A/N: Not quite happy with this chapter, but I ran out of time to edit it because of the schedule thing. You have a problem with this chapter, it's not my problem.

Chapter 19

"What are you doing, meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time? Calm down, Riley." Paul lightly slapped a hand on Riley's uninjured shoulder to try and calm his jittery friend. Sadly, it didn't calm her in the least.

"You don't get it, do you? We're ten minutes away. That means I have ten minutes to prepare myself to charm the pants off all the vampires and make all of you bastards eat your words." Riley shot a quick glare at the pack, who all had to work hard not to laugh at Riley's struggling. "You have no idea how hard it is." Before she ended up in La Push, being able to charm others had been as easy as breathing. While Riley was a little rusty thanks to the wolves and spending so much time as herself, there was another problem; finding a new balance. Because when she tended to switch to charming mode, she had a tendency to cut off her emotions completely. If she didn't, she would end up potentially becoming attached to those she charmed, and that was a dangerous avenue to go down. While she obviously didn't want to risk getting attached to random vampires, which she doubted she would do anyway, switching into that mode would mean Riley would act differently toward the Cullens and the pack as well. She didn't care so much about the Cullens being suspicious of her change in behavior; what she cared about was accidentally hurting one of the shifters' feelings by appearing distant.

"I bet it is," Jacob muttered with a snicker as he helped Bella over a large branch before she could fall on her face.

"Oh, fuck off, assmunch," Riley snapped at him, and seeing Riley so on edge actually shut the boy, and the rest of the pack, up as well. Many, Bella included, shot Riley worried looks, but no one seemed quite sure how to calm the girl. Paul stayed close by Riley's side, but only Leah dared drift close enough to touch her, grabbing Riley's good hand with hers. Their fingers laced as Riley leaned against Leah, drawing support from the female shifter, as her bad hand moved to her neck to rub Sasha's locket through the cloth material.

Why am I so nervous? It's just more vamps, right? I already dealt with one vegetarian coven, what's so different about this one? Riley knew the answer. This was because the Denalis were once "Sasha's" coven. Not her Sasha, of course, but the fact that the long dead vampire shared a name with her long dead friend ate at her. Why hadn't Riley realized she might project onto the Denali sisters sooner? I was so focused on making sure everyone else survived the newborn army unharmed that I didn't take a second to think about how my own feelings might fuck things up. Damn it, how soft and generally unprepared for life was I getting?

"We're here," Sam murmured, ripping Riley from her thoughts before she could berate herself any further. Unconsciously, Riley kept her eyes on the ground as she moved closer to Leah to prepare herself for what was to come, trying not to react to the low hiss she heard from an unknown vampire that followed Riley's action. If they really started a fight before the shifters said anything, all Riley's work getting this far would be for shit.

"Riley are you okay? You don't have to be here," Leah whispered when Riley all but burrowed into her side, but she didn't take her eyes off something happening in front of her. Or, more correctly, she didn't take her eyes off of someone. Paul seemed to notice something he didn't like as well, because he half stepped in front of Riley, letting out a low snarl. There was one leech, a woman with strawberry blonde hair and golden eyes, who was staring much too closely at Riley for either of their liking, her eyes so dark the shifters could barely make out the gold in them

"I'm fine. What's a few more vampires?" Riley muttered, and the entire pack stiffened. Not because of Riley's words, but because the moment she spoke, the strawberry blonde's gaze intensified while two other golden pairs of eyes, both from the other two unknown blondes, snapped to the black haired human with way too much interest. Not just interest, but a type of hunger, one the women didn't seem quite too aware of, but it made the shifters incredibly wary all the same.

No one but Edward and Alice noticed Jasper's reaction, understanding coloring his expression at the emotions he felt from the Denali sisters. Alice looked ready to start bragging and celebrating as all of her hard work started to pay off. Meanwhile, Edward just frowned as he did his best to understand what was happening. But it was hard to hear anyone's thoughts when the sound of static from Riley's head was so loud and overwhelming. He knew it shouldn't be possible, but he was pretty sure Riley's static was giving him a headache.

"First sentence she spoke, and it looks like she already managed to piss someone off. Fucking called it," Quil said, only half joking. He was too tense and on edge to actually enjoy his potential win. It unnerved him, the way those blonde women looked at Riley.

Riley's eyes snapped up to his with a glare. "Fuck you Quil, I was totally behaving myself! I didn't do shit."

"Well you definitely did something, what with how the blondes are looking at you," Jacob muttered.

All Riley heard was "blonde" and her mind immediately jumped to the only one she knew. "Ooh, Rosalie's actually fallen to my charms?" Riley lit up despite the low growls that ripped from at least four vampires, her gaze finding Rosalie's with unerring ease.

"Like hell I did," Rosalie hissed defensively. "With you gone, I finally got to relax. It was enjoyable not having you around to bug all of us."

Riley's grin only widened. "Oh, really now? Because I've heard a completely different story. In fact, I heard that you've been desperate to see me again."

Jasper couldn't hide his grimace as he was assaulted by jealousy and anger from the Denali sisters, followed by longing and desperation. Their emotions kept switching around too fast, ebbing and flowing in intensity, all but making his head spin. Then there were the shifters, wary and protective and almost scared for the human. Jasper tried to project waves of calm, and while it helped with the pack to a degree, the blonde Denalis were in too much turmoil for Jasper's gift to have any effect. Alice noticed, of course she did, and so she pressed against her mate's side. Alice only felt a flash of guilt at her husband's suffering before she pushed that feeling down, replacing it with calm contentedness to try and combat the other emotions Jasper was feeling.

"Thank you all for coming, especially at such short notice. We are more than happy to have you here. My wife made plenty of food for you all, if you want it." Carlisle mentioning food made all of the shifters perk up, and for a moment, Riley was distracted from her bantering as well. Her eyes skittered over to Carlisle as if the man would be holding the food for them, so close to landing on Tanya yet not close enough. Once she saw there was no food, her eyes moved back to Rosalie and Emmett, and she started to joke about how Emmett can't keep Rosalie from her desires for Riley for much longer. Emmett held her back to stop Rosalie from trying to threaten Riley, but was pretending to hold Rosalie back to stop her from jumping Riley's bones, much to Rosalie's irritation.

"I'm still making more. Don't want anyone to go hungry," Esme added, poking her head out with a motherly wave before heading back to the kitchen.

"Of course. We both want to protect humans," Sam said, trying to hide the doubt he felt for his own words. Riley had drilled it into his head that the vegetarian vamps cared about humans too, but after so much time spent with the Elders who told him the opposite, it was still so hard to imagine the vegetarians as "good people." His gaze moved back to the new coven of vampires, expecting them to introduce themselves. Instead, four out of the five vampires' gazes were still fixated on Riley. The man was watching Riley with a furrowed brow, appearing befuddled by something he saw. What he really didn't like was how the three blonde women looked at Riley or how dark their eyes were. The darker the eyes, the thirstier they were. But if they were so thirsty, wouldn't they also be looking at Bella too? It unnerved the alpha how obsessed the women seemed with the pack's human.

Look over here, Tanya begged silently as Riley, Rosalie, and Emmett started to banter further, somehow dragging the female shifter into it too. Please, if only for a second. My sisters and I need to see your eyes. She didn't care that she wasn't being polite toward the wolves or that her actions were already making the shifters not like them. She didn't care that the Cullens were looking between Riley and her coven in confusion, or that Eleazar and Carmen were shooting her questioning and concerned looks. All she could focus on were how stiff and confused her sisters were at her sides and the human girl who seemed so comfortable with the shifters. Yet no matter how much she willed it, Riley seemed almost intent on looking anywhere but in the Denali sisters' direction.

I need to go over there. Rip that woman's hand off of that human and maybe give the pup a 'shocking' welcome while I'm at it. That bitch shouldn't be touching her. She shouldn't be holding the human's hand. The human shouldn't be curled into her body like that, not when I'm here. Whatever that human is scared of, I can protect her. Certainly much better than that bitch could. Kate didn't question her thoughts or why she was feeling such hostility to the particular shifter at the moment. She would figure out why she was feeling so aggressive later. For now, she just needed to get that girl away from the shifters, if only so the human could be closer to Kate and her sisters instead. If attacking the shifters wouldn't cause so much danger for her human and potentially make her coven angry with her, the warrior would have done something already. Instead, Kate was stuck, rooted to the spot, and she had never been more aggravated in her life for her inability to act.

Irina had thought that seeing the wolves in person would cause conflicting and painful emotions to well up inside of her. She had expected her own reaction to be so bad that she would have had no choice but to leave to get a hold of herself. Instead, she barely noticed the shifters; all she could focus on was the human tucked against the female shifter's side. That girl doesn't belong there. She belongs with me. When Riley pressed even closer to the shifter, laughing at something Emmett said, Irina was almost knocked off her feet with the strength of her jealousy. Why would I…? Unless I had been right. Could she really be-? No, don't be stupid, you thought the same thing about Laurent. Don't make the same mistake with someone who won't even look at you. But Irina had never felt for Laurent what she was feeling right now. The vampire wasn't even sure if she could handle much more time passing without Riley looking at her.

Trying to calm herself enough that she wouldn't do something stupid while waiting for Riley's attention to turn away from Rosalie and Emmett, Tanya focused on what she could see of the girl. She memorized the tussled ink black hair that fell past her shoulders, the crooked teasing grin Tanya could barely see on her face, the girl's golden brown skin. Tanya was a little more than happy to drink in the way the girl's black tee and tight jeans clung to the human's curves, confused by the weird arm length glove that disappeared into her sleeve-and, more importantly, she was furious to see the amount of scars visible on the girl's neck and around her shirt collar, the arm and hand that wasn't covered by the glove, and even the one that curved behind her ear. Most of them were too straight to be accidental; clearly, they had been purposely inflicted, and the angle of them suggested it wasn't done by the human herself. Some of the scars looked as if they had only been made a few months ago, while others were so faded with time that if Tanya hadn't been a vampire, her gaze wouldn't have been able to pick them up on Riley's skin. It infuriated her, knowing not just that someone, most likely multiple someones, had been inflicting injuries on Riley for years, even more than a decade. Tanya wanted to slaughter every single person who dared leave a mark on the human's small bod-

Riley let out a human snarl of pure anger, some sixth sense picking up that something rude had been directed at Riley. "Somebody thought I was tiny just then, didn't they?" Riley demanded, her eyes snapping right to the Denalis. Blue eyes the color of sapphires clashed with three pairs of gold, and the three sisters had to struggle not to gasp out loud as they were overwhelmed with incredibly powerful love and desire for the human before them. Riley was meant to be theirs, they could feel it in their very souls, and each one wanted nothing more than to lavish-or ravish, if they were being honest-the girl with love and affection. In turn, the human was staring back at them with wide eyes, seemingly having forgotten to breathe, as if maybe she also felt some part of the mating bond as well.

Edward grimaced as a sudden burst of static filled his brain, followed by the sound of Riley's voice almost yelling; Oh shit oh shit oh shit OH HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS IS BAD. With another burst of static, Riley's voice was gone, and Edward could only stare at the human in bewilderment, having no idea what had just happened. The worst was that the static was louder than ever, making him grimace and almost clutch at his head in pain.

Jasper wasn't fairing much better. He let out a low grunt of pain as the feelings the Denalis held toward Riley became nothing but a wave of lust and love, washing away any other emotion that the Denali sisters held toward anyone else. That wasn't what caused the pain, however; what caused the pain was the muted fuzziness he always felt from Riley was suddenly painfully sharp, driving into Jasper like a knife again and again. Shock. Fear. Confusion. Panic. So much panic; how did she not just turn and run? As quickly as it came, the emotions were gone, hidden behind the fuzzy white noise Jasper usually felt with Riley around. He glanced up at the human girl, and had he not seen the girl's wide eyes and slight tremble in her hands, Jasper might have thought he had somehow imagined it.

"Sorry, I should have warned you about them," Bella said in a regretful whisper. She knew how strong Riley would react to the gorgeous women, and how much stronger that reaction would be to blondes. Still, it had completely slipped her mind in all the chaos.

Riley didn't respond. She couldn't do anything but stare at the Denali sisters, could barely remember to breathe, yet her injured hand still found her necklace, nearly shaking fingers closing around the locket, Riley in more need of Sasha than ever. Had she not been so afraid of the locket slipping through her fingers or getting damaged in some way, she would have taken the locket out of the baggy to feel closer to Sasha. She was just so desperate for that comfort. Everything was too much. The three women before her were blonde and insanely beautiful, yes, and way more beautiful and sexy and compelling than the actresses in those stupid movies Riley's Sasha had made them watch. With Riley's weakness for blondes, that was beyond bad enough. Yet everything was made worse because she felt something, something that reminded Riley of her Sasha, and despite being unable to put her finger on what that something was, it terrified her. These girls were too much like Sasha in too many ways-only Riley had never wanted to fuck Sasha, especially not like how she wanted to fuck any and all of the three blondes in front of her-and it was wrong. Dangerous. The girls were so fucking sexy and hot and way too goddamned dangerous for Riley's own good, drawing her toward them in a way that Riley didn't understand. Yet despite knowing it would be best for Riley to just turn tail and run, Riley couldn't; not before looking each gorgeous woman over, at least. Just for scientific purposes...not because of Riley's horniness at all.

Kate's lips quirked up into a smirk as she saw Riley's eyes slowly travel up and down Tanya's body, then Irina's, and finally her own, drinking in each woman like she had never seen such beauty before. The middle sister was more than pleased when the girl's eyes made it to Kate's tits, half revealed due to the low cut shirt she was wearing, followed by the girl swallowing hard. She loved seeing the way the human clearly desired her body, and of course, that meant she was more than happy to rub it in a little.

Kate took a step forward, needing to be closer to her human, her smirk widening when Riley's eyes still didn't move. Her voice was teasing as she said, "You're staring."

Riley jumped as if she had been electrocuted, quickly pulling Paul over so she could hide behind his and Leah's bodies. "Please don't hurt me, I'm just a slut I swear!"

Cullen, Denali, shifter, human-it didn't matter. Everyone stared at Riley, whether it be out of confusion, concern, or just with that "what the fuck is wrong with her now" expression that everyone who ever got to know her wore at least once. The wolves were especially worried for their friend; since when did she apologize for being caught checking a girl out? What happened to just saying something along the lines of "hell yeah I am, you're one super sexy bitch" with pride?

Kate frowned at Riley's reaction. She hadn't meant to scare the girl "I wasn't upset. In fact, I'd be more than happy for you to look at me all you want." The only thing that answered Kate was silence. Little did anyone know, but Riley was torn between saying she was good and didn't want to, and wanting nothing more than to suggest a hands-on approach in regards to appreciating Kate's beauty.

"She has a thing for blondes," Paul muttered when the silence stretched on for way too long. He wasn't too happy to admit his friend's weakness in front of three blondes who were looking at Riley as if wondering what position they should fuck her in first, but he really wanted to hurry things along. If not for himself, then for his human friend who was acting way too weird, even for Riley. "Just ignore her. We're here to train, aren't we?"

"Of course." Carlisle was more than happy to change the topic, and went into general tactics about vampires when he noticed Jasper was a bit indisposed due to his gift. Everyone could only pay so much attention, all still partially focused on Riley.

Ignoring her is the last thing my sisters and I want to do. Irina couldn't stop staring in Riley's direction, as she was still currently hiding behind two shifters. What do I do? How can I get her to talk to me?

"Leah, I need a huge favor from you," Riley muttered. Damn it, she still felt so fucked up it was hard for her to get back into how she usually was. It didn't feel right, being so shy, so...nervous. Since when did girls make Riley Redwood nervous without them even pointing a single weapon at her?

The female shifter's gaze never left the three blondes. If Riley wanted her to fight them, she was going to fight them, even if she had no chance of victory. "Whatever you need."

"That's great. Because I really need you to take me back to your place and fuck my brains out." Leah let out a frustrated and mildly embarrassed growl at Riley's words and a few of the other shifters laughed, only to tense once more when the three blonde women hissed angrily. Riley arched an eyebrow at the vampires' reactions, risking a peek out from between Leah and Paul. "Tough crowd," Riley joked before quickly looking away, but the way she was rubbing her locket made it clear how nervous she really was to anyone who knew her.

Eleazar put a comforting yet restraining hand on Tanya's shoulder, and that was enough for Tanya to tear her murderous gaze from the female shifter. "I'm sorry for our behavior, we're usually not this...tense. I hope you can understand that there are extenuating circumstances as to why we are acting like this, but that is no excuse. We will do our best to reign it in." Irina managed to compose herself at Tanya's words, but Kate was having a lot more trouble. She wasn't one to have ever been able to handle the subtler emotions, and she couldn't get the thought of Riley being that kind of intimate with the shifter out of her head. It took a lot more work to force her body to relax, but even then, she couldn't pull her dark gaze from where Riley was hiding. "I'm Tanya, these are my sisters Irina and Kate, as well as my coven mates Carmen and Eleazar. We're happy to be working together with you."

Of course, even on their best behavior, the Denali sisters couldn't completely rid the tenseness from their bodies. In turn, that put the shifters on edge, especially due to their dislike of the three's fixation on Riley. Then there were the poor Cullens stuck in the middle, most of them anxious, Alice torn between pride and trying to stay calm to try to make things easier for Jasper, or in outright pain like Jasper and Edward currently were.

"I'm Sam, the alpha. This is Paul, Jacob, Quil, Seth, Leah, and Riley. We have four more, but they're currently on patrol." The fact that Sam counted Riley so easily among his pack spoke volumes, and it wasn't lost on anyone.

"Leah, hm? I can't wait to get to know you better," Kate said, baring her teeth aggressively. Her eyes locked on where Riley was peering out from under Leah's arm as the shifter held her close protectively.

Leah stared back at her, torn between her own aggression and bewilderment. "The hell did I do?"

"Hah! For once it's not my fault! Who's pissing the new vamps off now, huh? Not me!" Riley exclaimed with excitement, and despite the situation, the shifters all either let out a laugh or stifled it. Rosalie rolled her eyes at what Riley said, and Emmett let out a loud laugh at Riley's words.

"First time for everything, huh short stuff?" Riley narrowed her eyes at Emmett's words, and Leah quickly covered Riley's mouth, pulling the girl into her arms so she wouldn't reply to the joking provocation. While this still agitated the Denali women, they had their own situation to deal with due to Kate's words.

"Katrina, you know better than to threaten allies like that! You're supposed to play nice. I taught you better manners than this," Carmen scolded, but even if she wanted to, Kate couldn't calm down completely. Not when her mate was cuddling up to another. "Do not forget we're all on the same side here."

"But…" Kate looked between her coven and Riley, looking almost tortured.

Irina rubbed Kate's back comfortingly. "Maybe I should train that particular wolf instead when the time comes?" she suggested. She would most likely be rough, yes, but she would certainly behave better than Kate. Tanya reached out, capturing and squeezing Kate's hand to show understanding, although she definitely wasn't going to let Leah and Kate fight...yet, anyway.

"I do hope putting our trust in you wasn't a mistake," Sam said, looking right at Tanya when he said it. "So far, none of you have been making a good impression."

Tanya wouldn't be the one to break eye contact. "As I said, we have our reasons for our behavior."

"Training! We're here for training, correct? So let's see what we can learn from each other. Right now, preferably. We can talk about tactics and best way to defend as we go," Carlisle said as he stepped forward. He had hoped to mediate things better between them, but the hostility didn't drop by much, and he was getting a bit desperate to make sure nothing bad happened. The three Denali sisters and the wolves stared each other down, and in that split second, many of the Cullens were sure a fight would break out. Better to fight in training and work out aggression that way then to potentially end up with someone dead.

Instead of the wolves agreeing to start training, all eyes fell to Riley as she cheered, excited by the news. "Fuck yeah, let's do this shit!" All nervousness was quickly forgotten by the human as her eyes landed on Emmett, eager to fight. "Whose ass am I kicking first?"