Page 69 of Ruthless Alpha Beast

A crown made of feathers blowing in the wind. I can’t believe it.

Is Tara a witch?

She notices the drop in my face.

“What is it?”

“I mean, Tara”, I can’t hold back, as much as I want to, this is too damn suspicious. “Are you a witch?”

She scoffs. “If I were a witch, don’t you think I’d know?”

“I’m not saying thatyouwouldn’t know.”

She crosses her arms, a fire burning in her eyes. “Oh, please, Jasper. Why do you think I’d pretend to be a human, something which in your eyes is probably worse?”

I knew that bringing her to the tapestry was a bad idea. Iknewit.

“First, you say you have a vision, then you’re revealing a third layer of some witchy tapestry as a white glow spurts out from beneath your fingers? What do you expect me to think?”

“That if I were a witch, I wouldn’t have needed your help with that shadow monster.”

He cocks his head. “Well...”

“Ugh, you’re so arrogant,” she huffs. “So what, now I’m this secret witch who’s fooled you, somehow—even though it was your idea—into marriage so that I can do what, spy? Clearly, you haven’t got the memo. I don’t know why, but the witches are willing to workwithyou. So am I! Or I was, because at this point...”

Her voice trails off.

She’s mad, and I get it. I’ve been harsh. But still, none of this makes sense.

“Tara, I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?”

“It doesn’t make sense. How did you do that? How did you have those visions?”

There’s a tight friction in the air between us that feels like it’s about to give way to something far more dangerous.

The truth is, I do trust her. I know she’s not a witch. I just don’t like all the witchy stuff that's been imposed on her, is all.

It feels like she’s only in this situation because of me.

“I don’t know!” She exclaims, then softens. “I don’t know how any of this stuff has happened, but I can only assume that it’s a good thing. I mean, this must be a clue.”

“So, we’ll let the witches know and they’ll figure out what it means.”

“Yes, of course, and I’ll help. I mean, I’ve been doing all this research, and now I have something. It’s like the universe has presented it to me, I don’t know.”

“This isn’t a blessing, Tara. Trust me, this is a curse. You don’t want this.”

“Yes, it’s a curse, but we do want answers. How are we going to solve it otherwise?”

“It’s not your case to solve.”

“And why not?”

“Because you’re too vulnerable. You almost died tonight!”

A surge of anger courses through my veins. She’s so stubborn, and for what?