Chapter 3: Joining a Pack

"Alright, Charlie Bradbury has graduated to mentor status this year and will be taking on a Freshman beta. Elvis Katz, I think you will suit her best. She's pretty hyper, but you're in a couple of the same classes so I believe that you are already familiar with her eccentricities."

"Shut your mouth, Maggie! You know you wish you were as awesome as me!"

"Charlie, no one is as awesome as you," Dean replied, chuckling when Maggie growled at him for encouraging the redheaded beta from his table.

"Love ya, babe!" Charlie waved back, grinning as her newly adopted member joined Jo's group at the back tables.

"You know Charlie?"

Dean nodded, leaning back on his arms against the table. "Yeah, we've been close for most of our lives. My brothers are both alphas like me, so having someone not stinking of dominance and barely-contained aggression around was a breath of fresh air. She's a lot to handle, though, but brilliant. I haven't seen a game or website yet she couldn't hack, though she avoids ones made by big companies and the government."

Cas tilted his head curiously. "You aren't dating her?"

"Hell, no. She's awesome and all, but I think of her as a little sister. Anyway, she only dates females, with a strong preference for alphas, and I think she may be in a relationship with one of Benny's friends at the University. Dorothy I think."

"Aaron Bass, Bucky Sims of Randy Bull's faction will be your mentor. Tessa Roarke, Don Stark will be your mentor; welcome to my small sliver of the Pack." Maggie smiled at the two Freshman omegas as they passed her, crossing two more names off of her list. "Asariel Wallace, I know that you didn't quite make the cut last year, but you've been chosen this year, and Inias Duncan will be your mentor. When he gets excited and his Scottish accent gets too strong, we're relying on you to translate."

A slender Sophomore beta, the faintest red tint to her braided brown hair, slipped past Maggie to join an equally slender alpha, his dark brown hair shining with red highlights in the sun. He grinned warmly, pulling her into a fierce hug before murmuring something, laughing at her reply. Clearly, Maggie truly was amazing at matching mentors and newcomers.

Gabe reached across the table and grabbed Cas's arm urgently, dragging his attention away from the Pack and the new bonds they were forming right in front of his eyes. "Cassie, there's only one omega spot left."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been counting. Sophia, Max, Joshua, Aaron, and Tessa. That's five, and she said that there are only six omega spots open."

Castiel smiled at his brother, sensing that Dean was watching their interaction closely. "I'm sure you'll get in, Gabe. Don't worry, okay?" But of course that would mean that he didn't get in, and Cas found that he truly wanted to be a part of that huge pack, wanted to be cuddled by one of the dominant alphas and share stories with the young betas and omegas. When Gabriel had first suggested this plan, Cas hadn't been that invested in the outcome, but now he found that the thought of not being accepted bothered him.

Some of his concern must have leaked into his scent, because Dean reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulders. "Don't worry, Cas. Everything will be alright."

The omega nodded and relaxed, letting himself enjoy that moment of contact before Dean pulled his hand away. Dean had already promised to look out for him; maybe he didn't need the Pack. He could apply to be an Auxiliary Member or wait until next year to try again, but Gabe really needed to get in now, before the harassment from the alphas wore him down. "Hey, how many Auxiliary Members are there?"

"About three times as many as there are in the main Pack," Dean answered easily. "I don't know the exact number, but it's a lot more prestigious to be a Full Member. Most Aux Members just want to be eligible to join the KU pack, since it's much bigger and doesn't have the mentor type requirements that this one does. Christian Campbell is running it this year, but he's graduating so Benny will take over next year. Benny loves having a huge pack; he directly or indirectly mentored all of the current pack leaders, including the current Head Alpha." Dean chuckled to himself at that, but Cas tilted his head in confusion, not getting the joke.

"Okay, our last two alphas today will be joining Crowley's faction. His real name is Fergus MacLeod, but he hates it so just call him Crowley."

"That part is not necessary, pet." Crowley, though he had a Scottish name, spoke with a British accent, and Cas wondered if he affected it on purpose to ensure that he was easily understood. He knew that it was pretty common among the Scottish actors on Dr. Who, which he loved to watch on his aunt's Netflix when they had the chance to visit her, so it was very likely. Cas sensed his beta brother's rosemary-mint scent brighten at the voice, sighing as he remembered that Balthy had a bit of an accent kink and was certainly planning to find a way to introduce himself to Crowley at the earliest opportunity.

"Yeah, well, they deserve to know what they are getting into. Hannah Johnson will be taking on Rachel Terin as an adoptee, and Kaia Nieves will be taking on Tamiel MacLean." Cas watched the two women, both Freshman and therefore too young to have had their first ruts, join Crowley and his faction. It was the largest faction and also the most female, with the exception of the new members and Crowley himself. Cas sniffed gently, blue eyes widening as he realized that Crowley was an omega, not an alpha as he first thought.

"It's strange to see an omega leading even one faction of a larger pack, isn't it?" It was uncanny how Dean had seemingly read his mind, but Cas wanted answers too much to bother asking how the alpha knew. "Yeah, it's even strange here, but Crowley has a powerful personality. Gadreel was a faction leader, too, but he's my height and size so he could overpower most betas and even some alphas. Don't let his size fool you, though; Crowley is not an omega to cross."

Maggie walked closer to Cas's table, her brown eyes somehow conveying both joy and sorrow at the same time. All of the other waiting applicants had been alphas and betas, so they had left, most of them probably planning to apply for Auxiliary status. "Gabriel, Castiel, it's good to see you again. I'm sure you were counting as I called the omegas."

"There's only one spot left."

Maggie nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry; we can only take one of you at this time. Sam here will be accepting a trainee for the first time this year, and he'd do best with a male omega." The tallest alpha in the Pack, a brunet who was clearly still growing into his musculature, joined the group at the table, his hazel eyes flicking to Dean before returning to the two omegas. Don, Jo, and Crowley had also approached the table, clearly indicating that this choice was more important than any of the others. If this Sophomore, Sam, was the second in command of the Pack as Gabe had indicated, then it probably was.

"Our preference is to have younger trainees, even with omegas, so we're going to accept Castiel. I'm sorry, Gabe; I wanted both of you."

Cas felt his brother's despair before the scent hit him, turning to lean across the table and grab Gabe's hands. Dean sat up from his reclining position, resting a comforting hand on Cas's shoulder as he caught Maggie's attention. "Is there no way you can fit both of them in? Amy Fox graduated to mentor status, didn't she?"

"Yes, but she's doing that foreign exchange thing in Japan. She'll be gone for part of the year and doesn't want to leave someone alone like that."

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, that makes sense. Ruby and Meg?"

Sam snorted. "Dude, they're both in charge of, like, a dozen clubs. They couldn't even make it here today; when would either of them have time to be a mentor?" Gabe's scent washed over him and the young alpha, barely a month out of his first rut and still overly sensitive to others' emotions, frowned sympathetically. "Hey, I'm sorry. We really did try to find enough spaces for both of them."

Castiel glanced over his shoulder, still gripping Gabriel's hand tightly as Balthazar wrapped his arm around his smaller brother and pulled him close. "Give him my spot. Please." The anguish in his voice froze the more dominant teens gathered around him, but he didn't bother to hide his emotions or the bitter undertone in his scent. "He's having a hard time with the alphas here; they think his damn eye color is a constant come-hither, and he doesn't have any control over that. I'm not even presented yet; they should leave me alone, but he isn't so lucky. I'll reapply next year, but Gabe really needs this now. Please, just take him."

Sam turned to Dean, raising one eyebrow, and the older alpha pushed himself to his feet. No one had ever given up a spot in the Pack before. "Sam, take Gabriel as your trainee. You're the biggest damn alpha in the school; no one will fuck with you or anyone under your wing."

"Yeah, and what about Castiel? Don't think I didn't see what Alastair tried this morning. We picked him for a reason, you know."

Dean shrugged, glancing down at Cas, smiling as the omega hugged his older brother across the table as best as he could. "Yeah, I took care of that self-important tool at lunch. He knows better than to touch Cas again. And, uh, I'll, you know, mentor him. I was going to watch out for him anyway; this is more formal."

"Dean, you can't just pick up stray omegas and choose to bring them into the Pack! You said last year that you didn't have time for any trainees."

"This year I do, Sam. Besides, he was accepted, you just ran out of mentors."

Gabe gasped, dark golden eyes widening as he realized who had been sitting at their table the whole time. "Cas, that's Dean Winchester."

Cas nodded, confusion threading through his scent. "Yes, I know." And Dean had just offered to mentor him. Cas hadn't even known that he was part of the Pack, but the way the others acted around him indicated that he was. Actually, it seemed like he was quite a bit more than part of it. "Oh shit, he's the Head Alpha, isn't he?"

Dean grinned at the omega, returning to his seat and reaching out to clasp Cas's shoulder. "I thought you knew, Cas. Do you think Alastair and his cronies backed down because I growled at him? I'm good, but I can't take on six alphas, especially since most of them are older than me. When I challenge another alpha, they know that I have the strength of my Pack behind me, and they always back down. No one would dare touch anyone I've offered protection to."

Cas felt tears in his eyes, overwhelmed by the situation and his own rollercoaster of emotions. "And you want to mentor me? I'm nobody, just some new kid the alphas won't leave alone." When he was arguing for Gabe to have a spot in the Pack, he had claimed that he wasn't really threatened by the school alphas, but Dean already knew that was a lie.

"You're an amazing young man who was willing to put up with a whole year of assholes like Alastair harassing you, even unpresented, to protect your big brother from a worse fate. I think you just proved how much you belong here." Sam nodded emphatically, the others murmuring their agreements as they realized how much Cas had been willing to suffer for his brother.

"And Gabe gets a spot?"

Dean grinned, watching his pack mates relax out of the corner of his eye. "Gabe gets a spot."

"Thank you!" Cas flung himself into Dean's arms, all of his reticence about touching alphas gone in that moment as he expressed his gratitude in the only appropriate way. Dean chuckled and wrapped his arms around the omega, breathing in his intense honeysuckle and clover scent as the younger teen nuzzled his chin. The Head Alpha glanced up at his brother and grinned, conveying with that one action that he was glad he had chosen to adopt this omega into his Pack.

Sam nodded and walked around the picnic table, sitting a foot away from Gabriel and smiling at the older omega. "Hi, I'm Sam." He held out his hand, watching as Gabe leaned down and took a quick sniff, eyes widening as he returned for a second one.

"Sandalwood and wood smoke? You know that sandalwood is an aphrodisiac, don't you?"

The tall alpha felt a slow smile spread across his face, reaching out to take Gabriel's wrist and pull it close to his nose. He kept his grip light, letting the omega know that he could pull away if he wanted, but clearly the blonde had decided to trust this oversized alpha, so he allowed the scenting. "Hmm, gardenia and cherry blossoms? It's a nice change from all these tree scents my pack seems to like so much. I can see why the school alphas seem so interested in you." His town was light and teasing, no undercurrent of possession that Gabe normally had to deal with from alphas who complimented his scent.

Gabe eyed him warily, sniffing for any deceit in the alpha's aroma, but the teen was smiling, his words genuine. "Gardenia is not an aphrodisiac, Sam."

"Have you seen your eyes? It doesn't have to be."

Gabe watched the young alpha for a long, tense moment, slowly smiling as he scooted close enough to rest his head on Sam's shoulder. "Thank you." He wasn't sure what he was thanking Sam for: teasing him about the eyes that got him in so much trouble, complimenting his scent, or accepting him into the Pack, but he meant it no matter what.

"Welcome to the Pack, Gabe." When Sam had told Maggie and Dean that he was willing to be a mentor this year, he had expected to be assigned a Freshman omega, some boy still awed by the idea of High School, not a fully presented omega weary from harassment and unwanted alpha contact. But, unlike the Freshmen they had accepted, Gabe truly needed him, wanting someone to make his next two years just a little easier. Sam knew that it would take time for him to prove to the hormone-crazed Junior and Senior population that his omega was not to be touched, not to be bothered, but he almost craved the challenge. From across the table, Maggie made a mark on her list, grinning triumphantly at the tall alpha. She knew that it was a good match.

Dean turned halfway around on the bench, somewhat hindered by the purring omega in his arms, to meet Balthazar's gaze, a sly smile brightening his face as those pale blue eyes flicked away to glance at Crowley again. There was something . . . intense in the way the beta watched Dean's only omega faction leader, and he wanted to see if he could take advantage of that. "Balthazar Novak, I hereby grant you Auxiliary Membership in the Pack."

"What the hell, Winchester?" Crowley waved a hand at the lanky beta, his scent darkening. "You can't just wave your hand and grant Auxiliary membership like that."

"Fine, we'll take a vote. Crowley, Jo, Don, Sam; do any of you have a concrete reason why we shouldn't let him in?"

Donald, Jo, and Sam shrugged, Crowley growling something unpleasant before agreeing with the other three. None of them would vote against Dean no matter the reason, but it was still unusual for Dean to accept not one, but two new members just minutes apart. "Why him?"

"Because he hasn't taken his eyes off of you since you scolded Maggie earlier, and I'm pretty sure you're taking the same French Lit class. He has a copy of that weird novel there that I saw in your bag yesterday."

"Dean, be reasonable."

"I can't wait to watch him flirt with you in French in front of the whole pack, knowing that we have no idea what's going on, just to see you blush."

"Winchester!"

"On va chez toi ou chez moi?" Balthazar purred at the omega, his tone highly suggestive and his accent perfectly balanced as he caught the subtle sweetening of Crowley's chamomile and lemon scent. Dean wasn't wrong; Balthazar had been interested in meeting Crowley since he heard him speak, but learning that the dark-haired omega also spoke French was a sign. The omega's eyes widened as he struggled not to blush.

Dean laughed and grinned unabashedly, still holding Cas tightly against his chest. "Dude, that's perfect. Keep doing that, like, forever. I can never get that last word with this bastard." He and Crowley had actually been great friends for the past six years, but watching the omega squirm was one of his favorite pastimes.

Crowley glared at Dean before turning back to Balthazar and snapping, "suce-moi la bite."

The beta laughed and blew Crowley a kiss, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. "Oui, c'est l'idée."

"Dean, I'll kill you for this."

The alpha laughed, watching Crowley stalk away toward the cluster of Pack members who looked to him, Balthazar smiling appreciatively as he watched the omega's ass. "Thank you, Dean, for this rare opportunity. I've needed someone to help me . . . study my French. What period does he have French Lit?"

"Third. You have it second, right? I'm sure you can speak to your counselor about rearranging your schedule, especially since they tend to be pretty lenient for pack-related reasons."

"I do believe I will do that."

Dean pulled away from Cas slightly, smiling at the omega as soon as he looked up. "Hey, so I have a club thing at three today. Wanna come?"

The younger teen chuckled, already feeling calmer and more centered than he had in weeks. "This is your club thing? You couldn't have mentioned that you're the leader of this Pack?"

Dean shrugged, glancing over his shoulder as some of the members of his pack started to wander over. Don took Maggie to a nearby empty table, welcoming Ezekiel and Tessa into their arms as they started their own bonding process. Amy Fox, Don's trainee the previous year, had not been able to attend since her foreign exchange orientation was at the same time. "You didn't tell me that this was your brother's solution to the alphas here. Now that I've seen his eyes, I get why he can't have a moment's peace. Sam, make sure you get his class schedule and compare it to our active membership; I want eyes on him at all times."

Sam nodded. "Not a problem, boss. Gabe, can I take a peek at your schedule? If we're taking any of the same classes, I can talk to my counselor and move into your sessions. If not, I'll find Pack members who are, and rearrange things as necessary. The idea is that you'll never have to worry about being alone; one or more of your pack mates will always be around."

"Thank you, Sam," Gabe whispered, fishing his schedule out of his bag and handing it over. All he had wanted since they moved was to have pack mates with him all the time, like they'd had when Luci and Mike were in the same building, so being accepted into such a large new family was a dream come true.

"You'll have just as much trouble with your new trainee," Jo pointed out, nodding at Cas. Her first trainee, Charlie, sidled up beside her, casually sniffing in the direction of the new Pack members, Elvis close behind her. Slowly but surely, the rest of the Pack was filtering over, eager to be near their Head Alpha and meet the last of their adoptees. "He's a Lure, Dean."

"Really?" Dean glanced down at Cas, gently touching the omega's chin in a silent request for him to look up. "Cas, how far away is your first heat? Have you had any of the warning signs?"

"Not yet. No dreams, hot flashes, cravings, or, uh, you know, that." Dean grinned at the soft blush growing under his fingers; Cas was too embarrassed to talk about slick production, but he clearly hadn't hit any of the pre-heat milestones yet.

"When I smelled you earlier, in the hall, I thought for sure that you were maybe six or seven weeks from your heat, but that isn't true, is it? You're months away from your first heat, maybe even a year. Your scent . . . it's way too strong for an unpresented omega."

"It always has been," Balthazar piped up. "He's always smelled like that."

"Really? Maybe Jo is right."

"What's a Lure?" Dean caught the slight tremor of fear in Cas's scent, smiling as he ran his hand down the omega's back in a soothing gesture.

"It's not anything bad, Cas, just rare. I'm sure you know that there are some alphas who have stronger scents, ones that are naturally more dominant that others."

"Yeah, I know."

Dean waved around the field, Cas's eyes following the gesture as another cluster of his pack mates joined the crowd around him. "What do you smell here, even before I came?"

"Cinnamon," the omega answered quickly. "It was everywhere."

"My scent is stronger than most alphas', even though I'm only a couple of years out of my first rut. It's always been pretty potent, even when it clashes with my dad's at home. I'm one of those alphas, and it makes it easier for me to lead a pack when my territory and all of my people carry a hint of my scent all the time."

Cas nodded slowly, his azure eyes brightening in understanding. Dean watched them change color, wondering how many different shades of blue he could find in this omega's eyes. "So a Lure is the omega equivalent?"

"Pretty much," Charlie answered, leaning against her mentor's side. "It's supposed to make it easier for the pups in a pack to stick together, always having one strong omega scent to follow. I guess it was more useful when we lived in the forests, but the result is the same. When you have pups—I mean, if you want to have them of course; I would never assume—they'll be able to learn your scent much faster and find it much more easily than another omega's pups."

"The downside being that every alpha in this school thinks I'm five minutes from starting a heat and they can't keep their hands off of me."

"We'll take care of that," Jo promised, holding out a hand and smiling as Cas carefully nuzzled it. He was making a conscious effort to touch these new alphas, to become accustomed to their scent even though he had spent most of his life avoiding them. "But you have to tell us, or at least tell Dean, when you start having any signs that indicate your heat is starting. If you think your scent is strong now . . ." She didn't finish her sentence, but Cas got the gist.

"I will," he promised.

"Dean, you're taking on a mentor?" The first alpha to be assigned, Adam, stepped closer to the table, sniffing in Cas's direction and glancing at Gabe, but not moving any closer. He was too young to have had a rut yet, so his sense of smell was still pretty underdeveloped. "He's cute."

Cas blushed and ducked his head, more flattered by the boy's innocent words than he thought he would be. His eyes widened as he remembered what Dean had said when Adam was chosen, leaning back and smacking the alpha's chest. "He has two brothers in the pack! Dean, why didn't you just tell us then?!"

The gathered alphas froze, staring at their leader in silent shock. No one laid a hand on Dean, especially not like that, but the blonde just grinned and rubbed the spot where Cas had smacked him, feigning pain. "I thought you knew. I thought that was why you turned your back on me at the lockers and shook my hand after, because you knew who I was. I'm not used to not being recognized in this town, especially by such a gorgeous young omega."

Cas ducked his head and blushed, his scent sweetening with something pretty close to arousal, despite his young age. "I'm sorry, I just . . . I should have guessed. You knew everything about the selection process."

"So you were just listening because you found my voice soothing?" Dean's voice was light, teasing, the alpha trying to draw his new friend out of his shell. Adam, who did not find his brother's voice soothing, chuckled and settled down onto the grass between Dean and Cas, leaning forward just enough to let his forehead rest on the omega's knee. It was a gentle, non-threatening request for attention, the pup eager to make friends with this Sophomore who had caught his brother's attention. Cas, reminded of his younger brother Samandriel, smiled and rested his hand in Adam's hair.

"I found your presence soothing," Cas admitted.

Sam barked a laugh, ignoring his brother's glare as he shook his head. "Man, Cas, no one has ever accused Dean of having a soothing presence. You're like, the perfect trainee for him."

"Soothing? Dean?" The lone Asian in the group, Kevin Tran, slid onto the bench behind Cas, patting the younger man on his back. Unused to so much physical contact, the raven-haired omega tried to shy away, but Dean's hand on his chest calmed him. He was going to have to get used to this pack and the physical way they liked to greet each other. Kevin's new trainee, Max, plopped onto the bench next to Balthazar, his twin sister squeezing into what little room was left on the end of the wooden beam.

"Kevin, you can live on reheated burritos for the rest of the year if you don't behave yourself."

Kevin's eyes widened in shock, the alpha raising a hand to his heart and falling dramatically to the ground. "You've killed me, Winchester. How could you deny me your mother's wonderful cooking when you know what I have to eat without it?"

Sam shuddered, subconsciously pulling Gabe tighter against his side, the omega offering no protest. "Dean, the last time we tried to keep food away from him, I ended up with a dislocated shoulder. I vote that we keep feeding him."

"How did he dislocate your shoulder? Sam, you're as big as a moose, easily twice his size."

"Crowley calls him Moose, actually," Dean pointed out, green eyes dancing at the bitch face his brother threw his way. "It's was kinda hilarious; Kevin is crazy good with martial arts, and he managed to get on Sam's back and almost choke him out. Sam doesn't tap out easily, so he tried to slam Kevin into the floor and ended up hitting his elbow on the edge of a couch instead. Bam, dislocated! It took weeks to heal."

Kevin grinned and returned to his seat, Cas leaning back into him as Charlie jumped up onto the table, her legs resting on the bench between Dean and his new trainee. Inias, a skinny Scottish alpha with light blue eyes, squeezed onto the seat on Sam's side of the table, forcing him to scoot closer to Gabriel, with Balthazar sandwiched between them and the Banes twins, both of whom were openly flirting with the beta. Cas watched, a soft smile on his lips, as Inias leaned around Sam to introduce himself to Gabriel, the blonde omega only hesitating a moment before shaking his hand.

Charlie reached out and ran her fingers through Cas's dark hair, probably sensing that he was relaxed enough to allow the casual contact, encouraging the omega to rest his head on her leg while she argued with Dean about the sociopolitical nuances of some video game Cas had never heard of. He felt a deep, numbing calm come over him, a sense of peace that he had rarely known in his life, with Charlie's hand in his hair and Adam's head on his legs, Dean reaching out to squeeze his leg every now and then, reminding the omega that he was there.

Cas couldn't help but think that this was what a pack was supposed to be. He turned his head slightly to catch Gabe's bright eyes across the table, truly omega gold in his contentment, and he knew that his brother was thinking the exact same thing.