Raised By Humans ✔

Three

Fabian and Tiberius were sat in the front seat, belting out the lyrics to The Vamps, Can We Dance, at the top of they're lungs. Fabian laughed every time one of them stumbled over their words, Tiberius tapping his fingers along to the beat on the steering wheel. The reason for their spontaneous karaoke session? We were thirty minutes from home and Dayna was stressing. She could sense Finnegan in the back of her mind; he was frantic. So, Fabian and Tiberius were singing along to the words of every song by every boyband that they could remember. The Vamps, Backstreet Boys, One Direction – you name it, they were right there singing along.

Dayna and I joined in for some songs but stayed quiet for most. We were perfectly content just watching the boys as they purposefully sang off key. I caught a glimpse of Sage from the corner of my eye. His eyes were closed, his head leant against the window. He'd been drifting in and out of sleep for the last few hours of the trip, despite all the noise we were making. I slid my hand into his, intertwining our fingers. He wasn't looking forward to the verbal beating we all knew was coming his way. And knowing Anna, she'd wait until Sage believed he was safe from any lectures. Then she'd proceed to tear him a new one.

Laughter exploded from the front seat as Fabian clutched his forehead, groaning. "That wasn't fucking funny!" He seethed. "Stop fucking laughing!"

"You just threw your head into the dashboard!" Tiberius gasped back between laughs.

"Whatever," Fabian grumbled.

Tiberius leaned forward and turned a dial on the stereo, the music fading to a soft hum. He reached an arm over and rubbed Fabian's forehead with his hand as he spoke.

"We're about ten minutes off of the pack house." He informed. "They know Michael and I are with you?"

"I let James know when I called him a few days ago," I explained. "I learnt my lesson the first time I had someone over and didn't tell anyone."

"To be fair," Fabian chimed in as he scrunched up his face and shoved Tiberius' hand away. "I was laying on their lawn as a wolf a few centimetres away from you, their beloved human."

"Still doesn't mean they should have tried to attack you without at least letting you explain yourself."

"Meh, what's done is done." Fabian shrugged. "I got a cookie out of it."

Dayna huffed out a laugh. "I'm starting to think that food is all that matters to you."

"Duh." Fabian paused. "Well, food and Casanova."

"I'm not even going to question that nickname."

"Probably a good idea."

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Tiberius pulled up onto the driveway and shut off the car. I breathed a deep sigh of relief as I climbed out of the car after Sage. It was good to be home; to finally be somewhere that felt completely and utterly safe. Michael had sent a text to let us know that he had stopped for gas and not to wait for him. He was a few miles back and we wouldn't see him for another ten to twenty minutes. Fabian tumbled out of the car, complaining about the pins and needles that rendered his legs pretty much useless. Tiberius was a lot more graceful in his exit, opening Dayna's door for her even though she was completely healed and capable of doing it herself. She stepped out of the car, her face quickly tilting skyward to inhale the scent of home.

My gaze turned towards the front door as it was wrenched open, Anna all but falling out of the door. Her expression was full of relief and her eyes full of tears as she raced out of the doorway and down the front lawn. Her carroty hair was tangled and wild and her shirt was covered in dirt stains and the legs of her jeans were caked in mud. She flew past Tiberius, coming to a halt as she pulled Dayna into her. I jumped slightly at the growls that erupted from two wolves that were snapping at each other's heels, Quinn chasing closely behind them. Anna released Dayna as she was tackled by the wolves, honeycomb brown mixing with dark brown and pale blonde. Dayna cried out with laughter as Jaxson and Vicki licked her face and rubbed their giant bodies all over her. Scenting. They were making her smell like pack again.

"Will you two shove it!" Quinn yelled as she tried to move Vicki out of the way, receiving a flash of golden yellow eyes and a snarl for her trouble. "Fuck you, Vicki."

Jaxson pulled away after that, ambling towards Quinn and shoving his muzzle into her palm. Quinn beamed at him before she reached out a hand for Dayna, pulling her up when she accepted her hand. I knelt on the ground before Jaxson, grinning at the cold, wet feeling his nose left on my forehead. I carded my hand through the thick dark brown fur of his neck, scrunching up my face as he bent his neck down to lick my cheek. Vicki wasn't far behind, shoving her head into my neck and nuzzling her face against it.

The wolves disappeared as I was suddenly wrenched upwards, frantically spitting out a wad of soft pink hair. I squeezed Quinn tightly as I glanced back at Dayna who'd been scooped up into one of James' bearhugs. I knew I'd be getting one of those next and my ribs were not the least bit excited. Anna was smothering Sage in hugs, but I could hear the occasional threat slip from her lips.

"Where's Finn?" Dayna questioned, although her voice held a more demanding tone.

"I sent him out on a patrol a half hour or so before I got the message saying that you weren't far off." James supplied, gently squeezing her shoulder. "He shouldn't be gone for too much longer."

Quinn was suddenly pulled away from me and replaced with Anna. I smiled as she squeezed me gently and sighed into my ear. "I know you'll be leaving again soon, but I'm glad you're home, Cassie."

"I'm glad I'm home too." I breathed as I watched Jaxson and Vicki disappear into the house, most likely to shift back into their human forms.

My ears perked up and I pulled away from Anna as the deep growl of a motorcycle resonated in the distance.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Jaxson called out from the front door, tying the string up on his sweatpants.

Vicki slapped him upside the head as she answered him, too far away for me to hear. She'd decided to just pull on an oversized t-shirt and call it a day. Jaxson growled at her and trudged off towards Quinn, pulling her to him and burying his head in the crook of her neck when he reached her. Quinn only laughed as Vicki imitated Jaxson and shoved her face in between two branches of a nearby tree, the dramatic sigh obvious in the rise and fall of her upper back and shoulders. I marched off towards the end of the driveway, watching the small speck of Michael's form come into view.

"Be careful with her!" Anna scolded from behind me.

I whipped my head around to catch a glimpse of Finnegan sweeping Dayna up into his arms and spinning her around, her gentle laugh filling the air. The dramatic turn my life had taken was far from over but I was glad that I could have this. That I could see this. My eyes shifted over to Sage and he blushed when I caught him staring. I smirked and looked back towards the direction my brother was coming from. I was really glad that I could have this.

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Hey guys, gals and fridges!

I'm sorry that the format for this is a little different to usual but I typed this all up on a word document, slapped it into wattpad on desktop and now I'm on mobile. Seems tedious (which it is) but what's done is done so moving on!

Thank you all so much for 38 reads and 6 votes! It really does mean a shit ton!

Thanks for wasting your time on me!

~Daxton🌈