Imprinted By The Alpha (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (The Marked One - Book 1)

by Jocelyn Thomas

  “Ava, I have certain...” Ava watched her mother search for the right word. “I have certain abilities that allow me to fulfill my purpose here. Part of my destiny is seeing that book stay safe and kept out of the wrong hands.”

  Ava swallowed that for a moment, and when she looked up, she saw her mother rubbing her legs, which looked like they were shaking. Sarah told her, “I think we’ve covered enough ground for today. I’m tired, and I think I should go lie down for a bit.” She tried to push up out of her chair, but she fell back into the seat.

  Ava jumped from the couch and took the two steps to reach her mother. “Mom, are you alright? You don’t look good.” That was an understatement. Sarah was quite pale and shaking from head to toe.

  Sarah waved it off. “I’m alright, just tired. Could you give me a hand up to my room?” She gave Ava a weak smile.

  Kelly moved to the other side of Ava’s mother, and they each took a side, hoisting her and letting her arms rest on their shoulders as they walked up the stairs. Ava bristled at the significant weakness she’d never seen in her mother before. It angered her and worried her as they laid her on the bed. Quietly, they moved back to Ava’s room and closed the door so as not to disturb Sarah. Ava also wanted to be able to talk without her mother overhearing.

  As she faced Kelly, her friend’s skin held a green tinge, as if her stomach was churning. Nervous and thinking of Kelly’s vision, Ava leveled a serious gaze at her friend. “There is something very wrong with my mother,” she said quietly. “The vision you had the other day, when you said something bad was going to happen to me...could that have something to do with my mother?”

  She sat in silence, waiting for Kelly to respond, knowing she was reliving the vision and trying to make sense of it. She shook her head. “I don’t know. It could. I mean, if something happened to your mom, it would be very bad for you. But I could also have misunderstood the whole thing to start with.” Ava gave her a confused look, and Kelly took a deep breath, telling her, “I could have thought it was about you when, really, it was about your mother.”

  Ava swallowed against the bile that rose in her throat. Whatever her mother was going through, she was keeping it to herself, much the way she’d kept the book to herself. Ava wasn’t prepared to live without her mother now, and the symptoms Sarah exhibited spoke of some serious disease, making Ava think she might not be around much longer. She had to find the answers, and if it was something a doctor could fix, time was of the essence.

  Her mind turned back to the book. “Look, Kelly, my mother isn’t the only one hiding things from us. She said your mother knew about the book, too.” Kelly nodded, her eyes unfocused as her own mind likely swirled, having just as much difficulty digesting all of this. “You have to talk to her, Kelly. We need to find out what your mother knows, because it could mean saving my mother.” Kelly assured her she’d find out what she could and left, promising to check in later. Curling up on her bed and huddling in on herself, Ava sat back to wait.

  Chapter 16

  The last thing Sarah remembered as her thoughts began to clear was Ava covering her with the heavy blanket on her bed. She lay perfectly still, her body stiff and aching all over. She couldn’t imagine what Ava would be thinking right now, having watched her own mother collapse after divulging secrets that Ava probably felt should have been explained years ago.

  Sarah had known she was taking a risk by not sharing any of her past with her daughter, but she had believed it was the right decision, justifying the deception by convincing herself it was for Ava’s protection. She’d rationalized that she wanted the best, most normal possible life for Ava, and at some point, Sarah’s good intentions had evolved into a fear of being judged. She couldn’t pinpoint when things had changed, only that they had.

  Closing her eyes again, Sarah tried to think things through, and yet, she was weak and weary from holding this secret so close to her for so long. The book was only the beginning, and it sickened her to realize that Ava could only have found it because the book wanted her to. It was frightening to think how powerful Ava had to be for the book to want to reveal itself to her, and Sarah knew her daughter had no clue of that power. Squeezing her eyes tighter, Sarah inhaled deeply and blew out a long, steady breath, willing her mind to work faster, more clearly.

  But she weakened more, and Sarah knew she had little time left. She’d used years of her life source to keep an enchanted protection over Willow Falls, assuring the town was safe, and that was taking its toll, collecting its price. She’d done it because Willow Falls was the only place she could raise Ava safely, Sarah’s tribe unable to hunt her there, no matter how angry they were with her. They’d moved in and out of the area more than once, but none had ever bothered her.

  She’d broken the tribal law, disobeyed a direct command, and for that, she’d paid the price. Her order had walked the delicate line between were creatures and vampires for centuries, ensuring that all were properly protected and of equal strength. The vampires had forever been more powerful, with greater cunning, and the rest of the supernatural had fought to assure they made up the difference in sheer numbers. Without the laws that ruled shifters, as well as her own tribe, the rivers would run with blood. By having Ava, Sarah had upset the balance between the orders, as far as her tribe was concerned, and now, her mind drifted back.

  “You are too wild at heart, Sarah! You know your calling. If you don’t rein yourself in, you’ll be lost to us. Don’t take your destiny for granted.” The elder’s eyes were stern, her voice coarse with age, and on top of that, the old woman was angry at Sarah.

  The guardian thought she was slacking on her studies, but Sarah had not meant to be rebellious. She was finding it difficult to grasp the lessons, feeling too much pressure from her tribe’s expectations, and she wasn’t ready to give up the freedom of her youth. Besides, it had been a thousand years since the last oracle. The position came with far more weight than Sarah was ready to bear. She didn’t want to disappoint anyone, so she shied from the responsibility.

  Looking into the loving eyes of Mammaw, who had seen so much in her life, Sarah knew she could learn much from her. But she wasn’t ready to be what they wanted her to be. “I just need a break,” she insisted. “One small break and I’ll come back refreshed and ready to learn everything you need to teach me.”

  With a nod, the elder let Sarah go, and with a sigh of relief, Sarah turned and walked away.

  ******

  As dusk fell, Elia lifted her head into the coming night air, the crisp Louisiana wind fluttering through the window and against her skin. With the bed on the far end of the boudoir from the window, she wasn’t concerned that the sunlight would reach her beloved and cause him harm as she stared down at him. Her King was beautiful and precious to her. She and Jasper had ruled this area since their first meeting a thousand years ago.

  Elia traveled from the Caribbean, landing in what was now Virginia as a young twenty-two year old with the intention of making a good life for herself. She planned to marry wealthy and settle down, but she’d found a lack of wealth in the barren world. She had courted a number of suitors, natives to the land, as she made her way across the hills and plains and through the forests, but none held her attention for long. They had nothing to offer her.

  Bored, she moved to a new place, using her depthless brown eyes, caramel complexion, and charm to get what she needed, as well as to weasel out of bad situations. It worked for a long time, until she discarded the wrong man, having no idea that such things as vampires existed. He sought to punish her, and he had nearly drained her, with Elia feeling the light go out inside her, but he had been interrupted. She had turned, and she had learned to live by the stipulations of the order of which she’d become a part, nothing ever making her regret living.

  Eventually, she left the man who had turned her, and she met Jasper here, in this swampy wasteland on a sticky summer night. Since then, they had helped to build New Orleans and Bourbon Street, and they h
ad often collected prey under the guise of alligators. She was happy here, had been for a millennium, and nothing would change that.

  She stepped from the bed, her long, slender form gliding across the floor to the bar so she could pour herself a tumbler of spiced rum. She’d carried the habit from her first life, her human life, and she’d perfected her own recipe now. She took a sip, leaning her head back as it rolled down her throat so that her jet black hair kissed the top of her buttocks. She moaned softly at the warmth of the sweet liquor spreading inside her. The kick appeased her, even if she was far beyond feeling the effects of alcohol.

  Jasper stirred behind her, and she turned to face him, finding his mesmerizing gray eyes locked on her. His intense gaze always stirred her wildest fantasies, and though he’d brought hundreds of thousands of them to life, Jasper always managed to create new ones for her. In all her years, Jasper had been the only man who came close to taming her wild spirit, and as she considered his silky blond hair and bronzed skin, she knew that Jasper had earned his place as her king. He still called to her.

  “Restless, my beloved?” he asked in a thick, British accent she thought would never decay.

  Elia simply drank from her tumbler again and offered him a coy smile. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she could not resist the vague insistence of his small gesture. “It’s something in the air,” she told him. “There’s a new oracle. I can smell her.”

  Jasper sat up in bed, propping his elbows on his knees and locking his arms around them. Elia walked toward him, her hips rocking seductively, and she was pleased as Jasper’s eyes followed the sway until she stood inches in front of him. He sounded distracted as he asked, “Has it been a thousand years already?”

  The last oracle had posed too many problems and, therefore, Jasper had gathered his people, and with Elia, led the charge, making the opportunity to kill her. Since then, their vampire race had ruled uninterrupted, the shifters not daring to fight the likes of Elia’s king without the oracle.

  Together, she and Jasper were far too strong for even the many groups of shifters to band together and overthrow. As king and queen, they catered to their own wills, and the only complaint Elia had was that Jasper was far too diplomatic. Were it up to her, they would have long ago plundered every city and taken what they wanted. But Jasper was legendary for his discipline and careful strategic plays.

  When the time had come for shifters to negotiate, they courted Jasper rather than herself to gain ground. Jasper had agreed too many of their demands, and while he and Elia had free rein to do as they pleased in the southeastern parishes, Elia wanted more.

  She addressed Jasper’s silly question with a laugh, tossing her head back. She pressed the rim of her cup to his lips, and Jasper took a sip of the rum. Jasper knew very well how long it had been, and Elia would have been furious if he’d forgotten their anniversary. “Time flies when you’re having fun, my love,” she told him. She leaned forward, replacing the cup with a stiff nipple.

  Jasper took the bait, gripped her by the hips, and she placed her hand on his shoulder to steady herself against the wave of pleasure that rolled through her as Jasper groaned. He rolled her nipple in his mouth, and Elia’s bloodstream flooded with desire. His skills in bed were unsurpassed, and she heated further as his hands slipped from her hips to her firm thighs.

  “I believe you may be right, my queen,” Jasper muttered against her skin, sending a shiver through her. His head dipped from her breast to her smooth belly, kissing it before nuzzling his face against her sex. “Give me one good reason why I should not simply pull you back into this bed and ravage you,” he commanded. His breath was cold against her skin.

  Elia laughed, full and throaty, but she couldn’t think of a reason. She loved his strong, sexual nature, and her pause didn’t go unnoticed. “I’ll take that to mean we have all the time in the world,” he growled, pushing the covers from his body and pulling her on top of his body. Elia straddled his waist willingly, and her sex slid over his, covering him in one smooth, fluid motion, like a glove over a hand. She leaned down, her mouth meeting his in a sensuous kiss. Their tongues danced erotically, and Jasper pressed his palm against her spine, coaxing Elia to move.

  She shifted her hips in circles, her hand at the nape of Jasper’s neck as the kiss continued and deepened. His arms tightened around her, and they stirred an untamable fire within her. Jasper had managed to keep her enamored, something no other man in her wild past had managed.

  As he kissed the fullness of her breast, Elia threaded her fingers in Jasper’s hair and exposed her swan neck to him. His mouth seared her with his emotion, his love, and she rode him in slow, sensual motions as her lips curved into a satisfied smile.

  They were the most ancient of lovers, and it showed in their perfect union. Elia arched her back deeply as he pounded into her. Her nails dug into his shoulders while his fingers bit into her flesh. He nuzzled the hollow of her throat, and Elia moaned his name in response. He guided her hips roughly against him, and the sultry sounds of their lovemaking echoed off the walls of their shared castle.

  Elia clung to her king, and he to her, as their mating unleashed the one remaining shred of humanity within them. Elia bit down on his shoulder, still riding Jasper, and thought that their need for each other would actually outlive them. Jasper’s grunts echoed through the castle as he flipped her to her back with little effort and pounded into her sweet moist center.

  Elia stared up at him with lust and joy, her long black tresses fanning out around her. She lifted her hips to receive every inch of him, and they claimed each other in a violent mutual release, Elia’s passion erupting a split second before Jasper’s. Together they rode the waves of ecstasy until Elia heard Jasper’s soft snore and drifted into her own dreamless sleep.

  ******

  Elia awoke again a few short hours later to the pitch darkness of a Louisiana night. She glanced over her shoulder to see Jasper resting soundly against the silk fabric of their sheets, marveling at his ability to sleep at a time like this. The air was alive and rippling with the scent of the new oracle coming into her power. Elia knew they would have to travel to find her, but she would go as far as it took, not resting until the meddlesome witch either bowed to them or was destroyed.

  “You mustn’t let her control you so.” Jasper’s voice was raspy with sleep, and Elia turned, lying against his chest. His eyes opened, and his lips held the ghost of a smile.

  Pouty, she said, “I am not controlled by her, whoever she is. I simply refuse to have some child attempt to rule over me with whatever she believes is proper. I have one thousand years of experience that she lacks, and because one day her head bursts with more power than she can understand, she has the audacity to attempt to dictate my behavior.” She gestured around her at the castle in which they resided, which the outside world believed was nothing more than a gorgeous wedding venue. It was their means of remaining hidden to the world. “Look what we have, what we built without the confinement of the oracle’s petty rules. Should this be taken from us?”

  She stood and paced the room in her barely controlled rage. “It should be us, telling her how to behave. I am more powerful than she will ever be. She should bow to me.”

  “We agreed...” Jasper began.

  But Elia cut him off. “You agreed!” she snarled, whirling on him. In what society does the slave control the master?” Jasper had been watching her this whole time, and as she stared at him, Elia could see his rage boiling just beneath the surface.

  They’d had this conversation before, more than once. Her beloved described her lust for power as unquenchable and claimed there was a time he’d felt the same. For centuries now, though Jasper had preached that, since they would both outlive all the others – the shape shifters, the oracles – it was better to live a peaceful eternity than a single tumultuous day.

  It only pushed Elia to her limits to know that, instead of raging at the oracle as he should, Jasper’s ire fell on her shoulders
. Elia refused to succumb to his way of thinking, feeling it weak and passive. Even now, rather than responding to her rant, Jasper sat in silence, waiting for Elia to calm down. He expected her to recognize the brooding silence for disapproval and rein herself in to keep from disappointing him.

  Elia stared at her king, wishing she could force him to follow her lead. But he was stubborn, and she would never convince him to change his mind. Unless...

  A sly plan began to take shape in her mind, and she sat on the edge of the bed, running her nails over the skin of his inner thigh enticingly. “What if we don’t kill her?” she asked.

  Tilting his head, Jasper looked at her with an expression of curious wonder. She had baited him.

  She continued, “Our harem could always use another. What if we simply take her rather than killing her?” The question she posed seemed to ring in the air around her as Jasper’s eyes clouded with consideration. Slowly, his lips curled into a grin. Elia had known he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add to their collection. The harem included women from their travels around the globe, but they had never brought in a supernatural before. When he licked his lips, Elia knew she had him, and she celebrated the triumph silently. She would have her way yet, and she would stop at nothing to coerce him to help her.

  Chapter 17

  Elia traveled with Jasper by the cover and protection of night, and she guided them as she tracked the scent through the cities and countryside. And Elia found her, faster than she had believed possible, which served to excite her beyond measure. She crouched in the shadows of the forest beside Jasper and watched as the oracle bathed naked in a quiet pond. She was beautiful, more ethereal than the last had been by far, and Elia wanted to snarl at the dark brown hair and doe-shaped eyes that gave her the enchanted look.