Bronze

Chapter 27

Leah

I fell asleep after the second stop. I was still exhausted and a bit delirious from the massive blood loss I had just endured, but luckily my mother had no issues with me trading places with her to nap on James's head. His trotting motion helped aid my transition into sleep. 

The next time I woke up was when we found the highway. 

"We could grab a bite to eat," I mentioned at the sight of a gas station. 

Both my mother and James glared at me. 

"With what money?" she asked me, mortified that I would even ask such a question. I shrugged my shoulders as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. 

All I knew was that I was hungry.

The day had gone by, but we were slowly making progress. James was doing the best he could with two adult bodies and a toddler on his back. I was surprised he was going as fast as he was. 

I looked behind my shoulder at my mother, who was, conveniently, also looking behind her shoulder. She was watching for patrols or searchers that might've been following us- at least, that's what I hoped she was looking at, and not longing for the old life that she could never go back to. 

"Hey, Mom?"

She jumped slightly, startled by my voice. She quickly changed her expression into one of friendly politeness, but she wasn't fast enough. The instant she turned, I saw the pain in her eyes. The confusion.

"Mhm?" 

Releasing Sophie's limp arm from my grasp, I reached around my body and patted her gently on the leg. She reciprocated by giving me a smile. 

"What will you do? I mean...when we get into Bronze territory?"

She studied my face for a moment, opened her mouth, and, at the very last second, shut it again. Her lips flattened to a thin line, curving down at the corners. 

Finally, she spoke. "I have no clue," she said honestly. "I think I'll leave Sophie with you for a while...until I can get back on my feet. First, though," Her voice grew quiet, her eyes narrowing in on me. "I want to meet this mate of yours!" She exclaimed excitedly.

I giggled, heat spreading from my cheeks. 

"You already know him," I stated, biting my lip.

"Do I?" I could hear the question in her voice. "Or do I know of him? There is a difference, you know."

I nodded, holding tight to Sophie as James made a leap over a rock. "I suppose," I mumbled after we landed. 

A beat passed between us, both of us not ready to tackle the obvious elephant in the room. Or in our case, the elephant on the back of a giant wolf. Either way, there was a ginormous elephant that needed to be dealt with. 

Like ripping a bandaid off of a healing cut, I started. "What changed?" I questioned her. 

She hummed in response, understanding what I had asked. 

What changed from then to now?

She shrugged, her grip around my waist tightening. "I watched you get hurt. I watched as you cried on the floor, blood all around your face and arm, and I couldn't do a thing to stop it. I might not be very maternal, but I do have the instincts buried deep down. I am still a mother at heart, Leah, despite what you may think."

"She loves you," I sighed, defeated for once in my life with my mother. Maybe I should stop fighting her? Maybe I should let the cards fall where they may, and, finally, get over whatever hurt feelings I still had.