Claimed by the Alpha (A BBW Shifter Menage Romance) (Mate of the Alpha Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Ruby had the sense she would say anything to keep the handsome ranger talking, his thumbs hooked in his belt loops and somehow putting his massive biceps on full display.
    "Dead Man's Falls," he'd told her, his bass voice rumbling over to Ruby. She stoked the fire, pretending not to listen in, but when she glanced up she saw his warm golden eyes twinkling at her. "But be careful if you wander off the trail." She wondered if he'd actually been looking at her. She was a little too curvy for some men, as she'd discovered with a trail of ex-boyfriends. Her breasts and hips were buxom, and her best feature was her mane of dark curls. There was no way he'd been checking her out. It was hard enough to find a date online.
    But the next day she'd checked her map and plotted a course for Dead Man's Falls, her campsite packed up and carried on her back. And then she'd found the hidden trail.
    Ruby looked up at the moon, holding her hands as close to the fire as possible. When she had realized the trail was gone, she'd consulted her compass, which spun crazily. Tired, annoyed, and slightly afraid, she'd finally settled for making camp at the base of a cliff, the best shield she could find from the chilly bite of the wind, which she was not prepared for in her light jacket. Her tent rustled behind her as she warmed herself, plotting her next move.
    It had almost felt like rugged Darren had been talking to her, but she'd seen no sign of anyone else. The entire time she'd been walking she had nursed the faint hope that she would run into him out here, unseen by anyone else. The first night in her tent she had gone to sleep with dreams of those thick arms wrapping around her, pressing her against him inexorably as she tilted her face up towards his pillowy lips...
    She had to admit she was disappointed she hadn't seen him. But now her problems were different: what seemed like a solid wall of trees encircling her, no sign of the falls or any other body of water nearby. She could daydream about Darren later.
    The moon was full and gleaming, providing light even as her meager fire died down. She rubbed her eyes, finally ready to retreat into her tent despite her anxiety at being alone out here.
    Then she heard a snap as a branch broke somewhere out in the darkness.
    Panic seized her for a moment, but she forced herself to take a calming breath. It was probably a deer; Full Moon Campgrounds was surrounded by hundreds of miles of untouched forest. Of course there would be bumps in the night.
    Ruby settled closer to the fire, consoling her panic with thoughts of Bambi prancing through the forest, when she heard a growl, rumbling deep in the throat of a beast and tapering off to a snarl. The sound of something hunting.
    Her thought process froze completely, but her body responded. She rose to her feet, somehow aware that running was the worst thing she could possibly do, but the tent was no protection at all and she was blocked in by the rock face behind her.
    She walked slowly, inching towards the cliff face and the cover of darkness, the rocks and twigs beneath her feet unbearably loud with every step. Adrenaline crashed through her, her heart pounding in her throat. But she made it to the shadows.
    Ruby was debating where to go from here when she heard it again, closer than before, and saw the flash of golden eyes in the dying fire. Sharp teeth shone white as snow.
    She turned and ran, crashing through the pines with no care about the noise she made, leaving the light of the fire behind and plummeting into a world of black and gray.
    Her breath left steam as she ran, the scent of her panic a clear trail for the wolf, and she heard it crashing through the undergrowth behind her, snarling with every bound and leap. She almost sobbed out loud as she ran, branches whipping against her as she imagined the feel of its hot breath on the back of her neck.
    She wasn't imagining it; it almost burned against her chilled skin, heat running over her and