chapter twenty seven
the salvation

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IT WAS almost as if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Odessa Stone had only ever seen Silas in her dreams. She had never thought she would ever see him in real life. She had no idea what to do. The blonde had only guessed it was Silas' eyes she had felt on her since she came back from Mexico.

Odessa had told the pack about Silas, only telling them that she thought he was a friend of hers. This was because in the dreams she had with him, he was always nice to her during them.

So why was she so nervous?

Everything was still between the four before it was broken by Silas himself, who couldn't help but launch onto Odessa, squeezing his arms around her tightly at being reunited with his best friend.

Odessa, however, was completely frozen.

Her arms were unmoving at her sides as her breath started to pick, starting to become overwhelmed with everything that was happening around her. So much had happened in the past 24 hours—and this was the tip of the iceberg.

It didn't take long for her two friends to notice her tense, almost scared expression when Silas brought her into his arms, and went full protective mode.

"Okay, okay," Stiles exclaimed while yanking the blonde out of his hold as gently as he could. The last thing he wanted to do was man-handle her, "enough of that."

Scott made his way in front of Odessa, who looked like she had seen a ghost, and brought his hand in front of him, almost as if his hand would keep Silas back from her, "who are you? What are you doing here? How do you know Odessa?"

"Please," Silas begged instantly, looking hurt at the sight in front of him. His best friend was between two strangers, looking as if she had no idea who he was, "if you would just let me explain..."

Before the two boys could speak for her, Odessa finally broke her silence, her voice shaky, "okay... okay, um, let's just—let's just all go inside, okay," she stammered, looking up to Stiles, who was watching her closely, "okay, come on."

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Odessa had been in Beacon Hills for almost 6 months. She could remember the first day like it was yesterday. The blonde remembered how she sat on Scott's bed with dirt still stuck to her body, how her gray clothes sagged on her limbs, how scared she felt. The girl remembered watching Scott and Stiles pace in front of her as they tried to understand Odessa's situation and lack of knowledge of it.

Now, it was Odessa's turn to pace.

Her feet moved on their own accord, anxiety coursed through her veins. The Stone simply didn't know how to handle the situation put in front of her. Someone from her past was downstairs with no idea that she doesn't remember him. How do you explain something like that?

Oh, hey! Crazy story... I don't remember you but I kind of do from my dreams that you were in about memories I've lost and have no idea of when or if they'll ever come back. Great to see you!

She was totally screwed.

"Okay, okay, okay," the blonde muttered to herself, ignoring the burning eyes of the two boys sitting on her bed in front of her watching her every move, "okay, Odessa, think. What do you say to a person you don't remember but kind of do who is only a staircase away from you?"

"Tell the truth."

The Ember met the soft, caring eyes that belonged to Scott McCall, who watched her along with Stiles as they tried not to crack a smile at Odessa's panic. They knew they shouldn't, but they felt as though they were watching a puppy choose between going on a walk or taking a long nap.

Odessa let out a heavy sigh, "but what if the truth only confuses him more? What do I say then?"

"Nothing," the Stilinski answered simply, getting up from his seat and walking toward her, "Odie, you don't owe this guy an explanation on anything."

"But why do I feel like I do...?"

Stiles gave her a gentle smile, brushing her hair behind her ear, "because you're you."

The Stone blinked, "uh, I don't know if that's helpful or not."

"Just go with it, we were having a moment."

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"You really don't remember anything?"

Odessa bit her lip at the sunken features Silas displayed in front of her after the explanation she gave him. After the talk with Scott and Stiles, helpful or not, in her room, Odessa decided to try and tell Silas everything she could remember. She told him about how she got to Beacon Hills, how she heard his voice before she lost her memory, him being in her dreams—everything she could tell him. Which wasn't much, unfortunately.

Something that was also shared was what she was. Silas was confused, understandably, when being told Odessa was an Ember Wolf. After explaining her abilities, Silas only smiled and gave her a sentence that gave her nostalgia for one reason or another.

"I've always known you were special, Odessa Stone."

As the blonde shook her head softly, feeling bad for the boy she once knew, one boy behind her couldn't help but clench his jaw at the interaction in front of him. His hazel eyes narrowed at Silas, instantly not trusting him in the slightest. It may also be due to the fact he was the tiniest bit jealous, but he would never admit to it.

A clearing of a throat from behind them caused the former best friends to turn back to see an unamused Stiles watching them, "okay, if you could tell us anything about where you came from or anything you know about Odie, that'd be great."

Silas cocked a brow at the blonde, "they call you Odie, too?"

"Yeah," Odessa answered with a smile at the thought of her friends, "I always thought that nickname sounded familiar."

"Yeah, I gave it to you."

Another clear of a throat, "information, please."

"Right, got it," Silas sat back down on the couch with Odessa coming to sit next to him with the two other boys on the chairs in front of them, "I don't know about your family history, Odie, but I can tell you where you came from before Beacon Hills," seeing her nod, he continued, "it's called the Salvation. It's a training facility for supernatural creatures but mainly werewolves."

The Stone looked down at her symbol clad wrist, "so this symbol... this is from the Salvation?"

"Unfortunately," Silas scoffed, looking down at his own, "no one willingly goes to the Salvation. They take you. They took all of us. I was taken from my family when I was 4 years old. I'm guessing the same thing happened to you, Odie."

Odessa played with her hands nervously, "so, I was kidnapped? We were all kidnapped?"

"I'm really sorry, Odie."

The Ember took a moment to herself before shaking her head. She couldn't break down now, she had to know the truth. Looking up to Silas, she nodded, telling him to keep going, so he did.

"The Salvation is conducted by what are called Saviors. They are the teachers, or trainers, of the place. Assholes," Silas muttered, shaking his head, "they basically want every werewolf to become their puppets to fight if they ever need them to. Which was never—we were stuck there. We were stuck there pretty much all our lives."

"How did we meet," Odessa had to ask, "I think I've seen it in one of my dreams but I would like to hear it from you."

Silas gave her a chuckle, "well I pretty much forced you to be my friend. I would always hang around you but you never gave me the time of day—"

"That doesn't sound like Odie at all," Stiles interjected, almost not believing what he was hearing.

"Maybe not your Odie, but mine? She was hard, very closed off. She kept to herself and everyone knew better than to try and talk to her. I didn't listen. I wanted to be your friend," he looked down to the blonde, "I guess the lack of memory altered your personality. Because if you still had them, you would've punched me in the face by now for sending you away."

"You're the one who sent me away?"

Silas nodded, "I did. You were always the one to get punished the hardest. Some of us got a smack to the face or the wrist, but you? They would take you in the next room and beat and yell at you until you showed your powers. Control was never easy for you—we all felt bad for you. I wanted to help you find control so I sent you here."

From in front of them, Scott broke his silence, "how'd you know to bring her here?"

"There was talk of a future True Alpha in Beacon Hills when I snuck around the trainer's quarters. I knew I had to do something to get Odie out of there, so I sent her to you," Silas smiled gently, "it seems like you have your powers under control and more now."

The Ember gave him the same smile in return, "yeah. Memory or not, what you did for me... you practically saved me."

The two former best friends took a moment to really get a good look at each other, more Silas than Odessa, seeing as he was the one in the equation who remembered her. The Stone looked the same, but her features were softened more so than before he sent her away. Maybe that was due to the fact she finally found somewhere she felt safe.

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Silas' words echoed through Odessa's mind all the way into the next morning. After the boy left the McCall residence, the Stone couldn't help but still have questions at the tip of her tongue ready to ask him. Why did he choose to come to Beacon Hills now? Did he know why she lost her memory? Did the Salvation know where she was? Were the other kids in danger? Her mind was racing the rest of the night. She made a mental note to try and convince herself to visit his motel room soon to talk to him by herself.

Odessa was practically dreading school the next morning. She had bigger things on her mind that were way more important than school. Also, she sucked at school—she hated it and she sucked at it. It was a horrible combination.

Because Stiles and Scott both had early morning practice for lacrosse, the Stone had no choice but to ride her bike to school, which she was starting to hate doing. She had to push herself to find a job and get a car—but in the world of the supernatural, that was pretty much impossible.

Walking into her second period class by herself, Odessa paused when seeing the chalkboard by her place at the doorway. The Stone always thought that numbers and letters shouldn't be used together in Math. She could barely understand the numbers as it is. With that in mind, the blonde slowly started to back away from the classroom, only to be stopped by a hand on her back.

Knowing exactly who it was, she hissed, "I hate Math. Please don't do this to me."

Stiles sighed at her words, pushing her into the classroom, "Odie, we've been over this. School is important, and Math is essential."

"To what," the blonde had to ask, sitting down in her seat next to Lydia and in front of Stiles.

"Knowing how much to tip at restaurants."

Looking up from her textbook, Lydia gave Stiles an unimpressed glance before looking at Odessa, "and other less important things like medicine, economics, engineering..."

"Tipping."

Giving her two friends a wavering look, the Stone looked to the front of the class once Ms. Fleming started speaking, "all right, volunteers to the board. Lydia, Diego, Odessa."

Hearing her name being called, Odessa slumped in her chair but didn't try to object to her teacher's request, not wanting to be disrespectful. As her other two classmates got up, the blonde couldn't help but glance back at Stiles, who gave her a thumbs up with an encouraging smile. Her brown eyes narrowed before taking her hand and flicking his forehead, ignoring his whine as she got up from her seat.

Odessa picked up the piece of chalk in front of her as she read the equation on the board.

( x - 15 )^2 = x^2 - 30x + 225

She was screwed.

The closest she got to an answer was when she wrote down x = before stopping there because she knew she didn't have a clue what the answer was. It was as if her mind couldn't comprehend anything in front of her.

Seeing her frozen form, Lydia stopped writing her answer to talk to her in a low tone, "did you go over the notes I gave you?"

"I didn't understand them," Odessa replied back, feeling bad at the fact that Lydia was trying to help and she still wasn't grasping anything.

Lydia glanced behind her, eyeing Ms. Fleming helping another student before muttering, "x equals 25," she gave the answer before finishing her own problem. As Odessa sighed in relief from next to hear, the strawberry blonde couldn't help but tease, "don't stress, Odie. I'm sure a certain someone wouldn't mind helping you study."

The Stone stared wide eyed at her friend, who only winked at her and went back to her seat. After a moment, she couldn't help but look back to Stiles, who seemed to have just glanced at her before going back to his own work. Letting a small smile grace her features, Odessa wrote down the answer that was given to her and walked back to her seat—trying not to think about the worksheet full of Math problems waiting for her on her desk.

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Stiles was in a particularly crappy mood for the rest of the day. The boy filled his friends in on a developing homicide case that popped up on his phone. A family was attacked and killed by an axe murderer that was still on the loose. Of course he wanted to investigate, but his friends didn't see the need to. It didn't appear to have to do with the supernatural. He decided to take his annoyance and put it toward lacrosse try-outs that were about to begin.

However, his mood was lifted when he and Scott turned to see Odessa Stone coming toward them on the lacrosse field with a pep in her step. She was excited to see them play after hearing about their past games before she came to town.

"You guys got this, right," the blonde asked, looking between the two boys, "like, you guys won't suck? Because if you guys are gonna suck, I don't know either of you."

The McCall scoffed lightly at her comment, knowing she was only teasing them, "nice, Odie."

Odessa couldn't help but wink at him before turning more serious, "okay, on a real note, you guys have nothing to worry about. Especially you," she looked specifically to Scott, "you are the captain. You are the Alpha. Don't forget that," the boy gave her a solid nod, "but seriously, please don't suck," before the boys could retaliate, she gave Stiles a kiss on the cheek and forced Scott's fist to bump with hers before she jogged over to the bleachers to meet Kira and Malia.

"She is something else, dude," Scott scoffed a chuckle, watching her retreating figure.

"Yeah," the hazel eyed boy beside him muttered, his cheek still tingling from her lips, "yeah, she is."

Odessa exchanged pleasantries with her two girl friends who were waiting for her in the stands as the group of boys got to work on their warm up drills. The blonde didn't really know anything about lacrosse but she observed the net on the field and the gear belonging to the players so she guessed watching would give her a better idea. She would opt on watching over trying and failing to understand her Math homework any day.

As the group of boys rested after running laps, Odessa couldn't help but sense something from next to her. She locked eyes with Malia, who seemed to sense the same thing, and let her take the lead.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Me," Kira asked, her voice highly pitched, holding onto a lacrosse stick, "nothing."

The Ember tapped her friend on the shoulder to get her to look at her, "you reek of anxiety."

"Yeah, and it's distracting."

Giving Malia a semi-pointed glance, Odessa's brown eyes softened when looking back at Kira, "what's going on?"

"Scott and I sort of had this thing happen," the Yukimura confided rapidly, "but it wasn't much of a thing. And I'm starting to think it never was anything at all."

"What do you want it to be?"

At Malia's question, Kira deflated slightly, looking out into the field, "more."

That was something Odessa could relate to. She wondered if any time would be the right time to become official with Stiles. They always had something going on—something looming over their heads. Odessa's biggest thing was finding out who she really was, and she was closer than ever at finding out now that Silas came to town. Maybe once the mystery that was her past doesn't become a mystery anymore, she can finally explore things with Stiles.

The girls watched the boys go one by one trying to get the ball past the goalie and into the goal. Odessa pursed her lips at watching Stiles shoot his ball right into the goalie's stick, causing the boys behind him to chuckle at his dispense.

One boy in particular that was doing extremely better than the rest was a boy that Odessa had never seen before. The blonde recollected briefly of one of Stiles' many rants he had given her that day had to do with a new kid named Liam who was extremely good at lacrosse. And what Stiles said was true because the freshman made every single shot.

The girls watched Stiles and Scott miss every shot they had taken. Odessa was surprised with the fact that Scott wasn't making at least one shot into the goal, knowing he was given the position of captain.

"Isn't the captain supposed to be one of the best players on the team? Or good," Kira looked to Odessa when asking.

The Ember gave her friend a defensive expression, putting her hands up in surrender, "don't look at me. This is the first time I've seen them play."

After the first drill, Coach huddled up the boys and ordered Scott and Stiles to play guard—or that was what Odessa was thinking they had to do. She really didn't know anything about lacrosse.

Odessa watched one of the players run toward Scott and Stiles and tried to pass them, only to be stopped by Scott who knocked the stick out of his grasp. The blonde shared an impressed glance with Kira, watching the two boys high five each other and get back into their positions. Scott and Stiles blocked multiple players, knocking them to the ground.

When the impressive freshman was up, the two boys strengthened their stance. The girls watched Liam run and evade Stiles and duck under Scott's stick, sending the ball into the net. While everyone around her cheered, Odessa couldn't help but cringe at the scene in front of her.

"That was luck!"

Odessa looked up at Malia with wide eyes at the girl's outburst. She looked toward the field to see Stiles giving her a 'stop her' look, prompting her to give him a shrug in return.

"Do-over!"

While Odessa tried to make her sit down, Coach retorted with a chuckle from his spot on the field, "sweetheart, there's no do-overs. This is a practice."

"Ten bucks on Scott and Stiles."

"I'll take that action," Coach nodded without hesitation before yelling out to the field, "hey! Get back in there, Liam."

Finally succeeding with getting her friend to sit down, the Stone couldn't stop herself from muttering, "oh, crap."

The boys got back in their positions again and once the whistle blew, Liam was charging toward them. The boy evaded Stiles once again, only to be pushed into the air by Scott, landing on the ground harshly.

Hearing a crack through the air, everyone cringed audibly. Liam sat up with a groan with everyone crowding around him.

"Don't move," Coach yelled, running toward them all, "don't touch him!"

"I'm okay, Coach. I'm all right," Liam tried to assure. He tried to get up, only to scream in pain, causing Scott and Stiles to hold him up right, "I think it's my leg."

"I think we better get him to the nurse."

Coach nodded at Stiles' statement, letting the three boys leave the field. Blood boiling, Coach turned to the rest of the players, "you guy's take a lap. Run around... start running around the field! Stupid," the man grabbed a ball and chucked it to the bleachers.

Odessa watched with wide eyes as Kira caught the ball into the net she was holding before it could hit Malia's forehead, "woah..."

"Wow," Coach exclaimed, impressed with what he just witnessed, "nice catch. Throw it back!"

Kira got up from her seat, shifted her grip on the stick, and chucked it in Coach's direction. The ball hit him directly in the stomach, causing the man to fall to the ground with a groan, "oh, my God."

"Someone ask her if she's ever played lacrosse!"

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The line y = x + 2 intersects the circle

x^2 + y^2 + 2x - 4y + 4 = 0

What are the points of intersection?

Odessa should probably just drop out now.

She was in full concentration mode laying down on Stiles' bed on her stomach with the boy next to her. He was doing his own homework and was helping her study at the same time.

After she texted him to see where he and Scott were, he told her they were dropping Liam off at the hospital due to the severity of his leg injury. It took her a few types and erases to pluck up the courage to ask him to help her study.

She rode her bike to his house and waited on his front steps until she saw his Jeep pull into his driveway. The blonde thanked him the whole way up to his room, which he just chuckled at and waved off, telling her she should've asked him sooner because he knew how much she was struggling with Math.

Groaning loudly, Odessa dropped her head on her textbook, banging her forehead on it dramatically. She had never felt so frustrated toward something so much in her life. With her head down, she could hear Stiles chuckle next to her.

"Okay," he grabbed the book from under her, causing her head to drop on his bed, "don't hurt yourself. Let me help you."

The Ember picked her head up, her elbows holding her upper body up, "I just don't understand. Why is Math so freaking difficult for me and easy for you guys."

"Because we use notes," the Stilinski answered like it was obvious, "I thought Lydia gave you some of hers?"

"She did. I don't understand them," the girl was starting to become frustrated by her repeating something she had already said to Lydia a couple hours prior, and the fact she had to take something as stupid as Math in the first place, "just help me with this problem, please."

Stiles pursed his lips at her, trying not to crack a smile at her frustration, finding her attitude adorable, "yes, ma'am," he opened the textbook to where the homework problems were and paused at all the colors he saw scattered around the pages, "what's with all the different highlight colors?"

"Oh, uh," Odessa could feel her cheeks burn in embarrassment, knowing she was caught, "I kind of stole your color code. Green is for the stuff I understand. Yellow is for the stuff I kind of get and Red means I have no idea. I'm only using Red... as you can see."

She couldn't meet his eyes, too nervous to see his reaction. With her fingers fiddling with her red highlighter, the blonde didn't notice Stiles gazing at her with soft eyes. Before she knew it, his hand covered hers, taking the highlighter out of her grasp and bringing her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

Flustered, Odessa took her hand back, "okay, lover boy," she tried to suppress a smile, but failed, "you've completely distracted me. There's no way I'll be able to do this stupid homework. Thanks to you."

"To me?"

"Mhm," the Ember shifted on the bed, letting her back rest against it to allow her to look up at the boy who was still on his stomach, "can I ask you something?"

"Always."

Her fingers fiddled with unintentional nervousness on her stomach as she spoke quietly, "do you think I should speak to Silas again? Maybe alone?"

The hazel eyed boy watched her carefully, observing her anxious habit and sighed. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel nervous to ask him anything, "I think you should."

"Really," her eyes met his, taken back by his answer. She thought for sure he would've told her to never speak to Silas again, let alone by herself.

"Yeah. Odie, we've been trying to figure out everything about you for months. If Silas can give you some of those answers, I say go for it."

Odessa let herself smile up at him, bringing her hand to his cheek, "you're amazing, you know that? Thank you," she sat up on the bed and started to pack her stuff, "I'll tell you all about it later."

"Oh, wait, you're going now," the boy asked as he watched her close her bag and swing it over her shoulder.

"What better time than the present?"

After placing a quick kiss on his cheek, Odessa left his room and made her way to her bike before it got too late to talk to Silas, ignoring the nervousness bubbling in her stomach at the upcoming conversation she was about to have with him.

Back in his room, Stiles glanced down for a second, only to see the notes journal Lydia leant her in front of him, "hey, Odie," he tried to call, but he knew it was no use. Letting his curiosity take over, he opened Lydia's journal to see why Odessa couldn't understand the notes. It was only when he flipped a few pages to see the same pattern of numbers and letters scrambled on the pages did he sit up in his position, "what the hell..."

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this chapter took so long to write so sorry lol also don't be a silent
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