Ground training, p.1
Ground Training, page 1
part #1 of Immortal Outcasts® Series
Ground Training
Immortal Outcasts®
Mandy M. Roth
Ground Training (Immortal Outcasts) © Copyright February 2024, Mandy M. Roth
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
All books are copyrighted to the author and may not be resold or given away without written permission from the author, Mandy M. Roth®.
Mandy M. Roth®, Immortal Ops®, PSI-Ops®, Immortal Outcasts®, Paranormal Security and Intelligence®, and Paranormal Security and Intelligence Ops Shadow Agents® are registered trademarks of Raven Happy Hour, LLC
This novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence. The book is fictional and not a how-to. As always, in real life, practice good judgment in all situations. Novel intended for adults only. Must be 18 years or older to read.
To Sam aka Buttercup. Thank you for letting me bounce the story idea off you. To Heather, for staying up all night to help make this happen and for reading it no less than six billion times. To Jennifer, for always being at the ready to assist. To Shane, thank you for letting me talk non-stop at you and for giving me endless fodder for use in my ops books. To Jennifer H. thank you for all of the help with learning about horses and for always being so supportive.
Contents
Author Note:
Recap:
Suggested Reading Order of Books Released to Date in the Immortal Ops Series World
Blurb
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part II
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Sources
About the Author
Author Note:
I highly recommend reading Healing the Wolf (Shadow Agent Series) and Wrecked Intel (Immortal Outcasts Series) prior to reading Ace’s story. It will certainly help with your overall reading enjoyment. If you are in need of my suggested reading order for the Immortal Ops World, please visit my website.
To those of you who know and love horses inside and out, please accept my apology for any errors that may be included in this novel. Please know that a year ago, I knew very little about horses but dove headfirst into research mode, determined to make Ace’s book a success and as authentic as I could, considering the man turns into a horse. Be gentle and join me on this wild ride.
Recap:
(may contain spoilers)
In Healing the Wolf (Gram’s book), we have our first introduction to the Caladrius Wellness and Healing Center Spa & Resort in Colorado. Sounds like a dream relaxation and recovery getaway, right? Not so much. Turns out, it’s owned and operated by a cult full of zealots. We meet Ace in this book for the first time, as well as Armand, Mac, and Car.
This book naturally flows into Wrecked Intel (Cody’s book), where, in the present day, we find Cody dealing with Bill while standing in the aftermath of what had been the wellness center before he, Mac, Car, Armand, Bill, and Gus head to Savannah, Georgia. Bill, Gus, and the twins remain in Savannah for Bound to Midnight (Landros’s book) and Out of the Dark (Wheeler’s book).
In Act of Surveillance (Rurik’s book), Bill and Gus are back at Division B Headquarters to start, but the twins remain in Savannah. Bill and Gus end up in Durham, North Carolina. Bat Out of Hell (Blaise’s story) picks up directly where Act of Surveillance left off. The gang fights baddies in North Carolina before heading back to headquarters.
Act of Freedom (Striker’s book) was the last title that was released in the Immortal Ops Series World if you’re going by the suggested reading order. In it, Striker and Edee came to terms with the fact they were fated to be together, and they had to stand against an enemy they thought was dead.
The Corporation is still up to no good. PSI still has an issue with moles in the organization, so the men aren’t sure who they can trust fully. The Denver branch of PSI has had its hands full with The Flock’s compound cleanup, and the Outcasts who have been working out of the Denver area have been lending a hand. That is a fast summary. If you want to do a reread of the series world to date, visit Mandy’s website for the suggested reading order.
Suggested Reading Order of Books Released to Date in the Immortal Ops Series World
While books in the Immortal Ops Series World can be read in any order, the author suggests reading them in the following order:
* * *
Immortal Ops (Immortal Ops)
Critical Intelligence (Immortal Ops)
Radar Deception (Immortal Ops)
Strategic Vulnerability (Immortal Ops)
Tactical Magik (Immortal Ops)
Act of Mercy (PSI-Ops)
Administrative Control (Immortal Ops)
Act of Surrender (PSI-Ops)
Broken Communication (Immortal Outcasts)
Separation Zone (Immortal Ops)
Act of Submission (PSI-Ops)
Damage Report (Immortal Outcasts)
Act of Command (PSI-Ops)
Wolf’s Surrender (Shadow Agents)
The Dragon Shifter’s Duty (Shadow Agents)
Midnight Echoes (Crimson Ops)
Isolated Maneuver (Immortal Outcasts)
Expecting Darkness (Crimson Ops)
Area of Influence (Immortal Ops)
Act of Passion (PSI-Ops)
Act of Brotherhood (PSI-Ops)
Healing the Wolf (Shadow Agents)
Wrecked Intel (Immortal Outcasts)
Bound by Midnight (Crimson Ops)
Out of the Dark (Shadow Agents)
Act of Surveillance (PSI-Ops)
Bat Out of Hell (Crimson Ops)
Act of Freedom (PSI-Ops)
Ground Training (Immortal Outcasts)
and more books to come!
* * *
This list is NOT up to date. Please check MandyRoth.com for the most current release list.
* * *
Mandy is always releasing new books within the series world. Sign up for her newsletter at MandyRoth.com to never miss a new release.
* * *
You can read each individual series within the world, in whatever order you want…
PSI-Ops: Paranormal Security and Intelligence
Act of Mercy
Act of Surrender
Act of Submission
Act of Command
Act of Passion
Act of Brotherhood
Act of Surveillance
Act of Freedom
And more…
Immortal Ops:
Immortal Ops
Critical Intelligence
Radar Deception
Strategic Vulnerability
Tactical Magik
Administrative Control
Separation Zone
Area of Influence
And more…
Immortal Outcasts:
Broken Communication
Damage Report
Isolated Maneuver
Wrecked Intel
Ground Training
And more…
Paranormal Security and Intelligence Ops: Shadow Agents
Wolf’s Surrender
The Dragon Shifter’s Duty
Healing the Wolf
Out of the Dark
And more…
Paranormal Security and Intelligence Ops: Crimson Ops Series
Midnight Echoes
Expecting Darkness
Bound by Midnight
Bat Out of Hell
And more…
* * *
Paranormal Regulators Series and Clear Sight Division Operatives (Part of the Immortal Ops World) Coming Soon!
Blurb
Ground Training
Paranormal Shifter Military Special Ops Romance
Former Immortal Operative Ace Hargraves is a genetically altered super soldier shapeshifter who has spent twenty-five years trying to atone for his past sins. It's high time he learns to stop living in the past and with regrets. But when Ace finds himself standing before someone whom he believed to be dead and gone, his entire world shifts on its axis. Now it’s all he can do to wrap his mind around the fact she’s not only alive but is his mate, not to mention the enemy is anything but gone.
Part I
Then
Chapter One
Several hours outside of Denver, Colorado, twenty-five years ago…
Ace Hargraves tossed another hay bale onto an already tall stack of them in the barn. It was the height of the afternoon, and the temperature had peaked. The mid-August heat was no joke. Sweat covered Ace’s face, and he lifted his shirt to wipe it away. He didn’t mind hard work. He welcomed it. Besides, the mindless task of unloading hay bales kept his thoughts off other things.
He brushed his leather glove-c overed hands together, knocking away stray pieces of hay before heading out of the barn to the trailer full of bales still awaiting him. With a quick double-check, Ace made sure no one was close enough to get a good look at him before he grabbed two bales with each hand, lifting them with ease.
He’d been at the task most of the day and had already unloaded four trailers’ worth of hay, but he was fine and could keep going for hours before he’d begin to slow. He could have gotten all four trailer loads of hay unloaded in an hour or so had he been alone on the ranch.
It was one of the perks of being more than human. It was also one of the curses. Others tended to notice when you did things like lifting multiple hay bales simultaneously in each hand without effort.
Unlike some supernaturals he knew, Ace had been human at one point in his life, so he had that to draw on for inspiration when he was pretending items were heavier than they were or that he was exhausted from overexerting himself. Some supernaturals were so good at passing for humans that they could fool everyone, other supernaturals included. But he’d met some supernaturals who had no clue how to pass as human. At times, that was comical. Other times, it was downright disturbing.
He missed being around others like himself. Missed being able to be himself and not having to always mind his strength and speed for fear a human might see and realize he was something more. His strength and stamina were far greater than a regular person’s, and could easily tip off others that something was amiss. He didn’t need anyone digging too deep into him or his past.
While he was using the assumed name of Joe Barnes, a deep dive into him would prove the identity had only existed on paper for three years. He was good at creating fake identities, but there was no point spending a bunch of money on it if he didn’t have to. Right now, this identity would hold so long as no one looked too hard at it. If an individual dug deep enough, they’d trip the alarms the government had in place to track and find Ace and the men like him.
The Outcasts.
The last fucking thing Ace needed was to have men in black sniffing around the area. It wouldn’t take them long to find him if they did. He’d already had one too many close calls over the last few decades and didn’t want to chance another.
Ace’s last encounter with the men in black ended with his narrow escape and him needing medical attention. He’d spent two weeks in the basement of an off-book facility with questionable health standards and an even more questionable medical staff. The kind that left him with scars to this date on injuries that should have healed over quickly, considering he was a supernatural.
He was fairly sure they’d gotten their degrees from some random dude on a street corner. Not any accredited university. He’d have been pissed about their shitty medical attention, but the alternative was death or, even worse, capture.
Never again would he be a lab rat for anyone.
“Been there. Done that,” he muttered. “Got the ability to shift into a horse to prove it.”
Lying low was the best course of action for him, at least for a while longer. Working at the ranch allowed him to do just that. He could stay active and fit since the work was physical and collect a paycheck, even if it was small. The job came with free room and board as well as meals. He had a good amount of cash stashed away, but he didn’t want to touch that, if at all possible. It was there in the event he couldn’t work.
Being a ranch hand kept him busy and his mind off the fact that he was a wanted man. The government had a price on his head, and if it wasn’t them looking for him, there were countless others who wanted to get their hands on a living, breathing, genetically altered super soldier.
Ace snorted as he tossed the hay bales onto the stack and straightened them. He was hardly a “super” anything. Hell, he was what the government had labeled an Outcast.
A defective model.
One of their broken toys.
He wasn’t one of their perfect Immortal Operative (I-Op) golden boys who had been genetically altered, and he wasn’t a natural-born supernatural like most of the Paranormal Security and Intelligence Operatives (PSI-Op). He was an ugly stain on their secret testing program. Something they wanted removed—for good.
Their genetic testing hadn’t gone as planned with his group of test subjects. Sure, Ace had taken to the DNA manipulation like a duck to water, but the results hadn’t been optimal. The goal had been unstoppable soldiers. Men who would be sent into battle and be able to handle anything thrown their way. Ultimate weapons that could help tip outcomes in favor of whatever régime they served.
The government and its scientists thought Ace would end up being a valuable military asset. Someone able to do their dirty work for years to follow. Instead, they’d turned him into something other than human. Not the prized possession they’d been hoping for.
Like many of their test subjects, Ace had proven to be a letdown. A failure of epic proportions. They’d wanted men with traits that had been carefully selected from the animal kingdom and extras they’d thought up. Men who had perfect control over that side of themselves and who weren’t prone to physical and mental breakdowns.
Around the time of Ace’s induction into the program, the scientists had been going through a phase of wanting to create shifters that were outside the box. Beyond their original types like wolves and cat-shifters. His group of soldiers ended up with far more variety than previous testing groups. There were men who could turn into crocodiles, alligators, Komodo dragons, massive snakes, buffalos, gorillas, elephants, kangaroos, whales, squids, sharks, bears, bulls, and more. Hell, Ace even knew a guy who could turn into a giant fucking turtle.
The sky was the limit when it came to shifter types.
Ace’s body had taken to the introduction of animal DNA into his system. The issue was that he’d taken too well to more than one of the strains that had been introduced to him. From his understanding, they’d been aiming at making him into something other than a horse. He hadn’t been aware that somewhere in his family line, there had been horse-shifters—men who could change easily into horses and back again.
It had come as a great shock to all involved when Ace had broken through the restraints that held him to the exam table and shifted into a massive horse. One that was bigger than any normal horse, not to mention a hybrid of various kinds of them.
He’d once heard a scientist whisper that Ace reminded him of a horse that would be seen pulling the devil’s carriage should that ever occur. Had that been the whole of it and Ace been left a horse-shifter, things might have still worked out for him within the Immortal Ops Program. But his body had accepted certain traits from other animals. Enough that they interfered with his ability to control his rage or shifts—at least to start with.
Then there were the nightmares.
At one point, they’d been so frequent and so vivid that he’d been afraid to close his eyes. For several years following his initial testing, he’d needed to be heavily sedated for large chunks of time because he’d been a danger to himself and others. In the early days, he’d lost control and accidentally trampled two of the men involved in the testing. At the time, he’d been devastated that he could do such a thing without remembering it.
