Second Chance

Chapter 26

**Everly**

I turned to see a couple standing just inside my gate. The scary part was they looked just like my great, great, great grandparents.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“We don’t have time for introductions now but we are here to help your son.” Came a gentle voice from the woman.

“Son, you need to get out of the water. It’s only prolonging the transition.” The man said, looking at Brayden.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, stepping in front of the stranger. Only to be pulled behind a very wet Dustin.

“We are going to need some kind of introduction if you think we are going to listen to you,” Dustin told the man, pulling a gold blade out of thin air.

“I’m glad to see my granddaughter has a strong mate.” The man said, chuckling. “Now, if you don’t mind, my grandson needs to go through his first transition.”

Dustin put his blade away and I nodded to Brayden and put my hand out for him to get out of the pool.

“Does it hurt?” I asked him.

“No, I don’t feel pain, I’m just so hot.”

“Let the heat fill you.” The woman said, stepping closer. “You all should backup.” She added.

I didn’t want to step away from my son.

“I know it’s hard, but I will help him.” She told me and looking in her eyes I felt like I could trust her.

I kissed Brayden's cheek, which felt like fire, and stepped away to be pulled into Dustin’s arms. The woman knelt down and took Brayden's hand.

“Embrace the fire.” She whispered.

He nodded at her and I watched as my son burst into flames. I let out a sob and had Dustin not been holding me I would have collapsed on the ground. But the flames began to disappear and my son was OK. Except he had enormous red wings.

I pulled away from Dustin and ran to Brayden and pulled him to me.

“Are you OK baby?”

“Yeah, I’m OK.”

“WHAT THE f**k IS GOING ON?” Kora's hysterical voice grabbed my attention.

We all turned to see both Kennedy and Kora looking pale and confused. I was confused but the conversation I just had with Dustin helped me to remain calm.

“Maybe we should go inside and talk.” The man said, walking over to the woman that helped Brayden. “But first you need to put your wings away.”

“I have wings!”

The man started laughing and his eyes seemed to get brighter.

“Yes, my son, you do have wings. I would be honored to teach you how to fly, but first you need to master putting them away.”

“How?”

I was in shock at how my son was so calm. He had giant red wings on his back and he sounded almost excited. The man continued to talk to Brayden but I couldn’t seem to focus. Thankfully, Dustin was there because he seemed to be in control.

It didn’t take long for Brayden to be back to normal. Whatever that means, and we were walking in the house. I looked over to see Gavin holding Kennedy but I had no idea when he got there.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” the woman said.

“We do. How about you introducing yourself first?” Dustin answered for me.

She turned and looked at me with a warm smile.

“We are your grandparents. Specifically, your great, great, great grandparents. My given name is Ishtar, but you can call me Izzy. Hopefully, grandma at some point. This handsome man is my mate Mikel.”

“How is that possible? What are you?” I was so confused.

“As you know, we are not human. You are not completely human either. Mikel is an angel and I am a Phoenix.”

A silence fell over the room. A phoenix? Like an immortal bird?

“I thought that your kind was extinct,” Dustin said.

“Most of my kind is gone. Most phoenixes are gone.” the sadness present in her voice.

“I think Eve and her children deserve more of an answer,” Dustin pushed.

“ Phoenixes are immortal and many supernaturals wanted our immortality despite most of them living incredibly long lives. We share this gift with our mates. When I found Mikel, we knew we were fated mates. However, my father was more worried about power, but Mikel was able to convince him to agree to our marriage. Many Supernaturals wanted to be my mate in order to have immortality.”

“My family understood the danger we would be in because Izzy is a phoenix. They forbade me to take her as my mate. I didn’t care. She is my forever.”

“I still don’t understand how you got to this point. I didn’t know until a few hours ago I was part angel.” I mentioned.

“We took off right after the wedding. A day after we left, my entire pack was wiped out. They were taken and their immortality was used to extend other supernatural lives.” Izzy answered as she wiped away a few tears.

“Holy shit.” Brayden said.

“BRAYDEN!” I yelled.

“Mom, I think me saying s**t is the last thing we need to worry about right now.”

“We felt it was best to continue to live as humans. We started a family but we started to be hunted. I was the last known Phoenix.”

“We did the only thing we could think of to protect our family. I found a fairy that agreed to cast a charm on our family. Our children would live normal lives and never come into their powers unless they found a fated mate.” Mikel explained.

“What about immortality?” I asked.

“They were human, unless they found their mate.” Izzy added sadly.

“You let them get old and die?” Dustin asked, surprised.

“It was the hardest choice we had to make. But it was the only way they could have a normal life. What happened to the other phoenix was horrific and painful. Most phoenixes didn’t make it to be an adult,” she added.

“What about you?” I asked. She made it to her late teens.