The room was still twisting and turning, but with a slight shake of her head, Castielle looked forward to see a pair of piercing red eyes staring back at her.

Looking down, she noticed that she was on a large bed, soft and overstuffed covers engulfing her small frame. She was confused and disorientated, and she looked to the one man who she knew could give her answers.

"Good evening. You're finally up." Crowley slowly came up to her bedside, a glass of amber liquid hanging from his fingers, staring down from where he stood tall. His voice warbled and boomed in her ears, still fuzzy from her state of unconsciousness.

"Took a nasty fall, had to patch you up and look after you. You're a real pain in my ass, do you know that?" Castielle nodded softly, whimpering at the pain from jostling her head.

Smacking her lips, she wet her mouth as much as she can before opening her mouth to speak.

"How long have I been out?" The Alpha rolled his eyes as he sat on the chair next to the bed.

"A few days," Castielle's heart stopped in that moment.

Oh, no. Henry…

"—sides the point." Crowley leaned forward, hot breath in the Omega's face.

He smirked before taking another pull from his glass before settling another stare at the Pup.

"Let's talk business, shall we? How about we do a little something… I'll help you, but only if you help me help you help me. How about it? No time like the present, Puppy."

Without hesitation, Castielle turned her gaze to her honorary Uncle, nodding.

"What do I need to do?"

With a smirk, the Alpha readjusted his garbs before sitting in the seat next to the bed.

"You need to take your claim to the throne."

Castielle furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"But I have no rightful claim to the throne. I am Omega, and Omegas are not allowed to wear the crown."

Crowley nodded solemnly as he took a drink from his cup.

"True, but maybe if you got mated to a certain Alpha, then you could petition—"

"No!" Castielle swore that she could feel her heart stop mid-beat. "No, Uncle. Please," she protested. "No matter what, I will never be mated to a Winchester, even if it means that I die."

Crowley was good at hiding it, but the Princess saw the flash of shock go across the Alpha's face. He coughed into his fist patiently biding his time.

"It's not a matter of want or will, Pet. It's about getting what you need to make changes in things that can't be changed without acquiring it first—confusing, I know. But if you won't, then your brat brother can. He's an Alpha, no? He can challenge Michael for the throne."

"Who? Gabriel?" Castielle scoffed at the mere idea. "Last time I checked, Uncle… that was the reason why he left in the first place. There is no way he would want to challenge Michael."

"Do you really believe that, Angel? I guess you really don't know your brother as well as I thought."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means everything. And since it's your problem, you find him and deal with it."

Castielle scowled at the Alpha, who happened to wear a proud smirk on his face at the position he's placed the Omega in.

"You manage to get Gabriel to accept his duty as King, I might just accidently put together an army and hypothetically send them West to patrol the borders."

"You would actually help Caelum? You're willing to protect my Kingdom?"

Crowley glanced sideways, sucking at his teeth in annoyance.

"You ask too many questions, Pup. But, yes. I would risk my men protecting your sad little kingdom if that means I get to fight against that poor excuse of a Bitch Queen."

"Could you stop saying that word?" Castielle growled as ferociously as a pup could.

"Funny. I apologize, your royal Omeganess." Crowley sarcastically bowed from his seat. "So do we have an understanding? You get Gabriel, I get Abaddon?"

Reluctantly, Castielle nodded at the proposition, resulting in a bright smile from the Alpha.

"Great. Now get some rest, you need to leave by next Sunlight."

Nodding, Castielle adjusted herself to be more comfortable, closing her eyes once again and succumbing to the darkness and surrendering to her nightmares.

Only a short time later did the Princess wake up. Looking to her side, there was a pile of clothing and her cloak folded neatly on the chair on her bedside. On top of it was the gleam of the silver blade.

Crowley.

With an amused huff, she got up, tucking the blade away and securing the cloak around her neck with a brooch. Despite how Crowley acted, she knew that in the deepest part of his dead, dark, Alpha heart, he cared for her.

Sighing, she took her leave with a new sense of responsibility. She knew exactly what her new objective was, and if that meant sacrificing a lot more than she needed to, then so be it. Caelum always came first. No matter how ironic or hypocritical it was, Castielle was willing to risk coming back in order to save the Kingdom she loved, as long as Gabriel was willing to follow at her side.

That didn't mean she was still willing to go over the contract with the Winchesters. That perverted smile of satisfaction on Metatron's face wasn't worth the expected years of Gehenna and submission to follow.

There were no guards and no Crowley to see the Omega off. It was lonely, but it was necessary to prevent any unnecessary attention from the outside. At least she felt better compared to the days prior.

With wobbly knees, Castielle retraced her steps to the inn where she immaturely left the Alpha who took care of her for an extended period of time.

Taking a deep breath, she waited to see whether or not Henry made the rightful, revengeful move and sold Meg and continued his journey to Providence. She wouldn't have blamed him if he did.

With a sigh of relief, the Omega turned the corner to see the black mare safely standing where she was before in the inn's stable.

Castielle quickly ran over, tears brimming as she heard Meg huffing and whinnying at the return of her rider. Meg was pulling back and pushing forward on her hooves, anxious to be let out of the cramped space, wanting to be able to feel the weight of her owner on her back once again and leave the forsaken place.

"Oh Meghan, I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

Preoccupied with Meg, Castielle failed to register the heavy sound of boots coming from behind her until she was ripped away from Meg.

The weight of a hand on her shoulder was enough to have her swiveling on the spot, coming face to face with the stormy expression of a certain Alpha she was hoping to avoid.

"Where the hell have you been!?"

A sudden strike of fear ran through the Omega, as she stood stock-still in response of his Alpha voice.

"Do you know how worried I was? That was one of the stupidest things you could've done. I thought you were dead!"

Castielle could only stutter, trying her best to try and come up with a response, but the only words that could escape her mouth settled the angry Alpha in front of her. She hoped she wasn't stinking with fear, but the sudden fall of Henry's face indicated that he wasn't as angry as she anticipated.

"I'm sorry."

It came out quiet, but the Omega didn't know what else to say. Instead, she watched as Henry stepped away for a second, sighing heavily as he ran a hand down his face, stopping at his mouth and rubbing at his jaw. Angled sideways, he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, a chill settling into her bones, heat warming up her cheeks at the same time.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine," she muttered in response, rubbing awkwardly at her arm.

As much as Castielle wanted to be angry at him, she knew that it wasn't the rational thing to do, especially for someone who was willing to wait several moons for her return.

"Thank you."

"Yeah," Henry responded before he swung his bag over Impala's saddle.

"Were you leaving?" Castielle looked curiously at the large animal.

"No, I was going to patrol. Try and look for you again, but that's pointless now."

Castielle nodded absentmindedly.

"What about my stuff?"

"Still in the room. I guess we can leave this place now that you're back."

Deflated, Castielle apologized once more, guilt riddling her thoughts.

"Henry, I'm sorry."

"Don't mention it."

"You could've sold Meg and left any time, but you waited. I feel grateful, which in turn leads to guilt that I left you for that long."

"Like I said, don't mention it." Castielle chewed on her bottom lip as she watched the Alpha finish off strapping his essentials onto Impala. "Get Meg ready. I'm going to get your stuff and check us out." As Henry began to walk away, he stopped and turned around eyeing Castielle strangely.

"Don't go anywhere." With that, Henry walked back towards the Inn leaving Castielle to her own devices.

Within an hour, the two were saddled and on their way out of Perdition and on their way towards Providence.

The ride was silent, awkwardly silent. The Omega wanted to say many things, but the Alpha looked like he was struggling with something deep in his thought.

If only she knew what he was thinking about.