Desert Nightmare (Book 3 to Desert Series)

Chapter 5

            {Jedediah’s P.O.V.}

            “Fuuckkk meee!!!” I groaned as the wind is knocked out of me from Lucas slamming me into the ground.

            “Better luck next time, Jed,” he says and walks away. “Alright, everyone strip and shift, time for the pack run! That includes you, Jed!”

            “I’m coming,” I wheeze as I try to get air back into my lungs.

            “Come on Jed, you can do it!” Allie says and helps me to my feet. She smacks my chest with the back of her hand and heads off behind a tree. A few seconds later, out comes a polka-dotted charcoal grey wolf that’s smaller than any other wolf in the pack.

            “What..." I question upon seeing her.

            “Oh yeah, did I mention that Allie’s wolf is really small?” Dorian says as he strips out of his shorts and shifts into his wolf Bandit. He picks up his shorts and places them along the wall where everyone is shifting and hopping over.

            Hurry up, Jed! I don’t allow stragglers! he shouts in a mind link.

            “I’m coming,” I groan. I strip out of my shorts and shift into my wolf Gunner.

            Wow! Your wolf’s coloring is really cool! Allie exclaims looking back at me.

            Thanks, Allie, yours too. What’s your wolf’s name?

            Her name is Mercury. Yours?

            His name is Gunner.

            We hop the fence and Mercury goes to the front with Bandit. I watch as all of the ranked members are upfront, except for the Deltas since Andre doesn’t have a wolf. I’m in the very back, and I see another small caramel wolf with white markings is right behind me.

            Jed, it’s me, Sam.

            Why are you in the back?

            I make sure that there are no stragglers. If you slow down, Talia will nip at your heels to make you go faster. This is a pack run, not a pack prance.

            Got it.

            When she said run, I expected a nice sprint, but I was wrong. This was a full-on wolf running at our top speed. Talia nipped at Gunner’s heels more than once because he wasn’t keeping up with the pack. It had been a while since Gunner had to run this fast, and I knew then that we were both out of shape. Ten-mile sprint in human form, the endurance work out, sparring, and then five miles at top speed was a lot, and these guys did it every day.

            When we got back, everyone shifted into their human forms and got dressed. I stayed at the outside of the fence for a few minutes while Gunner caught his breath. I knew the s**t we were doing at Red Mountain was nothing like Desert Moon. It’s no wonder Dorian has one of the strongest packs on this side of the country, even if his pack count is only under 500. He didn’t have a small pack, but it definitely wasn’t large either. The fact that there were also females doing this s**t is what really blew my mind.

            Once Gunner had enough strength back in his legs, he jumped the fence and shifted back. I waddled over to where Dorian and the other ranked members were, and practically collapsed in front of them.

            “Oh man, this poor guy,” Brandon said pointing at me while I lied on my back trying desperately to live.

            “Jed, you’re out of shape, what the f**k happened to you in the last seven years?” Dorian said kneeling down next to me.

            “Red…Mountain…Doesn’t…Train like…This,” I mutter out between breaths. “Gunner…Is out of…Shape…Too,”

            “I like Gunner’s coloring. I don’t think I’ve been a dark blue wolf before,” Allie said.

            “It’s rare...” I respond and finally sit up.

            “Don’t worry Jed, after a week or so doing our training regimen, you and Gunner will be in tip-top shape. I require it if you’re going to be a tracker for my company and a warrior for this pack,” Dorian says. I nod my head and give him an ‘ok’ with my hand.

            “Jed, go home and shower, and then come back for breakfast,” Allie says to me and I nod my head again and stand up. The walk back to my townhouse sucked because it was another ten-minute walk. When I got inside, I stripped out of my shorts, threw them in the laundry room, and then went and took a shower. The hot water felt so good on my aching muscles, and even Gunner was purring.

            I’m sorry Gunner, I’ve been a horrible human companion. I should have let you out more when we were with Red Mountain.

            Do not be sorry my friend, we both got lazy. We were too complacent with our old pack.

            I agree. Coming to Desert Moon to start over is a good thing for both of us.

            Yes, perhaps this change will allow us to find a second chance mate. One that will love us for who we are and not for our rank.

            I nodded my head while standing under the hot water at what Gunner said. As much as I loved Michaela, our bond was now broken, and it was time I concentrated on myself and bettering who I am as an individual, and as a werewolf. I prayed that the moon goddess would bless me with a second chance.

            After my shower, I got dressed in a clean long sleeve shirt, and some black sweats and made my way to the packhouse. I went through the front door and made my way to the main dining room,

            “Good morning,” I say to the table

            “Good morning!” they all shout back. I was surprised to see pups at the table.

            “Whoa, that’s a lot of pups,”

            “Grab a plate and fill it up. Take a seat anywhere and we'll introduce you,” Dorian says. He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I grab a plate and fill it up with sausage, toast, hash browns, eggs, and some gravy. I take a seat next to Andre and start to dig in. An Omega brings me a glass and holds up two different juices.

            “Orange, please,” I say with a smile. She smiles back and fills up my glass. “Thank you so much,”

            “You’re very welcome, enjoy breakfast,” she said sweetly. I look at her neck as she turns away and I see she’s marked too.

            “Jed, you need to stop checking out the females,” Dorian says out loud making everyone snicker and giggle.

            “Way to throw me under the bus man,” I reply and stuff some toast in my mouth.

            “Dude, that was Simba’s mate. If he had caught you checking her out, he’d beat you to a pulp,”

            “I was checking to see if she was marked,”

            “I told you already, the majority of the females around our age are marked already,”

            “I know, I know,” I grumble and swivel orange juice in my mouth. “So, which pup belongs to who?” I ask.

            “Well, this lovely princess is my daughter Daisy, and my son Demarco to Allie’s right. Demarco is the future Alpha,” Dorian says with pride in his voice as he introduces his pups to me.

            “Daisy, Demarco, can you say ‘hi’ to your new Uncle Jed,” Allie says to them. I look over to get a look at their faces.

            “Hi, Ooncle Jid,” Daisy says.

            “Hi, Oncle Jed,” Demarco says a little more clearly. I couldn’t help but ‘aw’ at them.

            “Between Sin and Mikey is their son, Allen. He’s the future Gamma,” Dorian introduces.  “That pipsqueak in the carrier is Meredith, Aries’ and Lacie’s daughter. Aries is away on assignment, so you should meet him in a couple of days, maybe sooner,” I nod my head.

            “Who’s this gorgeous little one?” I ask looking at the girl between Andre and Dani.

            “This is Monique,” Dani answers. I shake Monique’s hand and she giggles.

            “Boojur,” she says to me. I look up in confusion because I couldn’t understand her.

            “She said bonjour,” Dani translates. "Andre and I speak French and English to her, so she can also be bilingual like us,”

            “That’s awesome,” I replied.

            “Believe it or not, Monique is the future Beta female,” Brandon says.

            “Say what?” I look at him.

            “Yup,” he says with one word.

            “This big boy right here is Keegan,” Lucas says and pinches his son’s cheek. “He’s actually Daisy’s mate,”

            “What? Hold up, do all of the pups have mates already?” I ask no one in particular. Everyone nods their heads.

            “Simba’s mate, the one that gave you the juice, her name is Katie, and they have their own set of twins. Their daughter Madison is Allen’s mate, the future Gamma female,” Mikey says to me. I look back at him and furrow my brows.

            “This beauty right here is Danica, the future Luna,” Leah says squeezing her daughter’s cheek.

            “And this handsome devil is Sawyer, future Beta, and mate to Monique,” Brandon says ruffling his son’s head.

            “Also, Simba’s son, Matthew, has a mate, but she’s at a different pack right now,” Allie says.

            “Which pack?” I ask.

            “Mojave Mountain in California,” Leah answers and smiles. “It’s actually my home pack. His mate is the Alpha’s daughter, Arlene,”

            “How does that work?”

            “You see, Katie is a triplet. Her, her sisters, and I all came from that pack,” she answers.

            “That’s some crazy s**t,”

            “LANGUAGE!!!” all of the girls growl at me making me jump out of my seat and Lacie’s pup starts to cry.

            “You guys! Meredith just fell asleep!” Lacie shouted at them. She took her pup out of the carrier and cradled her and calmed her.

            “Jed, we don’t use profanity in front of the pups, they pick up on it really fast,” Dorian says to me sternly.

            “My bad,”

            “Cwazy sheet,” I hear a tiny voice and Allie immediately growls at me while Dorian slaps his hand to his forehead. I realized that it was Daisy that repeated it.

            “Jedediah, you’re sparring with me tomorrow!” she shouts down at me.

            “But there’s no training tomorrow, it’s Saturday,” I defend.

            “I didn’t say anything about training, I said we’re sparring. 7:00 A.M. on the dot!” she commands in her Luna's voice. I hang my head knowing I’m in for another ass-kicking.

            {Michaela’s P.O.V.}

            “The number you have dialed has been disconnected or is no longer in service, please hang up and try your call again,”

            “DAMMIT!” I shout at the top of my lungs. Not even 48 hours after J.D. left our pack, he changed his phone number. I’ve been sitting in my room trying to figure out a way to get J.D. to come back, but without knowing what pack he went to, or his new contact information, that was going to be easier said than done. I tried to ask my father, but he said that J.D. hasn’t even contacted him with this new number, and he refuses to tell me what pack he went to.

            This is your own fault.

            Shut up, Alana!

            Our bond is broken! J.D. and Gunner are no longer our mates.

            I took back my rejection!

            After he already accepted it. It doesn’t work that way, and you know it. You’re driving me insane with trying to get him back. You didn’t want him, and you made him wait for six years. You moved on well before he did.

            I snub Alana to the back of my mind and started to cry. I missed J.D. Even if I did move on and slept around, he was always nearby. He never accepted my rejection, and all of a sudden, six years later, he decides to accept and then leave. Without even a single goodbye to me. I feel as if my heart has been torn into a million pieces, there wasn't enough superglue in the world to put it back together.

           “I was wrong, I made a horrible mistake, I admit it. I love J.D.,” I was going to do whatever it took to get him back. I needed to find him first, and if my father wasn’t going to help me, then I would figure it out on my own. I just prayed to the moon goddess that she didn’t give him a second chance before I had a chance to proclaim my love for him.

            I left my room and went to go find J.D.’s replacement. J.D. was a skilled tracker and I know that he wouldn’t leave that position to just anyone.

            “Good morning young miss,” an Omega said to me.

            “Good morning, have you seen Seth?”

            “Yes, he’s outback training new trackers,” she replied.

            “Thank you,” I go out back and sure enough, I see Seth training a few males that recently became of age.

            “Michaela, what can I do for you this morning?” he asks me as he sees coming up to him.

            “Seth, do you by chance know where J.D. went?”

            “No, I don’t unfortunately. The only person who knows is the Alpha,” he replies.

            “Do you think you can try and locate him for me?”

            “Why?” he asked giving me a side-eye. “You rejected him,”

            “I know I did, and I realized what a horrible mistake that was. I just want to face J.D. and tell him how sorry I am,” goddess I hope Seth is buying this.

            “All I know is that he said he was going to go see an old friend from college, someone he knew was an Alpha in a different state,”

            “Anything else?”

            “No, he didn’t tell me anything else and I’m not going to track him down either,”

            “What? Why?”

            “Michaela, you broke his heart, and then you started to sleep around almost immediately thereafter, without even waiting for him to accept it. Most rejections are reversed within a week, max two, but you waited six f*****g years. I know for a fact that you don’t want him, you’re just mad that he had enough strength to leave, and move on,”

            “No, Seth you don’t understand. I made a mistake, I love him,”

            “Are you serious right now?” he turns at looks me with the meanest glare. “Michaela, who are you trying to lie to? Seriously? You love him, after six f*****g years of making him wait, whoring around, and now that he’s gone, you all of a sudden love him. Please, no one is going to believe that, especially not him,” he turns his heel and walks away from me. I scowl at him and go back inside.

            Even if Seth didn’t believe me, he did give me a clue as to where J.D. went. I know for a fact that he went to school in Las Vegas, but that was his undergrad, and he went to Reno for his Master's. I was going to have to research the packs in the state of Nevada to see which one would be more appealing to J.D., and which one would be open to receiving a new pack member from out of state.

            As I made my way upstairs back to my room, I stopped on the second floor when I saw three Omegas going in and out of J.D.’s old room.

            “Hey, what are you guys doing?” I ask them and run towards them.

            “Good morning, young miss. The Alpha instructed us to clean out Jedediah’s old room, and to either dispose of his belongings or donate them,”

            “WHAT?! Why would he instruct you to do that!?” I all but shout at them. “PUT IT BACK! PUT HIS STUFF BACK!” I start to scream

            “That is enough, Michaela!” I heard my father’s voice echo down the hallway. I turn around with tears in my eyes. “Continue, do not mind her,”

            “Yes, Alpha,”

            “Daddy, how could you?” I ask with tears streaming down my face.

            “Michaela, you rejected him! And he has moved on! He doesn’t plan on coming back to this pack,”

            “But you can make him!”

            “No, I can’t. I’m not his Alpha anymore, and he’s no longer a warrior for this pack,”

            “But if I tell him I love him, then he’ll have to come back! He loves me! I know he does!”

            “Michaela, you have some nerve saying you love him after how horribly you treated him. As I said before, take this as a lesson, and live with your mistake. Had you actually thought about things and not used rank as a reason to reject the most precious gift the moon goddess could give you, Jedediah would be here right now, with you. But it’s too late, and you need to accept that,” I break down in tears. I snag one of his old shirts, and run back to my room, slamming the door behind me.

            If my father wasn’t going to help me get the love of my life back, then I was going to find him and bring him back myself.