Chapter 29: The Coincidences

Harper’s POV



I’ve barely slept in the past twenty-four hours. My body is exhausted, aching in pain when I move and I’m struggling to not fall asleep when I’m standing up. I don’t think I’ve been this tired in my life, it’s awful.

Asher and I have been sitting at the dining room table for hours now, mostly in silence. Members of the pack managed to extinguish the flames on the tree and in our bedroom. They said nothing was badly burnt, aside from the area surrounding the window.

I’m still shaken up by what happened. I can’t wrap my head around how things like this are constantly happening to me, and now Asher. I’m trying to make sense of everything but it’s almost impossible. These events are more than just coincidences.

“Are you okay?” Asher says into the silent morning, taking my hand into his.

I shrug, “Every week I almost die,” I joke, “So, how do you think I’m doing?”

He places a gentle kiss on my knuckles, “I’m so sorry this keeps happening to you.”

“It’s not your fault,” I shake my head, “You’ve done everything you can to make me feel welcomed here, but it’s clear there is someone in the pack who wants me gone.”

Asher hangs his head low, “I thought I knew my pack so well,” he lifts his head, a single tear runs down his cheek, “It seems I don’t know them well enough.”

I lean over to wipe the moisture away with my thumb, “Look, it’s clear this has to be the doing of your uncles,” I rub my thigh with my free hand, “And lately, I’ve been getting a strange feeling that maybe my brothers have had a hand in what’s happening here.”

Asher snaps his head towards me, “Your brothers?”

“Well, yeah,” I shrug, “They want the same thing as your uncles; to be the leader.”

He nods his head slowly, “I can see how that would make sense.”

“When you think about it, Artemis and Julius want complete power over our packs,” I say, shifting in my seat, “So, the only way to gain control of that power is by eliminating us completely.”

“Hence all the strange near-death experiences that have been occurring,” I can see the gears turning behind Asher’s eyes.

“Exactly,” I say, “We need to start investigating what other members of the pack know. Maybe they’ve seen something, or someone, out of the ordinary around the compound and haven’t said anything.”

“That’s a good idea,” Asher agrees, “Surely someone has to know something.”

I remember my conversation with Amaris from a few weeks ago about how there are members of the pack who aren’t fully on Asher’s side.

“Amaris gave me insider information,” I say, watching Asher’s ears perk up, “She said that Julius has a small following of the pack who believe he should be Alpha instead of you.”

Asher lets go of my hand, balls it into a fist and slams it on the table, “That b*stard. How dare he manipulate my pack and turn them against me.”

“We need to do something about this,” I say, looking outside to see the sun rising in the distance, “He can’t keep getting away with almost having us killed.”

Asher sits in silence for a moment, looking at his hands underneath the table. I wonder what he’s thinking about. I know he’ll devise the perfect plan to figure out what his uncles are plotting against us.

“Harper,” He breathes, lifting his head to look at me, “There is something I need to tell you that I haven’t told another soul.”

I frown. The tone of his voice has changed from being angry to sounding nervous. He wants to tell me a secret that no-one else knows about. I can feel my heart beginning to pound a little harder.

“What’s wrong, Asher?” I ask, leaning over to grab his hand.

He takes a deep breath, releasing it slowly, “I had a dream the other night, that I now think was a suppressed memory from when I was ten years old.”

I give his hand a little squeeze to let him know I’m here and listening.

“The night before my Father passed away, I saw Julius in the kitchen stirring an unknown powder into a glass of wine,” Asher squeezes my hands back, “He told me he had put lemon flavoring in Father’s water because it was healthy.”

Listening to this story has made me horrified. I feel like I can tell where this is heading, and I all I can picture is ten-year-old Asher thinking what he saw was innocent when it was anything but.

“Asher…” I breathe, leaning my head on his shoulder.

“I think Julius poisoned my Father,” His voice sounds shaky, “And I think he tried to do the same thing to me, but you were caught in the crossfire.”

“I don’t know your uncle that well,” I say, “But, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was all true. It makes sense, it really does.”

Asher sighs, “There’s just no other way to explain all of this away. Julius killed my Father, I know he did,” He turns to look at me, “And now he’s trying to kill us.”

At that moment, Amaris walks into the kitchen. She looks just as tired as we do. I compose myself after hearing what Asher had to say about Julius. I won’t be turning my back to him if we’re ever in the same room together.

“What are you two doing in here?” She asks, grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge.

“Half our room is burnt so we can’t sleep in there,” I sigh, the lack of sleep hitting me hard.

“I have an idea,” She smiles, “You two can take my room while yours is getting fixed up.”

Asher frowns, “Where will you sleep, though? We don’t want to put you out.”

She waves us off with her hand, “Please, you’re the Alpha and Luna, I would give my life for you two,” She tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear, “Besides, I can just stay with Jack in his room.”

Asher and I give each other a ‘things are heating up between them two’ look. Amaris is blushing like crazy, so I’ll put her out of her misery.

“We accept,” I smile, “Thank you so much.”

“Anytime,” She gives us a big smile before heading to Jack’s room, I’m assuming.

In silence, Asher and I trudge towards Amaris’s room. My body is screaming at me to get under the covers and sleep for twenty-four hours straight. The past couple of weeks have been so mentally draining, I’m not sure I can take much more.

Once inside the room, I kick off my shoes and head straight for the bed. Her sheets are so soft, it feels like I’m floating. I let out a sigh of relief when my head hits the pillows.

I feel Asher get in beside me, reaching out for my body. I scoot backwards to him, our bodies pressing up against each other. The warmth of his bare skin against me is enough to force my eyes to close and let myself drift away.

“Goodnight, my love,” Asher whispers into my hair.