Page 124 of Ruthless Alpha Beast

I give her shoulder another squeeze. “Don’t let that get to your head.”

“Oh, it’s already there,” she teases, lifting her chin. “I basically saved the world tonight.”

“Well, we should celebrate!” Danielle exclaims.

“We’ll have a party once we’re back,” I declare. “I’ll message our pack mates to get some food and bonfires going.”

“What even is the time?” Tara laughs.

“Soon, you’ll learn thatthatdoesn’t matter,” Dylan says.

***

The bonfire reflects its light off the faces of so many people that I love. The stars are blinking above us, and finally, my exhaustion is catching up with me.

Although I don’t fully let it.

I neck back a cup of ale, and watch as my pack—witches andhumansincluded—dance, drink, eat, and talk.

As soon as we came back, everything was already set up.

Tables filled with food, blankets, fires, and healers at the ready to tend to anyone who needed it. Even the musicians are out, playing soft lyrical tunes that echo through the night’s air.

The scene is perfect, all an Alpha could ask for.

Tara comes up to me, her face plastered with a wide smile, carrying a big plate of food.

“Aww, is that for me?”

“Yes, Alpha,” she says giddily.

She sets it down on my lap as she takes the seat beside me.

There’s a strange, euphoric, but intense feeling in my chest. Man, I want her.

I look down at the plate, piled high with roasted meats, bread still steaming from the fire, and fruit glistening like jewels. My stomach growls.

“You’re spoiling me,” I murmur.

“You deserve it,” she shrugs.

“You know,” she continues. “This all feels like a dream. I just can’t believe it, I can’t believe any of it. Part of me still thinks I’m going to wake up alone in my human town bed.”

I nod, realizing how desperately I don’t want her to be alone, especially not in her human town, in her human bed.

“I think you were meant to be here,” I say.

The firelight paints her face a warm gold, her eyes bright, and for a moment, the noise of the crowd fades into nothing.

She looks at me, and it feels like the most intimate thing in the world.

“You think so?”

I was actually talking about this with a couple of shifters and witches. All this was definitely no coincidence.

Tara was the one chosen to receive the vision; she was the one chosen to be joined into the pack, and well, she was chosen that night at the bar by me, of course.

All this led to her being the one to ultimately defeat Willow.