Vanessa Penderghast

[Vanessa]

Name: Vanessa Penderghast.
Nicknames: Nessa, Nessie. Loch Ness will get something thrown at you.
Race: Werewolf – bitten.
Occupation: Pack member.
Gender: Female.
Skin Colour: Pale and freckly.
Nationality: English.
Age: 110 | Appears to be early-to-mid twenties.
Clothing: Nessa isn't terribly fussy about how she looks on a day-to-day basis. She owns two pairs of heels and only a handful of outfits that could be considered "formal". Outside of her job, Vanessa will probably be found in jeans or shorts, depending on the weather. She prefers to keep her shoulders covered no matter them temperature outside. Her feet are usually bare, unless she is working in the kitchen
Height: 5'6".
Weight: 123lbs.
Tattoos: A pink stargazer lily on the back of her neck.

Piercings: None.
Jewellery: Vanessa owns some of her mother's jewelry, but she hardly ever wears it.
Body Modifications: The scars from her turning are embarrassingly prominent – jagged lines on either shoulder – hence her preference for sleeved tops.

WOLF FORM
Build: Long-limbed and well-muscled, there is no way anyone could mistake Vanessa for a standard wolf. Her massive shoulders and sheer size – when compared to "natural" wolves – give her away for what she is.
Height: Quadrupedal; 5'.
Weight: 209lbs.
Hair: Blue-grey and course. The thicker stripe of fur that runs between Vanessa's ears and down her back is considerably lighter.
Eyes: Very bright, almost to the point where they will glow in a darkened room. Their coloring is similar that of a red-hot coal.
Defining Marks: Very high, hunched shoulders.

PACK
Pack: Rayne's.
Position: Member.
Territory: Rayne and Dante's.

HAIR[/i]
Length: Just past her shoulders.
Style: Out of the way. Either pulled back with some kind of elastic or one of those grabbing combs.
Colour: Deep red. Yes, it's natural.

FACIAL HAIR
Length: N/A.
Style: N/A.

EYES
Colour: Pale green.
Oddities: Nessa's eyes will shift to the color of her wolf, usually when the female is in a great deal of pain or under extreme emotional duress. She also has a tendency to "flash" her wolf eyes when irritated.

Personality: Vanessa has no problem with being invisible. By nature, she is mild-mannered – and almost shy, at times – and doesn't like confrontation. She doesn't want to step on anybody's toes, she doesn't want to ruffle any feathers – a pack is supposed to be a family and, if this is the case, then Vanessa could be considered the quiet, obedient younger child.

More than anything, though, Ness simply wants to make her packmates happy. One might think that the freedom she is allowed now would have a more pronounced effect on her, but the Vanessa who grew up the only girl in her family and the Vanessa who is now surrounded by pack are essentially one in the same. She cleans up after her packmates, she will frequently offer to fix dinner if a large number of stomachs start growling at once; all she wants to do is help.

Of course, this desire to take care of everyone else should not be mistaken for weakness. While Vanessa will always try to avoid confrontation, she will not tolerate being backed into a corner. If Nessa knows that she is in the right, she will stick to her guns, occasionally reinforcing the stereotype regarding redheaded females. There's a steel-reinforced backbone in there (somewhere) even though it might take a bit of pushing for Ness to show it.

And then, there's Kiernan. The Irish fighter was the first real friend and he means the world to her. In recent years, she has come to realize that her feelings towards Kiernan have become decidedly more romantic in nature. She loves him, quite frankly, but it is her love for him that keeps her from coming clean about her feelings – Vanessa is unwilling to compromise their friendship, even if it means carrying this pesky emotional burden on her shoulders.

Weaknesses: Silver, most importantly – like any werewolf, Vanessa cannot abide contact with the precious metal; it will burn her skin and prolonged exposure can make her very sick, or even be fatal. Emotionally, there are some things that have been ingrained into Vanessa's head that she has yet to let go of, mostly pertaining to her worth as a person. She will easily dismiss herself and doesn't always seem to understand why people care about her - she's just a female, after all. Ness' willingness to take care of others can – and has – overshadowed her need to take care of herself. She works well under pressure, being very focused, but if you leave Ness to her own devices, it's likely that she will work until she drops. Her control over the wolf becomes difficult to manage during the full moon and requires her to go into confinement. Kiernan could also be considered a weakness; she would be willing to do anything for him, protect him any way she could, even if it led to her own demise.

Abilities: Lycanthropy has given Vanessa the usual perks: enhanced speed, strength, endurance and agility, along with heightened senses. Her body heals at a much faster rate than any human's and it is likely that she will not age any further.

Given that she isn't a fighter and couldn't carry a tune in a handbasket, Ness' contribution to the pack would have to be her housekeeping skills. She can cook, and bake, and she does both well, which shouldn't be much of a surprise, as she all but ran the household that she grew up in. Extremely organized and well-versed in multitasking. She has had first-aid training, as well – enough that her knowledge is about equal to an EMT.

Weapons: Cast-iron skillet. Seriously, not only could you crack a skull open one one of those things, but they actually make fairly good projectile weapons. She does know how to handle a knife, in a pinch, but there's a bit of a difference between julienning a cucumber and fending off an enemy.

Prized Possessions: Her mother's jewelry and her recipe cards.

Home(s): The Four Seasons.

History:
Lily Penderghast died giving birth to her fourth child. The sacrifice would have been warranted, had another male been added to the already three-strong Penderghast brood, but no; Vanessa was born instead on that dank February morning in Suffolk. And what good was a girl? A girl couldn't be educated, couldn't go out into the world to bring wealth back to the family – and considering Father's gambling debts, this was something of a priority – a girl was all but useless.

Nonetheless, Father, along with Michael, Damon, and Richard, tolerated the youngest child's presence. When it became clear that she had an aptitude in the kitchen, well, that was perfect; Father hadn't been doing so well at cards (or the racetrack, or with his billiards chums), so it wasn't as though they could afford a true housekeeper. And Vanessa, mild-mannered, timid child that she was, would never even dream of arguing against the early mornings and the hours spent in the kitchen, the afternoons spent all throughout the modest Penderghast estate keeping each and ever room spotless.

Really, she didn't mind. It was better than being ignored entirely.

Of course, the trouble began when Vanessa began to notice that the things she spent her days cleaning – the French paintings and the Chinese vases – were slowly disappearing. Father had to pay off his debts somehow, of course, and her three older brothers could only work so many hours in the city. It was around this time that Father made a new friend, a rich Don from Aragon who would appear for dinner every few days – Don Marco de Valencia. Strangest of all, though, was the fact that Don Marco would often strike up conversation with Vanessa. Her father even encouraged her to reply; "Be accomodating, Ness'," he told her.

It all made sense when she was shaken awake one morning and told to dress "proper" before she came downstairs. In the foyer was Don Marco and beside him was the one valise that Vanessa owned, all her belongings packed up inside. She was to go with the Don; they were betrothed now, Father seeing fit to all but sell off his only daughter to assure that he and his sons would be able to live comfortably once again.

Vanessa had finally been found useful.

What Father did not realize, was that the Don was more than what he seemed. After the wedding at Don Marco's court in Spain, Vanessa discovered the truth about her new husband. He was a werewolf. A rogue who was tired of living on his own, and he intended for Vanessa to be his mate. She was turned during their wedding night.

Don Marco was not unkind. Simply demanding. Things were to be run in his household a certain way, and it was only when the routine was broken that he became angry. Vanessa would bear the brunt of that anger, but just like with her family – her father and brothers – she couldn't fight back. She didn't fight back for three whole years. She didn't have it in her. Not to her knowledge, anyway.

Things changed drastically one night. The Don was furious, in a rage over a slight he had received from a rival, and Vanessa could do nothing to calm him. He found her in the kitchen with his usual temper, eyes flashing wolfen, and that was when Vanessa struck. The heavy cast-iron frying pan came down on Don Marco's head until his skull had lost its shape and his blood stained the fine wood flooring. Vanessa dropped the bloodied pan and bolted. What little allowance Don Marco gave her was used to get her out of the country and across the Atlantic.

New York was difficult, but Vanessa's newfound freedom did her well. She at least recognized her own skill as a cook and made due there, travelling from city to city – restaurant to restaurant – and honing her skills as she went. It wasn’t an ideal existence, not in the least; more often than not, she found herself waitressing in establishments more known for their barroom brawls than their steak au poivre. The important thing was that she got paid.

Vanessa’s rootless existence continued, taking her from East coast to West. Encounters with other wolves were few and far between; considering how she had come to be sired, Vanessa found it hard to trust others of her kind, the males especially. The rogue female soon found herself in Los Angeles before long, working at the same run-down dives that she had on the East Coast. Young as she was, there were nights when she struggled against her wolf, when the creature was too anxious to be contained. Vanessa tried to manage – she saw no other options, she had to work no matter how the wolf felt – but she knew it would only be a matter of time until her true nature was exposed to the people she worked with.

One night in particular seemed to wear at her control. The bar was packed, the patrons loud and more belligerent than usual, and her manager – a rotten man to begin with – saw fit to take his frustration out on Vanessa. The wolf tried to push to the surface and she was powerless to stop it.

The male's voice was low and soothing. His scent – a wolf's scent – seemed to calm her instead of pushing her to panic. Vanessa let the stranger lead her away from the chaos of the bar. He kept speaking, quiet and reassuring, until both were certain that her wolf had been contained, at least for the moment. The male introduced himself and Kiernan O'Rourke; Vanessa learned that he was a wolf with one of the two packs that lived within the city limits. He seemed surprised that a wolf as young as her was trying to manage alone, especially given how precarious her control was.

They talked for a good while. That alone was enough to shock her. Kiernan was the first male she had met since her turning who didn't make her anxious or afraid. He had stepped out of his way to help her and she felt genuinely safe with him – something she hadn't felt in a long time. The male told her of his life with the pack, how he felt it might benefit someone like her and, thought Vanessa knew he must be right, she had only one condition: she needed Kiernan at her side. She knew that, without a shadow of a doubt.

She met Rayne and Dante a few weeks later. The Alphas of Kiernan's pack were aloof, maybe even somewhat cold, but Rayne was at least sympathetic. Vanessa became part of the pack, moved into the Four Seasons, and knew within a day that she had made the right choice. Even with the tension that was always present, even with the way some wolves seemed to faction off from the Alphas, Vanessa was able to feel at ease.

The fact that Kiernan has hardly left her side since the day they met has definitely helped, too.