Hi there! A pretty short chapter here but I realized how long it had been since I updated and I just wanted to push something out. ore filler stuff if I'm honest, but we're getting closer to River's fight (which I'm thinking may be next chapter), then I want to get to the end of Breaking Dawn, the end of school (for River) and then finally into post-school life towards what will be the end.

A quick thank you for sticking with me, I can't believe I started writing/posting this way back in 2022, it's been such fun to write and I kind of forget that it's usually a fairly long time between posts. So yeah, thank you for being here and thank you for your patience with me, it's truly appreciated. Now, so that I actually shut up, enjoy! Happy reading!

The bike was odd between her legs. Roaring, very much alive, it was back from whatever temporary death her father had saved it from.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even to Paul, but she was actually a little scared of the thing now. Well, not so much scared of the bike itself, but she couldn't ignore the jabbing anxiety as she recalled her crash. It had be her own fault, not the bike's. She'd been driving carelessly, emotional and angry. Still, the months of agony that had followed weren't so easily forgotten.

Right there though, side by side with the fear, she simply couldn't ignore the excitement.

When she's crashed, she truly had felt like she'd lost everything. Her bike. Her boxing future. Her girlfriend. Her relationship with her father.

Now, sure, she and Skylar sure weren't going to date again, but it sure was starting to feel like maybe the spirits really did have her back. She'd gotten her bike back, fixed, even bosting new parts. Jet had scheduled her first fight for her, one that she was feeling increasingly confident about with each passing training session. Skylar, while no longer in the state, was back to being someone she considered to be a good friend, potentially one of her best. Hell, she'd even made up with her dad. Not to mention Paul.

If that wasn't proof that the spirits had her back, she didn't know what was.

Outside Sam and Em's, she shut off the bike just as she saw the older woman swing the door open.

The text she'd gotten from Paul, the one that had lead to her leaping onto her bike instead of into her truck, hadn't been a specifically urgent one. All he'd said was that he and the others were meeting on Cullen land and that, if she didn't mind, he'd have rather her be with Em and the others than at home, at least while he was on vampire territory. So, in knowing that her bike was faster, she'd clambered aboard and had sped off. Anything at all to ease his discomfort just a moment sooner, even if it meant sitting in her own for a little longer. It was all a balancing act, right? Right. That's what she figured.

"Hey," She greeted Emily warmly as the other woman came out of the house and hugged her as she took off her helmet. "You heard anything?"

Releasing the younger woman, Em smiled and shook her head. "Not since Sam took off." She admitted, but she didn't sound at all worried. River had to silently remind herself that the Cullens weren't the bad guys, not now the whole thing with EJ, the baby, had been resolved.

Sure, the Cullens were still vampires and they still needed blood to survive, but they weren't evil. More than that, they didn't eat people. That was what Paul had said, right? They ate animals, or at least their blood. Hell, the more she thought about it, they actually used up something that was usually a waste product to a lot of folks. Sure, getting it from a butchery or some place like that would have been a touch better as far as she was morally concerned, but she understood that there would have been intricacies with ordering nothing but large quantities of blood. It just seemed wasteful that their venom, or whatever it was, rendered the rest of the carcass inedible; she had been raised to abhor waste above all else, it was just about the first rule of hunting, fishing and gathering that she and Brooke had been taught back on Cahnol land.

Still, the Cullens and their feeding habits weren't the issue here, not with her and Emily at least.

Together, they headed toward the house once River had kicked her bike onto its stand. Just outside, two wolves were staring off into the woods. Young ones, kids.

River, unlike Emily, wasn't so good at recognizing who was who, but she was pretty sure that... "Brady, right?" She stilled beside one. She was still a good few feet away from him, but even as he was lying down, alert, his head still came to the bottom of her chest.

"Collin," Em supplied with a smile, then pointing to the other of the two. "Brady."

Huh. Okay. Well, she'd always seen them as a pair, so she actually wasn't all that upset at having mixed the two up.

"Shit, sorry," She chuckled easily. Collin's tail wagged, thumping a couple of times against the wood of the deck. It was an unconscious thing, something they couldn't control and she found it adorable. Sure, it was still a little weird that a kid turned into a huge wolf and then wagged his tail at her, but she was learning to embrace the weird. "Lucky I wanted both of you. We've gotta go over your Chem homework the next time you're free, okay? Just some small stuff, we'll get it knocked out in no time."

His tail stopped wagging at that. A low whine later, he dropped his enormous head down onto his front paws and huffed. Atop his head, his ears were twitching, clearly listening to something. She, for a moment, could imagine that it was Paul, barking at the kid to listen to her.

That thought alone made her smile as she continued to follow Em inside.

They sat at the table together in the kitchen as they waited for Kim, River neatly folding her bike gear onto a spare chair.

"Far as I know," Em started as she set about making a pot of tea. River couldn't have baked goods like the godly muffins that the other woman usually offered up, but tea was still on the table for them to share. The other woman's acceptance of her new diet was truly lovely, something that River was infinitely grateful for. "EJ's okay. I don't think they're there for any health related, thank the spirits. Sam said that Jake's mind was erratic though; he was worried about something, worried enough that he wanted the rest of the pack there."

Admittedly, that sounded more serious than River had initially realized.

As much as Paul didn't like being on Cullen land, a disgust that she could feel in that moment through the bond, she didn't imagine that there were all that many reasons for Sam to have taken almost the entire pack over there. It certainly wasn't to fight, not now that everything had been settled thanks to Jacob imprinting on EJ, but Em's wording made her worry a little. Why were they there?

"They're all over there?" She asked, unable to stop herself from imagining the entire pack surrounding the Cullen house. What the hell could they have all been needed for.

Sure, Collin and Brady were left behind, but more as a last resort of safety for her and Em than anything. She knew in that moment that they would have been with the others given the chance. Hell, they were phased, listening to everything that was going on. Seeing it all through their brothers' eyes.

Having already boiled the water, Emily placed teabags into pretty, ornate mugs and poured the water before bringing a cup for each of them back to the table, returning with a third for Kim a moment later. Clearly the other girl was due soon.

"Mhm," She mused, sitting softly and wrapping her fingers around the steaming mug. It was getting colder by the day, something that had River feeling increasingly glad that Paul ran so freaking hot all the time. That seemed to be the moment that Emily noticed the concern brewing on River's face. "Oh, don't worry. I mean, I don't know what's going on, but it can't be urgent."

The other woman's voice was firm, set in certainty. River wasn't so sure though.

She didn't want to push and to let her worries pass over to Em, but how could she be certain?

As if sensing the younger girl's concerns, Emily's smile widened. It was warm and entirely unworried. "If there was a threat, a real threat, they wouldn't have only left us with the pups." She stated simply.

Comically, there were loud whines of annoyance from outside. The use of the word pups, it seemed, wasn't appreciated by the young boys.

River's lips curled a little at that. It was, weirdly, almost like how she would have teased Brooke. Day by day, she could see more and more of the sibling energy between the pack and the imprints. Sure, Emily was something of a maternal figure to all of the boys, but she clearly enjoyed laughing and joking with them all just as much as River and Kim did.

It was funny, she sometimes forgot how young Sam and Emily were. The two of them had so naturally taken on parental roles for the rest of the boys, even down to how much they helped Paul out, but they were, what, three or four years older than he was? She couldn't help but wonder if they sometimes missed the years of being young that they'd missed out on, that they were still missing out on, but that seemed to be something that all of the wolves mourned. Even Paul had expressed his annoyance and other such feelings over the fact that he didn't necessarily get a say in the direction of his life. There had also been those couple of odd instances in which he expressed resentment toward feeling as though he was trapping her here with him, though she found that silly, she would choose him over anything else and never feel any kind of bad about it.

With the thought of the imprint on her mind, how it worked and all of that stuff, she found herself both curious and looking to pass time. Anything to make the minutes without Paul move by a little quicker.

"How did you and Sam meet?" She asked, watching something in the other woman light up. There was also amusement, probably at how the conversation had seemingly veered. "Sorry, I... my mind wandered." She then chuckled, glad to see Emily smile.

Across the table, where she now sat with a mug, Emily sipped her tea, mulling over her thoughts as she got them into order before speaking. "Well, terrible as it sounds, we actually met through Leah," She started, love and pain intertwined as she began to recount her story.

River settled back in her chair a little, taking the mug into her cold hands and holding it carefully.

As Emily spoke, she listened. Sure, she'd heard about how Sam had left Leah for Emily, that it had been down to the bond, but she hadn't ever actually heard it from anyone who wasn't a dude. The thing about stories coming from boys? Well, they weren't the same as when other girls told them, they tended to lack the juicy stuff, the feelings and the drama.

Luckily, Emily's story lacked none of that. She told River in no lack of detail how she tried to stay away from Sam, how she chewed him out when they first kissed, even how she considered leaving the res in order to punish herself for having hurt Leah so badly.

For all of the struggles that she and Paul had faced early on, she was at least glad that she hadn't hurt a family member. Hurting Skylar had been beyond horrible, but she couldn't imagine if it had been Brooke, or even one of her cousins from back in Utah. She couldn't imagine going back there to visit family and just immediately falling for her cousin Imogen's boyfriend. Granted, Cousin Imogen was currently twelve, so that wasn't even a distinct possibility, but the implications were the same.

It wasn't too long before Kim arrived. Both the young women inside heard her car coming and headed out to greet her, the three of them heading back in.

They told her what little they knew, though it really was incredibly little, poured her a cup of tea and then the three of them simply sat and chatted.

It was clear when all of the wolves were headed back. The three of them could feel it, the shift in the air as the bonds within them relaxed just a little more with each step closer to home that their imprints took.

As they grew impatient, they ended up waiting outside on the porch, standing between the two young wolves. River found it sweet that they both involuntarily wagged their tails when the three of them stepped out and greeted them. She hoped that someone praised them and told them what a great job they'd done of keeping the three of them safe. They were, after all, just kids.

All thoughts of anything other than him were lost though, especially as he drew closer.

By the time he and the others breached the tree line, it was taking everything in her not to run over and throw herself at him.

Unlike the last time they'd done this whole thing, he didn't wait in the woods to cool off before seeing her this time. Instead, just as the others each phased back into their human skins and walked inside, few of them bothering with their shorts until they were through the doors and looking for food, Paul didn't slow on bit until he was all but kicking up dirt beside her. When he phased back, it was mid stride, taking her off her feet entirely. There wasn't an ounce of fear, no panicked grabbing at him or anything like that.

With her arms around his neck, she melted into him. "Hey." She breathed him in, sinking a hand into his thick hair.

"Mm," He hummed his greeting into her shoulder, arms wrapped firmly around her back. "Hey." He pressed a kiss to the side of her head before setting her down on her feet.

With the others, they headed inside. All of the boys found their shorts, thankfully donning them before sitting at the table.

Emily, ever the protective mother hen, all but chased Quil and Embry out of their seats that they'd already managed to take, informing them under no uncertain terms that those had been River's and Kim's seats.

When River and Kim did sit again, it was in their respective imprint's laps. River silently worried about the strength of the chairs beneath them all, but Kim and Emily didn't seem to be worrying about that, she neither did she. Or, well, she tried not to.

Sipping at her tea, she listened. Naturally, Seth, Leah and Jacob hadn't returned, but that wasn't too shocking.

"One of the vampires has seen something," Sam started, his voice low. Instinctually, River sank a little deeper into Paul's arms as they wrapped tighter around her. Whatever sent them over there may not have been an immediately threat, but she could see that it still was a serious one. "There's going to be a fight coming our way; one that we can't avoid. Something's coming for E.J., so... well, I know Jake, Seth and Leah left, but I won't abandon them, not to this."

Inside her chest, River's heart felt like it froze.

Something was coming for E.J.? What the hell could have possibly been coming for a baby?

Only, as she wondered that, she thought a little more. He was hardly a regular baby. Hell, the freaking government would have come to take him if they'd known, or they'd try at least. She knew though, she knew that wasn't it.

Vampires. That was the only possibility.

As a chill spread through her at that thought, Paul began softly rubbing at the goosebumps that had sprung up on her legs. She was warm in Sam and Em's home, especially with the fire that was roaring in the living room and the tea that had chased away the chill of riding her bike. Hell, being cold in Paul's arms was almost impossible, yet there she was, freezing to her damn bones at the thought of this situation. This fight.

The chill wasn't chased away so easily, not while she knew so little. She simply leaned into Paul's touch and listened as Sam told them more.

By the time that she and Paul were leaving, she felt positively sick. Sure, she knew that there was a lot about all of this vampire stuff that Paul hadn't told her, almost as much as she didn't really want to know about freaking vampires, but the information was something that she needed now.

Vampires with special fucking powers?

Vampire royalty?

Seriously, what the ever-loving fuck was going on?

From what she understood, some vampire royalty were coming to Forks to steal Bella's hybrid baby... because it had super powers?

Come on, that just sounded all kinds of freaking ridiculous. Though, as she thought about it, so did the idea that her boyfriend turned into a six-foot-something wolf, born to hunt vampires.

As they drove home, she was sure that they must have looked insane. There she was, wearing all of the gear that she'd been able to grab in a hurry. Meanwhile, sitting on the back, Paul was in a pair of shorts. That was it. Seriously, he didn't even have boxers or sneakers on.

Only, as they pulled up at home, she couldn't find the humor in the situation. Maybe she would another day, but right now it just felt like nothing could possibly be funny, not when Paul was looking at going and fighting in a supernatural war. She was beginning to feel like they'd gone back in time and he was about to be drafted while she stayed at home and waited to see if he returned.

"Does this shit ever stop?" She asked him once they were inside.

They were sat at the table, Paul having put a shirt on and River having shucked her bike gear. Even with food in front of them both, neither of them were very hungry. The two people who were always hungry, yet neither of them could seem to so much as eat a bite.

From beside her, Paul grasped her hand in his own. It was safe and warm, feeding her beautiful promises through the bond. "Not as far as I've seen." He grumbled out honestly, sighing. "The Cullens think it will. I mean, with these other fuckers outta the way, maybe. It'll be easier when they move on though."

Easier once they move on.

River couldn't help but wonder, why the hell hadn't they already moved on? Surely they knew what their presence was doing to the youngsters on the res? She couldn't imagine knowing that and then continuing to stay, forcing more kids to lose out on the futures that they otherwise would have at least had the freedom to dream of.

Things like her upcoming fight felt so trivial when Paul's entire life seemed to be hanging in the balance. Still, it was kind of nice to have something close to focus on. A small stepping stone to look forward to, something to remind them to take things just a step at a time and to not let the world close in.

Paul didn't seem to want to talk about the issue with the Cullens and the other vampires that evening, so they didn't. Instead, they each found a way to eat their dinners, then they went on an evening run together. If there was one thing that was going to force them both to take a step back and to take things a day at a time, it was going to be River's training regimen. Granted, running beside someone who didn't tire was actually kind of annoying, especially once she was sweating, sore and short on breath, but having someone to spur her on was nice.

If nothing else, they could be appreciative of the fact that Alice, the vampire whose vision had told them what was coming, had seen that it would almost certainly be months before this potential fight broke out. So, at the very least, they had a couple of months. They knew that there would be snow, so long as no one involved made any decisions to speed things up.

So, that evening, they simply both did their best to relax. The entire situation was crazy, but they had one another. The way River figured, that was all that mattered.

Again, a really short one here, so I apologize. The files always look decent until I upload/edit them, then I worry that they're not enough, I'm trying to not worry about it as much though so I can post more chapters about this length. We'll see how that goes.

As always, thank you so much for being here. I won't yap on about how much I love writing this, I know I do that every damn chapter, so just please hear me when I say thank you. There aren't going to be too many more chapter of this, almost definitely not even another ten, so thank you for being here, hopefully I'll see you on the next one. Have an awesome day!