Raised By Humans ✔

Six

Fabian's POV

"Wow. And I thought my Dad was a jerk." I said, reaching over and grabbing the cold beer in Tiberius' hand, taking a sip.

"You have no idea." He smiled softly, readjusting himself on the back-patio stairs. "The man never approved of anything I did. He doted on Julius and Zarriah though. He never bothered to hide the fact that he loved them more."

"My sister was my parents' favourite." I sighed. "I always wondered if she still would be if they had been around when she came out."

"Your sister's a lesbian?" He questioned, stealing back his beer.

"No."

There was silence for a few seconds. "You wanna elaborate on that?"

"Not particularly." I huffed. "My sister has always been a sensitive topic."

"Why'd you bring her up if it hurts to talk about her." Tiberius prodded gently.

I sighed again, heavily. "It's nearly three am. If you hadn't noticed, we've reached the point of every late-night conversation where the topics become increasingly heavier."

Tiberius fell silent again, mulling over my words. "Well if you don't want to talk about her, then what do you want to talk about?"

I furrowed my brows as I thought. I wanted to ask since Tiberius was clearly feeling up to sharing. But at the same time, I didn't want to pry. Not too deeply anyway. "Could you tell me about Lydia?" I questioned. "If you want to talk about her that is."

Tiberius didn't say anything as he handed the beer back to me. I don't know when we'd opted to share our drinks, but I really didn't care.

"Lydia understood me." He said simply. "Better than most people did way back when. She was my best friend, and at times my only friend."

"So, something special then," I stated as I drank from the bottle we shared.

"In more ways than one." He laughed softly, taking the beer from me when I finished. "She has this fire, you know, the kind that will either build an empire or set the world ablaze. It's what drew me to her in the first place. She also has this softness for the people she loves, like Cassiel has for you."

"Something really special then if you're comparing Casanova to her." I grinned, but it quickly fell from my face as I flicked my gaze to Tiberius. "So, what happened? I remember it being mentioned several times that you split."

His face fell, his gaze resting on the beer bottle in his hands. "A few things. For starters, she's a werewolf." He began. "That in itself is an issue because I'm immortal and she's...not."

"Aren't there ways to make her immortal?" I questioned. "I've heard rumours of several wolves who've let the witches experiment on them."

"There are. That's one of the reasons why we split." He sighed. "She wanted me to make her immortal, I didn't want to take her mortality from her. As much as I hate to sound like a cliché, overly broody vampire, living forever isn't as fun as it might sound. I wanted her to live her life among her pack without the fear of watching them die as she lived on. And as you can imagine, she didn't like that."

"Well, duh." I scolded. "Because you made it sound like you didn't love her as much as she loved you. I mean, I understand where you're coming from, especially if you aren't her mate, but damn dude, you're frosty."

Tiberius looked up at me. "You'll be surprised to know that that particular argument isn't what ended our relationship."

"Then what was?"

He sighed, standing up from his seat on the stairs. "That, my dear Fabian, is something far too painful to bring up in a three am conversation."

I stared at him in confusion as he ambled towards the sliding doors, silently opening them and disappearing through them. I groaned as I too stood from the stairs. But instead of walking towards the door, I went in the opposite direction and stepped down onto the grass. It was cold and slightly wet, but I couldn't find it in myself to care. I just inhaled deeply and stripped off my shirt, throwing it onto the patio behind me. There was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep, not tonight at least. The night air wasn't warm, but it also wasn't ridiculously cold. With one last glance back at the pack house, I took off through the forest in front of me.

It had been far too long since my last run through the woods and I was itching to shift and just run until I couldn't any farther, but I needed this more. I needed to be human for a few hours. I'd been embracing the animal in me a little too much lately, and I didn't want to risk hurting any of my friends if I lost control again. I paced myself and my breathing as I raced through the trees, dodging the fallen branches and rocks that littered the forest floor. Branches scratched me as I dashed past, either leaving small cuts that healed in seconds or deep gashes that needed a little longer. I ignored the pain and kept pumping my legs harder, forcing myself to run faster.

I came to a hard stop, almost slipping and falling into the lake I hadn't bothered to take notice of. My chest heaved as I wandered slowly around the edge of the lake, trying to steady my breathing. I stopped underneath a tree and lowered myself down, sitting with my back against the tree. I hadn't been running for long, but my lack of sleep was catching up to me, my eyes feeling a little heavy. I'd nap on and off later in the day but only for half an hour at most. I'd sleep better tonight when my mind wasn't plagued with guilt. I needed to tell Cassiel. There was so much he didn't know that he needed to. Tiberius already knew. He always knew. But he wasn't going to say anything to Cas. He said it was my story and only I could tell it. I just didn't know if I could.

I was dragged from my thoughts by a branch snapping somewhere on the other side of the lake. I couldn't see much past the thick line of trees, and I felt the hairs on the nape of my neck stand on end. I scrambled up from my seat against the tree and raised my nose into the air, breathing deeply. As the scent hit my nose, my stomach dropped and I felt my heart clench. I knew that scent, even though I tried so hard to forget it. I didn't know why they were back and I honestly didn't care. I only had one thought running through my mind.

Fucking run.

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Hey guys, gals and fridges!

Thanks for 70 reads and 16 votes! It means a shit ton!

Thanks for wasting your time on me!

~Daxton🌈