Page 55 of Ruthless Alpha Beast

“That’s so negative,” Tara scoffed.

“It’s realistic.”

“You think that’s just a human problem? Look at you with the witches. Look at the lengths you’ve gone to in order to avoid them.”

“They’ve put a curse on our land!”

Tara rolled her eyes before slamming down her book and getting up.

“And you treated me like I was nothing, but here I am making peace with you.”

Before I could respond, she was gone, her door upstairs slammed firmly shut.

I remained deep in thought after that, zoned out on the couch long into the night.

***

I feel good today.

Not as frustrated as I’ve been over the past few weeks, and finally, it’s as though my head is as clear as the cloudless sky.

The sun beats down on me as I carry out my errands for the day with ease. Meeting at one, meeting at three, training practice until six.

Perfect.

There have been no sightings of shadow monsters, and my allies report significant improvements in the land that has received our solution.

Things aren’t exactly the best they’ve ever been, but they’re not the worst either.

Then there’s Tara.

All this time apart has given me a clearer head about her, too.

Yes, she drives me crazy in more ways than one, but I’ve also come to understand that she is a good person. Maybe I already knew that before, but I feel it now.

Down to her core, Tara is caring and sweet. She genuinely wants to help—she’s been researching all about this witchy stuff for weeks now.

At first, I thought she might give it up (if I weren’t Alpha, Lord knows I would have).

But she hasn’t.

And I respect her for that.

Can’t I put on a brave face and be in her proximity without wanting to rip her clothes off, or my own head off, for at least a few minutes?

It could be just a few minutes each day, and then, depending on how I react, I might increase that until I see her as a fellow pack member.

Just a good friend, perhaps.

I’d like to be her friend. I’d say we already are.

After I’m done with training, I head straight back to my cabin.

I know that Tara will be there, and it’s the perfect time to test out this new friendship.

Just before I go in, I check my smell with two quick whiffs of my armpits.

Not great. Not awful.