What Cannot Be Undone

Title: What Cannot Be Undone

Author: Jinni (druscilla@cox.net)

Rated: R

Pairing: W/Richard

Disclaimer: All things BtVS belong to Joss Whedon, et al. All things AB belong

to Laurell K Hamilton, et al.

Distribution: The normal places.

Author’s Notes: The first full length AB fic I’ve written in a while. Be kind.

Summary: There are things in life that we just have to learn to deal with once

Fate hands us the cards.

~*~Prologue~*~

“You’re meeting Willow again?”

Paris felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, the words drifting through

the crowd to her alert ears. Richard was meeting this Willow girl –again-? That

was the third time this week that she’d heard of. It was getting serious.

She bit back a growl.

“She’s great, Sylvie. Really bright. Definitely worth the time. We’re meeting

tomorrow night near the old lake in the park.”

The female wolf forced a smile to her face as one of her companions said

something and the rest of the group laughed. She should have known that a ‘

quiet night at the Lupanar’, just a little get together for the pack, would end

up annoying her.

But she never would have guessed it would annoy her this much. This Willow girl

had to be human, she hadn’t seen or heard of her in any of the shifter circles.

And Richard was seeing her –a lot-. That could only mean one thing.

Another human Lupa was on the way.

Not this time, she told herself with barely restrained fury. This time she’d

ensure that no human held that position. Even if it meant she was no longer

welcome in this city, she’d make sure that the rest of the pack didn’t have to

go through that ordeal again.

~*~

“So you’re learning a lot from this girl?”

Richard nodded, smiling at his second. “You’re like her, I think. She’s got so

many stories about the Hellmouth, about the things that go on there.”

Slyvie smirked. “Sounds like you two have hit it off.”

“It’s not like that,” Richard shook his head. “She’s a friend of a friend and

is just doing me a favor by helping with my shields. Ever since I started

working with her I can hardly feel Anita and Jean-Claude in my head anymore.”

“So we have her to thank for your good mood as of late?” Jason spoke up,

joining their little circle. “Remind me to give her a big kiss if I ever meet

her.”

~*~

Willow tapped her fingers on her arm, glancing around the rapidly darkening

park. The moon was half-full, and that gave enough light to see by. And the

lake was so serene, so peaceful. It was the perfect place to work on shielding.

She’d gotten there a little earlier than usual, just to spend a few minutes by

herself. A little bit of solitude in the middle of a day that had been

stressful. All day, hunched over her laptop in a little hotel desk, trying to

get the research Buffy and Giles needed for the latest demon in Sunnydale. She’

d succeeded, no big shock there, but it had taken up her entire day.

And now she just wanted to relax – but she had promises to keep. She’d said she

would help Richard master the fine art of shielding, and damn if she wasn’t

going to hurry up and finish so she could get home again. St. Louis was great –

but being outside of Sunnydale left her feeling homesick. This world was too

strange. She’d grown up her whole life living in Sunnydale’s radius of

obliviousness, and now there was this. A world where magic was real. The

supernatural was every day. And werewolves and vampires had rights. Real, court

given rights. Like no Slaying a vamp unless they’ve done something against the

law.

It was just. . .weird. She wanted to be back in Sunnydale before Sunday. Back

where vampires were targets for Slayage and there weren’t were-creatures

running around in packs. The only good thing about being here had been meeting

Richard and a few of the wolves who had met Oz the last time he passed through

here. It was for him and him alone that she was doing this favor, leaving the

boundaries of Sunnydale to venture out into the wild and crazy world. If he

hadn’t asked for her to come help Richard get grounded she never would have

done so.

But he did.

And here she was.

She sighed, shoving her hands in her pockets. The nights were pretty cool, a

contrast to the mugginess of the day; refreshing in their own way, the same as

the silvery moonlight on the surface of the lake.

She jumped, a cracking branch nearby scattering her thoughts. She turned,

seeing nothing in the twilight around her. Just a squirrel or something, doing

squirrely type things.

The red head turned back to the lake, suddenly wishing that she hadn’t arrived

early. She rubbed her arms, the goosebumps that had popped up when the stick

broke refusing to go back down.

It was the turning that stopped her from seeing the shape that bounded out of

the woods.

The very large, very wolfy shape.

She cried out as she hit the ground, a heavy weight on her back. Pain lanced

down her shoulder. A sickly, tearing pain, burning its way into her skin. She

screamed unthinkingly, the pain blinding. It was hard to think, to concentrate.

Impossible to do anything but scream.

And she did.

She screamed until the pain made her black out.

~*~*~

Paris backed off from the girl, the smell of her blood fresh in the air. The

temptation to bend down, take a lick or three. To rip into that skin with her

teeth, was almost overwhelming.

But she didn’t.

Killing her would bring down more wrath than she was willing. No pack would

welcome her. Even now she needed to run. Richard wouldn’t tolerate this

viciousness against his little girlfriend.

She eyes the claw marks on the girl’s back on more time, a feral growl

trickling from her throat.

There wouldn’t be a human Lupa, because this girl wouldn’t be human come the

next full moon.

~*~End Prologue~*~