Many thanks to katie for one of the best comments I ever got. This chapter may seem a bit fast but believe me the long and tedious development you wished for will come, along with possessive!protective!Dean because that´s a clear win!
When Castiel finally re-entered the world of the conscious he immediately wished to go back to the dark, comforting place of neither knowing nor feeling.
There was pain and lots of it.
Every rasping, shallow breath he took burned like fire in his chest. Sweat trickled down his temples and nose right into the cut on his cheek making it sting incredibly. His body was wrecked with violent shivers and throaty coughs. And his limbs were still lying motionless on the bed beneath him, ignorant to every command his mind ordered dizzily. But Castiel was alive and in his opinion aching in every possible place he could imagine, and in some he could not, was a small price to pay for having a second chance at seeing the world and grow old.
His eyes opened slowly and only under heavy protest and even the room´s dim light was far too bright for him after so many...time resting. Briefly Castiel wondered how long it actually had been since he was rescued. By a wolf for goodness sake. Fate really worked in mysterious ways. His lips ached when they stretched into a soft smile but the relief and happiness were too strong to ignore.
"´bout time you woke up." a brusque voice said from the other side of the room and Castiel could hear multiple footsteps approaching his bed. When he turned his head to the right he came face-to-face with the sight of three men clad in dark leather shirts and trousers.
One of them had the size of a mountain and was towering above the other two by several inches, his long bangs hiding most of his face as he looked down on Castiel. A faint smile played about his lips and his brown eyes twinkled with a curious spark as they continued examining each other.
The smaller man next to him snorted loudly with either humor or discomfort Castiel couldn´t tell for the man´s face was much more of a stoic mask than the other´s though his green eyes held a smoldering intensity that mesmerized Castiel and at the same time made him feel somewhat uncomfortable like the small prey gazing fearfully at its overwhelming predator. And so he averted his eyes quickly not wanting to provoke any ill feelings in this man before they hadn´t been properly introduced.
The last one of them, standing right at his head, was the oldest and smallest of the group but stout in build and his bearded, grim face and heavy gaze evoked a certain frightened respect inside of Castiel that made him shrink into the warm cushion trying to look as small and meek as possible.
Castiel knew he should thank them for their hospitality, after all he was well-educated, and offer them something in return, should introduce himself and politely ask for their names at least. He wondered whether they would answer his questions about the wolf that saved his life or the beast that he and his…his mother…
"Why the sour face? Not happy to live, boy?" the bearded man asked, slight concern marking his hardened features. Castiel shook his head as vehemently as he could and pressed his lids together hoping to reign over the remorse and sorrow trying to poison the delight that had nestled in his heart.
Opening his mouth, the words clear and loud in his mind, Castiel only heard a rasping breath escape his lips followed by a few violent coughs that shook his whole body for almost five minutes leaving him dizzy and sweating profusely. Suddenly there was a mug of water in front of his face and Castiel gulped it down greedily enjoying the occasional cold droplet sliding down his over-heated skin. There was a chuckle next to his ear, low enough so the others probably couldn´t hear, deep and rough around the edges but nevertheless melodic in its tune and Castiel felt immediately drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
A boyish, mischievous smirk greeted his searching eyes along with a smooth, tan face and if Castiel concentrated enough he could even detect freckles. The urge to count them all one by one came unbidden to his mind but fortunately he hadn´t enough strength left to follow it through. And so he just nodded and hoped the man would recognize it as a sign of gratitude.
"We should let him rest for a few more days. At least until he´s able to answer our questions with a simple yes or no." the man told his companions and Castiel noticed his eyes following the motion of a hand running through short brunette hair.
The displeasure was clearly written all over the older male´s face but he kept silent and nodded curtly before muttering something about a more important business than playing nurse and leaving the room with a last disapproving glance for Castiel. The men watched him leave with amusement glinting in their eyes.
"Never seen him worry so much for someone not pack." the huge brunette said between chuckles. Castiel must have made some kind of surprised noise because their twin smiles grew even broader. If that man really just displayed worry for his well-being than Castiel didn´t want to be on his bad side.
"Don´t worry, kid. It´s just his way to cope with the shit life´s dealt him over the years. Inside he´s all soft and warm like freshly baked pie."
"Don´t let him hear that. You know how he gets…"
"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the lecture, ma!"
"Very funny…"
They continued bickering like little children and Castiel should have listened to them snickering along and smiling when one of them glanced in his direction. And he wanted to, honestly. They seemed like good people, taking Castiel in without knowing anything about him and caring for his injuries and comfort.
But sleep was overcoming him once again and the more bravely he fought the more apparent was his inevitable defeat. A yawn escaped Castiel´s lips and his eyes grew heavier with every second he watched the two males shooting playful insults at each other, their voices slowly fading to nothing but a soothing whisper in the back of his mind.
He hated winter. It smelled like nothing. new and clean and innocent but not worth his attention. Sometimes he would catch a whiff of a deer or rabbit but most of the time the smell was too weak to make out its owner´s location. So he just ignored it as hard as it always was when his mouth began to water in anticipation of a meal better suited for his tastes than roots and mushrooms and vegetables.
Snow was fascinating though and playing with it simply amazing. Snapping at the flakes falling down coloring his brown fur white made him feel like a pup again and every time he wished Sammy was there with him. Like good old times.
He caught the scent long before he heard the pants and shouts.
It was nothing he had ever smelled before. Like earth after a sudden downpour still soft and slick from water, spicy resin freshly bleeding out of a cut tree, a breeze coming from over the ocean carrying the weight of unknown and exotic odors.
He was frozen on the spot, sniffing like a mad dog trying to find the scent´s owner. Heat began to boil inside of him. Heat that made him nervous, anxious, excited. Made his tail waggle madly behind him like the first time he had smelled one of the fertile females in their pack.
He needed. Every instinct, every fiber in his body told him he had to take that heavenly scent and make it his so nobody else could ever steal it from him. He sniffed again, more intently now and imagined what kind of bitch he would meet at the other end. He imagined bright and curious eyes, sleek fur and a slender body ready to bow and bend for him whenever he wished. A submissive, little wolf that would fulfill his every demand but harbor enough defiance to provide the one or other passionate fight.
Reality couldn´t have been any more different.
When he reached the clearing, filled to the brim with lustful anticipation, the only living being he saw was neither a wolf nor female at all. A boy, bruised and battered and shivering miserably in his light clothes. His excitement had taken a huge damper but he stayed where he was not taking his eyes of the child for one second.
This close he could smell other things hiding behind the glory of the boy´s scent. Fear, blood, smoke and sweat were the most prominent. The boy smelled like a frightened animal that barely escaped its predator.
He took a few steps into the shivering human´s direction, curious and still very much intrigued by his scent. A twig snapped under his paws. It sounded too loud in the silence. The child looked exhausted and hopeless when he drew near and sat next to him. His eyes were closed in defeat and his pale skin was littered with cuts and bruises.
It was the compassion of his human´s mind that made him breach the few inches between them and paw at the boy´s shoulder with his head. He was as cold as ice. Normally people and animals were dead when he found them this cold…pride and respect for that little creature welled up in his chest mixed with a bit of the desire he´d felt before when he saw the human smile. He couldn´t let the boy die like this! Not such a strong soul. Such a beautiful child. Magnificent scent. Mate…
So he laid his head on the boy´s lap hoping a few more minutes just the two of them alone would do no more damage than the cold already had and enjoyed the company of the one being that he so desperately wanted at his side.
When Castiel awoke next it was even less pleasant than before. He was practically bathed in cold sweat making his clothes cling to him like a second, wet skin. His heart and breath were telling him he´d run a hundred miles without pause and his shaking arms told him their support wouldn´t last for much longer. But worst of all were the images clinging to him desperately.
He exhaled shakily and lay back on the soft furs of the bed. He could still see his mother´s eyes staring at him accusingly, daring him to tell her she had wanted him to run when he easily could have stayed to fight the beast alongside her. Together they might have had a chance at defeating it. Together they might have been able to flee. Together they might have stayed alive…
A warm hand stroked his cheek tenderly wiping away the tears Castiel did not notice he had shed. He turned his attention from the stone ceiling still holding his mother´s face to the person next to him and was greeted by lush lips curved up into a gentle smile. She couldn´t have been much older than him. Four, maybe five years at best, but even at this young age she was the most beautiful girl Castiel had ever seen. Her fine, blond hair matched her delicate nose and rosy cheeks as perfectly as her stormy, gray eyes.
"Are you an angel?" he asked her dreamily knowing fully well he was staring at her unabashedly but right now Castiel hadn´t even the slightest idea how to spell shame. Her smile only increased in intensity showing pearly white teeth in the progress.
"Hardly…" she whispered and stroked through his sweat-dampened hair. Castiel couldn´t help but lean into the touch that reminded him so much of his mother´s. A content sigh escaped his lips, answered by a feminine giggle.
"My name is Jessica. And actually I didn´t come here just to coddle you." the girl said after a few minutes of comfortable silence between them. And now he felt his decency return to him guiltily resulting in a slight flush of his cheeks.
"Apologies. I didn´t mean to…" a slender finger on Castiel´s lips stopped him from continuing his attempted ramble.
"Just tell me your name."
"Castiel…"
Jessica nodded approvingly and before Castiel had even time to react she had pulled the blankets and furs off of his body leaving him naked before her twinkling eyes except for the makeshift underwear hiding his most private parts.
"Well then Castiel, time for a bath! You reek like a room full of sweating men covered in liquids a proper woman like me should not talk least alone think about." the blond exclaimed happily and shouldered, to Castiel´s immense surprise, more than half of his weight before carrying him out of the room.
The hot water was pure bliss and turned Castiel´s remaining aches into nothing but a dull, easy to bear throb in the back of his skull. Sighing he glided deeper into the perfumed water until his nose touched the rose petals swimming around merrily.
Jessica had dragged him the long way to the bathing room when his legs gave up the pretentious fight of holding him upright and Castiel was thankful for that because he suspected she would have been strong enough to simply sling him over her shoulder like he weighed nothing at all. Which wasn´t such an empty assumption he supposed. After all he had been unconscious and sleeping for almost two weeks with nothing to eat and drink but the occasional bowl of soup and cup of water forced past his lips when he hadn´t been completely delirious.
Castiel, of course, couldn´t remember such occasions but when he asked Jessica who his caretaker had been and if he would meet him or her sometime soon to show his gratitude she simply flashed her beaming smile and told him she wasn´t allowed to tell. But the questions she was able to answer the blond happily did.
"As you probably guessed, we are beneath the earth in caves our ancestors carved hundreds of years ago into the stone. Naturally over the time our population became more numerous and we needed more space than the few holes and caverns trying to hold our numbers. So Lionel the third invented the tradition that every new leader has to provide new living quarters for his people as a tribute to the leaders of old to plead for prosperity and security." she said while she washed the grime and sweat from his hair dangling her naked legs in the water.
"I have never heard of…your people, have I?" Castiel tried very hard not to moan from the wonderful feelings those massaging hands gave him but wasn´t able to catch all of them. And every time a noise did escape his lips Jessica would just chuckle and bump his right shoulder with her knee.
"I hope not. That would mean our alpha doesn´t do a very good job at protecting us. Lean forward."
Jessica´s hands left his skull and Castiel tried not to grab them and push them forcefully back. He wouldn´t be successful anyway. So he did as he was told and immediately a flood of rose-scented water washed over his head. It was colder than the water he was sitting in sending a refreshing shiver through his body.
When he had shaken the excessive water from his hair Castiel turned to the side so he could look at the girl now sitting next to him legs again dipping in the water.
"I´d say being closed off from the rest of society is isolation rather than protection." the smile she sent him didn´t reach her blue eyes and Castiel regretted uttering those words.
"That´s because you don´t know any better, Castiel. But hopefully, you will."
And before he could ask her what that cryptic comment had meant he had to fight for his life and dignity. Because the water fight Jessica had just announced was totally going to be in her favor but damn his pride as a man Castiel would fight until the end.