Desert Heat (Complete)

{Deacon’s P.O.V.}

After having not seen Heather for two days, I thought she was giving up and I honestly couldn’t be happier. On the night before we were all supposed to leave, we were all eating dinner at the main packhouse. Things were going smoothly and we were all having a good laugh. I finally had the chance to meet Heather’s sister, Lacie, and I had to admit, I liked her more than I did Heather. Even though she was only 19, she was really mature for her age and sincerely apologized for hiding the fact Heather followed us to Miami.

Honest to the moon goddess, she was the first she-wolf to make me smile other than Allie, and that said a lot. Allie was by the sitting area playing with Amber’s new pup Cody, who looked exactly like Dorian. No lie, this kid had the black hair and green eyes just liked Dorian. Watching Allie play with a baby was the most awesome thing. She was a natural when it came to pups. Was it wrong of me that I wish she would bear mine? Of course, it was but that didn’t stop me from having those fantasies. As we were enjoying ourselves, Heather showed up,

“Deacon, can I speak to you privately please?” she asked me. I looked at her for a minute, and thought about it. She asked nicely, and I was curious to know where she had been these last few days. I nodded and we went outside together. She led me around to the side of the house so no one could see us, I was already feeling uncomfortable about this,

“What do you want Heather?”

“I just wanted to spend some time alone with you, try to clear the air,”

“There’s nothing to clear,”

“I wanted to see if you have changed your mind yet? I mean, I have been really well behaved and haven’t started anything with anyone,”

“Avoiding people is not what I meant when I said to get your s**t together, Heather. You can’t stay secluded in your condo for the time frame I gave you and expect me to change my mind,”

“But I did what you asked,”

“No, you ran away from your issues and hid, that’s not doing what I asked,”

“Please Deacon, what will take for you to accept me?”

“Apologize to Allie and everyone else for your rude behavior, then maybe I will think about it,”

“Why do you always take Allie’s side? You’re my mate, you’re supposed to love me and cherish me,”

“I want to, but you’re not making it easy. I’m not just some Omega who can take home whoever his mate is, I’m a f*****g Alpha. I need a mate who will help me run my pack. Your immaturity is going to drive my pack into the ground, and I can’t afford that,”

“Maybe if you just loved me the way I love you then this wouldn’t be happening,”

“Are you seriously blaming me for your actions? I barely know you, Heather, the only thing I have seen out of you is disrespect, immaturity, and self-entitlement. No Alpha in the world would ever accept someone like you as their mate just because the moon goddess pairs them together,”

“Can’t you just give me a chance? Let me show me you that our bond is real,”

“And how do you suppose I do that?” I did not like where this was going.

“K**s me,”

“What!?”

“K**s me!” Before I could say anything, she grabbed my cheeks and pulled me into a k**s. I felt a small tingle, but nothing major. It had been a while since I kissed a girl, and I had to admit, Heather knew how to k**s. Midnight was telling me to push her off, but for some reason, I didn’t want to. It took me a minute, but I tried to push her off,

“Heather, stop,” I tell her, but she presses her lips even harder into mine and slipped her tongue in. She slowly moved her k****s to my jaw, and then back to my lips. I felt myself getting weak in the knees. It felt nice kissing a woman again, and I felt some sparks shooting across my skin. I wasn’t surprised, Heather was my mate after all.

Push her off! Before it’s too late!

Before what’s too late?

Before Midnight could even answer, Heather moved her k****s to my jaw again and then down to my neck, that’s when I felt her canines and I realized what she was about to do, but before I could react, she fully bit down my marking spot. I let out a huge roar and shoved her to the ground.

“WHAT THE f**k!?” I shouted. I put my palm to my neck, and it was bleeding and I could feel the puncture wounds. I stared at her in outrage as my eyes turned black. This was what Midnight was trying to warn me about, he knew that Heather wanted me to drop my guard so she could mark me.

“Deacon, what the f**k happened?” I heard my brother Lucian. I looked up and saw both my brothers, Dorian, Ronnie, and Allie.

“SHE f*****g MARKED ME!” I roared. I looked back at Heather who was trying to scoot away on the ground to get away from me. I grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall of the house. “WHAT THE f**k HAVE YOU DONE!?!” I screamed in her face. I felt no sparks when holding her neck. I felt nothing but disgust and anger.

“You were going to reject me! I had to stop you! This was the only way!” she said fighting for air. Midnight was furious. He was stirring with a frenzy to get out, but I had to hold him back. We had been marked without consent, and now, we were tied to Heather.

“Heather! You marked him out his consent!?” Ronnie asked. I still had Heather by the throat,

“Deacon, let her go!” Allie shouted and I looked at her. She shook her head at me. I growled and threw Heather to the ground and stormed off. I could hear Heather crying, but I didn’t care. She may have marked me, but my wolf and I did not see her as our mate, not after the s**t she just pulled. Heather may think she changed my mind, but little does she know, forcefully marking your mate can actually have the reverse effect.

I stormed into Bernie’s office and ripped him a new one,

“IS THIS HOW YOU RAISED YOUR DAUGHTER!? TO FORCEFULLY MARK SOMEONE WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT!” I roared slamming my fists on his desk. Bernie’s eyes bulged out of his head when he saw that I had clearly been marked by Heather.

“Alpha Brown, I…No, we always told her marking your mate had to be consensual,”

“She tricked me into kissing her, and then marked me without asking, tell me what part of that is consensual!?”

“Deacon,” I heard Heather’s voice and turned around. “Please don’t be angry with me, I did it because I wanted to keep you from rejecting me,”

“HEATHER!! YOU FORCEFULLY MARKED AN ALPHA! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND!” Bernie screamed.

“Daddy, I love him! He’s my mate! It’s only right that I mark him! Delilah said it would stop him from rejecting me!”

“Who the f**k is Delilah!?” I asked

“My wolf,”

“Your wolf is as psychotic as you are! No wonder my wolf never found your scent attractive! He could sense there was something off about you and your wolf!”

“What are you saying!? I marked you, you’re supposed to love me!”

“You don’t f*****g get it! You forcefully marked an Alpha! You did it because you and your wolf thought it could stop me from rejecting you, but what you don’t know is that marking a mate forcefully can have the reverse effect!”

“What? What does that mean the reverse effect?”

“It means that forcefully marking me has made me hate our bond! YOU DISGUST ME!”

“No! Stop it, Deacon! You love me! I’ve claimed you! You’re my mate!”

“The hell we are!! I, Deacon Malachi Brown, Alpha of the Yellow Moon pack, hereby reject you Heather Hamilton as my mate!”

“NO!!!” Heather screeched as she felt the mate bond breaking, while I felt nothing. “I don’t accept your rejection! I refuse to!”

“You don’t have to accept it because I’ve already rejected you. And as you can see, even with you having marked me, I didn’t feel any pain from it!”

“Daddy! Daddy! What happened!? Why is this happening!?” Heather was hysterical and I felt no remorse for her.

“Alpha Bernard Hamilton! I hereby declare our packs enemies! If anyone of your pack members, including you or your family, step onto my territory, they will be executed!! The only members of your pack that I will be neutral with are your Betas and their pups!”

“Alpha Brown…”

“APOLLO! LUCIAN!”

“Alpha!” they both entered

“Snell Island is to be considered our enemy and any member of their pack that steps foot on our territory excluding their Betas and their pups are to be executed upon sight!”

“Yes, Alpha!”

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME! I MARKED YOU DEACON!” Heather cried hysterically on her knees.

“I may never be able to find another mate again because of you, but I would rather be pumped full of wolfsbane and silver nitrate before ever considering you my mate!!” I spat at her. “Call the pilot! We’re leaving tonight!” I stormed out of the office with Apollo and Lucian right behind me.

“Deacon! Deacon wait!” I heard Heather come after me. I felt her grab my arm as she fell to her knees. “Deacon, please! Please! I’m sorry! I’m sorry I marked you without your consent! But I just wanted you to love me!”

“GET THE f**k OFF ME!” I pulled my arm away making her fall backward.

“Deacon, please!” I look down at her with pure disgust and then saw Allie looking at me from the backdoor. Her facial expression was saddened and filled with guilt. I didn’t bother saying my goodbyes to anyone. Lucian and Apollo were already in the car waiting. I left the packhouse slamming the door behind me shattering the glass. “DEACON!!” Heather screamed and I heard her open the door running after me. She grabbed my arm again, but I pushed her off. I could smell b***d coming from her which meant she cut her feet on the broken glass.

I didn’t care though. My bond with her was broken, and she could go to hell for I cared. I got in the car and Apollo took off for our hotel.

{Allie’s P.O.V.}

I watched from afar as Deacon left the packhouse full of anger and rage. Heather ran out to chase him stepping on broken glass with her bare feet and I knew immediately she cut herself and was bleeding. I wanted to go help her, but Dorian stopped me. Luckily, Amber ran out to help her instead.

“Aunt Allie!” I heard Cam and saw him peering over the walkway balcony,

“Cam, go back to your room!”

“Is everything okay! I heard screaming and glass breaking,”

“Everything is fine, Cam. It’s nothing for you to worry about, go back to your room,” I tell him, and he nods his head and goes back to his room. I heard Heather’s cries as Amber helped her back inside and took her to the pack-clinic.

“Come on, I think we should pack and head out first thing in the morning to avoid any blowback,” Dorian said, and I nodded in agreement. We went back to our room and locked the door. We packed up our things and made sure to leave out clothes for the flight home and only necessary toiletries.

About an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Dorian went to go open it and found it was Amber and Ronnie. He let them in and locked the door behind them.

“How’s Heather?” I asked.

“Knocked out, the doctor had to give her a sedative because she wouldn’t calm down. She ended up cutting a vein in her foot and there was glass embedded in the tissue,”

“Oh my god,” I sighed.

“I cannot believe she forcefully marked Deacon like that, I mean, what the f**k was she thinking?” Amber said completely irritated and angry at the same time.

“She said that she thought marking him would prevent him from rejecting her?” Ronnie answered

“Does she not know that s**t can have the reverse effect, especially since he didn’t have feelings for her in the first place?” Amber replied. “What’s worse, is that Deacon can never find a second chance mate now,”

“What? Why?” I asked.

“It’s because she marked him, baby, Deacon is forever bound to Heather, even if he rejected her,”

“Are you saying that Deacon will never be able to experience true love?” they all nodded. “What? That’s not fair to Deacon!” I seriously wanted to cry. Deacon deserved to find happiness and Heather just took it away from him all because of her inability to be patient and grow up.

“That’s just how it is, unfortunately,” Amber said with sadness in her voice too. I seriously wanted to kill Heather for what she did. I may still be a newborn, but even I knew that marking was sacred and precious and should be consensual. I couldn’t understand why the moon goddess made Heather Deacon’s mate. All of the mate pairs that I helped find and put together through my ability have been nothing short of perfect.

All of the couples that we know are happy and in love, I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t the same for Deacon and Heather. I felt like this was all my fault,

“Hey, I see that guilty look on your face, sister, stop that,” Amber said.

“But…”

“No buts! This is not on you; this is on Heather. I think Dorian was right, Heather needed to be rejected to help her learn from her mistakes and grow up. Did you hear her, she actually said she was sorry to Deacon, and she meant it,”

“Too little, too late,” Ronnie said

“True hun, but I think that’s the first time that Heather has ever sincerely apologized on her own,” I was going to say something when my phone started to ring,

“It’s Deacon,” I said and answered. “D?”

“Hey, baby girl,”

“D, are you okay?”

“f**k no, that crazy b***h marked me. Now I’m f****d,”

“D, I’m sorry, I can’t but feel this is my fault somehow,”

“I told you to stop blaming yourself Shorty, this has nothing to do with you,”

“I know but…”

“Stop. Look, I need to talk to you privately,”

“Okay,” I stepped onto the balcony and closed the door. “I’m alone, what’s up?”

“I love you, Allie, I’m hopelessly madly in love with you,”

“Deacon, we talked about this,”

“I know, and I still stand by what I said, nothing will happen between us, we’re just friends, but I needed to tell you. I don’t understand why this has happened, but Midnight and I aren’t hurt by the rejection with Heather, and he doesn’t feel the same way about your wolf that I do with you, but he is starting to understand it now,”

“Deacon, I don’t understand,”

“Allie, I think that if Dorian wasn’t your mate, you could have been ours,”

“But that’s not possible, Dorian and I are a fated pair, the moon goddess said so herself,”

“I get that Shorty, but it’s just what I feel. I’m not going to do anything. Dorian is still a good friend and ally, I will never disrespect him, but I just had to tell you and get this off my chest,”

“D,”

“Listen, I think it will be best if we steer clear of each other for a while, just until s**t settles down, because I may end up giving in to these feelings if I see you,”

“Okay, I understand,”

“Take care Allie,”

“You too,”

I hung up the phone and couldn’t help but sob. Deacon didn’t want to see me, all because he wanted to respect my marriage. I wiped my tears and went back inside,

“Allie, what happened?” Amber asks

“Deacon doesn’t want to see me anymore. He says that he’s too angry with what’s going on and that if he sees me, he will give into his feelings for me. He wants to stay away from me because he wants to respect my marriage,”

“Damn, that’s big of him,” Ronnie replied. Dorian came over and hugged me.

“Heather ruined my friendship with Deacon,” I sobbed into Dorian’s chest.

“It’s not ruined baby, just on hold. He needs time. He just lost his chances of ever finding a true mate, and even for someone who didn’t currently want one, it didn’t mean he didn’t ever want one,” Dorian said rubbing my back. Dorian knew better than anyone how much I valued the relationships I had in my life, whether it was family or friend. “Amber, we’re going to head out first thing in the morning and avoid Heather. Being rejected might be what she needs to grow up, but it doesn’t mean it will happen overnight. I don’t want her coming after Allie,”

“I get it, little brother, we were actually coming up here to suggest that you do that,”

“I suggest leaving before the sun comes up,” Ronnie stated, and that’s just what we did.

The next morning, Dorian and I got up at five in the morning to leave Snell Island’s packhouse. Before we left, I made sure to stop by each of the pups’ rooms and leave them notes. I also made sure to k**s each of them on the cheek or forehead. I also left one of my favorite mystery novels with Cam so he could read it and left a list of personal favorites that I thought he might enjoy.

Amber and Ronnie woke up to send us off and Amber started to cry. She knew that there was now a rift between Desert Moon and Snell Island, though not necessarily rivals. Dorian and I stopped at a small diner in Tampa to get some food-to-go. Grayson and Molly were waiting for us bright and early. The flight would take six hours or so, and normally, I would want s*x, but not this time. I was too tired and too upset. Dorian and I just ended up sleeping on the entire way home.