Chasing Ghosts

The sun rose in the dusky sky as Tala slept in her bed in her apartment. She was dreaming and it was about the night she had left the wolves. Tala was running with the other wolves in the rain chasing down hunters when a random human seemed to be in the way and on instinct she killed him. when she finally looked down she saw that he wasn't even with the hunters. Her brain was reeling and she was breathing heavily in her wolf form. Her ears went flat, she turned and ran into the woods. She was unaware of the Wolf pup growing with in her.

However by the time she found out, she could not make herself return to her mate and the pack.

Tala had been bitten and turned, she wasn't born like the others to the pack. This Life wasn't hers and she was not going to make it her pups. She had been with Child for 4 months before she had a beautiful baby girl. She named her Ava and could see no flaw in the one thing she still held dear. The child had her Mates features, but also her features. A Werewolfs pregnancy was a lot shorter then a humans and she didn't go to a Hospital, She had to give birth to her daughter in the woods in case she changed or what not.

Tala woke her eye's opening to the smell of rain and the sound of small feet walking to her room. The child she bore crawled intof bed with her mother. She nuzzled into her mother's chest with a small whimper and just held onto her mother.

"Bad dream?" Tala asked gently. The small pupin her arms nodded and she sighed putting the child on her chest as she slowly turned to her back. Tala was not going to go to work today. Today she would spend time with her pup, which was not a normal thing for her, she was almost always working.

"It's okay baby, mama is here, why don't you and I spend the day together and just enjoy the day watch movies, shower, have food delivered." She asked the small child in her arms. The girl nodded and just clung to her mother as Tala got out of bed. The house was a little cold so Tala wrapped her pup in a blanket. She was vulnerable till she made the change at 5 years old. Tala had 2 more years thankfully before that happened. Going to make coffee and grabbing her daughter a sippy cup with Milk in it. Her hand went to her phone to call her boss/Boyfriend. Slowly dialing the number, a soft sigh came as she waited for it to ring her boss answered and asked if they were okay.

"Shaw, yeah we're fine, I am just not going to be coming into work today, I need a day with my little Ava." She said and kissed her daughters cheek. Her boyfriend had said okay and to have a good day He call later. Tala made breakfast for the both of them, eating and talking with her daughter she laughed. After the dishes had been clean she got her daughter clean for the day and dressed as just in case, she as well dressed, she was comfy but ready to go if needed. They need to go out for a minute to grab some things before returning home.

Jeremy sat at the head of the table." My Final decision and word. find her and find her today,we need our best tracker back and I will not take no for an answer. Be careful Tala will be quick and on guard. She isn't stupid. She will try to run. Do not hurt her, but bring her back to me and Louve when she returns you will not chase her off, give her time to adjust and explain. She will not be happy about being forced to come back here." He said.

"Conri, Pete, and Ulf go get her. Remember what I said.

"He growled at the three and sent them off. They looked to the next Alpha in line and gave him a sympathetic look." Sorry man Alphas orders." They say and go to get in the car. They drive to the city which is 3 hours away from the fire woods where their home was. They caught whiffs of Tala and followed them till her scent became stronger, but she was good at covering it knowing she had the best nose out of all of them. Took them a few hours to finally pin point her location and place. Walking in the door the landlord stopped them and asked who they were." Air conditioning guys." Conri said. The man nods and let's them have access to the building. Conri and the three split up taking each floor. They finally found her on the fourth floor.

Tala was just finishing up getting ready when she picked up her daughter with a small smile."Let's go Munchkin." She said and walked for the door just as she ward a knock on it. "Huh wonder who that can be." She said to Ava who was playing with the ring on a chain around her mother's neck it was Louve's engament ring to Tala. She wore it because she still loved her mate.

Tala went to open the door and stopped when She saw the 3 wolves. She had put Ava behind her and slammed the door shut locking it. Picking Ava up and ran for her bedroom. Her door slammed shut just as the front door was kicked open. The bedroom door locked Tala grabbed the bag she kept by the window. Opening the window climing out as she told Ava to hold on tight, she put Ava on her back. Ava nods and hid into her mother holding tight. Basically flying down the fire escape as quickly as possible with a child and a bag attached to her, she looked up and saw snarling face at the top of the fire escape. The others were no where to be seen. Finally as she reached the bottom, her feet hit the ground running. Turning the corner she looked behind her before running into Pete as he took her pup from her grasp.

Tala went to grab him with a snarl. when Conri and Ulf held her tight."Let go now" she growled. Tala watched her pup screaming for her. "Tala stop you can have the child back when you agree to come with us or I could just kill the pup that isn't the Alphas. " Pete said. Tala let out a small gasp." No dont, look at her she is Louve's pup, don't kill her. Louve would kill you all, but not before I got my teeth into each one of your throats." She growled. Conri haults a minute and nods to Pete to let the child go. He and Ulf release Tala. She took her crying and screaming pup from Pete with a dark glare.

Following the wolves to the car, she went to get in. Her bag separated her from Ulf who sat in the back with her. She stayed curled around her pup as Conri drove and called Jeremy Louve's father, the Alpha." We got her, she ran like you said, but uh their is a bit of a complication. She has a child with her, we're more then positive the child is Louves." He said and looked as Tala stayed curled around her pup protectively When they finally arrived 3 hours later at the house. Tala stepped out and put her bag on her shoulder and looked around her as she held her pup close.

Jeremy stepped out and watched Tala.

"Tala welcome home, come in." He said, He told Louve to wait upstairs." Jeremy I am sorry for leaving when I did but, I couldn't deal with killing an innocent it isn't me." She said trying to apologize immediately Jeremy nods.

"Tala sit, your fine I understand, but I need your help tracking only reason your back here. Also is that my little granddaughter." He asked her. Tala slowly takes a seat and nods."Yes, her name is Ava. Wait thats why you want me back here is to track." She asked almost furious. Jeremy nodding to the others to bring Frin down." She is beautiful Tala, and yes but we can talk about that later." He said as he watched the pup shake and cling to her mother. Tala was keeping a protective arm around her child. Looking up when she smelled her mate. Her wolf started to jump at her insides. She changed every so often to keep the Wolf tame, but not as often as she should. The wolf now was fighting to get out to get to her lost mate.

Their pack had been through the mill the last couple of years, fending off threats both human and their own kind. Hunters were a plenty, but it was other packs, in Louve's eye that posed the biggest threat. He had become a hardened man these past couple of years without his mate, being held together by his men and mostly by Rubina. They had always had a good relationship, growing up in the pack together, but over the past 3 years it had grown into something more. He needed the support of his mate during those troubling times and because she had run off and was nowhere to be found, Rubina had carried that mantel.

He was kind and caring toward Rubina, but deep down, he knew that she could never replace Tala, nobody could. He had felt a bit guilty for bringing her into this life, but his guilt was drowned by how much he truly loved her, his heart nearly shattLouveg to pieces when she had left. The day was fast approaching where his father, Jeremy was going to step down, and he was to be the new Alpha, and the anxiety and pressure that brought on only added to the stress of unfolding events. Namely, the fact that his father was sending men out to go fetch her.

He was especially sore about the subject, in a ways, because he knew all too well that they needed her badly. Their rivals had always remained in the North, keeping out of their business and keeping to their own territories, but had apparently found them to be weak and had been challenging them more and more. They seemed hell-bent on either forcing them out or forcing them to submit, the latter of the two seemed to be what they were aiming for. Louve was coming off of a loss, as his father was forced to save his neck from being literally torn open by the pack leader, Randall.

The next few days were quite normal, Louve tried to play and interact with Ava as much as she would allow him to, he even slept in the same bed as them, although he would usually come in after they had already turned in and gone to bed. He didn't want to rouse his daughter or possibly upset her when she hadn't been around him for 3 years. He managed to keep his distance from Rubina, although they have talked on occasion. The only incident with her occurring in the gym one afternoon, she had tried be fresh with him and before he got the chance to do anything about it, Pete and Ulf walked in on them in a compromising position, in the eyes of those who weren't there for the entire affair.

Aside from that incident and the one with Jace a few days ago, Louve was feeling okay. He and Tala hadn't spent any real one-on-one time, but that would be hard to do with their daughter attached to her hip at all times. Ava was absolutely precious though. He would take evening runs with the pack, his sister assuring Tala that she wouldn't let anything happen, referring to Rubina. She had told her that Rubina still had the hots for Louve, but explained that she always had, and she was still a bit young and when it came to the matters of the heart. She told Tala to try to give the girl a chance, trying not to laugh as she said it, but still stressing that even though Rubina wanted her brother that she was rooting for Tala and knew that Louve wanted her over Rubina anyway.

Val and Ulf were really close but she had more of thing for Conri, Ulf was more of her good friend. She knew deep down that he was in to her, but she couldn't help what she liked. Plus, there was the whole thing of Ulf being her brother's bff, and that dynamic just seemed like it would be completely and totally weird. She couldn't imagine sleeping with someone who was super buddy buddy with her brother, it just didn't work out that way in her head.

Today, though, was a day where Jeremy was going to help Louve and Tala get some one on one time with the help of Val, and the two were gonna watch Ava while Louve and Tala just got some time to be together. There was still a bit of tension between them that didn't allow for cohesion, so he figured he'd attempt to see if the two adults couldn't work that through a little bit and chip away at those lingLouveg chips on their shoulders. The two had decided to take a stroll together, Louve suggested it so that they wouldn't feel stifled just sitting in a room possibly staring at each other in silence. He had no idea what to say really, he was still as stubborn as ever, but he was trying. He just didn't know exactly how to say what it was he wanted to and didn't want to mess things up any further than he already had. "It's good to have you back," he said, finally breaking the silence, "I'm sorry for how some of the things turned while you were gone, but I'm truly glad that you're back here with m...us." He wasn't truly sure how she felt, so he didn't want to jump the gun and assume anything on her end.

Tala had been falling into a routine waking up early feeding Ava and walking with her child. She had Conri follow her a bit closer now. She would speak to him on a few occasions, just trying to wiggle back into the pack. The world she left was still the same yet different. Tala felt like an Outsider even more so now then before when she was bitten. Tala would was very protective now that her daughter had been threatened and she didn't take chances with her pup. Ava was always attached to her mother's side. Her little body needed the warmth and she liked her mom's scent.

She played with her dad sometimes, because he had been around a bit more, but she was still standoffish with any one not her mom. She liked Jeremy and Val. She played with them only when she knew her mother was close by so she could run to those ever protective loving arms. Her blue eye's met her dad and she made a small face and laughed as he tickled her. she enjoyed making faces and him tickling her. She make him squeaking noises and just laughed. Ava was still very shy and didn't talk much except for when her and her mom were alone.

Tala had spoken to Val and they spoke of Rubina it brought a snarl to her lips. Val new how she felt about the girl. She said give her a try and she would when the girl tried to stop stealing her mate. She was glad to hear someone was rooting for her. Felt like Val was the only one. Tala still hadn't been alone with or talked to Louve. Not with Ava attached to her 24/7. Tala wanted Ava to feel safe and comfortable.

When Jeremy and Val said they take Ava for a bit. Tala hesitated, yes her pup liked them, and yes her pup was okay with them, that however was when she was near by. She rarely left Ava with people even when she worked in the city Ava went to work with her more often then not. She went to Hand Ava over and Ava went and looked at her grandfather then mother with a whine. She wanted Tala back. Tala leaned down and spoke soft words in her ear. Which spoken sounded odd, but Tala had taught her 3 year old Gaelic. Ava was smart and picked up every word Tala said to her, she could only reply in a few words, but understood her mother perfectly. Tala had said" I love you my flower be back soon. Be good." She kissed Avas head and stepped back. Tala was freaking out on the inside of leaving her pup behind. She walked out with Louve and cringed at Ava screaming for her mom. Most of the pack groaned for them to shut the kid up.

Tala wanted to go back, but she couldn't yet. Her heart hurt and was pounding as she looked back at the house. She didn't want to be away from Ava for to long. She kept her arms around her. Taking a mother from her pup was probably not the best thing. Tala walked with Louve in silence. He started pulling her from her thoughts." It's nice to be back." She said simply. It wasn't a total lie, it was nice to be back, she was still slightly uncomfortable as the day she came here more then 3 years ago. The ring around her neck swung and she held it in her hand moving it side to side a nervous habbit she had picked up." Things happen, no need to apologize." She said and looked at him. "Glad to be back here with you and the rest of the pack, Ava Likes it here she just a little more cautious is all." Tala said.

"She likes you. She told me the other night at bath time. she said and I quote I hope to have a daddy like him someday. So I told her you were her father. She seemed pleased and just nodded her head and kept bathing." Tala said. She smiled and looked down shaking her head. She wasn't sure how else she could mend this or break the tension between them. Their wolves were definitely chomping at the bit to be connected with its mate once more.

"So... Whats been going on in your life? you can spare me the things I could live without knowing" Tala said. she was hinting at Rubina. Her mind tried to forgive that but couldn't still. He told her, they got closer as he talked and they walked.

Talas hand slipped into his and she sighed as he asked her about her life."Hmm let me see. I was pregnant when I showed up to the city. No money, no clothes, nothing. A nice older gentleman took me in and clothed me. He had kids and well they didn't visit any more so he wanted to share stories with me. He was rich so working was not a issue. I just sat and talked the day and night away with him. About life and things we wished to do. He was very kind. He never questioned my pregnancy nore when I came to the house one night with a beautiful baby girl in my arms after only being 4 months pregnant. He just took it, said I don't want to know, all I know is I trust you and I can't let a child stay out in the cold. He died a few months later leaving Ava and I everything.

All I did was stay and talk to the old man. We sold the house and moved to an apartment. I saved the money and got a job as a model, my boss helped out and well Ava spent every day with me after that. She is small for her age. I do hope she grows a bit more before turning 5. So I work a lot and well yeah that's all I did besides give my everything to Ava.

I was distracting myself from my real problems as don would say the old man. He was really awesome." She said of the found memory of the man. she looked up and apologized. "Louve look I was going to come back, I just had to learn to live with what I was, what I did and who I was. I didn't know who I was, Maybe I still don't." Tala sighed and stopped walking. She let out a slow breath and closed her eye's. Tala felt tears in her eye's. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself for comfort. It had been all she had, sometimes even Ava couldn't push away the depression.

She rarely cried and for her to do so in front of her mate was also rare. She never did it before. Her daughter really had changed her a lot. She felt his arms slip around her. Tala turned and buried her face into her Mates chest his scent filled her nostrils.