"So how did it go, Alice?" Fran asked.
"As you can see, quite well," Alice answered and gestured to Abbey and Samantha, who Fran was still hugging.
"No, did Julie get the note we told you to leave for Julie?" Fran asked.
"Yes, Auntie," Alice nodded, "we are certain she did. She should be getting ready to come to the rendezvous site that you and momma specified."
Fran nodded and hugged Abbey and Samantha closer.
"Soon our family will be complete again," Fran smiled and licked the top of Abbey and Samantha's heads.
The two youngest glass wolves still had lots of questions, but something in their minds was extremely happy. Abbey was with her Aunts and Samantha was reunited with her "mother". And both of them had met their father. Chester, meanwhile stood nervously near the mirror. All of these creatures had been empowered by Fenrir, and they were by far bigger then he was. He feared being eaten.
"So how long will it take Julie to get back to Glendale?" Jensen asked calmly, not wanting to disturb the family moment.
"The drive between Frostville and Glendale should take about fifteen minutes," Darla answered, "and getting to where we're to meet her may take another ten to fifteen minutes. Plenty of time for one of the shadows to drive there and leave a mirror for us to emerge out of."
"And then we'll talk with Julie," Fran answered.
"Weird lady gave her headphones, mama," Samantha spoke up.
"Headphones can be taken off, sweetie," Fran answered, "the real concern will be getting her to talk. She might come out swing trying to get you back..."
"Or shooting, sister," Darla corrected.
Fran then shuddered at the thought of being shot dead by her wife.
"Hopefully she hasn't gone that far," Fran spoke after a few moments, "If she's going after us with a bat or something, we can restrain her long enough to talk to her and bring her into the pack."
"Alice could pull her into the mirrorverse," Abbey suggested.
"No, we need Julie to become my and Darla's triplet," Fran told her, "and she will be the pack's doctor to help us all when we get pregnant eventually."
Abbey and Samantha nodded and then hugged Fran tighter at the prospect of more siblings in the future.
"That should give you the time to meet your half brothers and sisters," Jensen smiled down on the two glass pups as Fran finally released them from her hug.
Abbey and Samantha wagged their tails at that.
"We'd like that very much," Abbey smiled.
Fran then noticed Chester standing nervously near the mirror that Alice, Abbey, and Samantha had emerged from. He was still a Chihuahua, and still flesh and blood, but then maybe Alice's powers only affected people. She smiled and then reached for the small dog, slowly as not to frighten him.
"Hey there Chester," Fran smiled as her paws wrapped around Chester's body and as the little dog sniffed at her scent, "don't think I'd forgotten about you, either."
Chester sniffed at the large paws of the blond she-wolf, and while the scent had changed slightly, it was still the one he remembered.
"Master?" Chester barked.
Every flesh and blood wolf blinked at this, as they hadn't expected the dog to talk.
"You... you talked," Fran gasped to the dog.
"I could ALWAYS talk," Chester answered, "humans couldn't understand me."
"I wonder how we do understand him," Kaylee commented from where she was seated, "It's not like he's someone turned into a Chihuahua... is he?"
"I have always been this way," Chester said proudly.
"Maybe its the fact that we are now wolves," Jensen shrugged, "after all the domestic dog, Canis Familiaris, and the wolf, Canis Lupus, are both from the same family... although Great Grandpa will have to be instructed not to eat him."
Chester gulped nervously. Fran gave him a slight squeeze and licked the little dog.
"Don't mind the Master," Fran told her pet, "he's only joking."
Chester meanwhile only nodded. He felt a strong sense of love and loyalty to the she-wolf holding him. She was his master and she still loved him... of course her way of showing it was different now, but Chester was not about to complain.
++++++
"So what's the bat for?" the sports vendor at Frostville's Wal-Mart asked curiously.
"I have a son going out for baseball this summer," Julie lied, guessing that the man would not believe that she intended to use it to smash a glass wolf that had stolen her children, "I want to make sure that he has good equipment."
The man looked over Julie and then at the bat itself. The bat looked like it was something that a teenager or adult would likely use, and Julie didn't look like she was old enough to have children of that age, but then he wasn't paid to give sound advice to make the sale. If the woman was going to buy the wrong piece of equipment, the man didn't really care. But then, all of that depended how old the son was or whether or not the woman was too shy to admit about joining a recreational softball league.
And since the man didn't know, he wasn't going to push on the subject. He rang up the purchase and handed the bat back to Julie as she swiped her card.
"Thank you," Julie told him.
"Come back if he needs mitts!" the man called after her.
"I probably will come back," Julie thought to herself, "to return this thing after I've smashed this Alice to bits."
She then walked out of the store with her purchase and began walking to her car. Once there, she placed the bat in the back seat and got in behind the wheel. After a short prayer that Abbey and Samantha were returned to her, safe and sound.
+++++++
Trevor slowly made his way along a sidewalk into what was clearly a more upscale part of Glendale. He was still following the scent path that lead him from the dentist's office and was now headed through "rich people's neighborhood".
The scent frightened his cat instincts as it did betray that whoever left it was powerful. And his cat side urged that he avoid whatever left the scent. Cats and dogs weren't best friends... now of course Trevor's human side reminded his instincts that that wasn't always the case. His family had a Siamese cat and an English bulldog, and the two had forever seemed inseparable, until the dog died of old age when he was nine.
But then, that was likely an abnormality, and what he was tracking wasn't a domestic dog, and wasn't even a normal version of a wild dog, the wolf, coyote, or the fox. It was one created by "the game". For all Trevor really knew, the game had made these people turn into cat eaters and his comments to the two mollies was actually accurate. He shuddered at that, and prayed that he wouldn't get eaten.
He didn't get much of a chance to find that out however, as he heard a girl's voice behind him.
"What's he doing?"
"He's following something," another answered.
"What? That's a tabby, not a bloodhound," the first retorted.
Trevor gulped and turned to see two human teenagers, both female, looking at him with great curiosity.
"Can we keep him?" the first asked.
"It looks like he has a collar," the second sighed heavily, "we should return him to his owner before he or she get's worried."
Trevor backed away as the two girls approached him. They were wanting to be "good Samaritans", but Trevor didn't need the help, and he could lead them to a pack of wolves with turns in "the Game".
"Come on," the first spoke and got down on a knee and held out her arms, "I'm not going to hurt you."
Trevor looked for a landmark to remember and then bolted. He would lose the two teens and then return to the scent later. He couldn't afford to get caught and end up being returned to Madame Serenity. It would cost him time.
"No, come back!" the second girl called as the two began to run to after Trevor.
"Why does this always happen to me?" Trevor whined to himself.
+++++++
Abbey and Samantha quietly followed Alice through the manor while Fran and Darla went over the final plans to bring in Julie, mostly by having Jensen command one of the shadows to deliver a mirror to the rendezvous site. They passed several other wolf people as they went, and they greeted them politely as Alice introduced them. They met a teal colored she wolf named Sandi, a magenta colored she wolf with a pink she wolf and a orange and white she wolf, named Robyn, Maxine, and Millie. They also met a gray furred male who was drooling over a gray female on a lower floor, whom they learned was named Nick.
They were all intrigued by all the colors that many of the wolves were, as it was like many of their coloring books back at home.
"They're like a rainbow," Samantha commented to Abbey as they met a sea green, Jasmine.
"It is so cool," Abbey nodded.
"Servants of Fenrir, every one of them," Chester said nervously from the spot between the two glass wolf pups.
"We follow father," Alice corrected, "Not Fenrir."
They ignored the startled looks of some of the various wolves when they realized they could understand the small dog. Chester, meanwhile stayed close to Abbey and Samantha, fearing that one of these other wolves might eat him.
Alice lead them into the study where Abbey and Samantha were greeted by something they never expected. Seated in a comfortable chair with a red-brown male pup who was slightly younger then Alice reading a copy of "Alice in Wonderland" with another red-brown female leaning against the other's shoulder. Another red brown male was seated at a small table with a series of crayons and pencils in front of him with black furred female looking whatever he was drawing.
But this isn't what startled them. It was the silver furred she wolf who was sitting in a different chair and occasionally leaning over to correct the male that was reading on some 1800s terminology. She had two heads, six eyes, four breasts, and four arms, and two tails. She was certainly a strange looking she-wolf.
"Hello everyone!" Alice called out cheerfully.
All eyes turned to Alice, and the black furred female was the first to notice Abbey and Samantha's presence behind Alice.
"Alice has siblings!" she cheered and vaulted over the table with the nine year old male turning look over at the newcomers.
The other two were quick to join their siblings. The strange she-wolf got up and came around the table to stand behind the other pups. What came around the table next was the largest wolf Abbey and Samantha had ever seen. He was a quadrupedal wolf, covered in black and gold fur. It was Chester who responded first.
"Fenrir!" Chester practically jumped and was prepared to flee if the giant wolf wanted to eat him.
All of them were surprised by this.
"Who brought the snack?" Mr. P licked his lips eying Chester.
"You will NOT eat Chester!" Abbey and Samantha yelled at the massive wolf, "You will not."
"I was only joking," Mr. P spoke as he padded up to Abbey and Samantha and gave each of them a good sniff. They didn't have a scent, just as Alice's glass form didn't have a scent. All the same, they were pups of the pack, and he began to lick both of them, making the glass twins giggle, "and who are you?"
"Abbey." "Samantha, Alice's half sisters. Mommy and Auntie are getting our other Auntie."
Mr. P licked them again.
"I am called Mr. P," Mr. P gave them a wolfish smile, "you may call me grandpa."
Abbey and Samantha hugged him while Chester looked on nervously.
"Do not call me Fenrir," Mr. P said to the small dog.
Chester didn't dare argue. Alice then brought Abbey and Samantha forward to face the other four pups and the strange she-wolf.
"Abbey, Samantha," Alice spoke, putting a paw on the shoulders of her newest siblings as she said their names, "these are the pups of father and Alpha Female Kaylee. The older pair are Jenny and Bart."
"Hello," Jenny said politely while Bart waved.
"The younger two are Marcy and Kevin."
"Do you wear dresses like Alice does in the mirror?" Marcy asked, still finding that concept to be a curiosity.
"Yes," Abbey smiled, "We look very pretty. I'm sure you would too."
Marcy smiled at being described as pretty.
"Hi," Kevin greeted the glass twins.
"And this is Miss Martha, our nanny," Alice pointed to the strange she-wolf, "She looks after us when our father and various mothers are busy."
"It will be a pleasure to look after you and to hope that your lives are happy," Martha spoke politely, "and do not mind my... extras. They help me look after you better."
"Thank you Miss Martha," Abbey and Samantha said in unison.
++++++++
It took him ten minutes to lose the two teenagers, and Trevor was practically exhausted when made it back to where the scent trail was. He slowly began following the scent again, hoping that he wouldn't end up with any more interruptions.