Chapter 39: The Marking

Harper’s POV



Asher comes storming into the bedroom, slamming the door shut with such force it echoes throughout the room. He’s running his hands through his hair, a sign that he is stressed and angry. He paces the room, not saying a single word to me.

I move from my spot at the desk to sit on the edge of the bed. I don’t say anything to him either; I’ll wait until he’s ready to talk. Judging by the way he’s acting, I’m unable to tell if the conversation with Julius went well or not. I know he went to find him to talk about what’s been happening, but I don’t know exactly what they talked about.

“I can’t f*cking believe him,” Asher huffs, stopping to stare at me, “He had the audacity to say he won’t cross me again, when I know he’s lying.”

“Did you call him out on his lies?” I quiz, hoping my question doesn’t set him off further.

He shakes his head, “I know he’ll plan something else anyway so why bother wasting even more of my breath on him.”

I shrug, “I agree. We can ignore him and hope things get better around here.”

I stand to my feet, walking toward Asher. When I reach him, I wrap my arms around his waist and lie my head on his chest. I can feel the tension between the barrier of his clothing. I rub his back, hoping that’ll ease his anger.

Asher wraps his arms tight around me, somehow pulling me closer to his chest. He leans down, resting his chin on top of my head.

He sighs, “You always know what to say or do to make me feel better.”

I smile into his shirt, “I just know you so well.”

We stand in silence for a moment, embracing each other. Having this intimacy with Asher is something I never expected when going into the fake marriage. I thought from the moment he agreed to it that he would never find me attractive, and only saw me as his fake wife.

Along the way, something changed. It was as if there was a turning point where I began to look at Asher differently. I noticed I would watch Asher sleep just to stare at the way his eyelashes sit on his cheeks or the soft snores he releases when he lies on his back. Something about him entranced me when I least expected it.

Having him hold me like this makes me feel so protected and safe, like nothing could hurt me. We’ve been through a lot since our marriage, but I feel like now we can fight through anything together. We’re a power couple.

Asher pulls away, pushing against my shoulder so he can see me better. He’s smiling at me, a complete three-sixty from how he was moments ago. He genuinely looks happy and content, all the anger he felt washing away just from that one hug.

“You love me, right?” He asks, searching my face.

I nod my head, “Of course I do.”

“I want you to mark me.”

I stare at him for a moment, shocked by his words. He wants me to what?

“Why?” I ask, confused.

He drops his arms to hold both of my hands, “I think now is the perfect time. We’re not living in a fake world anymore. I want this.”

“I- Asher,” I have no idea what to say to that.

Asher frowns, he clearly wasn’t expecting this type of response from me.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, guiding me to sit on the edge of the bed.

I look at our interlocked hands, trying to process what he asked. Marking someone is a big step in the relationship. We haven’t fully established what our relationship is at this point. Beginning in a fake marriage has complicated things more than I had thought.

“I just…” I’m finding it hard to find the right words in this moment, “I want us to mark each other, I really do.”

Asher frowns, “Then what’s the problem? I thought things were going smoothly for us.”

I look into his eyes, “Things are going great between us. I just don’t want to complicate things further.”

“Nothing will change if we mark each other, aside from the fact the marriage will become official.”

That scares me. I was happy to get married knowing it would end in a year, but now it could become set in stone. I want to be officially married to Asher, but everything is moving too fast for me to ground myself in what’s happening.

“Everything will change, Asher.”

I sigh, needing to get my thoughts together. This is a lot to take on board right now. I can understand why Asher is confused by my reaction, because to him marking each other is taking the next step in our relationship. For me, it sets in stone that I will forever be a Luna to his pack, making my end goal of being Alpha a more difficult task to achieve.

“Can I take some time to think about it?” I ask, hoping I don’t upset him.

Asher searches my face, looking at every feature. He’s probably trying to get inside my head and decipher what I’m thinking about. I wouldn’t blame him if he got pissed off with me, but at the end of the day we both have to consent to marking each other.

He lifts his hand to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear, his finger traces my jawline.

“Of course, take as much time as you need to think about it. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable in any way,” He smiles, poking the tip of my nose, “Just let me know when you’re ready and we can go from there.”

I smile, “You’re too good to me. You know that, right?”

He laughs, pulling me in for a hug, “I know I’m the best boyfriend ever.”

I stiffen in his arms, “Boyfriend?”

I can feel Asher’s heart pumping through his shirt when he realizes what he said.

“I- um,” he stammers, not knowing what to say now.

I laugh at his cuteness. I pull away from the hug to see a look of shock on his face.

“My boyfriend, hey?” I pinch his cheek, “I think it has a nice ring to it.”