Penny of the Paranormal
By
Annie Nicholas
Vanguard Elite, book 4
Table Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
More Books by Annie!
About Annie
Note to Readers:
Every time I return to the Vanguard world, it’s like taking a trip down memory lane. I’ve never been the type of person who fits in with the popular crowd. I marched to the beat of my own drum, even now as an author. So why wouldn’t I love writing about the outcasts of the wolf shifter packs. Sometimes a woman just wants to root for the underdogs.
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Chapter One
Penny couldn’t sleep. Her growling stomach kept her awake. The candle on her nightstand was still lit but burned low. Though it was day outside, the setting winter sun hovered on the horizon and didn’t give her much light. On fleet feet, she hurried to the only bathroom on the girl’s floor to take a shower before it grew dark and a line formed.
They were a mixed-gendered group. The third floor housed the males and the second floor the females. Each floor had eight bedrooms—double occupancy rooms for the girls and quadruple for some of the boys. Since the boot camp had started, at least a third of the pack had been sent home, so the numbers had changed. Males weren’t allowed in the female area and vice-versa.
The candle flickered with Penny’s sudden run, but it didn’t extinguish. The manor didn’t have electricity except in the kitchen to keep the fridge cold.
The empty fridge.
Ignoring her hunger pains was growing harder with each day. The boot camp’s taskmaster was a vampire who was old as dirt. He controlled the lack of electricity, their nighttime schedule, and the food. If they didn’t like it, then they could go home.
But some of them didn’t have homes to return to. Worse, for others like her, home meant an abusive pack. A little hunger and cold wasn’t too much to pay for her freedom.
Penny’s breath misted the air. No power meant no heat or hot water. In a household filled with sensitive shifter noses, she didn’t dare skip washing. Even if it meant risking frostbite.
She stripped out of her layered clothes, folded them, and set the pile within reach of the shower so she could dress quickly afterwards. A thick layer of snow covered the boot camp’s grounds. This was normal for upstate New York, but she was from South Carolina. They didn’t get this much snow.
No matter what any human thought, the cold bothered this shifter. Her wolf form was covered in fur, not her woman form. She jumped under the ice cold stream of water and bit back a yelp. After weeks of cold showers, she would think she’d be used to the shock.
At light speed, she washed, dressed, braided her long, wet hair, then made her way to the kitchen to start the evening fire. Since Pallas, their taskmaster, was a vampire, the pack kept his nocturnal hours. She paused at the entrance, breath in throat.
Alistair Montgomery Carrington the Third roamed along the counters, searching the empty cupboards. He wore only his ass-hugging jeans, which were a work of art in denim. Hard muscles rippled under his sun-kissed skin as he stalked the kitchen.
She sighed. This was how a woman should start her night.
He spun at the sound and pinned her with his green glare. Stubble covered the sharp angles of his handsome face, making him appear more rugged and masculine than when he first arrived at the manor in his suit and Porsche. The same dirty blond hair that grew on his head appeared in a small spot on his chest, tempting a girl to curl her fingers in the patch.
“Where is all the food?” he asked.
She blinked. “What?”
“The cupboards and fridge are all empty.”
She should be used to seeing Alistair half-naked. She’d nursed him back to health after Julia had shot him in the leg. He had deserved it, but Penny had never been able to deny help to any creature in need. Not even the arrogant ones.
“It’s good to see you on your feet.” She’d been wondering if he’d ever get off the bed Pallas had allowed him to occupy during his convalescence.
He scowled. “I’ve been healed for over a week. You know it.”
“Yet you stayed in bed until now.” She suspected it was the wound to his ego that had kept him hidden in his room, more than the one to his strong leg. She almost sighed again at the memory of his tight ass as she’d dressed his wound, but she needed to stop mooning over things that could never be and start the fire. “There’s been no food for days.” She set her candle on the hearth and gathered kindling. No lighters or matches were allowed per silly vampire dictate. They had nothing to cook, but they did have tea, and the warmth would be very welcome.
“I don’t understand. You’ve been bringing me food until last night.” He sat next to her, so close the heat radiating from his body caressed hers. It was as if he was made of flames, making it so tempting to curl against him.
“I gave you what I hid, but that’s all gone.”
He had needed the food more than she to finish healing his emotional wounds. With shifters, it always came down to food. It cured all their aliments. She’d suffered hunger before hence her compulsion to always have a hidden store of food. It wasn’t easy to ignore the pangs. When shifters got ravenous, they tended to go feral. The boot camp pack already didn’t like Alistair because of what had transpired between him and Julia. If he went feral, they’d kill him, and that would be a shame.
“Did the boot camp run out of money? Because I can buy groceries. Shifters shouldn’t be hungry.”
They hadn’t seen this other side of him like she had. The generous hunter who worried about shifters who were not even his pack. He’d been misled by his alpha. It was easy to do when a shifter wanted to please their more dominant pack mates.
As an omega, Penny knew all too well how simple it was to fall down that hole. During all those times she’d cared for his wound alone in his room—since no one would share one with him—he’d treated her kindly. She couldn’t say that about most male hunters. Many shifters saw omegas as easy targets, and they were. That didn’t mean those hunters should prey upon their own kind.
Fire bloomed under her hands as she brought it to life with the candle. “Pass me those logs.”
Alistair’s spine went rigid, and the scent of surprise surrounded him.
She watched him carefully from the corner of her eye. “Please.” She held out her hand. Though he’d been kind, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t turn on her. She’d learned that lesson as well. Life as a shifter wasn’t easy. Not like how the media portrayed it on television. Sometimes she felt surrounded by pumped up jerks just looking for a reason to fight.
He handed her a log then rose in one fluid motion. “You should be careful. Ordering a hunter could be harmful if you were in another pack as an omega.”
“Good thing I belong to this one.” She knew him. Better than he knew himself, she bet. He was right though, which was why she’d come to the boot camp. Omegas weren’t treated well even when their daddy was the alpha. Her old pack was male dominated, unlike this one, where Clare was just as alpha as her mate, Ian. Her new alphas did things diff
erently. They left her alone to do as she pleased. Freedom of will was a new concept. A cherished flower she guarded. She smiled up at Alistair. “It’s kind of you to offer to provide us with food.”
“A pack of starving wolves is dangerous. I can’t believe Ian and Clare would allow this kind of abuse—”
“But we were ordered not to buy more food,” she interrupted him. Something else she wouldn’t have dared a few weeks ago. “This is a school, which Pallas runs. Ian and Clare lead the pack but have no control over the school. So no groceries.”
The flames took, and she added more logs until a fire roared.
“You’re good.”
She twisted around. “I’ve been building the fire every day since I arrived.”
Alistair loomed over her, the light from the hearth the only illumination since the sun had finally set. He was a creature of shadow and flickering light. “No, I meant putting out my fire.” He helped her stand.
Regret making her heart weigh a thousand pounds. She hadn’t wanted to extinguish his fire. It was a defensive habit to keep the hunters around her calm. For once in her life, she wanted to make a man burn and instead she’d doused him.
“I never would have eaten your food if I’d known you were hungry.” He wrinkled his brow. “You’ve been so kind to me.” He tilted his head. “I hear your stomach growling.”
She pressed her hands against her belly. “Nothing to be done about it now.”
The familiar stomp of boots descended the back stairs. Pallas crossed the kitchen. “Outside with everyone else, Penny.”
Most people’s blood froze when they met her taskmaster. She knew better. Evil wore many faces, but it didn’t wear his. Not since she’d met him, anyway.
Alistair dragged his gaze from Penny, wishing they could have a few more minutes alone. She was rarely by herself, especially when with him. He didn’t think she was aware of how her pack quietly protected their only omega. There was always a shadow following her or standing outside his room when she came to check on him.
Instinct drove wolf shifters harder than any supernaturals, and since he’d been at the boot camp, he could hear his clearer than ever.
Storming after Pallas, he caught him at the entrance to the basement where the vampire made his home. “Why are you starving the pack?” Alistair gripped Pallas’s arm and tried to spin him around. His fingers slipped free. He might as well have tried to move the manor with one hand.
The vampire paused before facing him. “Don’t you mean, why am I starving you?”
“I can leave to eat whenever I want.”
His gaze focused on Alistairand leaned forward. “So why don’t you?” Pallas wasn’t a typical vampire who liked to play seduction games. Bald with pointed ears and teeth similar to a shifter in beast form, he seemed more monster than man.
Alistair had no answer to Pallas’s question, nothing he was ready to admit to, anyway. Except he wasn’t ready to return to his pack with his tail between his legs. That was the only thing he knew for sure. He’d been sent to retrieve Julia, his betrothed, whom he hadn’t loved, and had been beaten fairly, in front of the whole damn pack. “Starved wolves are dangerous. Do you want them attacking the humans in town?”
Before Alistair could blink, Pallas had him by the throat, his feet dangling as the vampire lifted him like a pup. Strong fingers prevented Alistair from breathing.
“Little wolf, do you presume to tell me how to run things? How many warriors have you trained in your short life?” Pallas set Alistair down, then shoved him back against a wall. “You seem well enough to travel. Don’t overstay your welcome and tempt me to snack on you.” Pallas strolled out the front door, the cold winter wind blowing a trail of snow over the threshold.
“Making friends again, I see.” Ian, the pack’s alpha, stood at the foot of the staircase.
Alistair rubbed his sore throat. “I’ve fought vampires. Never one that strong.”
“Pallas is in a class of his own.” Ian pointed to Alistair’s neck. “He used that move on me the first time we met. It’ll be sore to swallow for a day or so. Depending on how fast you heal.”
“There’s no food to swallow.”
“About that.” Ian pulled Alistair into the pack’s living room and handed him a sweater. “You’ve shared our food, we’ve healed your wound, and given you shelter longer than you needed all because Penny begged us to.”
“Julia shot me!” She was his ex-fiancé, and she’d used the gun on him in front of the whole damn pack like a rabid dog.
“You deserved it.” The alpha crossed his arms, leveling a glare. It was a good one for such a young alpha. He must practice in a mirror.
Everyone was of the opinion that Alistair had deserved to be shot. Obviously, he didn’t agree. Well, maybe he agreed a little bit. But seriously, he’d done what any hot-blooded shifter male would have. He’d claimed what had been promised him from birth. Shifters fought challenges all the time over less. He didn’t understand why they were so bent out of shape. The only thing he could see was that Darrell and Julia were their friends and he was the outcast.
“We don’t have time for this.” Ian’s scowl deepened. “You owe us.”
Alistair opened his mouth to protest.
“More.” The alpha poked him in the chest. “You owe Penny.”
That silenced any of Alistair’s complaints. For once, they agreed, but he wouldn’t admit that out loud.
Alistair pulled the thick sweater over his head. It was cold, and he’d been shirtless for Penny’s benefit. She was always the first one up to make the fire and cook breakfast. He had hoped to cook her one this morning before the pack rose. Plan thwarted. He loved how her eyes lit up whenever she caught him shirtless.
“I’m listening.” If she needed him, then he would help. She’d gone beyond the call of duty in caring for his well-being.
Ian took Alistair by the shoulders, tossed him a winter jacket, and guided him out the front door. “Pallas is planning another one of his missions. I don’t know the details, but they’ve been escalating. My gut says this will be bad. Especially since he’s starving us.”
Alistair gritted his teeth at the implications. Ian was right. The stories of past training exercises had reached Alistair’s ears. The vampire had a twisted sense of teaching. One shifter had died, and there had been a few close calls. “What about Penny?” He didn’t know how she’d survived this long. It spoke of an iron core of strength, which he had glimpsed this morning when she’d asked him to do things without the usual omega meekness.
“We’ve looked out for her, especially Blain, but he’s gone now. Clare and I have the whole pack to care for. That leaves Darrell and Julia. I’d like an extra pair of eyes watching my only omega.”
A growl rolled in his chest. “She’s not yours.” It was out of his mouth before he knew it. Shifters weren’t good liars, so he didn’t bother to try. They tended to wear their emotions out in the open. He and his wolf nature were in sync, so this caught him by surprise.
“Everyone in my pack belongs to me.” Ian pushed Alistair ahead onto the front porch of the old manor.
Pallas faced the pack, using the porch as a stage. “Nice of you to finally join us, alpha. I was just explaining that the boot camp is splitting into three teams.” The vampire returned his attention to the crowd gathered in the calf-high snow. “These teams will be led by Clare, Julia, and Penny. Ladies, we’re doing a schoolyard pick. Clare, as alpha female, first pick is yours.”
Chapter Two
Penny startled at the sound of her name. “What did he say?” she asked no one in particular. Her heart pounded out of rhythm. Had he just assigned her a leadership role?
No, no, no.
Clare and Julia moved to one side of the snowy lawn, gesturing for her to follow.
She glanced around to be sure they really meant her. Darrell pushed her forward gently and she stumbled over her own feet. She twisted around.
A crowd of faces stared b
ack and she fought the urge to hide.
Darrell gave her a wink, but she could see the worry behind it. Not just him. Everyone seemed on edge. The last mission had been rough and, not long ago, Pallas had vanished for a couple days. That couldn’t be a good thing.
Her stomach rolled, not with hunger this time, but with nausea. Standing next to Clare, Penny could smell the stress coming off her in waves. It was hunger. That explained everything. Right? The pack looked worn, their eyes too bright, their muscles too tense. They needed soothing and calm.
They needed food.
She noted Ian and Alistair on the porch whispering frantically. What was Alistair doing with the alpha? They could barely be in the same room together without fighting. Both wore matching scowls as they stared daggers at Pallas’s back.
The vampire ignored them. He paced the porch, moonlight sliding around him as if afraid to touch his flesh. The dark followed him like a shadow. “Start your picks.”
Clare didn’t hesitate in calling Ian’s name, nor did Julia in picking Darrell. It made sense. They were mated couples.
She, on the other hand, had no one.
Anxious faces turned her way. No one wanted to be the last one chosen. She knew this firsthand being the meekest of her old pack. Human children were taught to play nice. Shifters couldn’t afford that. They were taught at a young age to strive to be the strongest, the fastest, the most popular. Some wolves, though, weren’t born with that instinct and were called omegas.
Well, that was the nicest name they called her kind. She’d heard much worse.
Most shifters weren’t hunters of Ian, Clare, or Alistair’s level. Otherwise they’d all be knocking each other’s heads together. The core of their society lay with hunters like Julia and Darrell. Strong wolves happy to follow their alphas. These were the people who stared at Penny with expectations to lead them to victory.
She made her first pick.
Penny of the Paranormal: Shifter Romance (Vanguard Elite Book 4) Page 1