Chapter 32

Sienna’s POV

Everything hurt.

Most of all, knowing that Asher had so willingly walked off with Mia, obviously so ridiculously happy to do so.

I knew Mia had recognized him — there was no doubt about that. She’d instantly perked up at the sight of him, and it wasn’t just because he was so good looking.

It was absolutely in familiarity.

Tears welled behind my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them out. I refused to let this get to me any more than it already was.

It’s all fake anyway, I repeated to myself over and over. Whatever these emotions were for Asher, it wasn’t something I cared to pursue anymore.

Right?

My hesitation to answer that made it obvious that I was still clinging onto hope for something more.

I felt like I was about to shatter into a thousand pieces, but the sad truth was, I had no one to go to with it. There was just me myself and I, the only one truly capable of keeping all of this together and stable.

So that’s exactly what I would do.

The contract I just signed was sitting on the table, and I swooped it up, heading for my parent’s office.

This partnership with Robin was going to do exceptional things for Nightwind — I knew that. But Mia felt like a dagger in all of this, ready to split it apart with the snap of her overly manicured fingers.

It felt personal with her, like she was here solely to ruin me.

I stepped into my parent’s office, quickly soothed by their lingering scents. This place was my comfort zone now, somewhere I was allowed to openly feel all the things I needed to.

A shelf in the far corner by the window was where my parents had kept all their contracts, a long list of every partnership, present or past.

Not one thing in these files had given me any hint to the traitors the King was so sure were here. Was I being sent on a wild goose chase?

No, they’re just that hidden. They’re smart.

I tucked Robin’s contract into its place on the shelf of contracts, peering out the frosted window, the shapes of the world all blending together in a blurred haze.

My wolf was still so hauntingly quiet. It ached in me daily, the lack of its presence. I’d gotten lucky that Julian hadn’t exposed it, and frankly, probably wouldn’t be able to.

With all of the strain on his Alpha position, he probably wasn’t thinking about the lack of my wolf.

But he still knew. He could use it against me again, that was for sure.

Not only that, but surely, Mia would hear wind of it — after all, what happened at the Alpha Ball was known throughout all the packs.

If Mia questioned me on it, she’d see right through me. She was sharp, never missing a beat.

And that was terrifying.

I sighed, pressing my forehead to the cool glass of the window, relishing the chill it gave me.

A pounding on the door startled me, my muscles tensing, fearing it might be Julian.

“Sienna?” Beta Simon’s shrill voice echoed to me. He sounded…scared.

I rushed out of my parent’s office and down the hall, yanking open the front door.

“Simon? What is it?”

His eyes were wide with fear, and that’s when I smelled it.

Smoke.

Plumes of it swirled up into the sky near the main square, and my breath caught in my throat.

“Is that a fire?” My eyes widened, meeting Simon’s panicked expression.

“Multiple. Merchants shops caught ablaze a few minutes ago.”

I stepped out the door, locking it behind me. “How?”

“The origin is unknown,” Simon sighed, sweat beading his temples. “But they’re spreading fast.”

There hadn’t been a fire in Nightwind in years — this timing, all of it was so uncanny. With everything going on with Julian, plus Mia’s arrival, I couldn’t help but be suspicious.

“Have we been tracking visitors coming through?” I asked nervously, my eyes trained on the smoke filling the sky just a handful of steps ahead.

The air was saturated with it, the tiniest particles already irritating my throat.

“Always,” Simon responded, wiping his forehead. “We never slack on that.”

“And visitors today?”

“No one we’d ever suspect of arson.” Simon sounded sad, almost like he was blaming himself for this.

“It’s not your fault,” I said gently, my attention quickly being taken by the sight in front of me as we approached the main square.

It was madness.

Fire licked the towns main shop, which was practically dust now, eaten by the flames in a matter of minutes.

Townspeople scattered around, throwing buckets of water uselessly onto the fire, guards armed with hoses that still did next to nothing to slow it.

“Oh my god,” I choked out, the ash stinging my eyes, The entire square was covered in a cloud of haze, debris showering down around us.

This was a nightmare. The fire was quickly growing out of control, the cries of the shop owners and surrounding people filling the air alongside the smoke.

Panic was rising in me, and I had no idea how to help. The water hoses were barely slowing down the flames, at least three or four shops in the circle completely demolished.

Nightwind didn’t have a huge system of public safety — for one, we’d never really needed to worry about it. It’d always been a safe and secure pack, but that was when my parents ran it.

Now, maybe people thought it was an easy target.

Attack the young girl who just lost her parents, make her look bad, strip her of her pack.

It all felt extremely personal.

“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered, my throat burning from the ash that I was forced to inhale.

My parents would kick into action. They would find a way to stop this, be the leaders that everyone needed.

Now it was just me.

The flames grew higher and higher, the smoke thickening around me. I couldn’t even see Simon next to me anymore, unsure if he was even still there.

Out of nowhere, strong hands gripped me from behind, a cloth moving over my mouth.

“Hey!” I screamed, my words muffled by the cloth that was quickly gagging me. My danger alarm was going off, knowing that whoever had their hands on me was not doing it to help me.

The cloth stopped any more smoke from filling my lungs, though I could hardly breathe at all, forced to take shallow breaths in from my nose.

The hands on me wrapped around my upper arms, dragging me backwards as I flailed, unable to cry out for help, likely invisible in the heavy smoke.

What if this was on purpose? I thought in a panic. Start a fire, then take me.

There was only one person who could be guilty of this. There was no doubt in my mind that Julian was the mastermind behind the fire.

And now he planned on kidnapping me, or even worse.

My muscles screamed in agony as the mystery captors dragged me out of the square, the smoke beginning to lighten. My head was spinning, my vision blurred, body weak.

I couldn’t fight back anymore.

And so they took me.