Imprinted By The Alpha (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (The Marked One - Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

It was no surprise that the night was just starting and she was already past her limit. Ava didn’t mind so much; they were old friends. But Kelly rolled her eyes and shook her head, as if to say, it never fails.
    Teetering a bit, Jen gestured in the direction of a young man a few feet away, who wore an amused and slightly concerned expression. “Ava, Kelly, you have to meet my boyfriend, Jared.” She hiccupped a little, and Jared came to grab her with gentle hands. Ava liked him already.
    He greeted them briefly with a smile and turned Jen away. “Okay, how about we get you back to the car. I have some bottled water and I think that would come in handy right about now.”
    Kelly shook her head again and pulled a flask from inside her jean jacket, wiggling it in front of Ava. “Want some?"
    Ava made a face. “What is it?”
    “Fireball, baby!” she yelled.
    “Absolutely!” Ava chirped, grabbing the flask. Taking a much bigger swig than she’d intended, Ava started to cough, the liquid burning all the way down. The warmth spread through her chest cavity and down into her belly, then stretched out to her limbs and made her whole body tingle. Unconsciously, she moaned deeply at the sensation. She licked her lips for the remnants of the cinnamon taste and handed the flask back to her friend.
    Letting loose, Ava danced to the music beneath the moonlight, close enough to the blazing fire for the light of the flames to dance on her skin in strange patterns. It created an entrancing glow around Ava as she kept her buzz alive with a couple of beers, which aided in Ava’s easy reconnection to people she hadn’t seen since Christmas, hugging them and giving them genuine smiles. And if she began to feel anxious by the number of people around her, she tapped Kelly’s shoulder and took another small swig from the flask to take the edge off.
    Her body was loose and incredibly hot from the alcohol buzzing through her veins, and she danced more, harder, her mind free as she swayed in the night air. She barely took notice of the man that closed in on her. She simply continued moving her hips to the rhythm of the music, her arms in the air and her eyes closed. Even the hand sliding down her thigh didn’t quite bring her out of the trance, the whole purpose behind the music.
    It was the rank smell of bourbon that assaulted her nostrils and the harsh whisper too close to her ear that caught her attention. “You’re fucking hot.”
    Now, that unfamiliar hand touched her bare skin, and she came completely out of her euphoric daze. Her smile faltered, and she opened her eyes, slowing her movements as she looked upon the man who had intruded in her space. The man stared back at her with a lopsided grin full of drunken self-assurance. He obviously expected her to be flattered by his blatant violation of her space and interruption of her buzz.
    She backed up and to the side, raising her arm and slapping the man’s hand from her body like a grotesque fly. She hissed, “Get your fucking hands off me.”
    The man stumbled back, temporarily put off. But he recovered and disregarded Ava’s disgust. Ava knew men like him; they wouldn’t take no for an answer, believing that their target just needed a little more persuasion. “Come on, baby, don’t be like that,” he slurred, reaching in to grab her again.
    Ava backed away, stepping out of his reach.
    “She said fuck off,” Kelly echoed beside her, hostile and threatening.
    The man’s countenance changed, full of rage. “It’s a free country, bitch.”
    Ava wasn’t intimidated, and she knew for a fact Kelly wasn’t either. They’d had each other’s backs for years when a prick got too frisky.
    “Is there a problem here?” Ava turned to see Jared walking up, Jen in tow and four other guys behind him.
    “This fucker won’t leave Ava alone,” Kelly called to him. Ava didn’t take her eyes off the creep.
    Jared stepped up, glaring at him. “I think it’s time for you to