Okay guys I have decided something about this story. I'm going to use this story to build up the relationship between Talia and Jeremy and the pack. This means it will only be another three to four chapters. There will be a sequel though that will involve a new love interest for Jeremy and the battle against Malcolm. My main problem is that I am trying to go by the show but the show isn't coming back until 2015 so the sequel won't start up until then. I just want to warn you guys that I do have a sequel planned and I will put in a note here when it's up.

Four

Talia grumbled under her breath as she sat on the couch in the den feeling suffocated once again. She knew that her father cared, that the whole pack did and it wasn't like she didn't have an example of a good pack to go back on because she did. Her mother and the old pack were good to her but she also watched them die and then lived on the street for a year so it was going to take a little more time. Talia knew though that she was opening up to them, she could feel herself starting to trust them, to want to have a father that would hold her after a nightmare, one of which she had last night but it was just so damn hard. She looked down at her book on ancient Rome and tensed when she heard footsteps come to stand beside where she lay holed up from her ankle still being hurt. It hadn't healed yet and everybody knew it was because she was malnourished.

"You know I was once like you," Clay said taking a seat on the table in front of the couch.

"Really now?" Talia asked not looking up and not believing him but then she remembered the look in his eyes every time he looked at her.

"I was bitten as a child and my family was killed. I lived in the woods for years until your father found me. For two weeks he came to the woods and sat on a tree stump waiting until I finally trusted him. Even after I went with him I still had problems trusting him and I despised his father, Malcolm because he was the one to turn me. He reasoning was because I was a fighter and better than Jeremy but that isn't the truth. I will never be half the man your father is Talia. I don't know why Malcolm sent Mutts after your mother and I'm sure it would be easy to blame Jeremy but it's not his fault either," Clay said and Talia knew this was the most he had spoke ever pretty much.

"I know it's not his fault," Talia said looking up to meet Clay's blue-green eyes, "I also know that we don't choose our parents so I'm not going to blame my father for something he didn't do. I know that I can trust my father and this pack but knowing and actually doing it are two completely different things especially when you've watched as your mother was killed in front of you."

Clay could see that she was telling the truth, he could also see that his story had made her trust him even more. He was telling her the story so she would trust Jeremy but he saw that she already did she was just hesitate from seeing her mother killed and living on the streets for a year. Clay was at least relieved to see that she wasn't as bitter or broken as he had been when Jeremy had saved him. It had taken almost a year after Jeremy took him in for him to trust the man fully. He had a feeling that Talia would take nearly that long, hell she was already on her way to trusting the whole pack so it was just a matter of time. He could see from the fact that she was on her second book that the girl was also smart, probably smarter than him. Clay stood up his tall frame towering over the girl and he saw that while she still tensed up it wasn't as bad as before and he placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort before walking out of the den. He stopped when he saw Elena on the stairs and she smiled at him. Clay walked past her up the stairs not wanting Talia to know their conversation had been overheard and as soon as they were far enough up he stopped and looked at her.

"That was nice," Elena said not knowing all those things probably because like the fool she was she had pushed the whole pack away.

"She's family," Clay told her with meaning because she was family, she was Jeremy's daughter.

"Why did you never tell me all that?" Elena asked when Clay turned to walk to his room.

"You left Elena not me. Besides you wanted to hate me so what was the point," Clay said because even though they had "made up" so to speak he was still a little pissed that she hadn't let him explain and instead had acted like a stuck up brat. He also knew that despite everything she was still in love with Phillip, a man who had been killed probably by Malcolm. It was hard for Clay to be away from her but she needed to decide not because she knew the truth about her change. He walked away knowing that Elena needed to decide to be with him because she wanted to not because she felt forced.

~Little Wolf~

Jeremy walked into the den and saw that Talia was on yet another book. This was her third book by his calculation and she didn't seem to be skipping anything so this meant she was probably of a high IQ. He had overheard what Clay had said to her and was proud that his adoptive son had taken initiative to help ease Talia into the pack. It was hard for him to see his child be so weary of him, of the pack but maybe Clay had helped in all that. He had observed that unlike with the others she didn't tense and he knew it was because Aria had told her to only trust him.

"That's your third book so far," he said and saw her look up surprised to see her smile.

"I love to read. I also have a photographic memory. Mom use to think that it was from being a born wolf like you but then when my schooling started I learned fast and was years ahead of children my age. I had already gotten to college level when the attack happened," Talia said looking down at the book on Greece.

"That's faster than Clay and his IQ is 160," Jeremy said with a laugh sitting down on the table.

"Well he's a man," Talia joked glancing up to see him laugh.

Talia bit her lip as she continued to read the book and she knew he was about to leave but she didn't want him to but at the same time she didn't feel like talking. She didn't know how to convey this so instead she moved her feet leaving a space on the couch open as an invitation. She held her breath as he stood and sighed when he sat down on the couch. Talia smiled feeling a hand settle on her ankle, the one that wasn't healing, in comfort and saw out of the corner of her eyes he had picked up a book to read. This was something she use to do with her mother and it comforted her that she was able to do it with her father. Talia was slowly trusting this pack and her father and she just hoped that she would be able to before she had to deal with Malcolm Danvers and the Mutts.

I have nothing against Elena so to speak. I like her character but I'm also annoyed with her. She had a right to be pissed at Clay don't get me wrong but she treated him like he was the devil reincarnated and then after all that everything is just okay with them. There's too much hurt on both sides, I repeat both sides, for them to be just okay suddenly. Also Elena needs to realize that the pack is family not a burden thank you very much.