Penny of the Paranormal: Shifter Romance (Vanguard Elite Book 4)

by Annie Nicholas

  Ian and Alistair exchanged confused glances.

  Biting her bottom lip, she searched the crowd for inspiration and made her second choice. This wasn’t easy. How did her alphas make decisions like this every day? Had she hurt anyone’s feelings by not picking them first? She eyed her choices. Were they mad that she had picked them? She understood why Pallas had chosen Clare and Julia.

  Clare was an alpha wolf one-hundred percent and Julia was training as a possible second to Clare. Why her? Omegas weren’t leaders. She turned to her group with a watery smile. “We’ll be fine.”

  Please don’t die.

  “I have planted three flags on the top of Mount Killmore.” Pallas paced the porch, hands clasped behind his back.

  Penny gave Clare a slow blink. “Where?”

  The alpha female shushed her.

  “Your mission is to retrieve your team’s flag and return here.” He paused with a sharp, pointed grin on his face. “No maps, no compasses, and with only the clothes on your back.”

  Oh God. Her stomach and heart exchanged places.

  “You can’t be serious,” Clare shouted. “We’ll die.”

  Others joined in her protest.

  “Enough!” Pallas’s voice carried over the pack’s combined complaints. They went silent. Experience had taught them not to piss off their taskmaster. He was fierce and merciless when he felt slighted. “If you were human, yes, most of you would die. Are you human?” He went silent. And waited. “I can’t hear you.”

  They shuffled their feet, glancing at each other. “No,” some called out.

  Penny leaned toward Clare. “You have to find someone to take my place as leader.”

  Her alpha female shook her head. “He specifically chose you.” She leveled her glare. “Don’t you dare give it to someone else either. Pallas will find out and God knows what he’ll do to you.”

  Penny swallowed with a throat gone dry. “Okay.” Nobody on her team would want to be a leader anyway. She’d chosen them because they were the ones most likely to be left last.

  A construction worker, a nurse, a chef, a florist, and a student. None of them major hunter material. All of them had been kind and thoughtful. She hadn’t done them any favors by picking them first. She’d most likely killed them.

  “Of course you’re not human,” continued Pallas. “You’re wolves. Born of the wild, hunters of prey, trackers, survivors. All this modern tech shit has blinded you. In times gone by, all a wolf shifter needed was his pack.”

  Nick, the florist, slipped her hand in his and squeezed. “We’ve got your back, Penny.”

  Her heart swelled three times its size.

  “If you’re cold, you have fur and body heat. If you’re hungry, hunt for food. Use your nose to track.” Pallas glowered. “Stop your whining and go.”

  She noticed Alistair and Ian conspiring behind the vampire. What were they up to? She’d just patched Alistair back together—she didn’t want him doing anything stupid. Pallas wouldn’t tolerate any interference from an outsider.

  People who pissed off the vampire tended to disappear. Her mind wandered to the hunters that had set the manor on fire. She hadn’t regretted their vanishing act, though people in town said they’d moved away out of fear. She didn’t believe it.

  “Wait!” Ian raised his hand.

  Alistair eyed him. What was he up to? He wanted to help Penny. The little omega would surely die on this mission, but what could he do? The vampire had made it clear he wouldn’t change his mind.

  Of all the crazy things he’d heard Pallas do, putting an omega in charge of a team was the craziest. Omegas were lovers, healers, caretakers. Alistair didn’t know Penny’s teammates but at a glance they didn’t impress him with their competence.

  “What is it, Ian?” Pallas seemed ready to bite someone.

  “The teams are uneven. Penny is short one.”

  “She’ll have to make due.” The vampire turned away.

  Ian gave Alistair a meaningful glare.

  He sighed and gazed across the lawn where his eyes locked with Penny’s. She shook her head, telling him not to do anything stupid. She didn’t want his help?

  Fuck. Shit. Fuck. Damn.

  The sting in his chest was unfamiliar. It almost made him nauseated. What if he didn’t volunteer and she died? All sorts of gruesome images played in his head of Penny freezing to death or getting lost never to be found. This wasn’t a game. No matter what the vampire said, shifters could still die in the wilderness without proper training. Had Pallas provided them with it?

  “I will join her team.” He stepped forward.

  “What?” The darkness around Pallas grew so dense Alistair could feel it pull on him like gravity. “You’re not even part of the boot camp.”

  Alistair shrugged. “I don’t hear any of the other teams objecting. Like the alpha said, it’s only fair to have even teams.” It took effort to keep his stance relaxed and voice calm when all he wanted to do was throw Penny over his shoulder and take her home to safety. In his pack, every nuance was watched and pounced on yet this moment seemed like the most important in his life. A turning point of sorts. If Pallas rejected his offer, then it was time for him to pack his bags and return to Texas, tail between his legs.

  If the vampire accepted? His heart raced. He would be facing quite a challenge out in the wilderness in the winter with a team of—he eyed Penny’s choices—less than standard hunters. It was a chance to prove himself.

  What had she been thinking when she’d picked those wolves?

  Two females and three males. None of who he recognized or seemed remarkably strong. He scratched his chin. He didn’t exactly have a death wish.

  Of all things, Penny appeared very unhappy at his volunteering. Perhaps she wanted to fail. With him on her team, that would make her task more difficult.

  Pallas looked right through him. If he didn’t know better, he would have guessed the vampire was trying to read his thoughts or something. But Alistair’s mind was a steal trap.

  “You have nothing to lose if you fail.” The vampire circled him. “They all do.” He pointed to the boot camp pack.

  “I don’t have anything to gain if I win, either.”

  “How do I know you’ll make a genuine effort to help them?” The vampire’s eyebrow rose, his grin chilling Alistair’s soul. “A wager, then?”

  Ian’s face lit up. “Yes.”

  “No.” Alistair shook his head. The vampire had nothing he wanted.

  “Yes,” the alpha insisted. “The car.”

  “No!” Pallas crossed his arms, yet behind him, the pack leaned forward as one.

  “Yes.” Alistair held out his hand for Pallas to shake. The vampire owned a sleek, black sports car that had been just delivered from the garage after the pack had been forced to bury it. “Scared my team will win?” He didn’t care about the vehicle—he could buy ten of them if he wanted—but he needed Pallas to let him protect Penny.

  The vampire eyed Penny’s choices like he had. “Fine, but if they quit, you remain at the boot camp for a year and work for me.” He gripped his hand, cracking Alistair’s knuckles in the process.

  Alistair swallowed the lump in his throat. The alpha was hopping with excitement. All Alistair really had to do was keep his team from quitting or dying. Piece of cake. His gaze locked with Penny’s again and he shook the vampire’s hand. “Deal.”

  Chapter Three

  Part of Penny was excited to have Alistair on her team. She hadn’t chosen her teammates for strength, like the other leaders. She’d picked them for their good character. If she’d known this would be a survival game, she might have picked differently.

  Her gaze traveled over the faces of her group and her chest swelled with pride. No, she would still have picked them. Everyone had hidden talents and these five had something better. They had heart.

  She just hoped Alistair could see this. He’d just bet a year of his life on them. No matter what happened they wouldn’t
quit. She almost snorted out loud at the idea that they might actually win. She would be satisfied with completing the mission without anyone getting injured—or worse—lost.

  The handsome shifter joined her team on the snowy lawn, his wild blond hair flying in the cold wind. He rubbed his hands together, not in anticipation, but because it was cold. “So who’s who? You start.” He nodded to Parker.

  The thin and wry shifter jumped. “Parker, sir.” The others followed suit, stating their first names—Nick, Amy, Vicki, Bobby Jo. She noted how Alistair paid close attention, repeating each name as if committing it to memory.

  “I’m Alistairif you didn’t know.” He stuck his hands under his armpits.

  She rolled her eyes. Like they didn’t know who he was and hadn’t witnessed the huge drama between him and Julia and Darrell. Penny tamped down a surge of jealousy. She understood why Julia had chosen Darrell over Alistair and she was glad for it. A complex shifter like Alistair deserved someone with patience and understanding. She just wished, for once, that someone would fight for her instead of expecting her to meekly accept their affection. They were always so surprised when she rejected them too. The jerks. Like she should swoon and lift her skirts because they paid some attention to her.

  Her father said that her behavior wasn’t very omega-like. Too bad. He sent her here because he thought she was confused. That there was a hunter lurking in her heart. There wasn’t. Being here made it even clearer that she wasn’t like the others. She was weird and she was okay with it. Now, she needed to find a person who could love her differences.

  The only people who treated her like she was normal were on this team. Excluding Alistair. He still treated her as if she had no free will. Though, he never tried to get into her pants. That actually stung a little.

  The other teams were huddled together as if making plans. She signaled for everyone to gather close. “We need to find Mount Killmore and return. No food, no water, in the snow with only what we got.” She tried for a confident smile but her bottom lip quivered. She held out her hand. “Here’s to not dying.”

  They left her hanging. No one placing their hand on top of hers.

  Alistair rubbed the back of his neck, clearly trying not to laugh. He touched her hand and electric tingles ran over her skin. “Here’s to not dying.”

  The others followed, someone gave a nervous laugh. “To not dying,” they repeated quietly.

  That was the worst pep talk ever. She cleared her throat. “So anyone know where Mount Killmore is?” That seemed like a good place to start. Who named these mountains? Seriously.

  “It’s northeast of here.”

  Alistair frowned in the direction Bobby Jo pointed. He took him by the shoulders and re-aimed his arm. “That’s northeast.”

  Penny’s stomach dropped. They were not going to die. As leader, she made this a silent command. She watched the other two teams depart in different directions. “We could just follow one of the teams before the moon sets and we can’t see anything.” Maybe they knew something her team didn’t.

  Pallas had taught them to use maps and compasses. She could find her way anywhere with these two tools, but without them she was pretty useless. She wasn’t like Blain, who could track scents that barely existed. None of her teammates were.

  “If I was one of the other teams, I’d start traveling in the wrong direction, waiting for someone to follow me then lose them.” Alistair gave her an apologetic grimace.

  “You think they’d do that to us?” The teams disappeared from her view into the woods.

  “In a heartbeat,” Parker added.

  “Oh.” She was so used to working as a pack. It was difficult for her to be competitive. Genetically, she lacked the shifter trait. “What should we do?” She wasn’t the sort of person to lead blindly. Heck, she wasn’t the sort of person to lead.

  “You’re in charge, Penny.” Alistair was pacing around them, more than ready to go. The muscles in his jaw popped with the strain of his clenched teeth. Yet he didn’t say anything else. Pallas had put her in charge. Sometimes, she came close to hating that vampire.

  “Well, I’m not like the others. We take the direct route. Northeast it is.” If someone wanted to follow, Penny was fine with it. She marched toward the forest.

  “Why would anyone follow us?” She overheard Amy whisper to Vicki. They laughed quietly.

  She didn’t share their humor. She didn’t care if they won, but she didn’t want to be the pack joke either.

  Penny glanced over her shoulder. “Chances are the others don’t know where they are going either.” There was truth behind her words, but she knew Ian, Clare, Julia, and Darrell well enough. They probably had well thought out plans by now. Where she was flying by the seat of her pants.

  Her words seemed to give her team more speed in their steps. Alistair strode next to her, eyes scanning the trees.

  They didn’t know where their destination lay yet Alistair’s team strolled into the forest, blindly following Penny in the dark.

  He watched for danger. Their group made so much noise that danger could have tracked them from a distance. There wasn’t much that could threaten shifters, but he’d heard Ian’s story about being shot by humans. Alistair had just recovered from such a wound and didn’t care to repeat the mistake. It stung.

  He checked over his shoulder every once in a while. His team followed in single file a little distance behind him and Penny. He didn’t want to lose anyone. The wind was picking up and the temperature was dropping. Penny’s teeth chattered so bad, he feared she would chip a tooth.

  “Come here.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to share body warmth.

  She stiffened at his touch. “What are you doing?”

  “Just trying to share warmth.” She had nothing to fear. He’d never hurt her. He’d never hurt any female. An image of his mother cowering in the kitchen corner after his father had arrived home flashed through his mind. “Don’t fret.”

  His mom had left them not long after.

  “I’m not fretting. You surprised me.” She leaned into him but there was still an aura of wariness around her. “I usually don’t let strangers touch me.”

  Alistair blinked. Should he remove his arm from her shoulders? She could have shrugged him off anytime. Instead, he shared his warmth and soaked in her presence. Penny set him off balance internally. He knew how most shifters would act and react to him, but not her. “We’re not exactly strangers.”

  “We aren’t friends either.”

  Yet he noticed she still remained under his arm of her own free will. Pleasure curled in his stomach like a happy cat. “So am I your type?” He grinned, trying to misguide how important her answer was to him.

  Sadness touched her eyes. “Yes, but it doesn’t matter.” Her shoulders finally relaxed and sighed. “Are we still heading northeast?”

  He jerked his gaze from hers and scanned the area. “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean? You seemed to know at the manor.”

  “Sure, at the manor, I knew northeast because I’ve been there for days and seen where the sun sets. We’ve been walking these woods for hours. I haven’t a clue where we are, let alone what direction.”

  Her shoulders deflated. “I’m the worst leader ever. We’re already lost.”

  “I think that’s the whole point of this exercise.” Alistair lifted her chin. Her eyes were such a pure blue they reminded him of the sky on a clear summer’s day. “Pallas wants us lost and stumbling in the woods. He wants us to survive.”

  “And the flags?”

  “Bonus points. All he really wants is for no one to quit or die. He didn’t say you’d fail without the flag.” He could see her thinking.

  “A loop hole?”

  “Exactly. My father’s a lawyer. He’s taught me to watch for these type of things.” The asshole had some uses.

  “I doubt Pallas will see it that way and he makes the rules. I’m not taking any chances
of being sent home. We’re going for the flags.”

  “I didn’t say we shouldn’t try for the flags. Nothing would make me happier than to see Ian’s face when we beat him to the top, but it’s not a priority. Staying alive and safe is.”

  “Well said.” She stopped so suddenly he tripped over a hidden branch under the snow to follow suit.

  “What are we doing?” Alistair rose back to his feet and wiped the snow off his knees.

  She waited for the others to huddle around them. “First things first, Alistair was kind enough to remind me that this isn’t a race and that stumbling in the dark, freezing our asses off can lead to unneeded injuries.” She scanned the surrounding area. “Anyone object to this being our first campsite?”

  Alistair scratched his head. Once again, Penny took a right when he expected her to make a left.

  While the others milled around the wooded area, he did a quick security check. They had crossed a fast-flowing stream that hadn’t frozen over so they had water. Check. It wasn’t so deep that he worried about flooding. Check. He bent close to the ground, sniffing for territorial markings of the forest’s natural predators. After circling the area, he found nothing. The trees helped shield them from the wind. This was as good a campsite as they were going to find tonight.

  Nobody objected, including him.

  “There’s no reason to keep Pallas’s night schedule.” Penny yawned. “We’ll move faster and surer in the day so let’s make a camp and get some sleep. Maybe in the morning we can figure out if we’re heading in the right direction.”

  He kicked a few stones clear of the snow. “The ground is frozen. We’ll clear some of the snow away so it doesn’t melt with our body heat and make us wet. Parker, don’t you build houses for a living?”

  “Uh, sure.” The male shuffled his feet in the snow.

  “Can you make us some kind of shelter? Nothing fancy.”

  Penny set her hand on Alistair’s arm. “Can we speak in private?”

  A shiver ran up his arm. Must be the wind, but he stared at where she touched him.