Her Vengeance

The sun shone down, warming the earth with its rays. If she was actually looking forward to it, Leah might actually find this a good thing, a good omen, but she wasn’t. Today held nothing good, except maybe the fact of finally finding her mate. Leah stepped out of bed, careful not to disturb her mother. They shared a room and a bed for the last five years. Shortly after Leah’s father died, she and her mother had to move into a tiny one bedroom apartment. It was actually one of those studio apartments that had a kitchenette and a small room that resembled a family room. The bathroom, well, it served it’s purpose, but it was just super tiny. There was many a time Leah would flip through the pages of a magazine and dream. She went to the kitchen/kitchenette, and as quietly as possible, rummaged around for something to eat. There was literally nothing in the fridge. Not even condiments. For the past six months they literally survived on food banks, and they had just depleted their last bit of anything. Searching through all the cabinets, she found a can of beans and a some crackers, but she opted to leave it for her mom, and decided to eat a ketchup sandwich using the slightly moldy heel of a loaf of bread in the trash. Grabbing a glass from the single cabinet above the sink, she got a glass of water and swallowed it down. She had to shower, for she had to be ready by noon, for that’s when the “festivities” would begin. Festivities. What a joke! More like a circus. But she had to find her mate today, she just had to! If she could find a mate…then her mother and she could finally move out of this s**t hole and into someplace nice. She had no desire to be mated, but she would do anything for her mother, for she had sacrificed so much for her daughter, and now, it was her turn to help her. “Leah, are you up already?” Shoot. She hoped she wouldn’t have woken her up. “Yeah mom. Sorry, I was trying to be quiet. You go back to sleep.” Her mother had just gotten home from work a few hours ago. “No, I’m good. This day is too important. I need to help you get ready.” Helping her mother back to bed, Leah said, “Mom, it’s only 7:00. There’s plenty of time. Now lay back down.” Her eyes already drifted shut. “Are you certain?” With a kiss to her mother’s forehead, Leah nodded. “Yes mom. I’m certain.” Her mother said no more as she fell back asleep. Leah got into the shower, the hot water a suitable punishment for her daring to want anything nice for herself. She tried to keep such silly dreams at bay, but sometimes, late at night, she indulged her fantasies, but never too often. After a quick shower, she dressed and quietly slipped her mother’s phone out of her purse and texted her friend Avana, not like she was trying to hide that she was doing it, she just wanted her mother to rest and not worry about her for a little while. Hey b***h. Hey b***h. Avana answered back. There pet names for each other. You ready for tonight? Leah sighed. No. I mean, I want this so maybe things could be better for us, but… I just don’t want this. I know, Leah. I’ve known you since you first found out what you were, ten years ago. I know what you want. Yeah. I know. You are my best and only friend. Leah could picture her bestie sighing on her side of the phone. And you’re mine. And you know I only want the best for you, right? Right. Well then please believe me when I say I don’t think you should do this. Avana had been having nightmares for weeks now, of today’s mating with Leah and her mate. And it always ended in disaster. I know, Avana, but what choice do I have? I know. Her best friend never texted anything else, and neither did Leah. Avana knew this was important to Leah to make a good match for her mother’s sake, but Avana kept having horrific dreams that always showed something truly awful happening to Leah, but Avana didn’t have the sight, so what was it. Daddy, her heart cried out to the only one in the universe she felt actually understood her. She recalled a day around aten years ago. “Leah. Leah bear, you ready?” Leah had only been around five years old. There was an ice cream shop that just opened down the block and he had promised her all week that they would go, and now it was time. “Is it time? Are we going?” James Moore grabbed his daughter’s jacket, for it was a cool spring morning. “It sure is. Have you been good? Done all your chores? Practiced your letters?” Little Leah put on her jacket. “Yes daddy, and I took a plate of cookies to Mrs. Brown’s house.” “Well,” said Mr. Moore, “This truly calls for a celebration. Let’s go get… a double scoop!” Leah just recalled how his eyes twinkled when he said double scoop, as if that were the greatest thing ever! She sure thought it was. For the next year, until he passed, they made it a Saturday afternoon thing. “Oh daddy.” With a shake of her head, she got her makeup and her curling iron and brush and headed to the bathroom. She wasn’t going to get ready yet, for there was still plenty of time for that. So she went to the “living room” to watch a movie. Thanks to Avana they had a Roku device, and they got free internet thanks to the pack, but that was all the help they gave them, and that only because the pack needed them to have internet access for meetings and such. So, they took advantage of all the free stuff. Also, thanks to Avana, they had a couple subscription services. Avana and her parents liked to help Leah and her mother, for they thought it awful the way the pack treated Leah and her mother, just because her father dared to speak out against Edward, when he had clearly been in the wrong. She had just settled into a little spot on the couch, when there was a knock on the door. With a groan, Leah jumped up to answer it else it wake her mom. Too late. "I got it babe," said Cara Moore. "It's ok mom. You sleep." However, her mother was already opening the door and stepping outside to talk to the strange man, closing the door behind her. Leah wasn't stupid. She knew what it was about. She had seen the man several times and knew him to be their landlord. One would think, the landlord being the brother of one's dead husband might get them a bit of leeway, but he was constantly knocking on the door, asking for money. True, it was probably owed him, but still he didn't have to be so douchey. A minute later, her mother stepped back inside, a distracted smile on her face. "We better get you ready for this Mating Ball," said Cara Moore. Leah pulled out her old, outdated phone with a cracked screen and looked at the time. "Already? The ball doesn't start for six more hours. How long do you think it'll take to get it done?" Apparently Leah hadn't paid much attention at all to who her mother was talking to, for Mrs. Moore stepped aside and revealed her surprise visitor. "Yes, but we have an appointment in forty-five minutes to get your nails done, and to get you a pedicure." "Avana! When did you... were you out there this whole time?" "No, we just arrived. It was good timing that the guy your mom was talking to left at the exact moment that my mom and I pulled up." "I suppose so," said Leah, embracing her best friend. "Are you serious? You got me a pedicure?" Playing with her friends hair, Avana nodded. "Yup, and doing your nails." "Avana, I...I don't know what to say." "Oh, it wasn't me, it was your mom. She worked odd jobs to pay for it. She's pretty amazing." Leah ran and wrapped her arms around her mother. "Yes she is." Mother and daughter stood in each other's arms for several seconds until. "Ahem, we need to get going in the next fifteen minutes, so you had best jump in the shower." "Right. Got it. I-I'll go and do that." A quick shower, and some clean clothes, and Leah was ready to go. "I'm ready!" called out Leah happily. "Sweet! Let's go!" Avana was a year older than Leah and had her own vehicle. It was a used one, but only a few years old. They bought it with less than thirty thousand miles on it, so they got an awesome deal. As Avana pulled out of the driveway, Leah noticed her mother wasn't in the car. "Isn't your mom going with us?" "Actually no. My mom is taking your mom out for lunch." Leah was touched that Mrs. Sheridan would actually think about her mom like that. "Oh wow. I don't know when the last time that my mom went out to eat was." "It's no problem. My mom is happy to do it.... I wonder who your mate will be. Maybe Darian, or Edward, or Cade?" Leah just shrugged, not really concerned because she was only doing this for her mom, so she and her mother could get out of that hell hole. "Who knows." Leah and Avana spent a wonderful morning to early afternoon together, but it was finally time to go home and get ready. Three hours later, Avana dropped her friend back off at her apartment and after giving Leah a hug, said, "see you tonight." "Yeah, tonight," said Leah. She so didn't want to do this. Well, no, that wasn't exactly the truth. She wanted to meet her mate, this much was true, but she didn't want to go to this mating Ball. It was stupid, and she knew all the b***h Pack would be there and would poke fun at her. On her way to the bathroom, she stopped in the mirror and took a look at her reflection in the mirror. She hated seeing how fat she was. It was so unfair, she hardly ate anything at all, and never ate sugar. She was extremely cautious not to eat anything that would make her fat, but she just couldn't lose weight! It was all so frustrating! When Leah stepped into the shower, she heard her mom come in the door. "Oh, good, you're already taking a shower. It'll probably take me thirty to forty-five minutes to do your hair. Elise will be back at 5:30 to pick us up, so that gives us two and a half hours, so hurry sweetie." "Yes, mom," said Leah, rolling her eyes. After over two hours of primping and prodding, Leah was ready. The ball would be at Gabe Sinclair's place, the pack leader, and an alpha of all alphas. He had three children, all who loved to make fun of Leah. She wasn't the popular type, more like the opposite. Anti popular, if that was even a thing. If so, that was her. Finally, dressed and ready to go, she stood in front of her mirror for one last look of her reflection. Leah sighed. The butterflies in her stomach would not stop dancing. Breath after breath, she couldn't get them to stop dancing. The sound of a car's engine announced Avana's mother's, Elise, arrival. Cara walked out to take her daughter's hand. "You ready?" Leah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No, but let's do this anyway." With a sad smile, Cara gave her daughter's hand a squeeze. "Let's go." Mother and daughter, hand in hand walked outside and climbed aboard Elise's car and were on their way to the Mating Ball.