Penny's Choice (Book 1 of Penny's Choice Series)

Chapter 6 (Vampire to the Rescue)

Penny regained her mind enough to start asking a million questions. She was irate and wanted answers to all of her questions right then, and she wouldn't let Charles weasel his way out of answering this time.

"Penny, pipe down," he said. She rolled her eyes and then followed his eyes. He was concentrating on something, trying to catch a glimpse of something in the forest. She decided that maybe now wasn't the best time to pester him with questions. There seemed to be danger in the making.

"Come here." He gave her his hand. "We have to move now!" His voice turned very serious. His hand gripped hers, but before they could take another step a horrific roar bellowed through the woods.

"What in the world was that?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"More werewolves," Charles said angrily and dragged her towards the car.

Out of the woods came twenty huge vicious beasts, over four times the size of a man, and surrounded them. Penny gasped and tightened her grasp on Charles's hand.

She peered at the beasts who wanted to rip off their heads. They snapped their jaws and glared.

"How are we going to fight them all?" she asked. They'd come prepared to fight vampires, not werewolves.

"Me, not we. You are not ready to fight a werewolf," Charles said. Before she could point out that she had already killed one, he stepped forward.

She thought he was going to fight all of the werewolves, who towered over him. They would tear him to shreds. Werewolves were tough foes, and one man could not fight even one alone. In the car, there had been three of them. Plus, the car had provided some protection. They were out in the open now, face to face with the werewolves.

A wolf leaped in her direction, but another body flew from behind them and smashed the wolf against a tree. Penny fell to the ground from the impact. She was dizzy and couldn't stand up. She needed a moment to collect herself. When she looked up to see who had taken out the werewolf so easily, she saw the person she had least expected to be there to help them: the vampire who had killed her family.

"Penny, Charles, don't move," the vampire ordered. Penny nodded, too dumbfounded to argue. Why was he saving them? Did she smell like tuna noodle casserole?

The wolves' howling shook the ground beneath her feet and raised the hair behind her neck. Penny was horror-struck as the werewolves flew at the vampire in the midst of them. The vampire's gaze was calm on his beautiful face. She thought that he looked a touch like Charles. Penny couldn't believe how amazing he was in a fight; his moves were elegant, graceful, and beautiful.

The vampire moved extraordinarily fast; it was hard to keep track of him in the fight. He didn't think twice before he pounced on them. He caught a werewolf's head and snapped it off its shoulders. Blood squirted out of its neck. The vampire changed his target to a very powerful looking werewolf, but to her amazement he finished it off in a second or two.

He kept them as far away from her as he could. He fought two or three werewolves at a time. He punched one in the face with so much power that its head practically exploded. The vampire grabbed another's lower jaw and tore it apart. Then a split second later he snapped another wolf's neck. Werewolf blood flowed all over the vampire's face.

He cleaned the blood from his face with his hand and turned back around, grabbing the throat of yet another werewolf. His light, shining eyes had turned black, showing the anger that streamed through his blood.

Penny was horrified at the gruesome scene, but her guardian vampire would not stop for even a second. She second guessed her choice to join the Brotherhood.

A playful smile graced his mouth as he gave her a sideways glance. He shouldn't look so carefree, she thought. Didn't he realize that there were about a half dozen wolves gnashing at him? A yell fled her lips, but the vampire had acted already; he stuck his two fingers into the beast's eye and tore its head in two parts.

Things were moving too fast for Penny to keep up. The vampire never stopped protecting Penny and Charles. Penny couldn't believe that she was still alive. When she had first seen the pack of werewolves, she had been sure that she was going to die.

A werewolf jumped on the vampire and bit his arm. She screamed and stepped toward him to help. She really wanted to rescue him, but her legs wouldn't move from where she stood. Why did she even care about this vampire anyway? He was responsible for so much death already.

Charles was also in the fight, but he was not nearly as majestic as the vampire. His arm was bleeding slightly, and there were some nicks on his face. He was mostly just providing some backup to the vampire.

A low growl behind her made her heart stop. She turned around slowly and came face to face with the glaring brown eyes of a werewolf. She screamed for help, and sweat poured down her pale face.

The werewolf snapped its jaws and attacked her. She tried to run, but she flew into the air and smacked the ground hard. Blood gushed from a wound in her head. The werewolf leaped on top of her.

The vampire crushed the werewolf on top of Penny with one swift blow, and then he was gone again, fighting the last few werewolves.

"You are not going to die," the vampire said to her. "Not now. I can't bear to lose you after all of this."

His voice was very protective, and she couldn't understand why. Why was this crazy vampire protecting her and Charles? She remembered what Charles had said; sometimes vampires did things that didn't make any sense to humans.

The vampire turned around and ducked a werewolf's swinging claws. He plunged his hand into the werewolf's chest and tore out its beating heart.

"Penny, run! You have to leave now! I have killed most of the werewolves, but the vampires are coming for you," the vampire yelled over his shoulder while protecting himself from another dangerous werewolf. She nodded and ran, but she could only run a few steps before she was lifted up into the air by her hair. She screamed and saw it was another vampire who had lifted her off the ground.

This vampire had pitch-black eyes that were filled with hate. He stared at her in a way that cried death. Penny had no idea what was going on. Why was one vampire protecting her, and why was this one about to eat her?

But instead of biting her, he covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief that smelled of camphor. Penny collapsed into a lifeless heap in the vampire's arms.