Hunter Of The Shadows
Title taken from a line in Metallica's 'The Thing That Should Not Be'
Chapter 14
Reposted since live journal wouldn't let me on to say:
Happy Birthday to Devon99!!
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Dean's smiling fondly into the camera.
"Things sure were changing. And it seemed like time was moving faster the older we got." He smiles softly. "But that year? I just didn't know what to say..."
It's possibly a true first for him, tears well up in his eyes, and you just know what's coming is gonna be special.
"He had so much to deal with, and I would have traded places any damn day of the week... but no matter what's going on, Sammy has a way of making ya feel special..."
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Back then...
Training was mostly smooth, with Sam picking up the different hunting methods quickly, even adapting and improving them a little. The weeks rolled by with us barely noticing, until they turned into months.
The passage of time was only really brought home to me when I came back to the cabin from an early grocery run one morning, to find a grinning Sam and Tobius wearing party hats, their faces lit up by the candles of a huge cake, top heavy with chocolate icing.
A banner on the wall behind it stated 'Happy Birthday Dean' in bright red curly letters.
The two of them did a little tap dance on the spot, then brought out the jazz hands, one on each side of the banner, and pointing up at it.
I confess, I very nearly turned into an outright pussy there and then.
Tears threatened as I gazed at Sam's happy face, noting how much he'd grown and filled out since we came here, his hair a little longer, thicker, skin practically glowing with health. I felt so proud my chest was about ready to burst.
"Hey! Birthday boy! You with us?" Sam was snapping his fingers in front of my face. "C'mon, open your presents so we can cut the cake!"
I grinned back, revelling in the glow of excitement in his eyes.
"Sure, Sammy."
And that's when I noticed the pile of brightly wrapped gifts sitting beside Tobius, and my face fell. I'd thought he was joking.
"Sammy... I didn't get you anything for your last birthday. What the hell did you do?"
Not to say that birthdays aren't a big deal or anything, because they are, but our human birthdays aren't really something we buy presents for. Sure, we celebrate in our own way, but never go to the extravagance of buying gifts. That wasn't considered traditional in wolf lore, sometimes even taken as an insult - a kind of snub: you can't afford it, or, you just ain't got the balls to take what you need. Yeah, werewolves can be pretty bitchy, when you get right down to it.
But not Sammy.
He had his own reasons for this, and they were written all over his young face as he watched me closely, soft eyes wide and alert.
Those darn tears were threatening again.
Sam tried to shrug casually, but I could see how much this meant to him.
"I just wanted to do something, ya know...." he ducked his head, sneakered feet nervously scuffing the kitchen floor "a little special...'cos...'cos you deserve it."
I didn't wait to be asked, just leapt forward and grabbed the kid up in my arms, holding on tight like I never wanted to let go.
"Stupid kid." I muttered into the soft curls at the base of his neck and sniffed back a sob; I heard Sam laugh softly. "Didn't have to do this for me."
I allowed Sammy just a little space so he could pull back and gaze at me, eyes burning bright with love.
"Yeah, I did." He whispered. "If it weren't for you and Tobius, I wouldn't be here now. John would've killed me. But you... you came and got me out. You gave me a second chance. You put up with so much crap from me, yet you never complain and you're always encouraging me, always helping me... you... you..." The kid was running out of breath and his sentence was suffering an extreme attack of 'you', so I decided to go easy on him.
"Whoa. Any more Dean worship and I'm gonna drown." I gave him a cocky grin, "though I can totally understand why. I am awesome."
"Oh please..." Tobius snorted. I could practically hear the grating noise as his eyeballs rolled sarcastically in their sockets.
"He's right though." Sam smiled and his voice grew a little hoarse. "Yeah. You sure are awesome."
A knife appeared in my peripheral vision.
"Time to cut the cake, before all the chocolate melts." Tobius offered quietly. "And that would be a great pity seeing how Sam and I were up 'til three this morning, putting the finishing touches on the icing."
Taking a closer look, I could see there was indeed a finishing touch.
A black Impala, made from spun sugar, with two human figures leaning against the hood, rested on top, and standing nearby was a wolf that bore an uncanny resemblance to Sire.
"Wow!"
Tobius crossed his arms, smiling.
"We didn't make the decoration – I ordered that from town a month ago. But it was Sam's idea, and he made the cake himself."
Sam ducked his head shyly, and said nothing.
Gazing between Tobius, Sam and the cake I had no idea what to say. I was truly speechless and my heart pounded fiercely.
"Ahem." Tobius gestured with the knife again. "Cake. Eat." His eyes gleamed eagerly. "Now."
Swallowing hard, I took the knife and carefully sliced into the cake, working the blade gently from the centre outwards, then made another cut and slid a large piece onto a nearby plate. I refused to cut into the sugar figurines, however, and moved them to the side.
"Go ahead." Sam was nodding enthusiastically, and the small suspicious part of my mind perked up, silently wondering if this was the start of a prank. But the blatant love and pride on the kid's face told me otherwise.
Taking a deep breath, I tasted the cake.
Four words. That's all I need to describe it.
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
The cake wasn't just any ordinary cake.
It was one huge, giant chocolate fudge cake!
There were chocolate chips, fudge pieces, vanilla swirls, and plenty of nuts to crunch on. My first piece was quickly going south when Sam loaded my plate up with another. I wasn't going to object, and sank my teeth into the next moist slice of cake, moaning loudly and licking my lips in sheer ecstasy. Eating such treats first thing in the morning isn't something we normally do, but I sure as hell wouldn't have minded establishing the habit from that moment on.
Tobius and Sam had each taken a piece of their own, and were happily chewing away when Sam suddenly jumped up and ran to the ice box.
"I almost forgot."
He returned with a huge tub of French vanilla ice cream and I grinned widely mid-chew, presumably exposing chocolate covered teeth.
"Now ya talking!" I spluttered crumbs everywhere.
Tobius chuckled as Sam scooped out large helpings of ice cream for each of us.
"You won't want any lunch at this rate..." Sire stopped, and appeared to think that one through with a little more care. "You won't want lunch until much later at this rate." He glanced at his wrist watch. "Say an hour later than usual?"
"We don't have to eat it all today." Sam suggested, raising an eyebrow at me as if waiting for the inevitable reaction.
I didn't disappoint.
"Who says we don't?" I demanded, in between licking my spoon and reaching for my third piece of cake. "Just 'cos you're a lightweight Sammy. Me?" Thumping my chest, and drawing in a big macho breath through my nose, I announced proudly "I'm a pure, one hundred percent, dedicated chocoholic."
Sam snorted.
"Yeah, and the therapy group's gonna be named after you."
"Indeed," Tobius remarked rather dryly. "It's officially called Weight Watchers, but I'm sure that'll change."
I glared at them.
"That's it. No more cake for you two." When Sam made a move to dodge passed me, I curled around the remains of the cake protectively. "Nuhuh! Get your own! This is mine. Me birthday boy! You geeky little bitch!"
Sam returned the glare, but his mouth was twitching with laughter. "Dude, you are so gay."
"Pot calling kettle Sam," I smirked, "You're the one who baked a cake!"
Sam folded his arms.
"A cake I baked for you, Gaylord. Can't believe you're using that against me!" He rested a hand over his heart mockingly. "That hurts, man."
"Hurts?" I shook my head in despair. "Ok, now you're turning into a girl. With actual feelings, dude!"
We'd moved away from the table during our good natured exchange of insults, so we weren't aware of what Tobius was up to, until Sam cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, staring at something over my shoulder.
"Hey! Come back with that cake!"
Tobius had the cake balanced gracefully on one hand, waiter style, and was backing away grinning gleefully.
"If you two are going to argue, then no more cake," he reached the door, then gave a bow, before disappearing into the large living area of the cabin.
"Tobius, you damn great hairy chocolate thief!" I roared, and bounded out of the room. "Sammy? Follow that wolf!"
Finally teamed up, Sam and I stalked the older werewolf right the way through the hallway, but when we came out into the living room, Tobius was nowhere in sight.
"He didn't go out the door or use the windows," Sam muttered in puzzlement. "We'd have heard him." He sniffed, cautiously. "He's still here!"
A low whistle from above caught our attention. Tobius was sitting on a high wooden beam, one leg dangling casually, and the other braced against a vertical support strut. He appeared disgustingly smug, even as he chomped down on a large piece of fudge cake and gave us a little wave, the main bulk of the cake balanced precariously on the beam next to him.
"You want some?" He nodded to the chocolate concoction. "Come and join me!"
And grinned from ear to ear, fully aware of my hatred for heights.
I was seeing a new side to Father.
Gone was the calm, cool, responsible patriarch, who trained and cautioned his younger family members for the hunt.
What came out to play in place, was a mischievous little shit that was eating my fucking birthday cake!
"Tobius," I growled warningly.
Sam sighed, climbed onto the back of an armchair and made a powerful leap, hands catching the high beam as he swung, somersaulted, and hauled himself up next to his grandfather.
"Oh that's just great!" I sulked out, playing along. Folding my arms, I sat down cross legged on the floor like a petulant five year old, and pouted, well aware of how ridiculous I looked. "It's my birthday and some bastard steals my cake." I grumbled loudly, shooting dirty looks at the werewolves dangling above me, until they took pity.
Sam swiped up the desert, gracefully swung back down without even dislodging a crumb, then with an artful flourish offered out the plate, chortling lightly.
The rest of the day was spent in similar fashion, light teasing and general playing around until the cake was all gone, along with the ice cream.
The presents were awesome; a new hunting knife from Tobius, matching genuine leather scabbard from Sam, a Motorhead CD, and the final touch was a copy of My Dog magazine.
I glanced up at Tobius and Sam with a raised eyebrow.
Sam shrugged.
"Werewolf porn. There's a really cute poodle on page 23, getting a clip."
The magazine bounced off the side of his head, and Tobius roared with laughter.
Dinner was Thai style green chicken curry, one of my all time favourites. Sam had thrown in an extra helping of hot chillies as per my request; as I was blissed out on the heat and flavour, Tobius and Sam were downing several gallons of water, and gasping for breath between each mouthful.
They both hate extra hot and spicy food, but they put up with it just for me.
On my birthday.
Gotta love 'em for it.
We rounded off the evening with a few beers in town, followed by a hunt deeper into the mountain range where the trees thinned out, and the terrain grew rocky. Up there it was more of a challenge; the stiff breeze made it just a little harder to use scent to track our prey, but it was so worth it for the view.
Hey Sammy... come see this!
Soft padding on the rocks from oversized paws came closer, then Sam's silky muzzle dipped under mine, inquisitive eyes peering out over a steep drop.
Oh wow...
The crescent moon was riding high behind a bank of cloud, the small amount of light smoky and dim. But combined with the few stars peeking through, it lit up the world below in a breathtaking display of swirling shadows, misty mountains and dark forests. Here and there clusters of tiny lights indicated that not all humans where in bed at that late hour.
Sam blinked his eyes wide, long tongue hanging out the side of his jaws in a sappy grin, completely mesmerised with the beauty spread out below.
Hey, Dean? Remember some of those myth and fantasy stories you used to read to me when I was a kid? All those castles and warriors... this kinda puts me in mind of them.
It was on the tip of my tongue to remind him that he still was a kid, but I let it go. He was growing up fast, and sooner or later some hard decisions had to be made.
But not tonight.
Tonight was our time to appreciate just how far we'd come.
Yeah...
I dipped my head and rubbed my snout affectionately against my boy's spiky ear, eliciting a small whine of pleasure as he leaned into me. Sammy's always been a sucker for having his ears stroked.
We talked quietly for a little while, remembering those bedtime stories, a little of the past, and some good times.
Tobius kept his distance for the most part, as always sensing our needs before we even knew, but I could hear him happily roaming the mountain in the darkness above.
Ya know? There's something I've always wanted to do. Sam turned to me, eyes glowing with mischief in the twilight.
Yeah?
His grin widened for a moment, then he threw back his head, opened his mouth, and let loose the cheesiest, and loudest wolf howl I ever heard.
Probably would've given Hollywood a run for its money.
Once Sam was finished, that sappy grin returned, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
You are such a dork!
You telling me you never did that? Sam's tail thumped the ground. Seriously? C'mon Dean! You gotta do it at least once!
In fact, after much cajoling and teasing, we both ended up howling our asses off for most of the night, with the occasional, distant answer from an amused Tobius, wherever he was.
Fun times.
I was going to make the most of it.
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Author's notes:
Hello my darlings!
I know this is another feel-good chapter, but believe me it's going somewhere. Also wanted to write a chapter where Sam shows Dean how he feels. I love the image this one gives me: two handsome wolves, the older one slightly bigger than the other, cast in silhouette against the landscape, just sitting close together and talking, remembering the past. And somewhere nearby is an ancient wolf, protecting his kin.
Remember that there is an on going plot with this fic, but at the same time it's a life story: the story of our favourite boys as they grow up in their new relationship as werewolves, and as father and son.
I'm pretty sure I've lost some readers already so far, and that doesn't surprise me. It's not everyone's cup of tea, as it were. But for those of you still reading and reviewing, thanks so much for sticking with me. It will be worth your time, I assure you.
Kind regards,
ST xxx