Chapter 28: The Fire

Harper’s POV



I slept in Amaris’s room last night. I couldn’t face Asher after our argument. My feelings for him are confusing and hearing him confess that he likes me has turned my brain into scrambled eggs.

I’m not sure what to do, or how to act around him now. I need to understand what I’m feeling before we can have a proper conversation about what’s going to happen moving forward.

Amaris and I spent the afternoon lying in her bed watching romantic comedy movies and eating a lot of junk food. When I knocked on her door last night in tears, she didn’t ask any questions, but instead tucked me into her bed and put on my favorite movie.

I could tell she wanted to ask a million and one questions, but she knows I’m the one who has to open up first, otherwise I will shut down. I’m unable to tell her the full story anyway because she believes our marriage is real. If I tell her it’s fake, I’ll risk the rest of the pack finding out and discovering I’m a fraud.

“Did you and Asher have a fight last night” Amaris asks.

I shrug, “I guess so.”

“About what?” She probes, turning the volume on the television down.

I sigh, pulling the covers up to my chin, “It’s complicated, and I’m not ready to talk about it.”

She nods, “I can respect that, but make sure you two have a conversation about what happened, otherwise it’ll slowly brew into an explosion.”

She has a point. If I don’t talk to him about how I’m feeling, then I might start to resent him, which will be obvious to the pack. I need this fake marriage to work so I can get my title.

Maybe that’s the problem. I’m so distracted by Asher that I’ve let it get in the way of why I’m truly here. To become Alpha. I need to push my feelings for him aside until we both get what we want out of this agreement, otherwise things will get messy.

“You have a point,” I mumble, “I’ll go find him when the movie is finished.”

Amaris smiles and turns the volume back up. We sit in silence as we watch the couple on screen have a picnic date in the park.

I’m unable to stop myself from smiling when I’m reminded of the moonlight picnic with Asher.


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After dinner, I head back to the room I share with Asher. I’m hoping he’s there so we can talk about what happened last night.

When I open door, Asher is sitting at the desk shirtless with his reading glasses. I have to physically restrain myself from looking him up and down.

He turns to look at me, a pen between his teeth, “Hey.”

I close the door behind me, “Hey.”

Asher puts the pen on the table and shifts in the seat to fully face me, “How are you?”

“I’ve been better,” I take a seat on the edge of the bed.

Asher stands from the chair and moves to sit next to me, “Look, Harper, I’m sorry about last night.”

I sigh, “You don’t have to apologize. Thinking back, it makes sense you would’ve written the letter during a confusing time.”

Asher runs his hands through his messy locks, “My head was all over the place.”

“I understand that,” I say.

The room falls silent, neither of us knowing what to say now. I want to know what he’s thinking, but sometimes he’s so hard to read.

Asher puts his hand on my thigh, “Listen, have you thought about what I said last night.”
It takes me a moment to realize what he’s talking about.

I sigh, “I don’t want to complicate things, Asher,” I say, trying to ignore the heat radiating from his touch on my skin, “We need to get through this fake marriage, and take back what is ours above anything else.”

Asher nods his head slowly, giving my thigh a gentle squeeze before taking it away, “No, you’re right. I lost sight of what we’re really doing here.”

“This isn’t a no,” I say, trying to offer up a smile, “Now just isn’t the right time.”

He looks down at his lap, “I can wait.” I can tell he's a little disappointed.

Hearing him say that makes me smile, “Let’s continue the way we were.”

Asher rubs his thighs and stands up, “Of course, my wife.”

That makes me laugh, “You’re the best, my husband.”

We get into bed, both of us grabbing the novels we’re currently reading. Asher gets comfortable and puts on his reading glasses.

“You look cute in those,” I blurt out as I’m getting into bed.

Asher tries to stifle a smile, “Thank you.”

We spend the next hour or so reading in silence; the only sound audible is the both of us flipping pages. This is what I’m used to, us reading in bed together with the lamps on, and the moon shining through the window.

I feel myself getting tired, so I put the book down and close my eyes.


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The smell of smoke engulfs my nostrils, forcing me awake. I feel Asher’s arms wrapped tightly around my waist. I push him off as I sit up, coughing up the smoke filling my lungs.

My eyes are stinging as I look around the room. The tree outside the bedroom window appears to be on fire, and somehow the window was left open, so the sparks have lit the curtains on fire.

Asher is still asleep beside me. I shove frantically at his shoulder until he opens his eyes.

“The room is on fire!” I yell, jumping out of bed.

“Shit!” He shouts, shoving the quilt off him.

Asher is wide awake now, most likely from the smoke hitting his lungs, too. He’s running around the bed, hiding his nose in the crease of his elbow the best he can. He grabs me by the wrist and drags me out of the bedroom.

The compound is in chaos. Everyone must’ve smelt the smoke and left their rooms to check it out. Members are standing in the hallways looking around in confusion. Asher stops in his tracks.

“There is a fire in the bedroom. Please evacuate the compound, now!” He cups his hands around his mouth, so his words reach everyone in sight.

We follow the crowd out the door to the back yard, as it has the most space for everyone in the compound. From here you can see which tree is on fire. We stare in horror at the scene before us.

The large tree is engulfed in flames from top to bottom. Small fireballs fall from the top to the grass below, but thankfully it diffuses before another fire can start. Members of the pack rush to the tree with buckets of water, trying to put it out.

I think it’s going to take a lot more water than that.

“What the f*ck is going on,” Asher says to me.

I shake my head in disbelief, “This can’t be an accident or a coincidence. Things like this have been happening too often since I’ve arrived.”

Asher runs his hands through his hair, “If it wasn’t clear before, it is now. Someone is after our lives, Harper.” He falls to his knees, watching his childhood bedroom burn, “We’re not safe anymore.”