Chapter 9: Breaking the Rules

Alfie woke, as usual, before the sun, squinting at the alarm clock that the hotel so generously provided to every room. He had about fifteen minutes until they started breakfast, which should be enough time to get dressed. Slipping out of bed, Alfie shrugged out of his sleeping pants and grabbed a pair of yoga pants and a layered, split skirt similar to the one he had worn when he originally came to town. Another of his jeweled halter tops completed the look, and he had already slipped into his sandals before he realized that something was wrong.

The bed was empty.

Frowning, Alfie reached for the light, tilting his head at the missing, blanket-covered lump he was used to sharing his nights with. Gabe never woke this early, so perhaps he had never gone to sleep. The door that led to their balcony was cracked, letting in the night breeze, so there was no scent evidence of his brother, either. Alfie grabbed his key card and headed for the living room, confusion coloring his scent.

Benny was guarding the room that night, Balthazar half-asleep on the couch beside him. The lean alpha had been spending every spare minute with his new partner, so he often took naps at odd times. Benny noticed Alfie immediately, elbowing Balthazar as he pushed himself off the couch. "What's wrong, cher?"

"Did Gabe ever go to bed? He's not in the room."

Benny glanced at Balthazar, who yawned his answer. "Tamiel said he did, just before shift change. So that would have been nearly six hours ago."

"Was there anything wrong with him?"

Benny snorted. "Tam couldn't smell sickness if it punched her in the face. He seemed alright to me, if a bit moody yesterday."

Alfie, the first buzzing warning of danger vibrating along his spine, headed for Cas's room, knowing that it was time to wake the Head Alpha. Predictably, the raven-haired Novak was sound asleep, his omega curled safely in his arms. Asleep, Dean carried none of his pain or fears, and he always ended up tucked as tightly against his alpha's chest as possible. "Cas."

Blue eyes flashed open in the semi-darkness of false dawn streaming through the glass doors. "Alfie? What time is it?"

"Not quite dawn. I, uh, couldn't find Gabe this morning."

And now Cas was awake. Offering a clinging Dean a brief apology, Cas hopped out of bed and slipped into jeans and a t-shirt before shoving his feet into the nearest pair of boots. "Benny, where is my brother?" There was a dangerous growl in the alpha's voice, one that his gang members instantly recognized. Cas was not a man to be crossed.

"I'm not sure, Chief. Tam said he took a shower and went to bed just before midnight, and we haven't seen him on our shift at all. He never left that room."

Cas stomped through the living area to his brothers' bedroom, looking around at the neat bed (knowing that it wouldn't be if Gabe had spent the night in it) and the cracked sliding door leading to the balcony. He headed outside, his brother and a sleepy ward on his heels, looking around for any sign of where Gabe might be. "Heat," Dean murmured, leaning close to the balcony and taking a deep sniff. "Can you smell it?"

Cas, who rarely put much stock in his sense of smell beyond detecting major emotional shifts in his dealings with other gangs, leaned next to Dean and sniffed at the wood of the balcony. Dean, who hadn't even bothered to put on a shirt, was right. There was a tell-tale cloying sweetness that heralded an omega's heat, but if Cas and Alfie hadn't detected it before then Gabe hadn't been fully in the throes of his fertile period yet the night before, though he certainly was now. But why would he have been out on the balcony?

A chill shot down Cas's spine as he realized exactly what his brother had been up to. Touching the balcony where Gabe had left evidence of his scent, Cas leaned forward and looked at the room to their left, catching another hint of gardenia and cherry blossoms on the wall above his head, just about where someone would have to hold if they wanted to climb over to the next room. Stifling a growl, Cas spun around and thundered to the door, grabbing Benny's arm on the way. "Watch the omegas, Balth," he ordered, turning to the right and pounding on the door.

Every moment they waited for an answer fanned Cas's fury until his eyes were glowing red by the time the door creaked open. A sleepy teen stared back at them, blue eyes and sandy blonde hair too familiar, his scent sharpening in reaction to the anger facing him. "Castiel?"

"Adam, who else is in this room with you?"

"Uh, just my brother. It took forever for a two bedroom suite to open up, so we just moved in a couple of days ago. Why?"

Benny grabbed Cas's arm and squeezed slightly, urging his friend to calm his alpha. "Adam, is your brother in there?"

"I mean, he was last night. I'm a pretty deep sleeper; I wouldn't have heard if he left."

"Is my brother in there?"

Adam started, glancing over his shoulder almost instinctively. "What? No?"

A loud groan sounded from deeper inside the suite, followed by the shrill, unmistakable whine of an omega in heat. Growling, Cas shoved past Adam, Benny on his heels as he headed for the closed door of the left bedroom. He jerked the door open and stopped still at the sight that met his eyes. Sam, knot locked inside a panting Gabe, howled his fury at Cas, too consumed by the rut that his partner's heat had brought on to see anything but a rival. Gabe, however, recognized the danger of another alpha entering the room, turning halfway around and grabbing Sam's arm.

"He's not a threat, Moose. He's my brother, he isn't going to hurt me."

Slowly, glancing back and forth between Gabe and Cas, Sam gained some amount of control over his alpha, forcing the red in his eyes to retreat to a manageable level. Still locked inside his omega, Sam wrapped a blanket around them and settled them against the headboard, knees raised and arms wrapped protectively around Gabe, waiting for his partner to get as comfortable as possible while they were still joined together. He was very young to be attending an omega in heat, otherwise only a bonded mate could have snapped him into rut so quickly. Still, he had an impressive level of control for a boy his age. His voice, when he spoke, was heavy with that feral growl of an alpha barely in control of his rut. "Cas."

"Sam, what is my brother doing in your bed? We had an agreement."

"He climbed over the balcony last night, Cas. He came to me." Sam ran his fingers through Gabe's hair, somewhat tangled from their activities all night, making sure that his omega was calm and comfortable. "I didn't know you were next door, I swear. We've only been here in this suite a couple of days. I just couldn't handle sharing a bed with Adam anymore."

Benny placed a hand on Cas's chest, silently urging his leader to calm down. He knew that the only thing keeping Sam in control of his alpha was the lack of an actual challenger for his omega's affection, so they had to keep their distance. "Gabe and Sam have been visiting each other over the past few weeks, becoming acquainted, and possibly falling in love. It's only natural that he would seek Sam out as he went into heat."

"He climbed over a balcony."

"Because you put guards on the door," Gabe snapped, his eyes flashing gold. "He's my True Mate, Cas; we belong together. You have to stop trying to keep us apart."

"He's eighteen," Cas argued, staying just inside the door as he tried to ignore the heavy heat and rut scents in the room. Every instinct inside him demanded that he protect his older brother from this strange alpha, but he knew, logically, that he really couldn't order Gabe around. "He's too young to attend your heat."

"He won't hurt me," Gabe whispered, leaning back against Sam's chest and nuzzling the alpha. "We're True Mates, trust me. You have to leave me with him for this heat, then we can talk. We can all talk, even Dean. And I kinda need you to leave . . . when his knot deflates, my heat will rear its head again."

Cas scrunched his face in disgust and turned away, sighing as all of his anger finally faded away. "Gabe, you know I worry about you. What did you think I was going to do when I found you missing? I feared the worst."

"I'm sorry, but as soon as I caught his scent I was done for. I've never felt so overwhelmed during my heat before, and I wasn't prepared for it."

Benny pulled Cas through the door, using his strength to force his Head Alpha to leave his brother alone. As soon as they closed the door, a soft moan sounded from the men they had left behind, Adam coughing in embarrassment as he backed away from the door. He'd watched the entire exchange but was wise enough to stay out of it. "So, uh, I should find another room for a few days?"

Cas shook his head, running his fingers through his hair, making the sleep-tousled strands stick out in all directions. "No, you have to stay. Someone has to guard them, and Sam won't allow my alphas in your suite. He'll still see you as a threat, of course, but he knows that you'll defer to him as your leader and you wouldn't dare cross him to steal Gabe. I'll send Alfie in here to help care for the pair of them; Gabe has never seen him as a threat during his heats, and even a rutting alpha will tolerate a skinny young omega caretaker. I think your omega cousin would be a great help, too, but I wouldn't recommend him going into that bedroom. Gabe doesn't know him well and may attack."

Adam swallowed sharply, unable to keep his terror out of his scent. "Uh, okay? Is your brother usually so aggressive during his heats?"

"Gabe's aggressive in general," Benny answered, leaning into the hall to beckon Theo and Purah over, asking them to bring Alfie into the suite. "He's just worse in heat. Now that he has an alpha he wants to keep, he absolutely won't tolerate competition."

Alfie slipped into the room, his skirts fluttering behind him in a cloud of gossamer fabric as he sniffed deeply and glared at the closed door across the room. "So he found Sam."

"He climbed over the balcony," Cas scoffed, rolling his eyes. "How did I think I could ever stop him from finding that alpha?"

"There wasn't a chance," Alfie agreed, far too cheery this early in the morning. "I guess you want me to stay here and watch after the lovebirds?" Benny nodded, and Alfie shrugged. "Fine. I'm used to watching Gabe during his heats, anyway."

Cas tilted his head curiously. "Normally you'd be deep into pre-heat if Gabe hit his last night, but you aren't."

Alfie shook his head. "No, he's early. The, uh, chance to nab a delicious young alpha must have pushed him into heat prematurely. I won't cycle for another couple of months, probably. You'll want to keep Dean away from Gabe's scent, though; his body is still recovering from the abuses it endured and he's not ready to be forcefully pushed into heat like that."

"Yeah, alright. You're good to watch him, then?"

"Let me go grab breakfast and I'll come back up. I'll take Dean since he's already awake if you can keep the rest of Sam's gang busy for a while, and I'll send Purah back with some coffee."

"Fine, yes, go. You might as well bring back some fruit and muffins for your new charges."

A loud howl sounded from the back room and the gathered alphas winced away, Alfie grinning as he reached out to squeeze Adam's arm. "I bet you're louder when you're in rut."

"Trying to find out, sweet omega?" Adam purred back, freezing as Cas snapped his teeth.

"Look, I have to put up with your brother defiling mine in that next room, but I'm not terribly interested in the Winchester clan stealing any more of my family members."

Alfie rolled his eyes and offered his brother a brief hug. "Don't worry, brother; I wouldn't ever leave you. I'm not above bringing home a stray alpha, though, when he's a bit older."

Cas groaned as he returned to his room, freezing as he was greeted by an armful of whining omega. Dean, apparently, had been worried about the alpha when he stormed out of the suite, and he sniffed Cas's shirt curiously. "It's the same."

"What's the same?"

"Sandalwood," Dean clarified, pointing at the wall separating their room from Sam's. "Gabe smells like this now."

Cas rounded on Benny as Alfie pulled Dean away, intent on getting his fellow omega down to breakfast. "You didn't tell me they were scent bonding."

"I didn't know," Benny hissed back. "I don't go around sniffing your brother, Chief. Why didn't Samandriel notice with his vaunted nose?"

Cas sighed and watched the two omegas follow Balthazar into the hall, tilting his head slightly. "I hadn't noticed, but . . . Gabe's been avoiding Alfie a bit, even Dean to some extent. He knew that one of them would sniff him out."

"This isn't a bad thing, Chief," Benny offered, turning to the tiny coffeemaker in the suite and pouring some into a heavy paper cup for Cas. It was pretty terrible, but his alpha wasn't the most morning of persons and this had been a very hectic dawn. "Gabe hasn't been happy since he lost his pup, and you know it. If Sam can give him the future he's dreamed of, who are we to stand in the way?"

Cas blew across the top of his black coffee, glaring into those muddy depths. "He's the leader of another biker gang, Benny. Is he going to ride off back to South Dakota with my brother on the back of his bike? Are they going to start a family there, hours away? When . . . when would I ever be able to see him again?"

Benny clapped a hand on Cas's back, knowing that his boss needed some comfort. "Sam isn't going to take your brother away, just like he isn't going to take Dean away."

Cas's hand tightened on the flimsy cup, only Benny's presence keeping him from squeezing it to death and spilling coffee all over himself. "How can you know that? I mean, once we introduce Dean to Sam, how do we know he won't . . . just leave?"

"Cas, he wouldn't do that," Benny murmured. "The boy's devoted to you. He'll be happy to have his family back, sure, but he wouldn't leave you."

"I hope not."

"Is Gabe okay?"

Alfie nodded. "Of course he is. He's just in heat, and he's been through that a lot."

"You aren't."

"Uh, no, and you're thinking that I should be. Gabe's early; his heat was spurred by his new alpha partner. I don't think his scent will push me over the edge, but your cycle has been really unstable so it might affect you differently. Cas is going to watch over you while I take care of Gabe and his partner. Are you going to be alright with that?"

Dean nodded as he poked a piece of melon with his fork. He wasn't ever interested in fruits and vegetables, but he knew that it made Cas happy when he ate them. "Yes, I have my studies. Um, do you think Cas will be busy a lot while you are gone?"

"He has a couple of meetings with our brothers and he's finalizing everything on the house this week, but he'll have plenty of time for you."

"Okay."

Gabe twitched as Sam ran his fingers down the omega's spine, chuckling at his partner's attempt at a response. "I'd hate to have to face your brother and tell him that I broke you."

"You didn't, not quite," Gabe argued, struggling a couple of time to roll over but giving up. "I have to admit, you've got more stamina than I would expect from someone your age."

Sam stretched out in the bed, reaching over to roll Gabe over and pull him onto his chest. "I need to open that door and get some air in here."

"If you want the whole town to smell us, anyway," Gabe grumbled, snuggling closer to his alpha. "How is your rut?"

Sam shrugged, the faintest ring of red around his eyes. "It comes and goes. It's not like I've had many before to learn to control them. I'm still surprised I can remain sane when your heat flares up. Maybe you're right about this True Mates thing."

Gabe chuckled, groaning theatrically when his stomach growled a protest. "Ugh, what's with this hunger? Heat sucks, Moose. I'm hot, horny, and hungry all at the same time. How is this in any way fair?"

"Your brother will bring up some food soon. Hopefully some for me, too, so I can make it through your next flare up."

Gabe chuckled, looking up as he heard a noise in the next room. "Sam, I hope you know I don't plan to give you up after this heat. I know it'll be complicated because we're from different biker gangs, but I'm willing to work all that out."

Sam cupped Gabe's chin in his hand and forced the blond to meet his gaze, staring into whiskey gold tinged with the brighter shade of omega arousal. "Look, Gabe, I plan to give up the Demon Hunters. That was never the life I wanted, but I knew that it was the only way to find Dean. I graduated high school a couple of years early and impressed a few big colleges, so I can get a full ride somewhere, finish my education, and be ready to provide a real home for my own family. All I ever wanted was Dean back, and now I've found him, so I don't need to be a biker anymore. And I'll find a way to stay in your life, too, since you seem so keen on keeping me."

"Damn straight," Gabe replied, turning toward the door at a sharp knock. Sam, falling back into full alpha mode, pulled the blanket up to cover their lower bodies, helping Gabe into a sitting position before calling for their visitor to enter. As expected, it was Alfie with a couple trays of breakfast, each piled with anything he could find downstairs, including fruit, an omelet for each of them, and some pastries for Gabe. "Thanks, babiest bro. Are you watching out for Dean-o too, or is he is Cas's hands?"

"Cas," Alfie replied, turning toward the door and accepting a large pitcher of ice water that Adam had been holding in the main room. The young alpha wouldn't dare enter what was effectively Gabe's nest during his heat, but he wanted to help as best he could. "He asked why I didn't go into heat with you."

Sam glanced down at Gabe as the omega wolfed down his breakfast. He didn't have much experience with omegas, but he knew that ones in the same family unit tended to go into heat together, often to the annoyance of the family members who had to take care of multiple angry, horny siblings. "You went into heat early? Because of me?"

"Yep, seems so. I told you I plan to keep you, and apparently this was the only way we were going to be together. I think I may have been catching your scent for the past few nights since you moved in here, so my body just did what omegas do when they find a mate."

Alfie shrugged as he placed a pile of soft towels and clean sheets on the table near the door. "It's about time you found someone. I'll be back in a few hours to change your sheets and give you time to shower. The front desk manager said they have some heat supplies available, so I'll check on them before I return. Any cravings today or are you good?"

Gabe, who had eaten all of his food and started picking at the edges of Sam's plate, shrugged. "Fruit, mostly. By tomorrow I won't want to eat at all."

Sam tilted his head. "Really? Why?"

"After an omega ovulates, all they want to do is mate, so they don't even waste energy digesting food," Alfie explained, having forgotten for a moment that Sam was young and had never had the chance to partner an omega in heat. "Honestly, it surprises me that Gabe can eat at all. I never manage more than breakfast on my first day before food is just too much. I know that alphas eat sporadically throughout their rut, so I'll keep bringing food and some orange juice for your fridge. If you need anything in particular, let me know."

"Thanks, Alfie."

Dean sighed and pushed his workbook away, dropping his pencil and watching as it rolled to the edge of the table. He couldn't concentrate with two of his friends missing, and Cas had been on a conference call for nearly two hours. Balthazar had gone to arrange for furniture deliveries to the new house and to make sure that they were set to meet with the lawyers and finalize the sale later that week. Dean almost couldn't believe that they could move into that nice, big house with the flowering trees he liked so much in only a few days, but even that enticement couldn't keep him from feeling lonely.

Benny, who had been helping Cas run numbers from their businesses in Chicago, walked into the main suite and scrunched his nose, clearly scenting how terribly upset the newest member of their pack was becoming. Turning on his heel, he returned to the bedroom, shooing his boss out and pointing at the despondent young omega.

"Dean, what are you up to there?"

Dean's head shot up at Cas's deep voice, fumbling for his pencil as he stammered out a response. Well, he tried to; none of the sounds were really shaped at all like words, and he reached up to rub his collar as he faded off. "Just . . . studying," he managed at last.

Cas reached over and closed the workbook, ruffling Dean's hair as the omega offered a short, shocked purr. "That sounds kinda boring, to be fair. I bet Gabe and Alfie would have given you a break from your studies by now if they weren't both so busy next door. What do you say we go work on your driving some more so you can take your test next month?"

Dean nodded, his scent instantly loosing that watery despondence and turning bright with the excitement that spending time in the car always brought. He liked cars much more than bikes, though he hadn't told Cas that yet. Despite his silence on the subject, he was sure that the alpha had pretty much figured it out by now. "Can we get lunch too? I didn't eat much for breakfast."

"Of course." Cas grabbed his jacket, passing Dean's over to him. "Are you still worried about Gabe? I am, so it's okay if you are."

"Is he going to join that other alpha? Is he going to leave us?" It was the first time that Dean had verbally added himself to Cas's gang, considering himself part of the family that Gabe might be leaving, and the alpha took a moment to savor his pride at that before answering.

"He won't leave us, Dean. I know that it seems normal to you that an omega would leave to join his new alpha, but Gabe isn't like that. He has always dreamed of bringing an alpha home, and this guy is significantly younger than my brother. When you meet him, I think you'll understand that this alpha is not threatening to break apart our family."

"Good," Dean whispered, following Cas into the elevator. He fingered the car keys in his pocket and let the sound of them calm him. "I don't want to lose any of you."

"Hmm, you should be more concerned about the consequences of having my omega brothers hunting alphas to bring home. It's complicated to introduce more dominants into a pack structure like ours, but as long as they keep crushing on bikers I think I can make it work."

"They?" Dean tilted his head at that, climbing into the passenger seat of the car and handing the keys to Cas. He wasn't licensed yet, and without a high school education he wasn't allowed to get a learner's permit. Cas would take him to a few empty parking lots that his gang members had found where they could practice in peace.

"Yeah, Alfie is sniffing around the Demon Hunters' second alpha, half-brother of the leader."

"The blond one? He's young." Dean had seen that blue-eyed teen a couple of times, and he had that rangy look of a young alpha who hadn't grown into his frame yet. To be fair, the tall one with the longer hair looked young, too.

"He's sixteen, apparently, but he pushed himself to graduate high school early and emancipate himself. Technically, he's legally an adult. Alfie wouldn't jump him so young, but he's not above flirting with the kid. The leader isn't much older, just barely eighteen, but Gabe thinks that they are True Mates so age doesn't matter to him."

"You believe in that? True Mates?"

Cas shrugged, spotting his chosen parking lot in the distance and merging over. "Yeah, I guess I do. I've scented them together, and he went into an early heat in response to the alpha moving into the room next door. I don't know how much experience you have with alphas, but generally a young alpha would never be allowed to partner an omega in heat. It's dangerous for both of them when the alpha isn't used to controlling his breeding instincts. This one went into rut when Gabe came to him, thought he wasn't nearly as frantic as I've seen with youngsters before. Gabe is pretty sure he loves the kid, so we shall see."

Cas parked the car and Dean hopped out, swapping places with his alpha. As soon as he was buckled in and had checked his mirrors, he turned back to the raven-haired man. "That's a good thing, right? Gabe wants love, a mate, and pups. This alpha can give him that."

Cas nodded, glancing around the lot to ensure that it was truly empty before signaling for Dean to put the car in drive. "Yeah, it would be nice to have a happy brother. He's been somewhat less of his normal self since he lost that pup. He says that he's over it, but I can see that he's not. He wants to find the right mate and start a family so badly."

"Yeah," Dean whispered, hands clenching tightly on the steering wheel. "Me too."

Cas reached over and rubbed the back of the omega's neck, not entirely sure how to answer. "You will," he finally settled on, smiling as Dean leaned back into his touch. "Now, let's practice that three-point turn again."

Benny woke to a soft tapping on his door, fighting through his sleep-induced grogginess and slipping out of bed. He almost made it to the front door before he realized that the tapping was coming from the smaller door that separated his room from the one next to it, the room that Gadreel used. Fully alert, Benny turned the lock and slowly opened the door, smiling at the tentative omega standing on the other side. Each room had a door that opened in, so they both had to be unlocked to pass between the two suites. "Hey, cher."

"Hey."

"Couldn't sleep?"

Gadreel nodded his head, working his jaw for a moment before replying. "Gabe's heat is getting to me, I think. It shouldn't, since we're not related, but I think my omega knows that he threw Sam into an early rut. It knows that he will be family soon and it wants to know why I am not fully responding to that scent. I'm old enough to control myself, and my birth control will keep my cycle stable for now, but there's a part of me that needs to breed. It's very distracting."

Benny chuckled and reached out to run a gentle hand down the tall omega's arm, wondering which of them was currently winning in the height department. Probably Gadreel, but he was crouched in on himself in an instinctive omega reaction to being near a partner he fancied. "It's not easy to be around Gabe in heat, I agree with you on that. But what do you need from me?"

Gadreel looked up, pale blue eyes meeting darker ones in the dim light from his room, bright gold slowly overtaking the calmer color. Benny, well used to controlling his alpha's reactions to alluring young omegas, let red bleed into his irises, offering a slightly feral grin as he reached up to cup Gadreel's chin. The omega purred softly, leaning into the touch. "I need you to quiet my omega for the night. I'm not asking for anything permanent, but you're right here and you smell so good, Alpha."

Something primal reared up inside Benny at that word, and he growled before pulling Gadreel into his room and pushing at the door, not caring if it actually closed or not. In the semi-darkness, he led the omega to his bed, grinning as the whining man found himself trapped against the mattress. "I haven't shared a bed since I left Louisiana," Benny whispered, nipping the sharp lines of Gadreel's jaw. The omega melted in his grip, arousal coloring his freesia and lavender scent as he pressed himself against the burly alpha. "Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes, Benny, I want this."

Benny helped Gadreel out of his shirt, pausing to nip at the skin he exposed as Gadreel started working on the strings of his sleeping pants. "Look, cher, I definitely didn't plan on this when we left Chicago, and we've been busy ever since. I don't have any . . . supplies."

Gadreel ran his hands across Benny's chest, purring at the strength of his chosen alpha as they managed to lose the rest of their clothes. Gadreel was tall for an omega, and strong enough to go toe-to-toe with any alpha he'd ever met, but his size turned most potential partners away. If the color of his growing knot was any indication, the omega's size wasn't turning Benny off at all. "I'm on birth control, Benny, and weeks from my heat. If you don't use that impressive cock to start pounding me into this mattress in the next minute, we're going to have a bigger problem than your lack of condoms."

The alpha grinned as his eyes flashed red and he leaned over the omega stretched out in his bed and nuzzled at his neck, Gadreel's purr deepening at the scratch of scruff against his sensitive skin. "As you wish, my omega."

Cas sighed and leaned against the door frame, Balthazar blushing and trying to cover his eyes beside him. "This really isn't going to end, is it? The Demon Hunters are going to keep hunting down my gang members until there is no clear division between the families anymore. At least you aren't sleeping with one of them."

Balthazar cleared his throat uncertainly, suddenly wishing that he had offered to wake Benny on his own. "Well, cousin, I'm fucking the real estate agent, so I'm not sure that's better. At least Benny picked a biker?"

Said biker was curled up against the burly alpha's side, a thin sheet carelessly draped over their naked forms and the scent of alpha musk and omega slick still heavy in the air. Balthazar had already opened the balcony doors to air it out, but it wouldn't fade until the pair of them took a shower. Preferably alone, but the cracked door between Benny's room and the adjoining one to the left rendered that impossible. "I've never seen him sleep like this," Cas murmured.

"Gadreel probably wore him out. He's big for an omega, probably has lots of stamina." The leaner alpha grinned as a comparison popped into his mind, one that would be certain to end this conversation and leave him in peace to wake his friend. "He's pretty much the same height and size as Dean; I bet your boy has loads of stamina, too. I'm surprised we haven't found you like this in the mornings."

Cas blushed, actually blushed, which was shocking enough to distract Balthazar from the scene in front of them. "I'm not sleeping with Dean, Zar. I wouldn't take advantage of him like that."

"Take advantage? Cassie, the boy is practically throwing himself at you. The only reason you haven't scent bonded yet certainly has nothing to do with what he wants. You really haven't made a move on him yet? He's a pretty thing, and kinder than he has any right to be after what he went through."

Cas stalked back into the main room, running a hand over his face. "That's exactly why I can't give him what he's so clearly asking for. Zar, he was . . . brainwashed and flat-out tortured by Azazel for a decade; he hasn't had time to heal from that. I know he wants me, but I don't think it's for the reasons you think."

"It's not . . . Cas, he doesn't see you as the alpha who owns him. He sees you as a friend, as someone who cares about him, and he cares about you in return. I know you've never had a serious relationship, but I would hate for you to lose your chance at happiness when it's right there, in your bed, waiting for you."

Cas growled and stomped toward the door, the burning anger in his scent not quite enough to cover up his watery despair. "I don't want to talk about this. Wake Benny and take Dean down to breakfast. I have to go meet with Crowley."

Balthazar sighed and turned back to the bedroom, wondering what he could possibly do to help his cousin see through his own blindness. Dean wanted Cas, everyone in the gang knew it, and he was going to ask the alpha to attend his next heat. Maybe that was the ticket, Balthazar mused as he filled a paper cup with water at the sink and measured the distance to Benny's bed. If Cas partnered Dean in his heat, he would have to admit his love for the boy. Deciding that his best course of action was to wait for that, the blond alpha tossed the water at Benny's face.

The alpha woke with a start, all raging eyes and growls, but he recognized his friend quickly enough, the red fading from his eyes. Balthazar wasn't stupid enough to get close to an alpha with a partner until said alpha was fully conscious and processing information calmly, hence the cup of water. "Better?"

Benny snorted and wiped his face on the blanket, smiling at the omega still sleeping peacefully beside him. "So Cas sent you to wake me."

"In all fairness, I'm probably the most expendable of his family members."

"Unlikely. You're currently sleeping with the real estate agent and he wouldn't dare harm that relationship. I thought I would get to sleep in today, though, since I'm not on the schedule."

"Yeah, my 'insurance policy' gave Cassie a ring and said he had some final paperwork to go over before they meet with the lawyers tomorrow. Who knows? He wants us to get Dean fed and keep him entertained for a few hours."

"You know, I never thought I'd miss Gabe so much." Benny nudge Gadreel, smiling at the omega as he blinked blue eyes in the pale light streaming into the room. "Time to wake up, cher. If you're hungry, I'm about to take Dean down to breakfast apparently, and we wouldn't mind your company."

"Would Castiel allow that?" Gadreel sat up and stretched, revealing bite marks peppering his chest that would be bruises by late morning, clearly unconcerned with his state of undress in front of Balthazar. It was unusual behavior in unmated omegas, but evidently he had claimed Benny in some fashion the night before and the presence of another alpha didn't worry him.

"He won't know, and I don't rightly care much at the moment. Dean could use a new friend, especially with Gabe and Alfie indisposed for much of this week."

Gadreel nodded, slipping out of bed and heading for the bathroom. "Gabriel's heat should subside today at some point. His scent was fading last night. Benny, would you care to join me for a quick shower?"

"Emphasis on 'quick'," Balthazar interjected, amazed that neither his friend nor the omega he was passingly acquainted with were in the least concerned that he was seeing them naked. In all fairness, it was a sight he was eager to forget, but they must have had one hell of a fuck the night before to be so carefree the next morning. "I'll make sure Adam and Alfie are provisioned and meet you in Cas's suite when you're done."

"Sure thing, brother," Benny replied, eagerly following his omega into the bathroom.

"I mean it with the 'quick'!"