FATED: 2ND BOOK OF GRAVITY

1. The Sky has always been free to me

Sana

I have werewolf parents, and having werewolf parents is the strangest experience you'd ever hate to love. The first week I started High school with Mama and Papa, the former called me five times a day during class, and the latter drove me to my school and from our house every day with a prepared speech to any werewolf close to his car.

Papa always told me to be careful and to know how to defend myself as I'm human. The reason why I'm human and not a werewolf like my parents is because my real biological parents were humans who died. I'm Mama's niece in actuality, while Mama got turned into a lycanthrope that couldn't shift as per the rules of mating with humans.

Yume and I are humans, while the twins, Aleksanteri and Aune, are werewolves through and through. When the twins were 4, we weren't allowed to touch them since their strength was already that different. A simple squeeze of the finger and they'd break your fingers. Alpha babies are horrifying at times, but they're sweet kids.

Papa was always careful whenever that happened. Papa even more so than Mama. He often makes one of our uncles stay and guard whenever my siblings and I are in the same room, also dragging my amenable grandparents.

It's morning and a new day the start of high school. The twins are ten years old and complaining about their shifting lesson with Dad, while Yume, the quiet one, is just sitting and eating breakfast. A lot of people have commented on how different we both look from Papa, especially in this part of Finland.

"Morning, my sweet pup" Papa smiles at me. I can see why Mama fell for Papa because he really is a looker. I've grown up with gossiping moms wanting "A piece" of that action. Some of my friends even call him a DILF. He kissed the top of my head and gave Mama a kiss on the mouth.

Papa is a tall man, last, I heard him say his height was six feet and five inches, but with him, you never really know. He likes intimidating people or getting a reaction out of them. He once said that number when some werewolves my age came by the house. The girls were either fawning or scared, while my male friends were definitely scared and respectful.

"You know that most of them are girls, right? Why do you have to intimidate them too?" Mama once asked him when all of them were gone. A curious but indignant look on her face.

Papa shrugs. His dark auburn hair a high contrast with my uncle's pale blonde hair. "Our daughter might go for the other team or both ways. I need to cover my bases here, kultsi. I don't want to be blindsided."

Which reminds me now, I have to talk to him about my s****l orientation I'm completely straight, as far as I know, but I should know since I'm nearly in my twenties, right? God, I thank my humanness because if I have a pack link my Papa can get into my head right now. He would freak out and lock me in a tower somewhere.

Plopping onto the seat beside me, Papa looks at Aune and Aleksanteri then to Yume before landing on me. He gives me a cheesy sweet smile that he always gives me.

"Why is my sweet pup, upset?" He asks me.

I know this is childish of me, and I have a feeling acting this way would bite me in the ass further in the conversation, but this is Papa, and I'm Asian, we're cuddly and affectionate beings that get upset this way. Well, at least me and my family's kind of Asian.

"Pa" I whine. "I'm not a pup anymore."

He gives me a look, the same look I've lived with for a decade now that often says I'm still his silly little human daughter that he's going to coddle to death till the end of my days. "Eighteen is still too young."

"Papa! That's old! I'm human! I'm legal!"

His face suddenly goes tight at the reminder. That gives me a flashback of his major freak-out about Yume and me being humans. It was when Yume got sick again when we were kids, and he had a growling pissing meltdown in the middle of a human hospital. I remember him grabbing me and cuddling me on Yume's bed while growling at anyone who came close. Mama was the only one who calms him down. Werewolf Alpha's are just out there with their anxiety. He has that same look right now, he's mad and worried and spiraling. Human lives are way too short for him.

He heaves out a breath as if remembering that he needs to breathe. "Yes, very human."

That's all he said before he goes radio silent no matter what I mean. See? Stupid, stubborn werewolves. Mama gives his hand a soft pat with a small smile.

"Calm down, she is still young but not as young as you think she is." Mama gives me a smile. She's a living saint, to be honest.

"And Sana, I know you're upset, but you know how your Papa is."

"Stubborn and protective," Yume says. His glasses slide down the ridge of his nose before he pushes it back down. A small smile on his lips while he avoids looking at us in the eye.

"Yes, exactly," Mama says.

"Ate remembers we have a dance performance at school," Aune says. Her dark hair is just like ours but a little lighter, and you could see the brown in it in the light. Her dark blue eyes grow brighter in the day too. Big sister

"I won't forget" I smile at her.

"You too right, Kuya?" Aune beams at Yume. Big brother

Yume's messy straight hair always looks like an anime character which doesn't help considering we're Japanese. "Yeah, I will."

"Alek how were your practices?" Mama asks Alek. He's always quiet like Yume until you talk to him.

"It's fine" he answers with a smile. "It's great."

Mama casts a worried look at Alek and Papa sees this, so he holds her hand on the table. It's been years since Mom worried about how quiet Alek is. Yume is too, but he's considered talkative compared to Alek

Yume shrugs when I look at him.

"You know what, we're late for school so" I stand from my seat and usher the twins out of their seats. "Go on, get your bags."

Yume grabs one last spoonful before standing with me. Pushing his glasses back and running around the table to give Mama and Papa a kiss on the cheek. I kissed our parents goodbye too and waited for the twins to get their bags to do the same before we excused ourselves.

"Wait, for me," Papa says. "I'm going to drop you guys off."

"Pa can we not?" I ask him softly. "Just once let us do something ourselves."

Papa looks crestfallen. "But…you're human."

"Honey, please just let them go" Mama smiles at me and mouths that she would handle this before shooing us out of the house.

"Thanks, Mama!" I shout when we're outside the house.

When we're in a safe distance where Papa won't be able to hear us talk, Yume who's holding Aune's hand casts me a look. I don't like that look because it highlights the fact that I have to crane my neck to look at him. Stupid makes growth spurts.

"You're not going to tell Papa about that, are you?" He asks me

"About what?" Aune chirps beside him.

I sigh. "I think he already knows that he's coming back. He wouldn't be so tense if he didn't"

Everyone knows that he's coming back. His Dad is retiring, and he needs someone to inherit the pack, which means his exile would be lifted and he'll go back. I just don't know when or how he'd come back since after all we're still the adopted humans of a werewolf Alpha. We're not that high up in the communication line, and we're not even a priority.

"Who is coming back?" Aune chirps again.

"Young lady, what did we say about nosing your way into a conversation?" I raise a brow at her.

She pouts. "Not to do it."

"Some conversations are not directed for you" I pat her head because I do feel a bit apologetic whenever I reprimand her.

Alek, on the other hand, has been quiet, but he's smiling as he stares at a butterfly fluttering by his side. With a gentle hand, he lets it rest on his fingers and smiles even wider when it leaves. Seeing him like that makes me smile, there is something about Alek that is just gentle and nice. It's genuinely unlike all the wolves that I grew up with. Most wolves are so outspoken and rough that even when I was Alek's age, they were still like real rough pups.

It doesn't help that I'm the only human in school either. Yume is four years younger than me, so there isn't a time we're in the same school at all. It worries me, though; the council is a mix of different werewolves with different ideals, and I don't know what they'll think about Alek being next in line. Aune could've inherited the pack if she was born earlier than him, but she came out second.

I try not to think about anything else or about him coming back. It doesn't matter if he comes back or not anyway because it's been years since I've kept writing to him and he hasn't replied, not even once. I think I've bothered him enough with those letters, so it's better I should stop worrying him altogether. I know that I'm not a beautiful memory for him to remember.

Our ride to school was peaceful, and I was the only one heading towards another direction from the three once we stopped in the town. The high school was on the opposite end where the three were headed, so I kissed the three goodbyes while the twins held Yume's hands towards their school.

I rode on another bus and took the seat at the front, so it would be easier to get off at my stop. It's a long ride, with the bus stopping and all, so I take out my earphones and a book to read. I keep glancing at the window from time to time to make sure I don't miss my stop.

I'm not going to hold your hand

Asking if you wanna dance

Not going to take you home

Even though

My head nodded to the beat of the music while my mind was thinking about the story of the book. Mama is always amazed that I can read and listen to music at the same time because apparently when she does it, she can't focus on the story anymore and just gets carried away with the music.

At some point, I glance outside the window and notice that I'm here. I put my book back in my bag and got ready to get off. The bus stops and I stand, ready to just turn to the stairs and get off when a tall man rushes past first. I caught a glimpse of him, and it made my knees weak to the point that I had to sit down again. He didn't look my way, but I'm sure it was him because I will never forget the boy that saved me.

Albie doesn't look back with a few new faces trailing behind him talking loudly like all werewolf teenagers. He's back. He really is, and I don't know why it makes me feel like crying. The door closes, and the bus changes gear and accelerated.

Why am I crying? I thought. I wiped my tears on my sleeve, but I remained in my seat. It's obvious now that I'm going to be late, but there isn't much I can do about that. The music has turned melancholic too, and it wasn't helping.

I look for you

Every day

Every night

I close my eyes

From the fear

From the light

What is wrong with me?

By the time I got to school, I was thirty minutes late for my first class, but thankfully it was a crowded one that I could easily sneak in through the back door. It took me longer to go to my course because I also went to the restroom first to fix my face. God forbid I enter class with the scent of tears on me, and I'll be the talk of the town again. Papa would catch wind of it, and he'd be storming inside the school faster than I can count to ten.

I tiptoed towards an empty seat, but still, I made eye contact with the female teacher. She smiles at me, and I already have a bad feeling about it.

"Miss Sana" She calls. Great a werewolf. I shouldn't be surprised since this whole town is filled with it, but still, it'll be nice to not be known by everyone. "Would you like to introduce yourself to the class? We've already done the introduction part but since you were late…"

Introduction? We all know each other here. I grew up with most people here, but there are new faces in the crowd. I sigh, not really liking the attention. I stood in my seat and left my bag behind. All of a sudden, my sweater doesn't feel thick enough as my classmates stared at me, waiting for me to f**k up in some way.

"I'm Sana Olsen," I say. My eyes look at the back, but immediately I see him. My breath stills and I think I'm going to cry again. It took a lot in me to look away and stare down at my feet instead.

"Is that all? Nothing else?" The teacher says. She crosses her arms across her chest with a challenging look on her face.

I fear that blinking would make me tear up. I licked my lips and smiled at her. "I'm human, and I can speak four languages?"

"Four? That's nice What are those languages" She says. God, this one is going to torture me for the rest of my years here, huh?

"Uh, there is English as we are speaking now and Filipino, Finnish, and Japanese" I answer her. Staring at her pretty Nordic face with her blonde curls and natural pink lips. She looks like a femme fatale in the old movies, and I think she knows it.

"That's a wide variety. Two Asian languages and two Western ones, a good balance if you think about it."

"Yeah," I step away as I plan on going back to my seat.

"I didn't say you can go, Miss Sana," She says. I stop and try to stop my urge to roll my eyes. Some students were snickering at me already. "So eager to go."

Who is she? She's acting more like a bully at this point. I hold my tongue, though, as I remind myself that I have a reputation to protect. I stand there in front of the class, and I look at her waiting for her to stay something.

"Why were you late?" she asks

"I missed my stop" I answer.

"Not very sharp of you, huh?" Her face looks concerned, but her tone says something else.

How come an adult could be so childish? I sighed and fought the growing urge to roll my eyes again. "Yeah, I guess not" I shrug and ignore her to just sit back down on my seat.

"We're not done Miss Sana" the tip of her ears is growing red.

I looked at her and remembered what Papa always told me If I'm being cornered like this. I stand my ground and stare back at her. I gave her the coldest look that I'm capable of and slowly but admittedly scoffed and took a seat.

"That's it! Go to the headmaster's office now!" She shouts.

He always told me that if someone is mistreating me, I shouldn't fight back what normal werewolves do, which is to fight them head-on. I'm human, so I could just get hurt in the process, but he taught me to stand my ground and go to a higher authority and wait for him. I can't really stop him from going here any more than I can stop this woman from mistreating me.

She obviously has a personal vendetta against me. I take my bag and head outside of the classroom. Ugh, Papa is going to flip once he hears of this and will put me on an even tighter leash.

"Don't you think you're too much?" His voice honestly sounds different now. A decade is a long time, but still, I could recognize that it's his voice. It's more profound for sure, but it's him.

"Mister Albie? Care to have any thoughts?" She daringly says.

He scoffs. "Is that the way you address an alpha? Miss Truncheon?"

Her face pales a bit. Realizing what she's done. "No, of course not, but there—"

"Would you stop with the excuses already and stop being a b***h. You're a teacher, not a f*****g b***h in heat" The student beside

Albie says. He's new, and I really don't recognize him at all.

Miss Truncheon blushes furiously. "Wh—"

"Go back to sit," The same student says to me. his intense green eyes meeting mine and his brown hair swept to the side. I hear his thick London accent, and it finally clicks in my head as to who he is.

He came from the same juvie center that Albie went to. It's the most obvious conclusion to that and that he brought his friends here. I'm just relieved to know that he had someone in that lonely place. I have ruined his life, but at least he found people to trust.

I sat back down and tried to ignore them—the guilt weighing me down in my chest all over again. I should do him a favor by letting him go. This is his place and not mine, but I miss him so much that it's making me tear up again.