Raised By Humans ✔

Nine

Michael's POV

"I'm sorry about earlier," Cassiel whispered. I didn't have to turn away from the trees to know it was him. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. I know you were just trying to protect me, and it wasn't fair that I yelled."

I sighed heavily as I slowly turned to face him. Cas looked downright miserable. The dark bags under his eyes were more prominent than usual and his hair was dishevelled. The sunlight wasn't helping him look any better. He looked as if he was drowning in the sweater he was wearing, it was so big. And judging by the smell, it wasn't his.

"It's alright, Cas. Really it is." I assured him. "I should have realised how much Fabian means to you. I also shouldn't have scratched him. I swear that I'm gonna apologise the moment I see him."

Cas laughed at that. I scrunched my brows in confusion, clueless as to what he found funny. "Fabian won't accept your apology."

"Why not? Apart from the Fae, he doesn't seem like the type to hold a grudge."

Cassiel laughed a little harder. I blamed it on the sleep deprivation. "That's not what I meant. I mean, Fabian can hold a grudge like no tomorrow, but he's also pretty understanding. Fabian's aware that you don't know him very well. He won't accept your apology because you didn't know he wouldn't hurt me; therefore, you have nothing to apologise for. Fabian's pretty much an open book once you understand that."

"I think he's a little more complicated than that." I disagreed. "Something scared the shit out of him, and I think it's safe to say that not even you know what it was."

"I don't." Cassiel shrugged. "But that doesn't mean I don't have my theories."

I quirked a brow. "Care to elaborate?"

Cassiel stepped down the back-porch steps and moved to stand beside me, facing the thick forest the Fabian disappeared into the day before. He looked even worse close up. Just staring at him made me feel tired. I was starting to doubt that this kid ever slept. Cassiel frowned as he caught me staring at him.

"I have nightmares." He replied simply, twisting his head back to face the tree line. "Fabian's lost control like this before. It was the night he decided that he could trust me. Fabian hadn't let anyone in for such a long time and it terrified him to do it. He told me about his parents, his old pack, his sister. Everything. It was exactly the same except I didn't know that he wouldn't hurt me. I didn't know that he was just trying to make me understand how he was feeling. Fabian masks his fear in aggression and it's hard to pick it up unless you know what to look for."

"So, Fabian loses control when he decides to trust someone? Why didn't he lose control when he was talking to Tiberius?"

"Fabian only loses control when he decides to trust someone completely." Cassiel began. "He takes everything in him that hurts or has hurt someone else and lays it out in front of you. The loss of control comes from the fear that you won't accept his past, who he is, and you'll leave him after he just tore down his walls and forced himself to be vulnerable. Fabian trusts Tiberius, but there's a limit. He only shared a few details about his past with Tiberius because he's warming up to the idea of letting somebody else in. Fabian doesn't let it show, and he always downplays it, but his past left him broken and he's barely started to heal."

I paused for a moment, thinking about what Cas said. "And your theories?"

"I've come up with a couple but only two of them are really plausible." Cas abruptly stopped talking to yawn, his eyes watering slightly. "Either he caught the scent or ran into an old pack member or his parents, or the Fae followed us here."

"The Fae that attacked you?" I gaped. "But didn't Tiberius' familiars tear her apart?"

"They did but we left her body unattended for a few minutes and when we turned back, she was gone." Cas sighed. "I really don't want to run into her again. She was a pain in the ass."

"How so?"

Cas hesitated, glancing at me before averting his gaze to the grass. "She kinda...called our mother a two-cent whore." He answered lowly.

"She did fucking what?"

"It doesn't matter, okay, she got what was coming to her." Cassiel groaned. "If we do run into her again, I'm more than happy to let you have at her."

I chuckled as I pulled my little brother into my side. We didn't speak for a while, comfortable in the silence that blanketed us. I just had one more question.

"What about Fabian's sister?"

"What about her?"

"What if she was the one who scared Fabian?" I shrugged.

"That's impossible, the bitch is in Switzerland," Cassiel growled. "And if she was here, Fabian wouldn't have run from her, he would have tried to kill her. She abandoned him and hasn't tried to contact him since. She's dead to Fabian, he even said it himself."

"It was just an idea, Cas, no need to get so passionate." I laughed.

"You and Fabian are apart of my family now. I think I'm allowed to be a little passionate about the things that hurt you."

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I bolted upright, my head snapping from side to side as I looked around frantically. I didn't recognise the walls that surrounded me and I couldn't see any doors. I glanced to my left and instead of another blank wall, glass reached from floor to ceiling. There wasn't much outside the window, just a small field surrounded by a few trees. My gaze fell to the floor as I clambered up from the floor. I felt nauseous and there was a dull ache in the back of my head as I stumbled towards the window.

Placing my hand on the glass, my eyes swept over the field. Almost everything was still, the trees swaying gently with the breeze outside. As I went to take my hand off the cool glass, a flash of blue caught my eye. My eyes fell on a boy. He couldn't be much older than Cassiel and he had a head of deep blue hair. His gaze was trained on me, his expression neutral. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. Not as his stare left me, leaving me feeling cold and empty. My eyes still didn't leave him as he smiled softly at something behind me before his figure faded into thin air.

"Mikey!" A voice chirped from behind me.

My body tensed at the nickname. I hated it. It was a reminder. I stood tall and upright as I calmly turned around, putting a scowl on my face. The scowl fell and the tension melted off my body. I couldn't help the sad smile that crept onto my face as I stared at the little boy in front of me. His wide toothy grin was a sight for sore eyes. I didn't bother trying to hide the soft laugh that escaped my mouth. His two front teeth were missing just like the last time a saw him. I frowned as the grin fell from his face and he stared at me with big, pleading eyes.

"I wanna go home."

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Hey guys, gals and fridges!

Thanks a fuck ton for 120 reads and 25 votes! As I said, it means a fuck ton!

Thanks for wasting your time on me!

~Daxton🌈