Darcingtowne Wolves: The Misfits (Book 1)

Chapter Nine: Who Watches the Watcher

Penny shook her head a bit, shaking off the strange feeling of being on unfamiliar territory. Truth be told, the only thing that eased her worry was the fact that she was excellent at suppressing her aura - unlike her father. That, and she doubted that she was going to be the only other alpha at this party. Since Alpha females were relatively rare, she could probably go unnoticed so long as she didn’t reveal herself, and people would just chalk any traces of her aura up to being at a party with a bunch of brazen Alphas or Alpha blooded wolves.

We might as well shift back now. Can you magic us up some party clothes, Bastian? Penelope sent her thoughts out to the group as they came to a stop just outside the circle of light being cast by the party, which had spread out into beautifully tended gardens outside the palatial packhouse. 

Sure thing, Pen. Bastian came up, shifting first and snapping himself up some clothes - fitted jeans, a nice pair of designer sneakers, and a muscle shirt that showed off his tight physique. He might not have been a giant of a man, but Sebastian was certainly no slouch, and was happy to wear clothes that would prove it.

Carrie shifted next, and was snapped into a cute bubble hemmed party dress in a bright green along with a pair of strappy gold sandals. Then, it was Ryan’s turn. Bastian considered him for a moment, then snapped - and Ryan was outfitted in neat black slacks, shiny leather shoes, and a button down shirt that was a bit more open than he was comfortable with. As Ryan did up the remaining buttons of his shirt, a slight blush blooming across his tan cheeks, Penelope shifted back into her human form.

The first thing Sebastian put her in was what Penelope could only describe as a Princess dress. It had huge puffy sleeves, and a voluminous skirt. It was a lurid shade of cotton candy pink. Penny growled low and angry, turning her burning gaze on her beta.

“Okay, okay...I couldn’t help myself. Here.” the mage snapped his fingers, and Penny’s outfit morphed into a black cape sleeved jumpsuit and a pair of pointy black patent leather heels. Her waist length silvery blonde hair was down and stood out starkly against the black of her jumpsuit. Instead of her usual stud earrings she wore long hoop earrings that accentuated the long line of her neck.

“Better.” Penelope said simply, giving Sebastian an approving nod.

“Hot damn, my dude. Can I get some of that?” the stranger, who they’d all but forgot about, piped up.

Bastian blinked a few times, then laughed. “Sure, bro. What’s your style?”

...And that’s how The Misfits strolled into a party that they hadn’t been invited to flanking a man dressed in an elaborate peacock themed pimp outfit. The train of his magnificent blue and green feathered pimp coat splayed out behind him, glittering with thousands of rhinestones.

Penny was not about to complain, because their new friend, whose name they still hadn’t learned, served as an excellent distraction. No one had eyes for the blonde in black while the glitzy Peacock Man was standing in front of her. As The Misfits and company made their way into the garden, which was lit with strings of multicolored lights, the conversations of the milling party goers paused momentarily as they took in the newcomers.

Penelope shifted a little into the crowd, letting Peacock Man take center stage as the DJ who had been spinning from a small booth set up by the dance floor came to a screeching stop as he too stared, open mouthed, at who was fast becoming Penny’s favorite person in the whole world. 

“I am here...to get this party started!” the Peacock Man declared, gesticulating with his similarly bejeweled cane. 

Because he just couldn’t help himself, Sebastian snapped and made tiny fireworks erupt around Peacock Man’s hands. When Penny caught Bastian’s eye and raised an eyebrow at him, he coughed, and turned away, trying to hide his mischievous smirk.

The crowd started cheering, being just drunk enough to know their cue, and Peacock Man swept his train around him as he began to boogie.

I’m not going to drink, so you guys have a good time. I’ll keep an eye out if you need me. Penelope said over the mind link.

Carrie and Sebastian disappeared almost immediately, while Ryan stuck by her for a few minutes as he assessed the gathered werewolves. Finally, a she-wolf who had been eyeing them got up the gumption to approach. She glanced briefly at Penny, then smiled winsomely up at Ryan.

“H-hey there, I’m Sierra. What’s your name?” the she-wolf said, her voice shy, but not so low that she couldn’t be heard over the thumping base.

“Ryan.” Ryan said simply. When he smiled, the poor girl practically melted.

Have fun, big boy. Penelope linked privately to Ryan before wandering away.

In a way, she was throwing poor Ryan to the wolves, pun intended. But, Penny figured it was well past time that her bear of a Gamma got a little practice playing doctor - especially since she didn’t want him playing those kinds of games with Carrie. Ryan had already rebuffed Carrie several times, but Penny doubted that would stop the ravenous redhead from trying again so long as they were both unmated.

Ryan was a soft target, who Carrie probably thought would never reciprocate - nice, sweet, safe. But, he was still a man. How long could he really resist? Penny would rather not find out the hard way how much teasing the bear of a wolf could tolerate. Not that he’d hurt Carrie, but things would most assuredly get messy if they did hook up.

Penelope left the garden, deciding to follow a drifting stream of people who were heading into the packhouse proper. That’s probably where the refreshments were, and she was starving. Inside the house was a much more subdued party; the kind where people smoked cigars and discussed shallow things. In fact, there was a group of preppy young men off to one corner doing just that. She thought she heard one of Carrie’s giggles coming from off that direction, and she felt glad that her friend was enjoying herself.

From what Penelope could see, the Twilight Promenade packhouse was laid out similar to her own packhouse, but built on a much grander scale. The grand foyer had a double staircase and three chandeliers that dripped with pale violet crystals. The tile floor was laid out in a massive mosaic that featured golden wolves ambling amidst the dark green of the Bramble, all set against a blue and purple twilight sky. Some of the sky tiles were quartz, and caught the light in a way that made Penny think of early evening stars.

Penny’s nose crinkled a little as the acrid smell of wolfsbane laced cigars filtered into her nostrils. How could Carrie stand being so close to that smell? They were strong, and she moved quickly toward the far side of the room, grateful to see that the buffet tables had been set up there along with a number of small round cocktail tables where people were chatting while they ate and drank.

Penelope smiled as she gathered up a full plate of little finger foods and settled down on a tall stool at one of the unoccupied tables. As she stuffed her face and watched the various party goers, she felt herself start to relax. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad. There were lots of people at the party, and not all of them looked like douchey assholes. In fact, most of them looked like normal uni students who were as much in awe of their lush surroundings as she was.

Penny tapped her foot absently to the beat of the bass that she could still feel thrumming faintly from outside, and smiled. Now that her plate was cleared, and she got a few friendly nods from nearby party goers, she found that she was actually enjoying herself. She’d always been fond of people watching, and this party was full of interesting characters. It was almost like one of those teen movies, where she could see the cliques forming little groups. Nerds, jocks, rich kids, and of course couples who were making out right in the open as if no one could see them. Or, maybe they just liked being watched.

But, as she enjoyed watching those around her, Penelope soon realized that she was also, in turn, being watched. She didn’t want to spin around and look for the person watching her, but she could feel their eyes on the back of her head - and knew, instinctively, that the look she was getting was not a happy one. The watcher must have gotten tired of simply staring, as a few minutes after detecting their presence, she felt someone come up behind her.

That someone leaned in close, and growled in her ear, “And just what the hell do you think you’re doing down here little Princess?”