Raised By Humans ✔

Eight

"What the hell were you thinking?" I shouted as Sage and Michael sat on the couch in front of me.

Tiberius had perched himself on the armchair in the corner of the room. He was sitting on the edge of the seat, his elbows resting on the edge of his knees, chin resting on his hands in thought. James and Anna were standing behind me, far enough to let me handle this on my own, but close enough that if they needed to step in, they could. James had ordered the rest of the wolves out, only asking Finnegan and Jaxson to stay behind and clean up Fabian's blood.

"He had you pinned to the floor, Cas!" Michael argued. "He was- "

"Fabian was never going to hurt me!" I cut him off. "How many more times do I have to say that? Fabian would never hurt me because I'm his family!"

"And you're not mine?" Michael shot back. "Are you suddenly not my little brother? Am I suddenly not allowed to protect you?"

"Of course, I'm your brother, but so is Fabian," I spoke softly, my emotions doing a complete one-eighty. "I know you don't know him like I do. Not yet at least, but he doesn't have anyone else and he's my best friend."

Michael didn't say anything, only turned his gaze away from me.

"So what do we do about Fabian?" Sage asked, staring up at me. "He's hurt and afraid, and I don't even know where to start looking."

"We should start at his old pack house," Tiberius stated. "He mentioned last night that he still lives there, the first thing he'll do is go home."

"What do we do if he's not there?" I asked, failing to mask the worry in my voice.

"I'll try a locator spell. If that doesn't work, I'll call my siblings." He explained. "Ask them to find anything they can on Fabian, find out where he might have gone, maybe even what's got him so scared."

"Okay then, let's get moving," I said, determined to find out what was wrong with my best friend.

"You're not going anywhere." Tiberius laughed.

"And why the fuck not?"

"Because you still have a dream to wait for." Tiberius shrugged as if it was obvious. "You have no idea when Michael will have his dream or where it will take you. I can't have you running after Fabian, only to suddenly need to leave when you know which brother to go after next."

"I'm not just going to abandon Fabian." I scoffed. "He's just as much my family as I am his. I'm not going to let him deal with this on his own."

"I'm not asking you to do that, Cas." Tiberius soothed. "I would never ask you to do that, but right now, you need to put Fabian on the back burner and focus on your brothers. Fabian told me that you asked him to be a part of your pack when you became an Alpha, you need to make sure that there's a pack for him to join."

I fell silent, the fight leaving me. Tiberius was right. I needed to focus on Michael. Fabian would understand. Or at least I hoped he would. I dropped my gaze to stare at my shoes. This wasn't easy. Making decisions like this would never be easy. Especially since I promised Fabian that I would have his back no matter what. And I was breaking that promise now.

"You'll find him?" I choked out, not wanting anyone to see the tears pooling in my eyes.

"You know I will." He replied, the smile on his face evident in his voice.

I peeked up at him, offering him a watery smile before I rushed out of the room. I didn't want the others to watch as the barrier holding back my tears broke. I hastily ran up the stairs and towards my bedroom door, throwing it open and slamming it shut behind me. I ambled towards the bed, dropping myself down on the edge, staring straight at the wall as I let the tears flow freely. It frustrated me how I would be completely fine one minute and then suddenly feeling the irresistible urge to either throw somebody through a wall or cry until I died of dehydration. I was already emotionally drained and it wasn't even noon. I didn't know if I could handle any more social interaction without breaking down.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been sitting there staring at the wall. It probably wasn't long but it felt like forever. I didn't react when I heard the door creak as it opened and shut. I didn't say a word as soft footsteps approached me. I didn't flinch when I felt the bed dip beside me or when Sage wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I breathed in deeply as I willed the tears to stop. Sage twisted his body to face me, dropping his arm from my shoulders, instead rubbing small circles on my back. I could feel him staring at me but I didn't look at him, knowing I would only cry more if I did.

"Fabian's going to be alright." He whispered. "He's a big kid."

"Yeah, a big, emotionally scarred and unstable kid." I chuckled dryly, hesitating for a second or two. "I promised that I would have his back no matter what. This is no matter what, Sage, and I'm breaking that promise. He needs me and I can't be there for him."

"I don't doubt that he needs you," Sage spoke softly. "I know I didn't like him at first but I can see just how much he means to you. And believe it or not, he's important to me too. I think that's why I told Tiberius I'd go with him."

"You what?" I gaped, snapping my head to stare at him.

"I told Tiberius that I would help him look for Fabian," Sage explained. "He's right, Cas, you need to focus on your brothers. You and Michael need to get to know each other more and learn to trust one another completely otherwise your pack is going to fall apart before you even have the chance to lead it. That, unfortunately, means that you and Michael need to find your next brother without me, Ti or Fabian."

I sighed in defeat. I didn't have the energy to fight and in the end, it wouldn't have mattered. They were both so stupidly right.

"Ti?" I smirked.

"What? His name is ridiculously long, why shouldn't I shorten it?"

"You're such a dork." I grinned, wrapping my arms around his chest, pulling him close to me and resting my cheek on his shoulder, my nose buried in the crook of his neck.

"Probably." He laughed, reaching up his hands to card through my hair.

He kissed the side of my head as he raked his hands over my scalp, lulling me to sleep. I didn't want him to leave me again. I didn't want him to ever leave me. Which broke my heart even more because I knew that one day, he'd find the one he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with. I just hope he didn't find them while we weren't together.

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Thanks so much for 113 reads and 23 votes! It means so fucking much!

Thanks for wasting your time on me!

~Daxton🌈