Page 26 of Ruthless Alpha Beast

Chapter 7 - Tara

I hate this feeling.

The one when you wake up, but you were already sort of awake. I haven’t had a crappy night's sleep like this in a long, long time.

It’s not like Jasper’s bedroom was uncomfortable either; in fact, the opposite. His bed isluxurious, with silk sheets, puffy pillows, and a mattress that feels like one big marshmallow.

I even closed his blinds so that I wouldn’t wake up with the light, but still, no sleep.

Usually, when I can’t sleep in my own cabin, I’ll head downstairs into the kitchen and boil some tea. Maybe I’ll step outside by the back door and gaze up at the twinkling night sky. Usually, that helps.

But in Jasper’s cabin, I don’t want to move. I don’t dare go downstairs, in case I don’t know—I just don’t want to wake him up.

But now, it's been a while. I feel like I’ve been in this bed, not properly resting, for an eternity, and it’s finally time to get up and get on with my day.

The thought of engaging with his pack scares me like crazy. But I can’t take one more second of being alone in this room.

I’ll go crazier than I already feel. Once I’m dressed and looking as decent as possible on so little sleep, I brave downstairs.

My footsteps creak as I slowly make my way to the staircase. With any luck, he’s asleep, and I can just slide by unnoticed.

With any luck—

I’m suddenly thrown forward, I’m falling, inches away from plummeting headfirst.

Then, I steady myself with the banister on my left.

My heart’s pumping faster than it should. I look down at the chipped wood beneath my feet and curse beneath my breath.

He did warn you.

I shake my head as I regain my footing.

If he knew, he’d besosmug.

After I’m stable, with both human feet planted on the ground, I continue my descent into the danger zone.

This is crazy.

I still can’t believe that I’m living in the house of the one person I’ve been so hell-bent on avoiding. When I told the girls, they thought it was a joke.

Then they recalled when he interrupted our lunch.

‘So that’s why you were acting so suspicious after speaking to him, I knew something was up.’

‘You could tell by the way he was looking at you.’

I don’t know what that means. I’ve seen more emotion coming from a brick wall.

And I don’t count his teasing smiles or his smirks, because I know that those are psychopathic.

For some reason, he lives to taunt me.

But here we go, this is my life now. I just have to suck it up and get through it.

Once I’m downstairs, I’m painfully aware of the fact that I need to pass the couch to get to the door.

I hold my breath, plan on avoiding the thing entirely, but unfortunately, I realize that it’s bam-smack in the middle of my sight line.