Page 91 of Ruthless Alpha Beast
As we head deeper into the forest, the water nymph witch decides she wants to walk up front next to Jasper, chatting his ear off the whole way.
I pretend not to notice.
But rather than keeping alert for signs, I’m counting the number of times she finds an excuse to touch him.
Are that many arm touches necessary?
Again, nothing I can say. I grin and bear it.
But once we’re finished, I feel my frustration spiraling.
The hunt produced nothing but some feather-adjacent-looking things that we destroyed with too much ease.
None of them was Willow, and Jasper has been too preoccupied by the many questions of that witch to check in for a while.
Once we split off from the group, he asks me if I’m okay.
“I’m fine,” I mutter, my arms crossed. “Just annoyed that we couldn’t find anything of use.”
I mean,nothing.
No clues, no shadow monsters, no weird remnants of the curse.
Just that witch who clearly has a crush on a married Alpha.
“Don’t worry about that,” he says. “That’s how the hunt goes. You have to keep trying and trying until something comes up.”
“Oh, I think something definitely came up.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” I mutter. “Let’s just get home.”
Chapter 18 - Jasper
I’ve never seen anyone aside from Alphas care this much about the well-being of the packs.
I could tell how disappointed Tara was after the hunt produced nothing.
Since then, she’s been researching tirelessly to find a solution.
I haven’t even heard of half the books she’s been reading—I don’t even know how she finds this stuff. But I appreciate it. And at the same time, I’m worried for her. She’s working too much.
It’s funny, people usually say that to me—and of course I ignore them. Now I understand what it’s like watching someone exert themselves too much.
It’s midnight and she’s sitting by our kitchen table, buried in a book.
Her pretty hazel eyes scan the pages tirelessly; she doesn’t even notice me walking in.
The thing is, I did try to sleep. But I’m too attuned to her energy, I hear her every movement like she’s right beside me at all times.
“Tara—” I begin.
She jumps, realizes it’s me, and then breaks out into a smile.
“Oh my God, Jasper. You scared me.”
“I’m sorry,” I laugh. “I tried to scare you as little as possible.”
