True to her word, Freya's tanned hand knocked gently against the wooden door of Riley's motel room precisely thirty minutes later. When Riley pulled the door open, fully dressed and clean for the first time in the few hours Freya had known her, the brunette smiled.

"There was a girl under all that grime I see." She teased, raising a dark eyebrow as she did so. Riley rolled her green eyes she hadn't had a real friend in so long, and honestly she'd forgotten what having one felt like – but something told her Freya would soon remind her.

Without another word, or sarcastic comment, Freya turned on the heel of her white converse all stars and headed off the narrow walkway towards the stairs that led down to Ripley's parking lot. In the crisp light of day, the motel – of which Riley had seen very little the night before – buzzed with activity. The neon sign still flickered forty feet above the girls heads, and the occupants of the rooms milled about; some smoking cigarettes and chatting as their leaned over the bars that overlooked the parking lot, others queued up outside the reception and Riley noticed others leaving, steaming hot cups of coffee clutched in their hands, and bags full of pastries clamped between their teeth, children crouched on the floor, drawing with chalks on the dark cement ground. It seemed to Riley that Ripley's Motel was more of a destination than a stop along the way, and she liked that about the place. Riley followed after Freya as she crossed the parking lot, stopping only when they came to a duck egg blue mini cooper, where a boy – about a year or so younger than the girls – who looked near identical to Freya stood leaning against it, arms folded and a frown set upon his features.

"You're late." He stated simply once his sister was within earshot.

Freya rolled her chocolate brown orbs and jabbed a finger in Riley's direction. "Josh, meet Riley, Riley meet my intolerable baby brother Joshua." Riley smiled a small hello but Josh remained indifferent.

"You're still late."

"Well maybe if you saved up your wages instead of blowing them all on video games you could afford your own car, and wouldn't have to wait around for me to take you to school." Freya raised an eyebrow.

Stumped momentarily by his sisters comment Josh was silent for a moment before finally he acknowledged Riley. His dark eyes looked her over, making a note of the black ripped jeans, and the grey t-shirt both of which looked vaguely familiar to him – it only took him a few minutes to figure out she was wearing his sisters clothes. "Riley." He said her name slowly, a smug smile flourishing upon his handsome features; turning his attention to his sister he spoke again. "Well you and Stewart lasted all of two minutes; you're a very flippant girl Freya Ripley." He waggled his finger towards his sister and then turned, pulling on the handle of the passenger side door and climbing in.

A soft pink blush peppered Freya's cheeks and her mouth opened and closed a few times before she simply frowned and readjusted the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. "Just ignore him." She muttered, gesturing for Riley to get in the car and heading round to the driver's side of the car, Freya climbed in after Riley and flicked her brother hard on the ear. "Tomorrow Riley rides up front."

"Whatever." Josh mumbled, rubbing his ear.

For the entire journey to Beacon Hills High School the only sound inside the car was that of the music that played on the radio. The wolf inside Riley was quick to pick up on the emotions of the siblings sat up front, Freya was irritable – annoyed that her brother had embarrassed her in front of her new friend – and Joshua, well Josh was pretty much the same as he had been in the parking lot, confidence and smugness oozed out of every pore on his body and Riley scrunched up her nose at the smell of it. Josh had already opened the door and pretty much climbed out of the car before Freya had even properly parked, disappearing across the parking lot to meet up with his friends. Riley watched as he clapped a guy on the back, pointing back towards Freya and whispering something about her 'hot new friend', Riley rolled her eyes.

Turning away from Josh, Riley turned back to Freya who smiled and pointed towards the large sandstone building. "Welcome to Beacon Hills High."

Having not been to a real school in almost a year, to say Riley was a little behind on her studies was probably an understatement and between that and the very little socialising with actual human beings she'd done in the past eight months – she wasn't particularly looking forward to going inside, and it showed. Nervous butterflies erupted in the pit of her stomach and her teeth sank gently into her bottom lip, she was only drawn out of her terrified daydream when Freya looped her arm gently around her own. "Come on." The brunette tugged her slowly towards the doors and after a moment of hesitation Riley soon caved and walked arm in arm through the double doors.

Inside, as she had expected, people turned to look at her, but to her relief they didn't stare for long – in Beacon Hills the charm of the new girl had long since disappeared. With Freya by her side, Riley's own feeling of nervousness ebbed away and when the two girls stopped at what she assumed was Freya's locker the blonde grinned mischievously.

"So…" She began, leaning on the lockers next to Freya's. "Who is Stewart?"

Freya raised her dark, thick eyebrows and shoved a book into Riley's hands. "A friend."

"Well I hope he's not the jealous type."

"Oh believe me he isn't."

The shrill sound of the school bell ringing and signalling the beginning of classes put a stopper on the conversation, but the mischievous smile continued to dance on Riley's lips as she watched Freya's cheeks warm at the mere mention of the illusive Stewart. She could smell the adoration seeping from every pore on Freya's skin, it took nothing more than the mention of this Stewart character's name to reduce Freya from her usual sarcastic and confident self to a puddle of teenage hormones – Riley found the entire thing highly amusing. Freya caught sight of her new friend's expression and rolled her chocolate coloured orbs, she laughed softly and looped her arm through Riley's tugging her gently in the direction of their first class – History.

"Shut up." She muttered as they walked, Riley laughed.

"I didn't say anything."

"No but you were thinking it."

"Oh are you a part time psychic when you're not working at the motel?" Riley raised a blonde eyebrow and Freya merely laughed.

"Hey, this is Beacon Hills I could damn well be Santa Claus." Freya's comment was made in jest. Although she had heard of strange happenings and unusual sightings and had served a number of colourful characters in her time at Ripley's, she was still very much in the dark about Beacon Hills and its supernatural inhabitants.

Surprisingly for a girl who, on paper, was dead and buried eight months ago Riley's transfer to Beacon Hills High went entirely smoothly. Her transcripts were mailed over and, besides having to take a few extra classes in order to catch up on what she'd missed during the eight months it took her to walk from Virginia to California she was enrolled without question. It made her wonder a little about Beacon Hills, and how everyone in the town, like Freya, seemed to be so accepting of what anyone anywhere else in the country would deem quite unusual. It seemed to Riley that the inhabitants of Beacon Hills were so used to unexplainable things that they simply stopped questioning them, and so Riley Fletcher, who in the eyes of the law was categorically dead, stepped with confidence into her first class at Beacon Hills High.

Few people looked up to watch the pair walking through the door before going back to whatever it was they were doing, Mr Yukimura was yet to arrive and so the students talked animatedly between themselves. Riley followed diligently after Freya and put her things down on the table next to the one Freya plonked herself down on. Amongst the typical smells of teenagers amongst friends, the wolf inside Riley picked up on curiosity, a hint of irritation and something entirely different to anything she'd ever smelt before. She frowned down at her hands as she took her seat, trying her very best to decipher the scent, it was vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it exactly, it was earthy, like damp leaves and wood. Her mind wandered as she took deep breaths, breathing in whatever it was and locking it in her memory – no doubt she would need this at a later date – but it didn't take her long to sense a pair of eyes boring into her. Riley's own eyes flickered upwards and she was met with a frowning face. The girls hair was a dirty blonde, shoulder length and styled in soft waves, and the strange scent was without a doubt coming from her.

"What are you?" The girl asked pointedly, Riley merely stared at her silently. Freya watched the pair out of the corner of her eye, and was about to say something along the lines of 'what the hell is going on' before she became distracted by the brunette that had taken the seat in front of her. Leaning forward Freya tapped them on the shoulder and grinned, immediately entering into a conversation.

Certain now that Freya was no longer paying attention Riley leaned forward ever so slightly across her desk. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." The girl replied, her expression one of irritation and her words blunt. "What are you?"

"I could ask you the same question." Riley said, scrunching her nose a little in disgust as the earthy smell radiated from the girl before her.

The girl sighed heavily, grabbing the attention of the boy sat at the desk to her right. He kinked a heavy brow and leaned across. "Malia?" He whisper yelled. The girl with the dirty blonde hair, Malia, turned to face him and raised her own eyebrows in silent response. "What're you doing?" He asked, shooting Riley a wary look.

"She's a wolf." Malia stated simply, as though Riley being a werewolf were common knowledge. At her words Riley felt every hair on her body stand on end, her heart rate increased exponentially and her green eyes flickered from Malia and the boy in the hoody next to her. He turned his body fully to face Riley now, his gaze scrutinizing and the stench of suspicion oozing from every orifice on his body.

"What do you want?" He questioned his tone a lot less friendly than it had been when he spoke to Malia.

Riley's expression turned to one of stone, this boy was human, nothing more and nothing less, and although there was a lingering scent that surrounded him she figured it had simply rubbed off from Malia. "Nothing that you can give me that's for sure."

The boy narrowed his eyes and Riley did too, she was just as suspicious of him as he was of her. What human would willingly spend their time with supernatural creatures if not to kill them? He confused her.

"Good to see you guys are getting acquainted." Freya piped up out of nowhere, shocking all three of the students who had been locked in a silent staring contest. Riley glanced towards her friend and raised a questioning eyebrow. "Stiles, Riley, Riley, Stiles."

"Riley." Stiles nodded curtly, Riley returned his nod just as stiffly.

"Stiles."

"Hey Stiles?" Freya continued, brushing off the weird tension between Riley and Stiles. "Where's Scott? Riley want's to meet him."

"What do you want with Scott?" Stiles snapped suddenly, Freya looked positively puzzled and Riley frowned at just how defensive he was being. Malia had turned to face her once more and was looking at Riley with an animalistic glare, one that made the blonde feel like the girl may actually want to eat her. It seemed Scott McCall came part and parcel with his own pair of bodyguards.

"I have a few questions for him that's all."

"Well you can ask me." Stiles replied. Riley kinked a brow.

"What are you? His PA?" Stiles furrowed his brow and a smirk ghosted over Riley's features before she continued. "The Scott McCall I've heard of doesn't need someone like you answering for him." A human. She thought to herself, scoffing internally at the thought. Odd considering the fact that she herself had been a human not so long ago.

Beside her Freya leaned back in her chair, she could sense the underlying meanings of the conversation unfolding before her, but she'd be damned if she knew what any of it meant.

A/N: Hey guys, here's the next chapter. Subtly introducing the ~love interest~ of Freya for the fic as well as getting a brief interaction between Riley and a couple of the pack members - there will be much more of this in the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed this! ps. I can't believe how many follows/favs this story has after only 2 chapters, I really hope you all stick around because it's going to get GOOD!

namirashines : thank you so much! I'm super pleased that you can imagine the girls in Beacon Hills, as I'm writing I'm finding myself wishing more and more that they were canon!

laheytrash : hahaha! watch this space for updates on Riley's future ship!

bayareabeliever : the guy with no mouth is almost definitely who you're thinking of! He will become a more prominent character as the fic moves on! + I'm so glad you love freya/riley ... or friley as much as I do!

dreamwalker-bibliophile : thank you so much! I already love the girls friendship so much, they're definitely my brotp!

teaganr : thank you so much! Freya is so fun to write, she's a ray of sunshine in the bleak world that is the teen wolf verse!

ferallahey : thank you so much bby! this friendship is EVERYTHING!