The Strength of a Pack

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

When I walked back inside the house a few hours later, my mom was sitting in the living room by herself, watching the TV with a blank look on her face. However, once I walked in her face brightened.

“Oh, I’m glad you’re back Riley.” She got up and gave me a tight hug again, and I could tell immediately something was definitely wrong.

“How’d it go?” I asked in a tight voice.

My mom pulled away and gave me a tired smile. “We all need to talk together. You’re father and I… weren’t able to come to an agreement.

An agreement? What was there to agree on?

“However, Susan just got home and… it’s just…”

I nodded and said, “I know.” I took her hand and led her up to my room, away from anyone who would remind her of the fact that her mate had a life with a different woman. I mean, my mother was the one who chose in the first place to leave him, but still, I couldn’t imagine going through that.

So, we spent about an hour talking in my room. She told me about the past few weeks and how she’d been doing a lot of flying in Europe.

“It’s so beautiful over there Riley,” she said with a passionate look on her face. I hadn’t seen her like this in a long time.

“You know… maybe you and I could go sometime together. Spend a few weeks… maybe even a couple months over there. I can get so many more flights over there, and still be home at night if we lived in a large city over there. And-”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said quickly. “Live there? What are you talking about?”

My mom looked a little hesitant now, but I could see the hope in her eyes. “Riley… I was hoping you’d come live with me. In Europe.”

I think my jaw hit the floor. “What!? You’re moving to Europe?”

“Well, not yet. I want to move there with you. It would be a new beginning for the both of us.”

“Mom… where is this coming from? I already have my new beginning, and I love it here.”

“Really? So you’re saying you don’t miss the way things used to be? You don’t miss your friends?”

“Of course I do,” I answered immediately. “But even if I agreed to going to Europe with you, I still wouldn’t be around my friends. I’d be all alone in a foreign country. What would I do for school? How would I deal with being… what I am, all alone in a foreign country?”

My mom wrapped her hand around my own and squeezed, giving me a small smile. “We’d work it out Riley. Juts you and me, exploring the world… it’d be exciting, a whole new chapter in our lives. We can put all of this behind us.”

I sat up on my bed, already shaking my head. “Mom… if I was any other girl, this would be the opportunity of a life time. If I wasn’t… what I am, I would jump at the opportunity to do this with you. But I’m not an ordinary girl, and if we left to Europe together, we’d just be running away from our problems.”

Tears filled my mom’s eyes. “When did you get so wise?”

I smiled and shrugged. “I’ve changed a lot in the past year Mom.”

She sat up on the bed and hugged me tightly. “I know. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t…” She sighed heavily. “I still want to spend time with you. I’ve wasted so much already… I promised John that I wouldn’t do this, that I wouldn’t check out after he passed, but… Well, it was just so hard, and looking into your eyes everyday… the eyes that I fallen in love with in a man I barely knew… I didn’t know what to do. So, I’m sorry for leaving you alone so much growing up. It wasn’t right of me to do, you never deserved it.”