Page 59 of His Arranged Plus-Size Mate

I tried to stay focused, knowing that when you get into your head, you don’t notice what’s happening around you. But my mind wandered back to Asher.

I could imagine how it all happened. He would wake up and find the bed empty. He would search through the house and find it quiet. He’d be hurt at first and then angry. He’d search for me, but he wouldn’t find me. I was making sure of that.

He will be angry for a while. Question why I did it, why I didn’t tell him. He’d be heartbroken and unable to trust people.

Time would pass, and he would move on. He’ll find a new woman, someone who will laugh at his jokes and travel the world with him. She will be patient and stand by his side. His parents will adore her because she’s worthy of him. They will share the same taste in music and find out they are pregnant.

He will have the wedding he deserves. He will cry when she walks down the aisle, and his heart will heal. He will have a big family, filled with laughter and love. A beautiful wife who will understand his past. He will have children who will look like a blend of him and her.

My heart ached at the thought, but I quickly shook my head. He deserved to move on and find someone. It would be selfish of me to hope he suffered.

I came over a clearing and stared into the trees. It seemed like it never ended. I didn’t even know where I was going or how far I had gotten. I was just going to keep walking, moving forward until I felt I got far enough.

I didn’t know what my future looked like. I just knew that I was starting over again. I’d have to find a new place to live and a new job. I wouldn’t have Gabriella to lean on. I’d miss her.

I froze when I heard a snapping to the left of me. I turned as I watched a figure come out from the darkness. I knew that it wasn’t Asher. I would have heard him sooner.

The person moved closer, and my heart stopped beating as I knew the face. It was the same face from my nightmares. His pure white hair and his height. His fangs popped out from his lips, and I felt a coldness settle over the space.

“Well, look who it is.” His eyes trailed over me, like he wasn’t sure if I was real or not.

I swallowed, taking a step back. I felt my heart racing. I had nowhere I could run, which meant I would have to fight.

He took a step closer, and I took two back. He smirked. “You can’t disappear like all the other times.”

So, he had seen me. Shit.

He lunged, and I turned and ran for it. I could hear him following me, and I felt my magic simmering just beneath my fingertips. I could feel the heat of it and turned, throwing it back toward him. I watched him skid to a stop, the flash of light slamming past him. I missed.

He kept coming, moving faster, and I threw another at him. I fumbled, falling to the ground. He lunged at me, his hands grabbing at my shoulders, shoving me hard into the ground. I pulled my hands up, feeling the tingling once more. My hands shook as the magic built up. I stared at him, watching as it spewed out of my hands, right into him. I watched as his face shifted from anger into fear. The magic grabbed hold of him, and he yelled out in pain. I forced the magic forward.

Chapter 21 - Asher

I jerked awake and blinked at the darkness. I felt a coldness settling over me, and it stirred my stomach. I tugged to pull Hazel closer, but that space was empty. I turned my head, finding the sheets thrown up and her space cold. It wasn’t even warm like she had slipped away just a moment ago.

I sat up and quickly scanned my room. “Hazel?”

Silence.

I threw the sheets off of me and headed toward the hallway. The house was quiet, with no lights on. I slipped up the stairs and headed toward her room. Had she decided to sleep in her room after all? I felt that something wasn’t right when we went to bed. But I figured it was just being uneasy after the fight.

I knocked on her door. “Hazel? Are you awake?”

There was no response, so I slowly pushed the door open. I poked my head inside and found the room empty. I pushed the door further open and flicked the light on. My eyes went over the space. Her bed was made, and her phone charger was still sitting next to it. I looked into her closet and found the door was thrown open. But there were clothes on the floor and a bit of a mess as she’d just been going through them. I walked over and scanned the closet a little closer.

She had a bag that was no longer sitting in the corner. Her big winter boots were sitting next to it.

I turned and looked around her room. She had money sitting on her dresser, along with her magic books. But the photos of her and her sister on her nightstand were gone.

My stomach sank.

She was gone. She grabbed what was most important and left.

I rounded back, running down the stairs now. I threw my jacket on, feeling my stomach plummet now. She wasn’t being quiet last night because she was uneasy. She was being silent because she was planning.

I froze when I spotted a note sitting on the counter. I walked over and pulled it up.

Dear Asher,