"Anna? Anna?"

Cas rapped on the outside of Anna's clay hut. He had run back through the woods with his head spinning, slightly intoxicated by the hunter's pheromones and needing answers quickly.

"Hm?"

The redhead appeared with her clutch in a bundle at her chest. She looked serene, despite the herd being angry with Cas.

"I have to ask you some things."

"Go ahead. Would you like to come in?"

"Sure."

He followed Anna within and took a seat on a pad around their table. It was larger than Cas', especially since they had a family starting. Anna's mate, Balthazar, was also home.

"Oh, Castiel," he said. "Fancy seeing you around. I thought you were off with the pack."

"No."

"That's a good thing. One false word and, well, you know…"

Cas narrowed his eyes at Balthazar. "I know what?"

"They might eat you."

"They don't eat other people!" Cas barked.

"How do you know?"

"Because…because that's what they said."

"It may be true, but I don't think you should take their word alone. If I was going to eat you, I probably wouldn't tell you that."

Cas frowned. It was true. Balthazar made a good point. He barely knew Dean or his people. If they wanted to take over the herd, he likely wouldn't reveal their plan. Cas' stomach churned at this.

"Um, Cas?" Anna snapped into the conversation. "You didn't come here to debate with Balthazar, did you?"

"No," Cas said in a tiny voice. "I wanted to ask you a few things. About your relationship."

Anna and Balthazar looked at each other. "Yes?" Anna asked after Cas felt silent for a moment. He hesitated.

"Well, um, you see," Cas' low voice sounded more gravelly than usual, "How did you know you would be mates?"

Balthazar laughed. "Cas, Cas, Cas," he said. "We all grew up together. How did you miss that? Anna and I were best of friends, weren't we?"

"Yes," Anna said with a cheerful nod. "Balthazar helped out with my aging parents and I suppose we just fell in love."

"Oh," Cas hummed. "There was no primal attraction?"

"What do you mean?" Anna asked, blinking hard. "I find him attractive."

"I don't see how anyone couldn't find Anna attractive," Balthazar mused with a thin smirk.

"No, not like that. I mean, a smell or intoxicating attractant. Anything like that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Anna admitted. "Sorry."

Here, Balthazar gave an exhausted sigh. He shifted on his pad and put both hands down on the table, folding them together. "Cas," he began, "Please tell me this isn't myth you've been told by the pack."

"No," Cas replied instantly. He was telling the truth, after all—Dean never mentioned the smell, it was just happening. "I was wondering, nothing more."

"I'm sorry we couldn't help more," said Anna. "Do you want to come for dinner?"

"No, no thank you. But, it's fine. I'll see you around."

Defeated and even more confused, Cas returned to his own hut. As he continued to think about everyone's words, it occurred to him that they might be right. Dean probably was trouble, along with his remaining pack. That smell could have been some form of dark magic that he was using to lower Cas' inhibitions so that he could kill and eat him.

Feeling terrible, Cas curled up in his nest and ponder these things. Hunters ate meat. They tracked and killed animals. Who does that? They were brutal savages who had a leader to help make decisions because any anarchy would probably end in violent chaos. This made Cas shudder. Dean seemed so friendly, even when he was rude at first. He had just lost his mate. That required some sympathy and a few good excuses.

Cas accidentally had a small nap which he awoke from feeling worse than ever. It was the wrong time of day to sleep and that never made happy. Groggy and miserable, Cas wandered outside and to his cooking cauldron. The water was low and needed to be changed, so he hoisted up the pot by its little handles and hauled it down to the riverbank. Nobody else was there, which seemed odd for late afternoon. They must have been busy with their eggs or perhaps hiding from the hunters. Cas didn't care, even after all of his doubts.

"Hey!"

While the beta was stooped at the river's edge and cleaning out his pot, Dean's voice called out to him. It sounded cheerful. Cas looked up at saw that the hunter was coming from the river. He was wading in it with a large net.

"Oh, hello," Cas said softly.

"You've got amazing fish in this river!" Dean cheered. He lifted up the net and showed off a big fat fish he had evidently just caught. Cas' eyes widened.

"You eat them?" he asked. Dean got very close now.

"Yeah, of course. Haven't you seen bears catching fish?"

"We don't have bears down here. They stay in the mountains."

"Oh, weird. Okay. They're all over the place on the other side of the ridge. And fish are awesome! You've really never tried them?"

Cas shook his head. "We don't eat any meat."

"Taboo?"

"No, we just…" Cas' voice faded. It occurred to him that there was no good reason why they didn't. "We just don't," he said with incredibly speculation in his voice.

"Wanna try?" Dean teased. There was no more pain in his voice. He wasn't hostile or bitter. Now, the man was playful and comfortable.

"Maybe?!" Cas responded. He felt a chill down his spine. If the herd was mad now, just wait until he eats meat! "How do you eat it?"

"All kinds of ways. Roast it, salt and dry it, stew it. That's a nice pot you've got there, we could cook it up good."

Cas decided in an instant that he wanted to cook the fish. He put fresh water in the cauldron and Dean followed him back to his house. There were a few members of the herd hanging around, but when they saw Dean, they disappeared. Cas disregarded it. Instead, he lit a fire and put the water to boil.

"It takes a while," he said, trying not to breathe in Dean's aroma.

"Yeah, I know. We gotta prepare the fish anyway."

"Prepare it?"

"Yep. Watch."

Dean put the fish down on the ground and took out a long, sharp knife. He used it to cut the fish up this way and that until the edible parts were in chunks. Cas watched curiously. It didn't gross him out. He thought it was fascinating.

"What do you do with the insides?" Cas asked, pointing to Dean's scrap pile. He put the good pieces into the cauldron then wrapped the guts in a thin cloth.

"We take 'em back to the river so it can cycle again."

Cas looked into the cauldron. "Cycle?" he asked, passively stirring with a wooden spoon. Dean squat down beside him.

"Well, yeah," he said. "The life cycle; every living thing is born, grows, eats and dies. After it dies, it becomes food for another part of the cycle."

"I guess so."

"Everything does that if you think about it."

Cas pondered Dean's words for a moment. He considered the fish at first and it was true. There was always another creature to eat the body of another, even if they were tiny bugs.

"You're right," Cas said. He smiled at Dean.

"Don't act so surprised."

"I can't help but be!" Cas laughed. "Here I'm starting to think your people really are savages."

"We're just different, that's all. We think about life and pray to God and all of that, too."

"Do you? The sky God?"

"Chuck?"

"Yes!" Cas exclaimed. It surprised him that they had any religion at all. Dean smiled.

"I really don't think we're all that different," the hunter said. He watched Cas stirring the fish. "I bet we came from the same people a long, long time ago."

"Do you really think so?"

"Why not? We're both people. Compared to the other animals in the Great Land, we look the same."

"Hm."

Cas hummed softly as he continued to tend the stew. After a while, Dean said that it was ready, so Cas brought two wooden bowls from inside and they served some.

"This is my first meat ever," Cas said. He touched a piece of fish with his spoon. It looked tender and smelled incredible. Dean was already eating.

"Mmm, it's great! Try it. You'll love it, guaranteed."

Hesitating but happy to be experiencing such things, Cas picked up a chunk of fish and put it to his lips. He bit into it and found the meat to be tender, warm, and delicious. He couldn't even describe how good it was.

"Oooh!" Cas gasped. He chewed slowly to savor the flavor. This was also the perfect distraction from Dean's musk. "This is—this is so good!"

"Haha! I'm glad you like it!" Dean laughed. "See why we hunters think the herds are sissies? What have you been eating your whole life?"

"Fruits and vegetables, but I want more of this!"

They continued to eat and chat happily until most of the stew was gone. Cas' face flushed red with the new flavors and smells. He couldn't believe that Dean was up to no good anymore—this was too wonderful!