A/N: I have recently finished watching OINTB, better late than never, right? So I thought why not to give a try to a fiction. Let's see how you like it.

Declaimer: I do not own OITNB, only borrowed characters. As always my heart profits from the joy of readers.


Chapter 1 - Where the Fairy Tale Ended, the Story Continues

High school was lame. Not because of the classes, Piper quite enjoyed studying, but her classmates were idiots. She tried avoiding becoming a teacher's pet; however she was still considered a know-it-all who was not able to blend with the others. Like a story of being eaten by a wolf was not cool enough, she was considered a lunatic story teller. Ah, well, at least her grandmother was always there for her no matter what. Sad truth was that Celeste was closer to her more than her own parents; and she could not wait to see her again. This time after many years, she would visit her in the old house since the elder woman was having some health issues and could not walk properly.

The summer holiday finally came, the Chapman family packed for their vacation at the cottage. After arrival, Piper did not waste much time. She stuffed her backpack, included some goodies from the best bakery in New York and excused herself to go to her grandmother's place.

The youngster was supposed to take a bus, but the grandparent lived just over the hill. She knew the path by heart and it would take her just a few hours to get there, sweet hours of freedom without any supervision.

She enjoyed the trip, so much better than running along the river in the city. The nature was peaceful, the moon was bright and full already shining in the sky despite the late afternoon and setting sun. She was not scared of any wolves, after the incident, the game keeper and huntsmen got rid of any predators bigger than a fox. Well, except humans.

So there Piper was, several years later, enjoying the forest. Woodpeckers pecking, owls hooting, some small animals rustle in the bushes and cracking twigs. Wait a moment, cracking twigs would not be from small animals.

The teenager quickly looked around; in her peripheral vision she noticed a shadow. Her heart started being rapidly, with shallow breath she turned around to see what that was but she was unable to catch anything other than a black smear. She did not hesitate any longer and started running towards her grandmother's house.

Her steps sounded doubled, she quickly looked on her left and noticed a pitch black wolf running along side her a few yards away. Its light coloured eyes were shinning in the night and déjà vu of her childhood appeared in her mind. She sped up even faster, she was sure she would win the school championship with this speed and stamina which she gained from her momentary sky high level of adrenaline.

Once the old hut appeared in the distance, Piper started yelling. "Granny, open the door! Open the damn door! Please!" Her scream was intensified from the echo of the forest; nevertheless if her grandmother had seriously bad knees, the girl would be eaten for good this time before the door would open.

She jumped over the fence, just a few more yards and she would be fine. "Granny!"

However the wolf had the same idea, its long leap positioned the beast between Piper and the door of safety.

The blonde stopped immediately and stared and the animal in front of her. Its feet were apart, head low, clear blue eyes watching her every move, showing the pearl white teeth. It was not growling but that did not mean it would not attack.

The door swung open. "Alex, halt!" shouted an elder woman. "It's alright, Piper is a family," she spoke in much softer voice. "All is well," she continued the soothing and put her hand on the canine's head. The animal stood up straight and pushed its head in the lady's touch. "Good girl, now go and bring us something to eat for tomorrow. Something bigger than usual, we have a guest now."

The black creature wagged its tail and disappeared into the night.

Piper stared in awe at the situation in front of her.

"Oh my girl," smiled Celeste heartily and opened her arms, "so good to see you again. How are you doing?" she smiled and hugged her granddaughter warmly.

"At the moment quite confused. Since when do you have a wolf-pet?" the girl asked and let herself enter the house.

"Since about less than a decade ago but it's more complicated than that. Anyway, tell me about yourself, I have not seen you since the last summer. You grew up well, so pretty. I bet you have many suitors, huh?" she kept asking leaning against a crutch as she was slowly walking to a table.

"Wait, wait, wait, don't stir the conversation elsewhere, since when do you have a wolf? I thought huntsmen exterminated them all after our accident."

"As I said, it's more complicated than that. Now set the kettle on and talk. I will sit and listen to your adventures, the knees are killing me," she complained and shuffled to a huge arm chair in front of the fireplace.

"Not much to say, people think I am crazy and school sucks," the youngster commented dryly going through the cases with teabags. "Green tea?"

"Whatever you want, dear. And life is not that bad; I believe you have at least some friends, don't you?"

"Yeah, Polly is great," she admitted and smiled at the thought of her best friend. "She is the only one who believes me. And she doesn't judge people. I like her."

"So tell me more about her and what you two do to get into troubles. Oh yes, I know you get into troubles, I know you, Piper," winked the elder lady and got comfortable in the chair.

The girl chuckled and at the end she shared stories about her and her best friend until it was midnight.

"It's late, we should go to beds. You can take Alex's now. I am sure she wouldn't mind."

"Thank you, Granny, but I will stay on the couch, even though it was a huge wolf, the dog bed would be small for me."

Celeste pointed at the door behind the kitchen corner. "It's her room over there and don't worry, she doesn't have a dog bed. It would be inappropriate."

"Your pet has a whole room?" the blonde wondered.

"Oh come on, Piper, I cannot let her sleep in a cannel like an animal. Off you go." She lady kept smiling and watched her little girl go to the said room.

Piper plastered as forced smile but listened to her grandparent. Silently she was afraid it was not just the knees that were getting worse but obviously her mind as well. Sighing she went to the door and with the last hand wave of goodnight, she disappeared behind the door.

The blonde looked around; to her surprise she noticed an old wooden wardrobe, a small bookcase with several history novels, some Economy and Business textbooks, a few CDs, neatly made bed with a rug by the side, even a writing table with a chair, a laptop and a pair of black office glasses. Oh yeah, her grandmother was really losing it.

The youngster changed into a sleeping shirt and climbed into the bed. She was pleasantly surprised it was a nice scent, like a fresh breeze, sun and forest; at least she would not smell like a wet dog. She closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.


In the morning, the sun started peeking through the blindfolds which was waking up the household. Piper opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. What a night it was yesterday. She turned on her side and looked at the table again. Poor Granny. However her sigh travelled to something on the floor by the bed. There was actually someone sleeping on the rug, naked someone. "What the hell!" she yelped and sat up immediately.

The noise woke up the sleeping person. "Not so loud so early in the morning," the other human replied in a hoarse moan and turned to the visitor. It was a girl, slightly older than Piper. "Hey," she greeted slowly with a small smile on her lips.

"Hey," it was an autoreply as the blonde was still struck, this time with the person in front of her. She had jet black hair, clear blue eyes, fair skin and lean muscled body. In the laying position it was hard to tell if she was about Piper's height or slightly taller. "Ermm," Piper blinked a few times to get her head straight. "Who are you and what are you doing here, sleeping on the floor without any clothes?"

"This is my room, I had a rough night…erm a fight with …a friend, so I was too tired to change and it is warm anyway. As for why I slept on the floor, you are sleeping in my bed, so I took the rug. I will pump the air mattress later, didn't have time yesterday," the dark haired youngster explained sitting up.

"Granny said this was Alex's room and Alex is a big black wolf," opposed the fair haired teenager.

The other girl leant in as if to tell a secret. "I can howl at the moon pretty well."

Piper's was struck again, and her heart almost stopped. That was insane!

A noise of falling dishes was heard from the kitchen and gentle cursing of the adult. The brunette straightened and started laughing at the visitor's still shocked face. "My name really is Alex, it's easier to keep the same name for the both of us. When Granny calls, someone always comes," she grinned and stood up. "Now get up; let's help her with breakfast before she breaks another plate." The older of them went to the wardrobe, picked a simple dark blue dress, took the glasses and left the room.

Piper sat for a few more minutes, her mind working over hundred miles per second about what she had witnessed. She pinched herself and since it really hurt she finally got up. So Granny had a wolf-pet named Alex and obviously she was living with somebody whose name was also Alex. Why she had never mentioned to have a housemate? Absolutely insane. Welcome to the Chapman's family.

The blonde got dressed, made the bed and entered the kitchen.

The lady was already sitting at the table and Alex stood by the sink washing the dishes from last night.

Noting her grandchild, the elder woman looked up from the newspapers and smiled wide. "Oh, Piper, dear, good morning, how did you sleep?"

"Morning, Granny. I slept well, but still not sure what was a dream and what was reality."

Both other women chucked. "Both at once," commented the young brunette.

The visitor looked around. "Where is Alex?" she asked looking for the wolf to have a proper look at the animal during the daylight.

"Right here," noted the older youngster.

"I mean the huge pet," Piper clarified her question.

"Right here," repeated the still unknown person with a mischief twinkle in her light blue eyes.

The elder women replied instead, "Oh, you might not see her until next full moon. She is a monthly visitor. And you, Alex," she turned to her housemate, "go check on the geese if some of them finally laid a golden egg so I can have the knee surgery."

The brunette left without any comment except a wink.

"Who is she?" asked the granddaughter. "And why haven't you mentioned you are living with someone?"

"Oh, it never seemed really important. Alex was just a kid when I took her in, she was pretty well behaved, and I did not want you or your brother to get jealous," Celeste shrugged her shoulders as it was nothing adopting a child and not letting the rest of the family know. "She helps me with the farm a lot. Well, I should say she is the one actually taking care of the farm."

"A farm?" wondered the visitor.

"Oh you haven't noticed?" asked the elder lady. "It must have been the excitement from yesterday. Give me a hand, I will show you the joy of our back yard."

The fair-haired girl helped her grandmother to stand up, she fetched for a crutch to support her walk and they left the house.

Piper's eyes went wide like plates. The front garden was full of colourful flowers; a half of the back was full of animals. There were geese running around along with about half a dozen of chickens, two goats had a bleating fight, several sheep were waiting at the left upper corner at a small gate and two piglets were running around frantically.

"Alex!" called the elder lady, "what are these two?!" she asked pointing at the game.

The dark haired girl just opened the gate for the sheep to leave and came closer to the pair. "Oh yeah, you said to hunt for something bigger, so I… and our wolf caught a boar, it was later when I realised there were two piglets. I couldn't leave them to die in wilderness. We can eat them later."

"Oh come on, they are cute!" moaned the visitor. "And you said you were with a friend."

"Alex is a friend. And well, it's the cycle of life," she smiled at the youngest of them. Piper could not figure out if Alex was joking or really intended to eat the baby boars. "Anyway, I will call Greg to come later and butcher the swine." She handed one goose egg and five chicken eggs to the teenager. "Here, you can prepare breakfast. Sorry, no golden egg yet. I am going to milk the goats."

"What about the sheep?" worried the blonde. Even though she was a city girl; she knew leaving sheep without a shepherd was not a good idea.

The other youngster just waved her hand dismissing the question. "I will catch them later; let them have some fun on the meadow. It's not like there is a wolf which can eat them." Again she smiled with the mischief spark in her blue eyes.

"But there is a wolf. That pet, remember?" Piper pointed in the woods. "Right there somewhere."

"Not today." With a grin, the other girl left towards the goats.

"Is she ever serious?" the visitor asked her grandparent still confused what to think about the ward.

"Most of the time, but rarely so playful." Then the lady tugged her grandchild's sleeve. "Let's prepare breakfast; I hope Greg will come soon. He is such a good boy, and obviously he has a thing for Alex. I hope he would propose soon."

"Don't bet on it, Granny!" called the brunette from distance.

Piper turned around, there was quite a noise from the animals around and her grandmother did not exactly spoke aloud, therefore she pondered how Alex could hear the comment.

Granny took the eggs, put them into the pockets of her apron and gestured towards the other side of the back yard. "Go get us some tomatoes," she pointed at a greenhouse, "or peppers if you prefer."

The teenager looked around and saw most of the garden vegetable and several herbs. She had no idea her grandmother was so much into gardening and farming, however due to her health, it was clear that all the work was up to Alex to take care of it.


Greg was a tall well-build guy around Alex's age. He did his job well however when it came to interacting with women, he was shy and blushed every time the brunette touched his shoulder or laughed at his attempted joke.

The youngest girl stood outside, he arms crossed on her chest as she was watching the pair. There was something not right, but the youngster could not put a finger on what it was. The butcher boy was quite handsome, but those two just did not fit together. At least that was Piper's feeling when she felt hundreds of warms crawling in her chest.

"Piper, dear, don't stand there and bring them the buckets," commanded the elder woman. "We need to work with the blood while it's still warm."

"That's disgusting."

"That's meal. Now don't be a spoiled city brat and hustle."

It was all afternoon's work to process the boar, but finally it was done and they all felt quite exhausted. Granny wanted to invite the boy for a well-deserved cup of tea and dinner, but the dark haired girl jumped into the invitation that she would call him later and practically threw him out.

"Alex, dear, what's your problem? He is a very nice boy."

"That's the problem," replied the brunette dryly. The elder woman frowned and crossed her arms on her chest. Her ward shook her head. "Granny, I appreciate your concern but with all due respect I decline any advised on dating men."

"I don't want you to become a lonely spinster."

The ward placed her hand on Celeste's crossed arms. "I will be fine. Now let's have some game stew."


In the week Piper spent at her grandmother's she learnt how to take care of animals, landscape and tender the vegetable. It was a different kind of work and she did not mind at all. Actually she started thinking about having a small garden back home as well. The taste of vegetable was so different that from a supermarket.

Of course the company could not be forgotten, there was something about Alex which she had not felt before. The older girl was interesting, damn smart and easy going. The teenager only hoped they would stay in touch after her visit as well, because except Polly, she did not have real friends and the brunette was a keeper. One week was so little; therefore she asked her grandmother if she could stay a little longer.

"Darling, I would love to have you for another week, but your father needs to go back to the city,"

"I can call and ask him to pick me up next weekend. Or I will take a bus. It's not like they care about me so much as long as Cal is around."

"Don't be jealous of your brother, he is just different."

"He is an idiot."

The elder lady smacked her arm. "Never talk bad about your family."

"But Granny –"

The grandmother raised her finger. "Not another bad word or I will not allow you to stay."

Piper grew a wide smile on her face. "Does it mean, I can stay longer?"

"Only if you promise to behave."

"I promise." The grandkid did a happy dance and dashed to the room for her cell phone. She turned it on but it did not start. Shoot. The battery was dead and she forgot to take a charger. She returned to the kitchen, "Erm, do you have a charger so I can call my parents? Or can I borrow your phone."

"Just because we live in a remote area does not mean we have no technology," commented Alex with a grin. "What do you think my laptop is for? Collecting dust?"

"I haven't seen you using it."

"Because we have a visitor and it's not polite to stare into a computer for hours." She went to one of the kitchen cabinet and chucked her the charger. "Multiple connectors choose which you need. You see, not living in Stone Age," she teased.

Piper stuck her tongue out at the other girl and plugged her phone. She waited a moment before starting it. As she predicted, there was no problem with her staying with her favourite grandparent, on the contrary, it seemed her mother was relieved.

"Family, huh?" Alex commented leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah," the fair-haired youngster agreed sadly. "Hey, what about yours?" she asked curiously. "We never really talked about your family."

The other girl's posture straightened up and her facial expression hardened. "Granny is my family. The rest I don't want to talk about." She turned on her heel and left.

That was not a great step towards becoming friends, but hey, one needed to know the bad part in order to get to know the person whole. So a different angle was needed.

She left the room and looked for her current roommate. She found her outside gardening. Piper tentatively approached her. "Sorry about earlier, it's just, I've been here for a week and I know you so little about you, while you know a lot about me. We should set the score even."

The older of them snorted, "You think so?"

"Since you are my… adoptive cousin / aunt, I know so."

At that title Alex started laughing heartily. "I would stick with the cousin. I am not that much older than you."

"I finished my first year of high school, you are starting college, it's like a lifetime."

Again the brunette laughed. "Alright, wanna play twenty questions?"

So they were working on the garden while Piper was getting to know her new friend. Alex's favourite colours were red and orange. She was a business major with interest in literature. She planned to combine as many subjects as possible to finish the school early as the school loan was pretty high and she did not want to be dependent on Granny longer than absolutely necessary; therefore she took a part time job in the school library, which provided her with a large amount of study material as well as some income. And no, she had not dated a guy yet, which took Piper by surprise. Even she recognised the older girl to be very attractive both inside out. It was hard to believe there would be a man who would not ask her out. Or maybe it was all about Greg. Remembering the early flirting, it woke up those hundreds of worms under the skin again, so the blonde changed the conversation to Granny's wild pet having the same name. Alex chuckled at that topic but commented it only that it was easier than having two names to remember. "Come one, let's prepare supper," she suggested with a smile at the end.

The second week passed even faster than the first one and it was time for Piper to leave her grandmother and adopted cousin. They said their goodbyes with promise to keep in touch. The teenager took her favourite red jacket and packed it into her backpack as it was too hot for wearing it. She threw the bag on her back and hugged her grandparent. "Thanks for having me, Granny."

"Always my dear," smiled the elder woman and turned to the other girl. "Al, accompany Piper through the woods, will you?"

"Sure."

"I am not afraid of the big wolf, or should I be?" asked the blonde. "I thought it was your pet."

Celeste just waved her hand dismissing the suggestion. "Nah, she will keep you safe, that is the only thing I am not worried about." She kissed both cheeks of the grandchild and sobbed. "Take care."

"You too."

They waved their goodbyes and the youngsters set off the way. The shorter of the pair looked up at her companion. "So Granny is afraid about me, but you are the one making the trip twice."

"But I know the woods much better than you," the other girl pointed out the fact.

"I grew up here. Just didn't have the opportunity recently."

"Recently the forest became my second home."

That was true, so Piper did not even try arguing anymore. She just enjoyed the walk and company.

After a few hours and some stops on the way, they reached the border of the woods. With a sad heart the teenager stopped and looked up at the light blue eyes. "Alright, this is it," she noted and turned to look back at the village. She pointed her finger into a distance at a building with a wooden roof. "That is our family cottage."

"Oh, alright." The older girl was shuffling around as she was not sure what to do at the moment.

"Thanks for everything and taking care of Granny."

"It's the least I can do. I owe her a lot more."

Suddenly the younger of them became very nervous and she did not know why. She should continue walking but she could not force herself to leave. At the end she made a step forward and hugged her new friend. She could smell a combination of mint shampoo with a hint of something wild. Her heart started hammering in her chest and in fear Alex would note her main muscle working extra hard against her ribcage, the shorter girl started pulling away. She turned her head slightly and suddenly surprisingly their lips met which caused Piper's world to stop. The kiss was just a peck; however it managed to send the girl's mind far beyond her real world.

"Oh sorry, I meant to kiss your cheek," the brunette quickly apologised, a blush colouring her cheeks

The sight of always confident person now looking like a shy kid, untied the other youngster's tongue and slowed her mind. "No, it's alright, don't worry about it," a gentle smile appeared on her lips. Then she turned to look at her family cottage and back at the older girl. "Alright, I have to go, bye," she waved quickly and set off before another awkward moment would follow.

After several steps, gaining some distance, Piper dared look back, nevertheless she saw no one, just pine trees gently swaying in the summer breeze.