The Alpha's to Share: A BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance Read Online Free Page A

cheeks.
     
    Seth uncloaked his muscular body, and though Callie tried her best to shy away, her eyes couldn’t help but drift immediately back toward him as he tossed the blanket onto the bed against the wall.
     
    His chest was broad and covered with a sparse sprinkling of hair that dipped slightly toward his navel. His stomach was flat and ridged with muscles that bobbed like waves over his torso. Callie tried to avert her eyes, to stop them from traveling further downward, but it was impossible. Her eyes widened at the sight of his full glory, and she nearly remarked aloud, but stopped herself just in time.
     
    Seth cleared his throat, and she jumped, startled. Her eyes quickly darted toward his, and she could have sworn she saw a flicker of a satisfied smile play upon his lips briefly.
     
    “Shall we go?” he asked.
     
    “Oh, yes!” she gasped, relieved that he’d not mentioned her wandering eyes.
     
    He opened the door for her and she stepped out onto the muddy ground. The morning sun was filtering through the hazy mist that had rolled down out of the mountains and coated the clearing around the cabin. Seth extended his elbow, and she wrapped her hand through it, thrilling at the way his skin felt against hers.
     
    She followed him as he walked through the clearing and toward the path that led up the mountain – the very path she’d taken to find the blackberry brambles from which she’d retrieved the basket of fruit for Madge.
     
    “Seth, do you have a last name?” she suddenly thought to ask.
     
    “We do not use them,” Seth answered simply. “But if pressed, I would use the name of my pack, which is Primrose. Seth of Primrose, or just Seth Primrose would be fine.”
     
    “I’m sorry that I don’t know more about your kind,” Callie apologized. “I really never believed you existed until I met Madge.”
     
    “I know surprisingly little about your kind, as well,” Seth admitted. “What little I do know has been largely unpleasant.”
     
    “How so?” Callie asked.
     
    “I’ve seen human hunters killing indiscriminately for no reason other than sport,” he answered. “I’ve seen them wipe out hundreds of acres of forestland overnight for the sole purpose of building entertainment venues – taking away the homes of thousands of creatures without a second thought. I’ve… I’ve experienced their brutality first hand, though it’s something I’ve no wish to speak of ever again.”
     
    Her grip on his arm instinctively strengthened as she felt a pang of sorrow for whatever he’d been through.
     
    “Yes, humans can be quite barbaric,” she acknowledged. “I’ve seen my share of human behavior that I wish I could forget.”
     
    “Nothing too personal, I hope,” he said.
     
    “My own family disowned me for something I didn’t do,” Callie told him, gathering a bit of bravery. “They didn’t even ask me what happened. They just told me to never contact them again. My so-called friends, every last one of them, did the same. They all abandoned me and left me to fend for myself during the worst time of my life.”
     
    “Would it be asking too much for you to tell me what they think you did?” Seth pressed.
     
    Callie sighed and stopped walking. Seth paused beside her and turned to face her, leaning in slightly as if eagerly anticipating her revelation.
     
    “I guess I might as well just tell you,” she said. “I’ve been accused of embezzling millions of dollars from my employer.”
     
    “Em-bez-el-ing,” he enunciated slowly. “Is that like stealing?”
     
    “Basically,” she answered. “Only I didn’t do it. I don’t even know why I’m being accused of it.”
     
    “How is it that you are free?” he asked. “I thought that kind of thing generally got humans put into jail.”
     
    “It does,” she said. “But I overheard my boss talking to his assistant, and I heard they were about to have me arrested. So I ran. I packed most of my important