A/N: I remembered to post the next chapter early this time, I'm so proud of myself! Thanks to all those who enjoy this story, I know you probably want me to update others, but quite honestly, I'm currently just on a huge Kate/Bella story writing binge because they're my favorite and they make me happy. I've been struggling to write outside of this story and the Kate goodness, so I'm kinda just doing what I can to keep writing, and hopefully the inspiration from those stories (which you can view early on my discord, I swear I'll eventually figure out how to fix the link in my bio) will spill into other stories soon. Love you peeps :)

Chapter 5

When Riley woke up, it was a slow, groggy thing; until she heard someone near her move. Immediately, her body went on high alert, her years spent on the street readying her for any potential danger. She was sleeping on her side, could tell the person was coming toward her, right in the direction she was facing. She waited until the person was almost on top of her before reacting.

Lashing out with her knee, she managed to catch the person right in the balls before yelling, "Surprise, fuck nugget!"

"Why the fuck-" a familiar voice snarled, and Riley realized who she had hit way too late as Paul crumpled to the floor in front of her, cupping himself.

"Oh, hey Paul," Riley said as Paul groaned in pain, earning a snarl in response.

"The hell was that for, asshole?"

"Yeah, it's not a good idea to sneak up on me while I'm asleep," Riley said, unable to sound too apologetic for the instincts that saved her ass on way too many occasions.

"I wasn't sneaking up on you, I was checking on you!" Paul protested from his place still bent over. Even in pain, he also sounded relieved, which confused Riley to no end. Did people normally check on others when they slept?

"Why the fuck were you checking on me?" Riley asked with clear befuddlement.

"Because you've been out for over twenty four hours, and we were worried. We almost ended up taking you to the hospital," Leah's voice answered from behind Riley. Riley glanced over her shoulder to find the girl with her arms crossed over her chest, eyebrows arched as she looked between a still suffering Paul and Riley. "Thanks for not waking up on my shift, by the way."

"No problem." Riley rolled her neck and worked her shoulders. Besides a stiff body and a serious need to pee, she felt great. "I'm happy it was Paul too." But damn, over twenty four hours? It had been a while since she had been out for so long.

"Hey! Do you have to kick me when I'm already down?" Paul complained over Leah's laugh.

"I mean I would, but I need to pee," Riley said, hurrying to the upstairs bathroom without another word. She took the time to shower too, and brushed her teeth with an unopened toothbrush she found on the sink, brushing her hair out with her fingers in front of the mirror. Finally, she walked back into Alice's room naked to borrow some clothes and, she arrived at the top of the steps, noticing that Paul and Leah were no longer in the living room where Riley had woken up.

It was easy to figure out where they went; she could make out the sounds of silverware and chewing, along with some smells that seriously made Riley's mouth water, coming from the kitchen. Her stomach rumbled in agreement with her nose that the kitchen had to be their next destination. "So, what did I miss?" Riley asked as she entered the kitchen, taking note of the food covering the table with Leah and Paul sitting on either side. Paul handed her a plate with the hand that wasn't stuffing himself, and Riley loaded up her plate. "Besides someone going grocery shopping."

"Not much, actually," Paul mumbled around a mouthful of food. "Leah and I have been staying here and watching out for you, except when one of us had to go on patrol, and unlike a certain someone, we kept where you were and what you know a secret." The way he said it made it clear that he expected some answers about Riley's knowledge, and probably how she had come across it, but Riley wasn't about to give those "how" answers willingly.

"Yeah, how'd you guys do that anyway? Don't you guys have some kind of mind link that makes it hard to keep secrets?" Riley asked as she sat on Paul's lap, resting her feet on Leah's thighs.

"What don't you know?" Leah grumbled. Neither she nor Paul seemed to even care that Riley was using their bodies for comfort, which Riley was pleased about; they were really much more comfortable than the chairs.

"How you kept what I know a secret, duh," Riley said with a roll of her eyes, sticking her tongue out at the girl. "And how to get you to fall for my charms so I can-"

"There are ways to keep certain thoughts to yourself. It's hard and a lot of work, but it's possible," Leah said, purposely interrupting Riley with a glare as her cheeks again burned a bright red. Paul chuckled of course, which led to Leah kicking Paul in the shin under the table hard enough to make him jump.

"Hey!" Riley protested. "No attacking Paul-"

"Thank you!" Paul exclaimed.

"-when I'm on his lap. I don't like it when my seat gets jostled."

"Oh, come on!" Paul sounded aggravated, but Riley could feel him struggle to hold back a laugh, even at his own expense. "If you were anyone else, I'd be handing you your ass. You know that, right Redwood?"

"Obviously. We all know if you tried to fight me, the only one who would get their ass handed to them would be you." Riley took a moment to eat, and both Leah and Paul watched her, contemplating what to do or say next.

"You know you're going to have to tell us how you know this stuff, right?" Leah asked, deciding to be the one to break the silence.

"Nope," Riley answered with a mouth full of food. She swallowed, adding, "If you want to know how I know what I know, then you'll have to torture me for it." Riley gave Leah a grin that was all teeth. "And you'll have to get creative, because I don't crack easily even when people pull out the big guns." Riley was a lot of things, but she wasn't the type to potentially hurt people who had been kind to her for no reason. Even if she was, she wouldn't go around telling people she had read their stories in a book series.

Despite how easily Riley went back to eating, Paul and Leah knew just how serious Riley was. Not just about having to torture her, but also how she had kept her mouth shut while being tortured in the past.

Wolf shifters had huge appetites and were always hungry, but in that moment, neither of them could stomach another bite.

"Why can't you just tell us?" Paul asked.

"I have my reasons," Riley answered. "But I promise you, no one I know knows what I know, you know?"

"What?" was all Paul could say in reply.

Riley nodded once in agreement. "Exactly." Before Paul or Leah could ask Riley to actually make sense in some way, Riley added, "Don't worry. I might've been too loose lipped earlier, but that was some weird side effect of what I've been through," and because Riley had just felt like telling Paul, but she didn't want to admit how easily she did things on a whim, "I'm not going to tell anyone else what I know. Your secrets are safe with me." That is, unless something needed to be said, but Riley was actually going to think things through before opening her mouth if the situation arose.

"Fine, we'll drop it for now. But this isn't over," Leah said at last. "One day, I really hope you trust us enough to tell us."

Riley didn't acknowledge her words, instead continuing to eat. Finally, she said, "I don't know if I'm ever going to tell you, and not just because of trust. Now, can we head over to the rez soon? I want to get started on repaying you all for taking care of me, and since what I owe just doubled with my recent nap, the sooner I start the better."

Leah sighed. "You really don't have to-"

"So you want me to just not pay you back, leave Forks in the next day or so, and never return?" Riley asked, already knowing Leah's answer.

"She's got you there," Paul snickered at Leah's frown and sudden silence. Noticing Riley was done eating, he picked her up off of his lap and set her on the floor so he could get ready to leave himself, tousling Riley's hair as he picked up the plates. "You've already grown on us, Redwood. We don't want you going anywhere."

"I know," Riley said with a grin, although it was still strange to hear that. Besides Sasha, Riley had always had to earn her place or trick people into wanting her to stick around. Usually, she had to use her skills or her body or her silver tongue, possibly blackmail. Here, all it had taken was her getting hit by lightning and not being a complete asshole. "Once my debt is settled, I might stick around for a while after." At the very least, Riley wanted to stay around until the end of the series' timeline. She actually liked all of the wolves, and wanted to make sure everything turned out alright for them. Maybe somehow ease the tensions and make sure the eventual pack split that would happen because of Bella's pregnancy wouldn't hurt all of the wolves so much.

Yeah, Riley was putting herself in danger, purposely hanging around shifters and, most likely, vampires, but so what? Riley was sure she had been in more dangerous situations sometime in her life.

Sasha's words rang in her head, as if Sasha was really there, and she knew just how much Riley was already binding her fate to the wolves. "All someone has to do is show you a bit of kindness, and you're theirs. Your sense of loyalty is too strong. I don't want you dying for someone else, Riley."

"I'm not going to die for anyone, Sasha. After all, I already live for you," you Riley declared.

"That's not any better. You need to live for yourself."

"I don't want to!"

"But you need to. What if something happens to me one day?"

"It won't. Before you saved me, I didn't even want to live. You gave me a purpose." Riley had taken Sasha's hand in hers. "I won't ever let anything happen to you. I'll live for you, and I'll die for you."

"There is that loyalty again." Sasha sighed. "We're homeless orphans, Riley. You're not some knight swearing her life to a princess." Sasha had looked at Riley then, her eyes so worried and sad. Her grip on Riley's hand tightened. "You have to promise me. If something ever happens to me, you have to keep living. You have to do whatever is necessary to take happiness for yourself."

"Fine," Riley huffed, rolling her eyes at the blonde. "But nothing will ever happen to you because I'm here!"

But it had. Sasha had died, and Riley had been unable to stop it. And now…

"Riley? Riley!" Paul shoved Riley's shoulders hard, and as the girl fell backward, she quickly rolled with the force, popping to her feet and ready for a fight. Instead, she saw two pairs of worried brown eyes fixed on her.

"Are you okay?" Leah asked. "We lost you for a second there. Maybe we really should take you to a hospi-"

"No, I'm fine." Riley shook her head, offering a reassuring smile when neither of them looked convinced. "Really. I just got a little lost in my thoughts is all. I'm fine. We good to head over to the rez yet?" The two shifters traded a look, but apparently decided not to push with whatever had just happened.

"Yeah," Leah said, giving Riley a concerned once over. "We're taking my car."

"Since when?" Paul demanded as Leah headed out the door, Riley following closely behind.

"Since now," Leah retorted.

"I call shotgun!" Riley announced gleefully as she bounded over to an oldish red car, ignoring the two as they continued to bicker. Only when Leah pulled out of the way too long driveway of the Cullens' mansion and onto an empty road did Riley interrupt to ask questions about the town. She wanted to know where everything was located so she could draw a map of the town in her head. Sadly, her map was nowhere near complete by the time Leah parked in front of Emily's house, aka pack headquarters, as the best place for Riley to find jobs to do for "repayment" would be from the pack themselves.

The moment Riley exited the car, the shifter boys and Emily swarmed her, all of them asking questions about how she was feeling and where she was staying and saying how they missed her. When they first came over, Riley almost started swinging, having never been surrounded like that before without the people surrounding her trying to attack. Leah and Paul seemed to realize this, quickly moving into place to run interference as Riley expertly dodged the more concerning questions. Soon, it was all jokes and laughter, and Riley felt herself start to relax.

"We were really worried about you," Emily said as things started to calm down. "Especially after hearing how much rest you needed. I knew you should have stayed with us longer."

"I'm fine," Riley assured her. "Really."

"But you're still wearing your old bandages! You're supposed to be changing these daily. They're already so dirty…"

Riley glanced back at Leah and Paul, looking for help as Emily fussed over her, but found them laughing at her expense instead.

"Traitors," Riley grumbled, making them laugh even more.

"Seth, can you get the first aid kit? Embry, help me out with lunch, I don't want anything to burn. Leah, I want to hear just what kind of care you've been giving her, because it looks like you did a horrible job," Emily ordered them around with ease, and all of them were more than happy to follow orders as they went back into the house-save for Leah, who rolled her eyes as she followed them, leaving just Jared, Sam, and Paul outside with Riley.

Riley was the first to notice someone coming toward them, could almost feel the anger rolling off the person's body.

"So…" Jared's words died in his throat as he, Paul, and Sam all realized someone had arrived.

"What is she doing here?" Paul growled, immediately stepping in front of Riley protectively-which also blocked her view of the person, much to Riley's annoyance. Why did he have to try to protect her, anyway? Riley was the one who protected people, not the other way around.

"What did you do to him?" a furious girl's voice screamed.

"Easy, Paul," Sam said, putting a hand on Paul's shoulder as the boy's body started to shake in reaction to the girl's tone.

Riley glanced around Paul to see the new arrival, unable to help her curiosity. Without a doubt, Riley knew who she was looking at, even before taking in the girl's brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin;

Bella Swan had arrived.