Riley laughed as Troy squirted oil everywhere when he screwed up a hose. He sputtered and glared at the thing, then turned the glare onto her.

“It’s not funny,” he growled petulantly.

“It’s very funny,” she giggled as Finn walked over and sighed.

“You-”

“I asked you to wait on me,” he mumbled, hurrying over to Troy and helping.

Riley watched Finn work on her Porsche. It was only supposed to be an oil change, but they had gone crazy and decided to work on it doing something she didn’t understand. Gabe walked over and threw an arm over her shoulder.

“How long is Andrew supposed to be gone?” He asked quietly.

“A few hours, and he only left thirty minutes ago. Thomas and his boys left right after,” Riley informed him. “Why?”

“Nothing, I just stumbled on some stuff, and I wanted to get his take on it. It can wait.”

“Okay,” Riley said with a smile. She kissed his cheek and Gabe smiled at her. “Want to tell me what it is?”

“It’s nothing major, just another line to some obscure Pride we don’t really deal with often.” Gabe rubbed his cheek to hers. “Seriously, no big deal. How are you?”

“I’m alright,” Riley sighed with a shrug. “Just watching Troy ruin all of Finn’s hard work.”

“You haven’t said much about seeing your dad since he left,” Gabe whispered.

She winced. She hadn’t, and she’d been avoiding even thinking about it. He was gone again, off doing who knew what, and it was like he’d never shown up to begin with. She’d made her decision, and he had made his. That was it.

“He’s gone, and it doesn’t matter. He didn’t want me for who I am, and I don’t want him for who he is,” Riley muttered with a frown. “That’s how it works right? I’m not totally cold for that, am I? Between him and Mom…”

“No, gorgeous, you aren’t cold.” Gabe turned her and held her hips. “Zachary’s parents didn’t want him either. He might be a good person to talk to about this.”

“Yeah.” Riley nodded, thinking about that. “You’re right. I’ll talk to him when he gets back with Brenton.”

“It’s your choice. You could always talk to Abigail about it.” Gabe pulled her closer. “She’s a great listener. I am too, but I’m not sure I can give you the information you need on this.”

“If Zachary isn’t helpful, I’ll send her a text. How much longer is she staying?” Riley figured the doe would have been gone by now.

“Thomas asked us to keep her here a bit longer,” Gabe chuckled. “And I’m still seeing her.”

“Brenton, Zachary, and Andrew still haven’t,” Riley groaned. “Why is that?”

“Because they’re stubborn,” Gabe reminded her with a grin. “Come on. Brenton will see her when he sees no other option for dealing with his feelings. Zachary will bend and see her when Brenton has. Andrew… Andrew just doesn’t really need to? He’s pretty secure in who is and how to deal with his emotions.”

“Andrew knows how to deal with everyone’s emotions,” Riley snorted.

“Yeah, he does.”

“It’s weird sometimes.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Do you think Brenton and Zachary need to talk to her?” Riley asked, running her hands over Gabe’s chest.

“I do, but it might never happen,” Gabe leaned down and kissed her lips gently, “and don’t ask me to try and make them.”

“I wouldn’t,” Riley laughed.

Gabe pulled her around and leaned against a wall with her back to his chest. She sighed into him, and they watched Troy and Finn try to fix whatever Troy had broken.

“I should have helped Finn instead of Troy,” Gabe chuckled.

Riley only nodded, watching with a deep amusement as Finn tried to get Troy to realize what he’d done. Troy just mumbled incoherently, then left for a shower. Finn gave a groan and looked at her and Gabe.

“Can one of you help me out here?” Finn’s voice was like a whisper on the wind. When she’d first met him, he had sounded slick and humorous, but now, Riley felt like there was no life in the fox. He was completely lost, and the Pride could only watch as he wasted away. The only thing keeping him in this world was the fact that the Pride wouldn’t let him slip too far away.

Gabe walked over, and they spoke in low voices about whatever Troy had done. Between the Pride, the wolves, and Sheriff, Finn would have more support than he could imagine. Riley just felt he needed some time to grieve, and then a kick in the ass to get him moving again.

Riley didn’t let her own troubles with what happened in the compound make her forget what others had gone through. That Thomas had lost so many of his brothers, not just the biological one, Chris, who was off doing who-knows-what, but so many in the inner circle that Thomas was once a part of. James and Antonio went through it all, as well. Sheriff was ripped away from his wife, whom he’d stashed away in hiding. She would have never known his fate. Finn lost his twin. Her Pride was shaken to its core by what was done to her and to them. They had been betrayed by their own kind, and that mess wasn’t cleaned up yet.

“You are so far in your own head right now,” Gabe whispered, suddenly in front of her.

“How…?” She frowned, looking around him, Finn was gone.

“It’s been like twenty minutes. You okay?” Gabe wrapped an arm around her,

“Just thinking about how much has happened to everyone,” Riley sighed. “Sometimes, it’s easy to think we’re just all here and it’s always been this way but… it’s not. We’ve known Finn for a month. Only a month, Gabe. Same with Thomas, James, and Antonio. Only a month ago, we were running for our damn lives.”

“I know,” Gabe mumbled.

“That’s not it though. We’re not done,” Riley groaned. “Brenton and Zachary are off playing games. Andrew is trying to get his own business back up and running. I… I burned a house down and had a vile man sent to prison.”

“Yup,” Gabe huffed with a nod. “And you’re right. We’re not done yet. We may never be done, Riley.”

“Brenton said something similar. He said he would play the small games because he was tired of…”

“Yeah,” Gabe whispered. “We’re all tired, Riley. You stand in front of me, ready to go to war and I can’t muster the energy. Brenton can’t. Zachary is secretly cleaning his guns. Andrew is losing his mind. Troy is getting frustrated over shit.”

“I’m going to go paint,” Riley said, kissing his cheek.

Ready to go to war? Riley wasn’t so sure about that.