Page 64 of His Arranged Plus-Size Mate

“What we mean is that this is our last chance to stop everything.” He looked at me with a solemn expression. “This is the last chance to save the pack, Hazel. If you can’t put this before everything else…”

“I can,” I said, stopping him mid-sentence. “This will be my life.”

“I’ll help her,” Asher added. “We will figure this out.”

We walked out ten minutes later, and I glanced at Asher. I stopped walking, and he paused just a few steps ahead of me. I chewed on my lower lip. “I’m sorry.”

He turned to me. “For what?”

I expected him to start yelling. Asking why the hell I would run off. But he looked calm.

“For all of this. For running off.”

He sighed, rubbing at his eyes. “I’m not happy about it, but I get it, Hazel. The pressure can be too much sometimes.”

He walked closer to me. “Let’s just go home. You need sleep. And tomorrow morning, we can start tackling this.”

We went home, and I went upstairs to my room. I crawled under the sheets and stared at the gem on my nightstand. I wastrying to sleep, but my mind was focused on what it all was. Just how important was this to them?

I slept in the darkness. I didn’t even know how long I was out, but I woke up to Asher knocking at my door. He stepped inside as I peeled my eyes open.

“Hey.” He leaned against the door frame. “You okay?”

I nodded as I sat up and rubbed at my eyes. His eyes went to the gem, and I watched his jaw clench together a little.

“I was just checking to see if you were hungry. I was going to order something.”

“Yeah, that would be great.” I looked over at the gem and knew that I needed to get up.

“Do you care what I get for food? Any request?”

I shook my head. “No, I’ll eat anything.”

Asher left to grab food, and I took the gem and every single magic book I had downstairs into the living room. I had everything spread out and started flipping through them. I wrote down notes in a notebook and felt like I was in a seat of never-ending knowledge.

I heard the door open, and Asher came home. He had a bag in his hands and paused when he spotted me.

“Wow.” His eyes went through all of the books and the mess that I had created.

“Sorry, I just need the space to spread everything out.” I had post-its on some books, and tossed aside others that didn’t have any information I needed. I had it laid out so I could see everything. Some were open on pages, others had little notes sticking out.

“How’s it going?”

I groaned as he walked further in, stepping over a pile of books. He sat down next to me, opening the bag. I could smell greasy food, and my stomach growled. “It’s a lot of information. I forgot how much there was.”

He handed me a burger and leaned back against the couch. He unwrapped his and took a bite. “Seems like a lot. But if anyone can find what we need, it’s you.”

I unwrapped my burger and leaned back against the couch next to him. I took a bite, feeling the flavor explode in my mouth. I chewed as I stared at it all.

“So, have you found anything?”

I shook my head. “Not really. I’ve been looking through everything, trying to figure out what’s in each book. I’ve found the ability to put a spell on an object, but nothing to this extent.”

“If anyone can figure it out, it’s going to be you.”

I tilted my head as I stared at him. “Why are you so confident that I will? Aren’t you afraid that I’m going to fail? That I’m going to go in circles and never find the answer?”

“Because you have overcome a lot of things. You and your sister moved here and had to start your lives over. You started learning magic with the healers because you wanted to know more. You have that will to find out more, and I know you will.”