A.N.D. - Through the Looking Glass

When she got to the throne room it had already started. Littlebit was on her knees, head bowed, holding up a magnificent cloak. It must have been magic, because the embroidery kept changing; little birds flapped their wings among multicolored flowers which bloomed as they watched, showing jeweled centers.

It was beyond beautiful. There was a general “OOOOoooo” from the crowd as Littlebit held it up.

But it was Queen Hood, not Wendell, who stepped down from the throne to take it and as she did, it dragged across Littlebit’s skirts and exposed her tail.

“A wolf? You’re nothing but a wolf?” Red suddenly had a cleaver in her hands. “How dare you sully the palace with your presence? Blasphemer! Animal! Bitch!” She stalked the frantically stammering Littlebit, who was scooting backwards, still on her knees. Virginia tried to jump forward but she was frozen in place as Red lifted the cleaver high and caught Littlebit by the tail. She swung, chopping off the bit of fur and holding it up triumphantly, the blood sweeping down her arm and dying her hooded cloak red.

Littlebit howled in agony and ran into the rain outside the door.

Virginia started awake, still hearing the rain, which clarified into the sound of the shower. Wow, where did that dream come from? Littlebit may be twitchy and somewhat battered, but she seemed to be in one piece. And nobody had mentioned Red Riding Hood III at all-her subconscious must have blended the Nine Kingdoms and the Renfaire’s Big Bad Wolf stories. One thing she had to say for the Nine Kingdoms, they made you have the oddest dreams! At least in this one she wasn’t choking on apples or married to her dad.

The continuing sound of running water was making her realize that it had been a bad idea to drink all that coffee, decaf or not. Whoever was in the bathroom had better get out because she needed a turn too. Soon. No, very soon. No-right now!

Hoping that it wasn’t her father in there, Virginia quietly opened the bathroom door. A high-pitched squeak told her she’d startled the only other woman in the place.

“Littlebit, I’m sorry, I just really needed to...” Virginia stopped, shocked. Littlebit had grabbed for a towel to cover herself. But it wasn’t big enough to hide the stump of an amputated tail.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be right out, I didn’t mean to take so long...” Littlebit was babbling, but her voice ran down as she realized where Virginia was staring.

“No, I’m sorry,” Virginia said into the sudden silence, yanking her gaze front and center and up... and found herself meeting Littlebit’s eyes. “I am very sorry,” she said sincerely.

“You didn’t do it.” She sounded very different when she wasn’t frantic and apologizing. More like her brother.

“Was it...” Virginia wasn’t sure what she intended to ask, what she even had a right to ask. Well, there was one thing she needed to know. “Was it bad in the Kingdoms?”

Littlebit craned to look wryly at her own backside.

“My father would protect you.”

“I know. He was very kind to me. Very generous.”

“Then why didn’t you trust him enough to live there?”

“I have learned,” Littlebit said tensely, stepping out of the tub, “not to trust those who are kind and generous to me.” She toweled off vigorously as Virginia did her business, each woman pretending for a moment that the other wasn’t there.

Virginia ended up staring at her own feet to keep from staring at the stump. What was it like to have a piece of you chopped off? She wriggled her toes and thought about the troll king, who wanted to burn her feet, maim her for knowledge she didn’t even have. Who made her watch the terrible iron shoes heat, knowing what they were and what he planned, until Wolf rescued her. Had Littlebit had to stare at the knife, or did they do it quickly?

“Lady Virginia?” Littlebit was looking at her own toes, which she was drying with great care. “Were I building a den with my own mate, I would not like to have to share it too soon. But Wolf is all the pack I have left.” Her voice was almost neutral; if Virginia wasn’t used to trying to pick up Wolf’s moods she might not have heard the faint tremor.

“What about your other... um...”

“Russ? Russ left me behind years ago. With people who promised to take good care of me.” She laughed mirthlessly, then dropped the pretense and turned desperately, dropping to her knees. “Lady Virginia, if I cannot stay with you, at least help me stay here. Let me start over. Please, please, if I can just see Wolf sometimes, I’ll help out, please, I’ll never bother you if you don’t want it, please, my lady, please...”

She didn’t want to share her home. She didn’t want to share Wolf, particularly with someone who knew him better than she did.

But as she watched the frantic, mutilated woman-no, not really even a woman, she couldn’t be much more than a girl-grovel before her, she could not shut out the memory of Snow White’s voice. “You will one day be like me, a great advisor to other lost girls.”

Well, she’s about as lost as you can get. As lost as you were in that weird place. What would have happened to you if Wolf hadn’t helped you? What will happen to her if you don’t help?

She didn’t want to. She didn’t think she was godmother material, she couldn’t even do magic... but how magical would it seem to Littlebit to have enough to eat and a safe place to sleep?

Yanking Littlebit upright seemed too threatening, so Virginia got on her knees to look her in the eyes. “We’ll figure something out, the three of us. We’ll have plenty of time, since you’ll be staying.”

Littlebit grabbed her in a damp, crushing hug, panting “Thank you... thank you... thank you...” in her ear.

Virginia finally shoved her off so she could breathe. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll be like the others? Kind and generous for my own reasons?”

Littlebit smiled for the first time. “You’re a kingdom-wide heroine and my pack. I’ll risk it.”

Wolf was perched on the bed, peeling off his shoes and socks. “I told Littlebit to sleep on the couch tonight. It’s late. We can talk about long-term arrangements tomorrow.”

“I told her she could stay. If it doesn’t work out here, then we’ll try to find her a place close to here. But don’t worry, it’ll be this side of the mirror.” Virginia changed into new pajamas, her current ones soaked from Littlebit’s hug.

Wolf’s hug was much warmer and dryer, although equally tight. “Thank you,” he said into her hair. “I know you didn’t want to.”

“I’m still worried about stuff. Food. Work. Money.”

“Huff, puff, we’re a family again! Everything else is details.”

Virginia settled into his arms as he lay back. “Did she tell you anything about what’s happened to her?”

She felt his head shake. “Not a word. But I saw that she took the collar. Of course she wouldn’t talk about that.”

“Littlebit became a priest?” Virginia asked stupidly.

“She went to work for Queen Red Riding Hood.”

“What?”

“Oh, she has wolf servants.” Wolf’s voice dripped contempt. “A few who don’t have anywhere else to go, who think they can live up to her insane, impossible standards. She welds a silver collar around their necks when she accepts them.”

“Are you sure of what you saw?”

Wolf didn’t say anything, just reached for the bedside table and put her own heart and key necklace back on her. Then he tugged the charms, hard. Virginia could feel the little chain digging into either side of her neck.

“She had scars right there, where the chain’s pulling.” He dropped the charms with a sigh, gathering Virginia so that she was lying across his chest. “I wonder who dared cut her collar off?”

“A friendly wolf?”

“There are no friends of a wolf who works for Queen Red. Last wolves-that documentary we watched called them omega wolves, remember?-have more status. They may not have dominance, but they aren’t traitors.”

“Traitors?”

“They’re helping our worst enemy, aren’t they?”

“But if she left the queen... Maybe the queen herself had the collar cut off?”

“Oh, no, never that.” He was quite serious. “Two things she’ll never remove are a wolf’s tail and a wolf’s collar. Someone might mistake them for people if she did that.” His disgust was practically palpable. “It’s the first law of Wolf Control in the Second Kingdom-death to remove a wolf’s tail or the queen’s collar.”

He doesn’t know! She needed more information before she said anything about Littlebit’s secret. “But if you could pass for ‘people’ without the tail, then...”

He growled at her, and she could feel the vibration through her own ribs. “There are stories about humans trying to drive the wolf out of half-wolfs by amputating their tails.”

“And?”

“They don’t end well for anyone.” His voice was dark and final, warning her not to ask more. Virginia rose and fell with his deep sigh. “It’s my fault Littlebit was driven to the collar. I was the oldest child. I was supposed to take care of them.”

“It’s not your fault. You were in prison.” He was silent. “Weren’t you?”

“It’s still my fault. If I hadn’t gone to prison, she would never...”

Virginia rolled so she could hug him. “Then you would never have been released by the queen, you would never have met me, you would never have become a hero, and Littlebit would never be living in a world that couldn’t care less about tails.” Or a lack thereof.

He nuzzled her, smiling, and fell asleep. But Virginia stared at the ceiling for a long time.

By morning the Murrays had figured out that Tony was back, and were laying siege outside the penthouse, calling for their master. Virginia thought that her father was going to hide from them, but he startled them all by striding to the door and flinging it wide.

“Master!” Mr. Murray dropped to his knees in ecstasy and planted a big wet kiss on Tony’s butt before he could be stopped.

“Is this the style of respect here?” Littlebit asked in a whisper, smoothing her skirts over her backside and shooting a worried glance at Virginia’s behind. Virginia shook her head.

“Oh, c’mon, you’re part wolf, don’t you people sniff each other or something?” Tony asked as he was swarmed by eager Murrays. Wolf and Littlebit glared at him, which drew Mr. Murray’s attention. “Who is that?” Mr. Murray snapped, jumping to his feet and glaring back at the wolves. “What sort of street trash are you and how dare you look at the Master with those expressions?”

“She’s my sister,” Wolf growled, throwing a protective arm around her.

Unfortunately, the magical glamour only changed the Murray’s behavior towards Tony, and to some extent towards Virginia. To everyone else, the entire Murray clan was as stuffy, snobby, and nasty as always. “Who cares?” Mr. Murray hissed. “Don’t push it, bud. You’re only here because the Master’s daughter wants you for some unknown reason.” His expression made it clear that he thought Virginia was either tasteless or out of her mind and quite possibly both.

Tony stepped in before fur literally started flying. “This man is my son-in-law to be. This woman will be my daughter-in-law. I want you to treat them just as well as you would treat me, or I’ll hear about it. And you won’t like what I’ll do next.”

“Noooooo, Master, nooooo!” They bowed and groveled, and Mrs. Murray even started stumping over on her knees before Tony called her back.

“Leave their asses alone and come back here. I have a job for you, and I want you to do it right away.”

“Anything Master! Anything!”

“Run down to the financial district and sell these.” He pulled a beautiful cuff bracelet of beaten gold out of his pocket, followed by a simple but stunning pair of emerald earrings. “Mind you, get the best possible price! This is a test!”

“They won’t cheat me!” Mrs. Murray promised breathlessly. “They won’t dare!” She left at a run.

Tony turned to the rest of the Murrays. “The rest of you, go get some groceries. Virginia will give you a list.”

Virginia assumed that Wolf and Littlebit had eaten everything and simply scribbled out their usual weekly grocery list-then considered Littlebit and doubled everything. It would take all the Murrays to carry all that meat, but at least it got them out of the apartment. Once that was done, she turned to her father.

“Dad, where’d you get that jewelry? You didn’t...”

“No, I didn’t steal it!” he scoffed at her unspoken accusation. “Little- uh, Elizabeth never took her wages. So I had Wendell convert them into jewelry, since you can’t use gold wendells. You can use the money to get her set up here.”

“Good idea.” Virginia looked at her watch, her mind running through options as fast as possible. “We just have enough time to go get breakfast before Wolf and I have to go to work. Littlebit, if we get you some fashion magazines and fabric, can you make yourself some clothes?” That will keep her busy and in the house so we don’t have to babysit her, at least until we figure out what to do with her.

“I’ll take her around as soon as Mrs. Murray brings back her money. We’ll find her lots of nice stuff in the fabric district.” He turned to Littlebit, who looked like she’d swallowed her tongue. “You’ll like that, won’t you? I’ll show you all around.”

Her eyes wide and white, Littlebit sent a “help me!” glance to her brother, and Virginia bit her lip. This would never work out if Littlebit couldn’t learn to trust her or Tony!

Wolf bristled protectively, stalking over to Tony and warning, “you’d better take good care of my sister!”

Virginia waited for her dad to bluster back, but he just crossed his arms and stared down at Wolf in a way that pointed out that he was several inches taller. “Are you taking good care of my daughter?” he asked significantly.

The challenge took all the wind out of Wolf. “Oh... well, when you put it that way...” He looked at Littlebit and shrugged. “Well, he is gonna be your father-in-law, that makes him pack too.”

All the same, Littlebit looked like she was being marched off to her execution when Tony swept her off after breakfast.

It was a good thing that it was a short day for the caterers-Chrissy’s next job was in two days, so they had only to finalize the menu and make those things that had to marinate or could keep. The easy workload left Wolf too much time to worry about Littlebit, but it also allowed them to rush home early.

“He probably got her in trouble,” Wolf fussed, fidgeting worse than normal in their elevator ride up. “He probably got her lost.”

“Wolf! Dad’s a native New Yorker!”

“Okay, he didn’t get her lost,” he conceded grudgingly. “Maybe he didn’t get enough money. Maybe she didn’t see anything nice. She should have nice things.”

“Nothing nice in the whole fabric district? Wolf, have you been there yet?”

The elevator ride was far too long for both of them-Wolf because he was worried, and Virginia because she wanted to slug him. All the same, she was worried herself. How had it gone? Was Littlebit still afraid of Tony? Would she be able to adjust? Or, considering how jumpy and submissive she was, would she end up like a Murray, only with a tiny tail?

All their worries melted as they got inside. Littlebit, who had started the day dressed in one of Virginia’s skirts and Wolf’s shirts, was now wearing a tidy, simple dress as she sat curled up on the sofa. Around her were scattered the basics of a full wardrobe, as if she’d been showing them off as she finished them. She looked up and timidly waved to them, then buried herself back into the book she was avidly reading.

Wolf bounded across the room to her as Tony came out of the kitchen and handed Virginia a cup of coffee. “Does she still think being with you is a death sentence?” Virginia whispered.

Tony shook his head, smiling as he sipped his coffee. “I think I bought her off. See that book? I saw her keep looking at it. But when I told her she could get it, she said that it was her ‘duty’ to spend only what she needed to and save the rest of the money for ‘the pack.’ So when she wasn’t looking, I bought it for her.”

“And that made it all better?” Virginia watched as Littlebit put the precious book down and started showing off her new clothes for Wolf’s approval.

“Not at first.” Her father’s voice was grim, and Virginia shot him a startled look. “First she told me I didn’t have to. Then she told me she wasn’t worth it. And when I insisted, she asked me what I wanted her to do for it. I finally told her that the only thing I wanted was for her to take it and say thank you.” Tony sipped his coffee thoughtfully. “Y’know, honey, I think it’s the only time anyone ever gave her something without strings attached in her entire life.” Littlebit had shown off all her clothes with many excited gestures and finally got to showing Wolf the book. Tony smiled down at his daughter. “It felt good to be the one to give it to her.”

Wolf seemed less impressed with the book than with his sister’s excitement. She finished her narrative with a flourish, pointing at a not-too-small stack of money left on the table. She cocked her head and asked Wolf something-and he startled them all by answering with a sharp snarl.

Littlebit jumped, her precious book flying, and dropped into a kneeling crouch before the sofa, her hands flat on the coffee table and her head bowed.

Tony jumped too and strode forward, snapping, “Hey! What’s the problem here!” He picked up the book from where it had fallen, smoothing out the pages and shoving it under Littlebit’s nose. She snatched it up and huddled on the sofa, watching with wide eyes.

“It’s pack business. It’s over.” Wolf dismissed it all with a gesture and reached for the money on the table, but Tony grabbed his wrist and yanked the younger man around to face him.

“What? What is your trauma? I’m nice to your sister all day long and this is how you treat her?”

“Excuse me?” Wolf glared back at Tony, his eyes flashing yellow as he wrenched his wrist free. “It’s not what you think. Back off, Tone!”

“I know what I saw!”

“Are you challenging me? Just because I backed down this morning doesn’t mean you get to take over my pack!”

“Your pack? Pack! You rotten ex-con, are you treating my daughter, my Virginia, like some animal in some pack? Just because you’re a mangy animal...”

Oh, God, just what she needed, her father and her husband-to-be at each other’s throats. Well, before she smacked some sense into both of them, she needed to know what was going on, and there was only one person left to tell her. Virginia sidled behind the sofa until she could whisper in Littlebit’s ear. “What’s going on?”

Littlebit never looked away from the shouting men. “It’s my duty to give my money to the pack leader. So I asked Warren if he was still The Wolf or if Lord Tony was now.”

“You asked who if he was huh?”

“Warren.” She uncurled one finger from the book she was clutching and poked it at her brother, who was now standing on his toes to get nose-to-nose with Tony. “When our parents died he became The Wolf, the leader of our pack. Then he was taken to prison, and Russ and I...” She cut herself off, obviously still not ready to talk about that. “We split up,” she finally said. “And now I don’t know who is the leader of this pack, my brother or your father.”

“Oh.” Virginia gnawed her lip as she looked at the two men. “So how will you know who is The Wolf?”

“Whoever survives the challenge.”

“SURVIVES?”

“I don’t think they’ll fight to the death,” Littlebit sounded dubious, but that was possibly because Wolf had just bared his teeth in another vicious snarl. Then Tony drew back a fist and Virginia had had enough.

“Stop it! Stop this right now!” She launched herself between the two men, shoving them apart as hard as she could. She was so small compared to them that it was a lot like shoving a pair of walls, but they both stopped glaring at each other and looked at her. “God, I’m going to smother in all the testosterone flying around here!” Tony started to say something and she glared at him. Wolf started to say something and she growled at him. Both men fell silent, frowning at each other.

“Okay! Dad, were you planning on coming back to New York to live?”

He looked stunned at the sudden change in subject, then warily answered, “No.”

“Then you’re not trying to take over from Wolf, are you? You don’t want to come back here and make all the decisions, do you?” Not like you made a lot for the last twenty years anyway.

“No. But I’m not going to let him treat you badly!”

“How dare you say I-” Wolf stepped forward and Virginia slapped him in the chest, hard.

When she was sure he wouldn’t walk right over her to get to her father, she said, “Wolf, I know you don’t want to hurt your own father-in-law, do you? You want there to be peace in this family, don’t you? You remember he’s a hero too and the man who brought Littlebit back to you?”

“Of course I don’t... I mean I do. Want peace, I mean. And I remember, of course I remember, it was only last night! And he...” Wolf cut himself off in mid-babble. “But I’m still Wolf!”

“Well, of course you’re Wolf, who else would you be?” Tony asked, confused.

He’s still thinking Wolf is just his name! Virginia realized. She thought about correcting him for a second, but only for a second. This way Wolf thinks he’s backing down and Dad doesn’t think he’s losing face.

Good, only one last loose end to tie up. She turned to Littlebit, still staring with wide eyes and clutching her book. “Are you clear on who’s the head of the pack now?”

“Very much so.” Littlebit nodded rapidly.

“Good.” Virginia pointed to the stack of bills and coins. “Is that the pack money?”

“Yes.”

“I take care of the finances around here.” Virginia scooped up the money and stalked away to take it to their cashbox in the bedroom. Just before the bedroom door shut, she heard Littlebit say pragmatically, “Well, the mate of The Wolf is the co-leader of the pack.”

An uneasy truce lasted for the rest of the evening, with Tony and Wolf being freezingly polite to each other. Nobody mentioned the earlier events until Wolf and Virginia were preparing for bed, although he was far more cuddly than usual, always touching and nuzzling her.

He was also unusually quiet and thoughtful and she couldn’t resist teasing him. “So, your name’s Warren, huh?”

“It used to be,” he said a little warily.

“How come you stayed Wolf even after you were taken from the pack?”

He shrugged with one shoulder. “The guards at the prison weren’t the type to think of wolves as having names. Names are for people.” He flopped back on the bed with a sigh and reached for her. “Besides, I liked it. It reminded me when I was someone to the wolves. It’s kinda funny-what the guards called me to dehumanize me only reminded me that I was important once.”

“You’re important now. And you’ve got a great backup team.”

He cocked a puzzled eyebrow at her.

Virginia spread her arms with a smile. “You’ve got me! I heard Littlebit say I was your co-leader.”

“That’s not quite what... ” Wolf suddenly cut himself off. “I mean, of course what a wonderful co-leader you are!”

“That’s right.” Virginia cuddled on top of his chest. “You Wolf, me Virginia.”

“Whatever you want, my dreamy girl. Whatever you want.”