Disclaimer: Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter Ten
If there is one thing certain about Eve Uley it is that she doesn't suffer fools gladly. Sam knows he can't lie to his mother, not that he's particularly bad at it but more to do with the fact that she can sniff out a lie from a mile away. So he makes up his mind to tell the truth but she's still standing there with her arms crossed, jaw set as if she's already bracing herself for a heavy dose of bullshit.
"Sit down, mom." He says, softly, as he gestures to the armchair closest to them. Eve refuses. She doesn't say as much but he can see from her expression that she wants answers.
"Tell me what's going on, Sam." she says with a glare at Leah, who has taken a keen interest in the carpet.
He drops down onto the sofa with a wary sigh and rubs his eyes. He wishes he'd thought more about this. His mother isn't in on the Pack's big secret and he doesn't plan on telling her. He clasps his palms, and glances at Leah. "We need to lend some money."
Eve clicks her teeth impatiently. "How much money?" Sam can't answer straight away. It might not be very cool or manly to admit but he still can't stand in front of his mother without turning into a naughty six year old. His only comfort is that he's not the only one. Leah is already eyeing the exit. He stands and moves beside her, blocking her path to the front door. Her eyes flicker to the window.
"How much can you spare?" He asks, almost wincing as his mother's eyes widen in shock. Her expression shift to worry.
"What do you need money for, Sam?", she asks, cutting him off before he can answer. "Are you in trouble? You tell me right now what's going on." She demands.
He places his hands on her shoulders, dwarfing her petite frame and tries to sound as comforting, and honest, as he can. "We're not in trouble, mom. We just---we're both planning to go to college and we thought it would be cool to go out of town."
She's not buying it. He can feel the tension in her shoulders, hear her heart beating ten to the dozen. He can only imagine what's running through her mind. Is it drugs again—gangs? It wasn't either the first time but he had to keep his secret somehow. "What's the rush?" she asks, a question that she already seems to know he can't answer.
When he doesn't she looks to Leah who shrugs her shoulder and doesn't quite meet Eve's eye. "It's now or never," she mutters and Eve is not pleased with her answer. "Is she pregnant?" she asks, directing her question to Sam.
Leah doesn't give him a chance to answer. "No, I'm not...but I'm sure you already knew that." Her tone is bitter and sarcastic and Eve picks up on it ten seconds flat.
"Don't you start." Eve says, spinning on her heel. "All I know is that my son was happy before you came back in his life, and now here he is at 3AM because he needs a huge amount of money-ASAP."
"Mom—don't..."he starts but it's too late. Leah is blazing fury and he can see her clench her twitching fingers into a fist. "I'm sure he was so happy being Emily's little love slave. What I don't get is why you didn't even question the fact that your son seemed to completely change overnight."
Eve narrows her eyes, her words are calm, but her shoulders are slightly hunched with tension."No, but I did notice that he was completely content and happy with Emily before you wormed your way back in." she says, uncrossing her arms and striding across the room to stand before Leah. "What did you do to get your way on that one? They were going to get married." she whispers. "You silly little girl, you don't come between that kind of love, you just don't."
For a brief moment he wonders if Leah might have done this on purpose, got cold feet about leaving Greg but he knows that's not the case. She's too angry to be faking it. She moves closer to Eve. The two women would be eye to eye if Leah didn't have at least six inches of height on her. "I'm not your husband's mistress—or whatever he left you for. Sam and I were in love before he even knew Emily existed. You weren't shrieking and moaning when she came between us, you hypocrite."
Eve sputters. She's not used to being spoken to this way. Sam never dared, and neither did most who've met her and this is one of these times when he hates the fact that Leah always has to be different."What did you---how dare you?"
Leah snorts and rolls her eyes. "I dare. What is your fucking problem, lady? I'm getting sick of all your bullshit. Little Sammy is a big boy now. He can make his own decisions."
He steps in, grabs her shoulder. The last thing he wants to see is a bust up between his girl and his mother and he knows, with either woman, that it could turn physical at any minute. "Leah, stop it. You're going to far."
She bats his hand away and turns her anger on him."Why do you always do that? You always take her side. You just sit back while she's fucking picking away at me."
"I'm not---" He protests but his word are drowned out by his mother's.
"You are a selfish, stupid child who has no idea of the real world, and real love. And if it wasn't for the fact that I know you were raised better, I would march you back home and tell your mother to beat some respect into you."
Sam puts an arm up to stop Leah as she moves forward. She hits the barricade but her anger doesn't dissipate. He wonders if he might get away with putting a hand over her mouth but decides against it. He likes having all his fingers. "Respect?," Leah shrieks. "Why should I respect you? You're a screeching fucking witch who can't resist sticking her claws into me."
Now it's gone too far. Sam grabs her by the arm, practically manhandling her out the house as she throws more insults over his shoulder. He knows he's probably hurting her but he really can't bring himself to care. He's so sick of everything degenerating into a war with her. He's tired of fighting, tired of listening to her fighting, tired of it all.
"Get the fuck off me," she spits pulling her arm away. She stumbles slightly before she finds her footing. Her hand whips out and he can hear the crack of granite and knuckles as she takes her frustration out on the closest wall. When she's finished, she turns to him, her face twisted in a glare.
"What? You gonna fight with me now?" He asks. Part of him wants to bite back the bitterness in his voice, he wants to be able to swallow it down because she's too angry for this and so is he but he can't do it. He has no strength left.
"You didn't even try to defend me in there. You just let that bitch tal---"
He explodes, he's held his tongue for too long and he can't do it anymore. "That 'bitch' is my mother! My goddam mother, Leah. And she was the best bet we had for getting the money we need to get out of here, but you've just gone and fucked that up."
She already knows this but he can tell by her expression that she doesn't care."The only reason we needed that money in the first place is because of your stupid issues." She spits.
He gives an incredulous laugh. "My issues? Well, correct me if I'm wrong but I thought we were in this together."
Another glare and she turns to walk away from him but he can't let her leave. There's too much to say and he's not done. He grabs the sleeve of her jacket, the shiny leather almost sliding through his fingers and pulls her back. She pivots, bringing her fist up into his face and he doesn't think. He simply reacts.
Within seconds, they are on the ground. Fur and fangs flashing around them. A moment of panic flickers through his mind, what if somebody sees them? But Leah's teeth sink into his hind leg and he forgets about anything but pinning her. It's not as easy as it sounds. He has the size advantage but she's quicker and more tenacious, and she's a lot more willing to hurt him than he is her. He grabs her by the scruff of her neck and shakes his head, trying to unsettle her but his anger gets the better of him and he bites too hard. He can taste the metallic tang of blood on his tongue. Leah's blood and his stomach drops.
She goes limp between his teeth and he drops her, snuffling and licking at her wound, trying to speed up the healing process. Her hind legs shoot up and she bucks him off, sending him sailing over her head. She's sneakier than him too.
She breaks off in a run, limping slightly on her forepaw, but he's too dazed to follow. He shakes his head, puts his muzzle between his paws in an attempt to clear his head and then he pushes himself up, awkwardly. By the time he's back on his feet, she has gone.