The Rise of Lydia Rowe ↠ Jasper Hale (ON HOLD)

[2.16] supernatural friends

LYDIA AND ADAM JOINED THE GROUP, trailing a reasonable distance behind Sam. Lydia could tell that Adam was still on the defensive, especially with the way he kept himself between her and the boys, but the fact that he was even following Sam gave Lydia hope. Something told her the group wasn't dangerous, at least not to her or Adam—whether that was instincts or just blind optimism, she couldn't be sure. 

There were four other guys, excluding Sam. Two of them looked a little older than Lydia, while the other two looked around her age or maybe a year younger. One of the older-looking ones was watching her and Adam with a scrutinizing gaze, probably as suspicious of the pair as they were of the group. She met that boy's gaze for a second and immediately looked away, trying not to betray how intimidated she felt. 

Her gaze drifted over the other three, lingering for a moment on one of the ones who looked her age. Their eyes met for a second, and his curious expression—a lot less intimidating than the other guys borderline glare—shifted into one of shock. He continued to stare at her for a little longer than socially acceptable, prompting her to raise an eyebrow at her, which was what made him finally look away. 

"Guys," Sam said, stopping right in front of the group. "This is Adam and Lydia. They're... new in town." 

"You're not some weird species of leech, are you?" the intimidating one asked, skipping right past the formalities. 

"Leech?" Adam questioned. 

"Vampire," Sam clarified. He looked Lydia and Adam over for the millionth time. "And I don't think so, Paul." 

"Did you guys just come from a bonfire or something?" the other older-looking one asked. "You smell like you just bathed in smoke." 

Huh, she thought. Makes sense. Lydia shared a look with Adam, who was scrutinizing each of the boys with slightly narrowed eyes. After a moment, Adam said, "I'd be more comfortable explaining what we are if I knew who I was talking to." He sent a pointed look at Sam. 

"Right," Sam said. "This is Paul, Jared, Jacob, and Embry." He pointed at each of the boys as he said their names. 

"And what are you?" Adam asked. It was clear he wasn't about to volunteer information about his and Lydia's species without hearing what the boys were, which was smart. Lydia wondered if that kind of intelligence came with age or just was something he'd been born with. 

Paul, the intimidating one, crossed his arms over his chest. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sam held out a hand to stop him. "If we tell you what we are, you have to tell us what you are," Sam said. 

Adam looked at him for a moment. "Alright, deal. You go first." 

"We're shape-shifters," Sam told them. "We can shift into wolves."

Adam nodded slowly, though Lydia could tell he was at least a little intrigued. Juliette had never mentioned shape-shifters in her journals, and she was over five hundred years old. This was new territory for him. 

"A deal's a deal," Paul said. "What're you?" 

Adam shared a look with Lydia. "Lydia and I are phoenixes," he told them. 

All of the boys frowned in confusion. "Isn't that a magic bird or something?" Jared asked. 

Adam rolled his eyes. "A phoenix gets one pet bird and suddenly we all have feathers and wings," he muttered to himself. "We're not birds, obviously, and we can't change into them, either. But most of our abilities are the same." 

"Wait, isn't the big thing about phoenixes that they regenerate?" Embry asked, visibly intrigued. 

"Yes," Adam said. "And so do we. Nothing can kill us." Sure, there was the fire of another phoenix, but Lydia understood why Adam didn't mention it—it wasn't all that relevant with how few phoenixes there were left, and he wasn't about to divulge their sole weakness to near-strangers.