew I couldn’t shimmer to the townhouse, but I could shimmer in place. I felt my body become light as a feather for about two seconds before falling to the ground beside Marco. Not even a second later, I felt the presence of a very familiar person.

“Vivienne.”

“Papa.”