𝑮𝑯𝑶𝑺𝑻 |✔️

Wolf mother | ch. 10

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The lights of houses turn off as their hope for Balto, and the team's return has vanished. The white, red husky Jenna is on the outside, pushing the broken bottles using a lantern as a light. she moves away, and the ice caps, as Balto called it, cast their beautiful glow onto the wall of snow, and Jenna smiles sadly, muttering, "...Balto..." 

Balto crawls up of the snow in the wild, breathing hard. he then has no more strength and collapses into the snow. As it settles in for him that he cant get up and that the kids in Nome will die, he lays omne of his paws on his nose and starts to sob. Suddenly, he feels the scent of a strange creature, but it's simultaneously the same. He looks up and sees a great white wolf. It looks like Ghost, only more minor. And its eyes are an orange golden instead of burning blue. The wolf tilts her head, not saying anything, then lifts her snout to the air and howls. Balto sighs and looks away, refusing to howl along. The wolf stops howling and looks at Balto with a tilted head. She understands his sorrow and pain. She sighs and walks away, disappearing into the snow like a Ghost. Balto then turns, seeing that the medicine is luckily unharmed. his gaze then wanders up to the sheer mountain face where he fell. he then remembers Boris's voice just before he faded away from the wolf dog's sight and followed Ghost. "A dog cannot make this journey alone...but...maybe, a wolf can," he then sighs and thinks about Ghost and where she could be. 

He hopes she's okay. He then sees that he must be what he always had. A wolf. he gest a detrimted face and stands on shaking legs taking his paw onto the pawprint of Ainu. he lifts his foot, seeing that it's identical. He widens his eyes. he is indeed a wolf. He lifts his snout, howling in a tone kike Ainu did. The white wolf then appears smiling. She walks over to Balto, joining him in the music. Upon the ledge that the team is stranded on, the group dogs are freezing and shaking. they hear the howls and roll their eyes, afraid and tired. "Oh, great. Things are not bad enough; now we got wolves!" Nikki growls, and his team echoes in a scared voice. Suddenly a sound of footsteps enters the air of cold, and the team whips their heads around to see Ghost. "what's wrong about wolves?" she asks and lifts her head, joining the song. 

Down with Balto, he grabs the medicine and starts to drag it up. Kaltag, sitting looking over the cliff, sees Balto and calls out to the others. by now, Ghost has stopped her song and goes with the team crowding around Kaltag. " Hey, hey! Hey, over here!" he says, and they see Balto climbing up the way he fell. Ghost smiles. And as he comes within her and the others reach, they grab him all. Ghost, the strongest, quickly lifts the wolf-dog and sets him gently down. He lets go of the medicine as he hits the ground. "good job, wolf friend," Ghost praises and rubs her snout against Balto's cheek. The wolf-dog smiles. And looks into her eyes. "let's get this to where it belongs" Ghost speaks up, tilting her head towards the box with antitoxin, and Balto nods. "yeah, let's go home," he says into his sadlle. The Ghost smiles down t them. "I'm proud of you all," she says and takes off the team, following her the best they can. 

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Rosie's Father, Mother, and Jenna sit at her bedside back in the hospital. A nursebrings Rosie's mother a cup of hot liquid. " Here, drink this." the nurse says, and Rosie's mother nods at her thanking her. Jenna looks as Rosie's health continues to dwindle. Just outside, Muk, Luk, and Boris are sadly waiting for Balto and Ghost to come back. Luk grabs ablanket and wraps everyone inside. They are depressed to do just about anything whenBoris suddenly hears howling in the distance. "..Balto.." he whispers hopefully. Then another howl pierces the air. Ghost. Boris looks up smiling and sees the familiar figure of the great wolf and Balto's team. "they're back!" he yells. Soon the whole town wakes at the sound of howls. The light filmers up in every house. Ghost smiles as she and Balto run into town. She slowed down and soon stopped altogether. Balto comes up to her and rubs his snout against her shoulder. "thank you for leading us home, Ghost," he says, and the white wolf smiles and bends her head so that their noses touch each other's. "we are all heroes in this my friend" she says and walks away as the people come over and congratulate the wolf-dog. The white wolf soon finds himself in the abandoned timber house where all the dogs hang out from time to time and where Steele now enjoys himself with a bone.

She opens the door with her snout, and immediately all the dogs become silent. Steele stops gnawing on the white knuckle and lays it down at his front paws. "ah, Ghost! We just talked about you! so cozy that you join us," he purrs and smirks. Ghost is quiet and goes straight to Alaskan. her face is a void of feeling as she bends her head so that she is at eye level with the boss' dog. "you will never be him," she snarls and turns. "Those who want to see the real hero follow me," she says and walks out of the timber shed with the other dogs following her. Steele gaps. He had not expected this, but she had slowed down that she would not be his mate if he had lied to save her honor.

And she spoke the truth. Steele put his head on his paws in inner knowing and self-disappointment. Could he not tell the truth? He had lost the only chance he had with the white wolf and his followers. he closes his eyes and lets the disappointment come over him. he has nothing left to lose.

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