Chapter 5: Wedding Zing

A month later, they moved into their apartment with Rachel and Quinn, and Santana made good on the deal to help Brittany make their bedroom like a wolf den. She ended up loving it too, the way the sun never woke her up before her alarm, the way Brittany was her main source of heat, and thusly she could always cuddle, her hair never got too frizzy, and avoiding a bed frame resulted in a lot less squeaking when they were intimate. They even had a little reading nook where they both often curled up with a book, Brittany working hard to learn all she could. She'd been taking a few remedial classes at the high school in pursuit of some form of a degree. At first, she'd felt a little ashamed, but it had been really good for her, and Sam ended up being in a lot of the classes too. Apparently Atlantian schooling hadn't been up to standard. It was good for her to have a friend, and she really enjoyed learning. Admittedly, when she'd gotten her first good grades back, she'd broken down sobbing, realizing how much different her life might've been if she hadn't been abandoned as a pup. It took Santana hours just to get that small reason out of her and even longer to calm her down. The reality of Brittany's tumultuous upbringing had been the result of a lot of long tearful nights since they'd left the hotel. She'd eventually explained her story to Santana's parents, and it had also been a source of pain that the ring Santana gave her was a heirloom and hers was just an "overpriced replicable circle." That one had been hard to overcome. Brittany ended up finding silver in the river she'd been abandoned by and paying a jeweler to put a silver twist around the ring with it. She was gone for days on that journey, without contact. Santana had quickly learned that sometimes Brittany ran from her problems. Because it was all she knew. But she always came back.

Tonight was another one of those nights. They were watching another Disney movie, Brittnay obsessed ever since they'd watched the Lion King, and they'd decided on Bambi. Santana had been avoiding it, mostly because she was worried that Brittany would make a comment about how delicious all the forest creatures looked, but it turned out Brittany hated hunting. However, out of the blue, Brittany froze up after Bambi's mom was shot.

"Britt?" Santana said, noticing immediately the shift in her mood "Britt, what is it? I'm sorry, I warned you there was a gunshot, honey?"

"My mom is dead, Santana." Brittany said.

"What do you mean? I thought you didn't remember your mom?" Santana asked.

"I was so little…she was trying to protect me. They called us monsters. Abominations. Evil. I shouldn't be alive. They thought I was dead too. It's all coming back…" Brittany shook her head "She's gone! I always thought I'd find her someday, but she's gone!" Brittany fell into Santana, crying and trembling. Santana held her close, stroking her back, hoping that Brittany wouldn't run this time. Her grip was tight, and her heart broke at every gasp Brittany took between sobs. She knew Quinn and Rachel would hear her crying. But nothing mattered to her more than calming her down. She eventually did, but she saw so much life and hope gone from the blue eyes she'd fallen for. She was despondent. Santana hadn't realized how much Brittany wanted to reconnect with her mom one day. It broke her heart. When Brittany fell into a fitful sleep, Santana decided that she'd make it her mission to at the very least take Brittany to whatever grave there might be. She researched and finally found it. It was posted to social media. By Wolfgang Pierce.

"Visiting the love of my life on our anniversary. Apologizing for not being there everyday. Asking her to bring our daughter back to me one day. Wherever you are, come home Brittany." It was captioned, and Santana knew she'd found it. And she'd found Brittany's dad. She was about to cuddle into bed beside her when she sat up quickly.

"Britt?" Santana immediately kneeled beside the bed, the wolf gasping for breath.

"My dad wasn't there. He'd left and then they came and then…" Brittany was terrified. "Tana, God it was…it was horrible. Do you think he's alive? Or did they kill him too? Oh god…"

"He's alive Britt." Santana said, gently stroking the back of her neck, always careful of her scar.

"What do you mean? How are you so sure?" Brittany asked.

"Well, you were so upset, I thought maybe I could find your mom's grave. Maybe that would be something. Maybe we'd find a cousin, I don't know. But look" Santana pulled up the post.

"He's been looking for me?" Brittany asked "All this time?"

"Yeah. He posted this just a few days ago. We can message him, and look" she shows her a picture Wolfgang posted of himself and her mom. Both white wolves, just like her.

"Tana, this…this means the world to me. You'll come with me to meet him, right?" Brittany asked.

"If that's what you want." Santana assured.

"Of course that's what I want. I want you to meet him. He might not have raised me, but he's my dad. He's all I have." Brittany looks at the picture longingly. Santana squeezes her hand and they send him a message asking to meet. He's not entirely convinced that Brittany is alive after all these years initially, but after the picture and telling him her middle name, not to mention the way she knew, it was true. Santana actually really enjoyed hearing the story of how she knew her name. Apparently, when she'd been found, she had a teddy bear. It had a tag where you wrote the child's name. Her parents wrote her whole name on it. She still had it, after all these years. Santana had seen it before and just assumed it was something she'd found as a pup. They sent a picture of that too. Wolfgang agreed to meet them the next day.

They met at a coffee shop, Wolfgang waving to them as they walked in the door. In an instant, Brittany was hugging him. Everything felt right. She could feel that this was her dad.

"My Brittany, darling…" Wolfgang looked at her face "You look just like your mother…I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too. If I had just stayed put maybe…" Brittany shook her head. What-ifs had plagued her for her entire life. She was done with them.

"You did the right thing by running away. Don't ever be sorry you did. When I found your mother, the house had been ransacked. It wasn't safe where we lived." Wolfgang assured. "That's why I had left you two. I went to find us somewhere safer to stay. Traveling was dangerous too. I thought you'd be safe for long enough. I never knew they'd been waiting for an opportunity to attack."

"I'm just glad I found you now." Brittany said "I'd actually just had the memory triggered. I'd forgotten."

"You were so very young. So small." Wolfgang shook his head "You're so big now though. And strong. And in love?"

"Ah yeah" she saw Santana returning with their drinks "Dad, this is Santana, Tana, this is my dad."

"It's an honor sir." Santana shook his paw.

"That's one fine ring you've got there." he said "My daughter is treating you well, then?"

"I couldn't ask for anyone better." Santana smiled and Brittany blushed.

"Well, do take a seat, we ought to become acquainted." Wolfgang said. They spoke over coffee for hours. It turned out that Wolfgang had been to the training facility at one point too, for longer than Brittany, but he'd been a white wolf all the same. Too eye-catching. Her scar felt like a connection to him. He told them that he'd never found love again, and had joined his brother's pack. He assured Brittany that she could be introduced and wouldn't have any obligation to join. Plenty of werewolves lived a variety of lifestyles. After coffee, he took them to the graveyard. Brittany had a hard time, and Santana gave her space to grieve.

"Well, if you haven't got to go, I'd love to have you join the pack for dinner." Wolfgang offered.

"Are you sure?" Brittany asked.

"Of course! Plus, I have a few of your and your mothers things I think you ought to have." Wolfgang said. With that prospect, they followed him back to a big house in a clearing in the forest. Inside, pups played and wolves milled about. They met people as they went to his room.

"Come on in," he said. Each room was rather large, lacking only a kitchen which was shared. He brought a box to his coffee table and went through it with Brittany. Little toys and clothes were most of it, as well as a few pictures. However, the most precious item was at the bottom.

"This was your mother's necklace" Wolfgang said, gently picking it up "It was always meant to be yours one day." Brittany took it and ran the chain between her fingers. After a few moments she put it around her neck.

"She'll always be with you now." Wolfgang said. It was a soft moment, and then, they met the entire pack, including her uncle. After a hearty wolf meal, they headed home, making sure to keep in contact with Wolfgang. Their wedding guest list had just doubled.

One year to the day they met, Brittany and Santana got married at the hotel. All of their friends and family were there, including the entire Pierce wolf pack. Their love was eternal. No matter what came they'd always have each other. And to think it all started with a Zing…

a/n: and that's it! there won't be an epilogue or a second story with this iteration of the characters. this is where it ends. I hope you enjoyed this and have a very happy Spooky Season and happy Halloween