Risen

70

When Nova returned to Scott and Stiles, they were a little hesitant upon seeing her with two filthy werewolves, but she explained who they were, much to their surprise. For an average human, it would take about six months to travel across the country on foot if they were well trained. But James was a werewolf who was wanted for a crime he didn't commit, and he had a four-year-old with him as well. It took them almost a whole year to get from Maine to California, while caring for the child as best as he could and staying out of sight from anyone, doing his best to travel in the woods during the day, or at night if a state didn't have as much coverage. Stiles drove Nova and her brothers to the house, the redhead holding on to Eli as he slept peacefully on her shoulder, grabbing her house-key and unlocking the door, walking inside,

"Gran?" Nova called out "Pops?"

Irina and Deucalion walked out from the kitchen, the older woman stopping in her tracks when she saw the new guests, James was looking around the house, almost afraid to touch anything in fear of getting it dirty. There were no photographs of Nova on the walls, and he wondered why since she now lived with her biological grandmother, he could also see the resemblance between them.

"Who do we have here?" Deucalion asked, looking at Nova

"James and Elias Wolfe" Nova replied "everyone calls him Eli, though"

"I'm glad I made extra" Irina smiled, walking over to them "hello, James. I'm Irina Phoenix" holding out her hand

"Pleasure to meet you" James replied, wiping his hand on his pants before shaking hers

". . Can they say?" Nova asked

"Of course, they can" Irina replied, looking at her "they're your brothers" looking at James "you boys can stay here for as long as you like, our home is your home"

"Thank you, ma'am" James said, a thankful smile gracing his lips

"Please, call me Irina" she smiled "this is my husband, Deucalion" gesturing to the alpha

"It pleases me to know your brothers are safe" honesty in his voice "you seem to be a lot happier, now"

A smile formed on Nova's red lips, nodding slightly as Eli woke up, looking around in confusion.

∆

Since the redhead had some of Derek's clothes in her room, she let James borrow them for the time being until they went out to buy more. It was a little difficult for Eli though, since none of them had any clothes that could fit a five-year-old, except for Irina, who had saved some old clothes when she once babysat Jake and David, mostly for sentimental reasons. The clothes were a little loose on him, but he would fill them out when he got more meat on his bones. Irina had made enough food to feed around ten people, mostly because Nova would normally go back for one or two more servings, but now that James and Eli had cleaned up, they were sitting at the dining table, eating a warm and home cooked meal, even if it was a simple shrimp stir fry over white rice.

". . What happened?" James asked, looking at his sister "after we got out?"

James didn't want to ask right away, but if he didn't ask her now, then it would never be brought up, that's just how they were. Nova let out a small sigh through her nose, glancing at Eli, seeing that he was more focused on stabbing his slightly smaller fork through an asparagus, knowing he would be distracted for a little while.

"I was there for three days before I was found by Sheriff Michaels" Nova replied "I left out a few details when I was talking to the FBI. Almost a week after, I moved here"

"And the alpha?" looking at her

"He's dead" grasping her glass of tea "Deucalion took care of that. I watched it happen. The FBI found his body on stateline, putting you in the clear. But soon, someone is going to have to go to the courthouse to print up some adoption papers for Eli"

"When that's taken care of, you won't have to worry about losing him" Irina added

"Why would we have to worry about that?" James asked "she said we were in the clear"

"You are" Nova corrected "you're eighteen, an adult. Eli is a minor, the quicker he's adopted by you or Gran, the better. He can also go to school, be a normal kid"

"We're werewolves, Nova" looking at her "you of all people know we'll never be normal"

"But he won't make his first shift until he's fourteen, maybe even later than that" she countered "he can be normal for a little while before then. Hell, I miss it sometimes"

There were some days where Nova would look at the cover of her book and wonder why Enjin chose her, but she couldn't bring herself to ask him. Other days, she was glad that she had the strength to protect the people she cared about.

"What do you mean?" James asked, looking at her "did you get the bite?"

". . No" shaking her head slightly

"Then what are you talking about?" confusion in his voice

She had hid her scent from her brothers when she found them, Irina had hid hers as well when Nova called for her, but she knew James needed to know what she was. Nova slowly released her scent, which caused his eyes to widen slightly as he looked at his little sister, feeling the power radiating off of her like waves. Reaching into her pocket, Nova pulled out her lighter, flicking the old open and sparking the small flame, holding her hand over it for a moment before grabbing it. Fire covered her hand, kissing her skin like a warm touch, James leaning back in his seat, her skin didn't blister, nor did it turn red, as if her skin was fireproof,

"I'm a phoenix" Nova informed "have been since birth, but found out when I got here. It's a long story"

James watched as Nova slowly closed her hand, the flame extinguishing, as if it were never there. He could see that she had changed since that night, she was stronger, confident in what she could do and the person she became, definitely not the same person she once was in Maine. Despite the fact that they lost their parents and older sister, James was actually proud of the Nova that sat in front of him.