From the Ashes

4

"Alec bit Daisy," Tony finally tells his mother, visibly wincing at the thought.

The old, Italian woman removes her hands from Daisy's shoulders as she stares at her son. "And have you explained anything to her yet?" Her tone is sharp and pointed, already knowing that her son has not.

Tony shakes his head. "I was hoping you could help me, Mamá, I'm not exactly a Werewolf, so..."

Werewolf, Daisy's head spins at the thought of that word.

Mamá Moretti shakes her head softly and moves back to stirring a pot of pasta, muttering something in Italian. She lets out a tired sigh and swirls the noodles in the boiling water. "Why must I always clean up you boys' messes," she says to herself as she adds some ingredients to another pot.

"Um, I have a question," Daisy speaks up, and the two Moretti's instantly turn their heads to look at her. "I'm a werewolf? And it's because of Alec, who is also a werewolf? And whose entire family are werewolves?" Her one question quickly turns into three. And there is definitely more bouncing around in her head.

"I'm not a werewolf," Tony interjects once she finishes. Daisy turns her gaze from his mother to him.

"Then, what are you?" There's more? Her breath draws out as she thinks about the orange eyes she had got a glimpse of earlier.

Tony leans back slightly before replying as if preparing for her to freak out at any moment. "A Phoenix. So while my family gets claws and fangs, and "spidey-senses;" I can shoot fire from my hands and feel other people's feelings by touching them," he explains to her. His eyes watch her warily, waiting for her reaction.

Daisy's eyebrows rise on her forehead as she stands there in thought. "Huh..." she whispers. Her breathing becomes shorter and her heartbeat grows more rapid, thumping brashly in her chest. Daisy turns and walks over to one of the brown, leather stools at the kitchen counter. Tony follows her closely and sits in the one next to her.

She folds her hands in her lap in order to keep them steady and her leg bounces hastily against the leg of the stool.

Claws. She remembers the gashes on her arm in the forest.

Fangs. Alec's teeth after Tony pushed him to the ground.

Senses. The loudness of the Moretti family's voices from outside their home, before she stepped foot inside.

"We all get enhanced physical strength, as well..." Tony says as he watches her leg shake underneath the table.

"Daisy, being a werewolf isn't bad, it won't change anything about you," Mamá speaks up as she leans on the opposite side of the counter, facing her. "You only change when you want. Nothing happens on the full moon, those are all myths. However, you can never let anyone else know that you are one of us now."

Daisy snapped out of her thoughts and her brow furrows as she looks up to meet the gaze of the older woman. "No one?" Her voice comes out barely above a whisper.

"There are some people who believe that since we're supernatural, we must be monsters. And don't believe that for a second Daisy-James. We're humans before we're anything else," Mamá Moretti explains to the timid girl.

The kitchen becomes silent as Daisy processes everything she has been told. Naturally, she's unsure how to feel right now; it still feels surreal to her. And actually surreal is a bit of an understatement. She briefly considers checking herself into a mental institution, but when she looks over at Tony, her emotions settle.

Out of anyone she had ever met in her entire life, Tony Moretti is the most dependable by far. Looking into his caring, dark eyes, she knows adjusting to this new reality is possible.