Chapter 6: The March to War


Dean headed back to his tent, having hung his wet towel up to dry in the communal area near the lake. It was the sunniest and breeziest place in camp, so clothes tended to dry pretty quickly there. He dropped his bathing supplies off in his tent and replenished his scent-blocking lotion under the tiny dragon's watchful gaze, knowing that Kevin was silently berating him for coming so close to being caught. "I bet there's still some dessert left over at the food tent. You want to see if Bart made those tarts again?"

Kevin's ears perked up at that, the omega having already learned about his sweet tooth. "I mean, we could totally check. I'd hate for them to go to waste."

Dean chuckled, knowing that he was forgiven, and he headed out of his tent toward the food tables. Most of the camp was bathing, but Bart, Inias, Ishim, and Isaac would be cleaning up and guarding the desserts until everyone returned. Dean snagged a few of the tiny cakes when the guys moved away to start prepping for breakfast, handing one to his dragon companion as they headed back toward the tents. The three of them, Cri-Kee nibbling on a sugary morsel that Kevin had broken off for him, passed by the small tent that housed Metatron, slowing at the sound of raised voices inside. Dean glanced down at Kevin, pausing where he could hear what was going on.

They heard Metatron first, his voice as judgmental and sanctimonious as usual. "You think your troops are ready to fight? Hah! They would not last a minute against the Huns." Dean frowned at that; he thought they had done really well for three weeks of training.

Castiel, arms crossed over his chest, glared at the smaller, graying man down his nose, standing on opposite sides of the scribe's small table. "They completed their training," he pointed out, trying to be reasonable despite his very alpha urge to strangle the beta.

"Those pups are no more fit to be soldiers than you are to be Captain. Once the general reads my report, your troops will never see battle."

Kevin, ear pressed against the tent fabric, clenched his tiny fists. "Oh no you don't. I've worked too hard to get Dean into this war." He kept his voice low, knowing that Dean, at just over six feet tall, wouldn't be able to hear him. He turned to Cri-Kee, who had finished his treat and was staring at the tent with twitching antennae. "This guy's messing with my plan."

Inside the tent, slowly losing his composure, Castiel grabbed the top of Metatron's clipboard. "We're not finished."

Metatron jerked his clipboard back and snarled, the beta not in the least intimidating but knowing that the Emperor's third son would not dare to actually lay hands on him. "Be careful, Captain. The General may be your brother, but I am the Emperor's council. And, oh, by the way, I got that job on my own." He sneered at the taller man, holding his tent flap to one side with his reclaimed clipboard and pushing every ounce of superiority into his voice. "You're dismissed."

Castiel growled and snapped his teeth as he stomped past the scribe, shoulders squared as he tried to decide what he could destroy to get rid of this feeling. He stormed past Dean without noticing the skulking soldier, his eyes whirling red.

Dean dropped his voice into his deeper, more alpha register, trying to think of something clever to say to cheer up his captain. "Hey, I'll hold him and you punch, heh, heh . . ." Castiel ignored him and he dropped his fist, "or not." He raised his voice as Castiel turned toward his own tent on the hill, returning to his normal tone, injecting as much sincerity as he could into his words. "For what it's worth, I think you're a great captain." Castiel paused for a moment, looking back and half-smiling at the omega, his eyes returned to their normal azure blue. Dean watched him until he vanished into his tent, hands clasped in front of his pants.

Kevin looked up, arms crossed over his chest. "I saw that!"

Dean tilted his head, his voice completely innocent. "What?"

"You like him, don't you?" Kevin teased, Cri-Kee chirping in agreement at his side.

Dean's eyes widened and he took a half-step back, shaking his head. "No, I—"

Kevin snorted. "Yeah right, yeah sure. Look, go to your tent!" He pointed toward the end of the long row of soldier tents, eyes narrowed. Dean blushed and turned away, heading to bed and the terrifying but thrilling prospect that he might dream of his alpha captain again. Once Dean had vanished into the row of tents, Kevin turned to Cri-Kee with a devious light in his eyes as he rubbed his hands together. "I think it's time we took this war into our own hands."

A few minutes later, while Kevin was trying to figure out how to slip into the tent, Metatron suddenly emerged, dressed in a long robe and bathing slippers, a towel wrapped around his thin, gray hair and a rough bristled brush in one hand. He strode toward the lake and the promise of a bath, leaving his tent empty for Kevin and Cri-Kee. The two slipped inside and hopped up on his table, finding paper and ink quickly enough. Cri-Kee dipped his feet in the ink and carefully hopped across the page, tapping out a quick message that he hoped sounded like it came from the General. Kevin watched him critically, never wondering how a cricket had learned such lovely penmanship, taking the page when it was complete.

"Okay, okay, let me see what you've got. 'From General Zachariah: Dear brother, we're waiting for the Huns at the pass and it would mean a lot of you'd come and back us up.' That's great," Kevin snarked, "except you forgot, 'and since we're all out of potpourri, maybe you wouldn't mind bringing up some.' Hellooooo, this is the army! Make it sound more urgent, please! You know what I'm talkin' about?" Cri-Kee nodded as Kevin crumpled up the first note and tossed it away, dipping his feet again and jumping onto a fresh sheet of paper. Kevin watched him write out the second note, the tone much more urgent and blunter, and the dragon grinned. "That's better, much better." He grabbed the note and puffed a hot breath across it, watching the ink dry before rolling it up. "Okay, let's go."

Cri-Kee hopped after Kevin as the red dragon hunted down Khan, announcement in one claw. He found the great horse drinking from a trough with three of his new equine friends, hopping up on his back with a friendly grin on his face. "Khan-y baby, we need a ride." The horse raised his head and turned to face the dragon, flicking his ears back before knocking the small dragon off with a quick squirt of water. Cri-Kee chirped something apologetic before hopping away after the dragon, headed into the forest to find alternative transportation. Behind them, he could swear that he heard the other horses laughing.

Cri-Kee chirped at Kevin, the dragon chuckling under his breath. "We'll ride a panda if we have her. Look, I think there's one in the bamboo ahead." Cri-Kee chirped again and Kevin waved his hand. "Look, he'll be more accommodating than the surly old cow. This is a great idea."


Metatron stomped away from the lake, a towel wrapped around his waist as he huffed under his breath. "Insubordinate ruffians." He looked over his shoulder at the alphas and betas who were still laughing as they splashed among the reeds. "You soldiers owe me a new pair of slippers! And I do not squeal like a girl." He turned back to see his remaining slipper in the mouth of a huge panda, a fearsome creature that elicited the smallest of shouts from the old scribe. He did not scream, of course; omegas screamed and he was a beta.

On top of the panda sat a soldier holding out his arm. The man moved somewhat jerkily and it hardly seemed that he had a good hold of the missive at all. "Urgent news from the general!" Metatron glared at the panda, the faintest sneer on his face as he prepared to rebuff the strange soldier. "What's the matter, you never seen a 'black and white' before?" Behind the soldier, hidden from Metatron's view, Kevin held two long bamboo poles attached to the arms, moving them to thrust the rolled message in Metatron's face, Cri-Kee chirping softly from above that the man had finally taken it.

"Who are you?"

"Excuse me! I think the question is: who are you? We're in a war, man! There's no time for stupid questions." Kevin nudged the panda forward a half-step as he continued. "I should have your hat for that, snatch it right off your head." He jerked one arm toward Metatron, as if to make good on his threat, before the panda turned and started to walk away. Metatron unrolled the message and started to read, already mentally dismissing the strange soldier who had delivered it. Kevin's voice faded as the panda carried his puppet back into the trees. "But I'm feeling gracious today, so carry on before I report you."

Metatron gasped at the end of the message, looking up to search for the vanished soldier for just a moment before rushing off toward Castiel's tent. "Captain, urgent news from the General! We're needed at the front."

Hidden in the trees and divested of their puppet, Kevin watched the commotion, turning to look at Cri-Kee by his side. "Pack your bags, Cri-Kee; we're moving out." The cricket trilled as he jumped up to high-five the dragon.


"I don't understand," Dean growled, shoving his clothes into his bag as Kevin helpfully tied his sleeping roll. There was a team bringing down the tents in an hour, so he had to be packed up and ready to move by then. The omega carefully packed his oils and herbs into a padded bag, one small enough that he could carry it on his person. The march would be long and hard, so the last thing he needed was to sweat off his fake scent. No one would notice the small bag among all of his other supplies.

"What's trippin' you up, Dean my friend?"

"I mean, I thought I would get caught during training, to be fair. When Castiel told me to go home, I was almost . . . relieved that it was over."

Kevin paused in his folding, tilting his head curiously. "I don't understand, Dean. I promised you that I was going to get you into battle, save your honor, and get you home. If you were so relieved when Castiel tried to boot you out, why did you fight so hard to stay?"

"I wasn't . . . I wasn't fighting to stay." Dean ran his fingers carefully over his folded clothes, shoving them into his pack and settling them before speaking. His mind flew back to that night, to the fight with the alphas and betas who had been harassing him for days. He thought back to his determination to climb that pole and prove that he was as good as any alpha. "I wanted to be seen," he whispered. "Omegas are meant to blend into the background, invisible and silent, and I couldn't leave here and go back to that. I wanted to come out of the shadows."

"You did that," Kevin grinned, hopping up on Dean's bag and resting a clawed hand on Dean's arm. "And now I made sure that the scribe guy didn't shut down this training camp and send you all home. You're going to join the main army, and maybe there won't be much fighting but it should be enough for you to all earn your honor and return to your parents. You'll have saved your brother and brought honor to your family. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yeah, Kev, it is. Thanks."

The dragon grinned, his whiskers twitching. "Let's finish getting packed so we can move out with the rest of the battalion, ok?"


"This is ridiculous."

"This is marching," Balthazar snapped back, readjusting his pack. Some of them had horses, like Dean and Balthazar, but the beasts had all been conscripted to pull carts filled with supplies, tents, and weapons bound for the front. "How did you think we were going to get to the front?"

Benny grunted something unkind as he trudged after his friend. He didn't own his own horse, though his Imperial friends had promised him one as a wedding present if the Matchmaker could find him a nice omega. As a close friend of two of the princes, he had been allowed to visit the private Imperial Matchmaker, a bubbly blonde woman named Donna, and she had taken down his preference for male omegas, reminding him that he would qualify for better matches if he had a military record. Her words, plus the promise of a minor noble title when the war was over, had definitely been the deciding factors in his enlistment.

"We've been training for weeks, and marching was part of that," Charlie pointed out, practically skipping beside the men. Anna, who had little use for the complaints of her friends, marched ahead of them, looking down the hill toward the stragglers. Steve was back there, walking oddly slowly despite excelling in mountain march training the week before. Anna tapped Charlie's arm and nodded toward the straggler, her scent offering a question. "What is it, Anna?"

"Why is he trailing back there leading a wagon instead of walking with us?"

"It's his horse."

"I know," Anna replied slowly, "but he'd walk with the rest of the caravan without help. It's almost like he's afraid of getting too far away from the cart."

"Maybe he just doesn't wanna walk with us," Benny drawled, that odd southern accent of his rearing its head. "It's not like we're friends with him or anything."

"No reason we can't be," Charlie pointed out, slowing her steps and watching as her friends reluctantly matched her pace. "Training wasn't really the best time to talk, but this march is going to take days. Time we got to know this Steve, son of General John Winchester."


Dean looked up as he was suddenly joined by Benny, Balthazar, Charlie, and Anna, Khan eyeing them warily but not slowing his stride. Kevin and Cri-Kee had elected to spend the march in the covered cart, protected from prying eyes by piles of cannons and the small roll of Dean's clothes and private supplies. He remembered what the four had said at the lake, about wanting to start again and be friends, so he relaxed his shoulders and offered what he hoped was a welcoming scent and an open smile. "Hi, guys."

"Hiya, Steve. Whatcha' doing walking back here by yourself?"

Dean shrugged. "Captain said that this is the most important cart, the cannons. Without these, the Huns will overrun China. I thought it would be best for me to keep an eye on them."

Balthazar glanced at his three friends, settling into an easy stride on Dean's left side. "Well, I suppose we need to help you protect them. It's going to be a long march."

"Uh, thanks?"

"Besides," Balthazar continued, "I get tired of the conversation with these guys. We're not all Imperials, but we are all from the capital, and I can't say our lives have been very eventful. I figure you must have some interesting stories from your town."

Dean chuckled, ducking his head. "It's a farm, Balthazar, and a farming town where my sire has a great deal of influence. Not much has happened to me."

"Other than conscription," Charlie pointed out. "I volunteered, since all of my sisters are omegas and I thought it would be good to get some land and better titles before they stand in front of the Matchmaker."

"Imperials can't be conscripted," Balthazar continued, nodding toward his sister Anna. "Dear old Dad, however, requires military service from all of his alpha and beta children. Michael and Lucifer only served a short while, mostly focused on the politics, but Castiel was always a fine soldier and plans to take Zachariah's place as General of the Imperial Army someday. Anna and I thought it wouldn't be so bad to serve under him."

"I thought all of the Emperor's children were alphas and betas," Dean interjected. "You make it sound like that's not true."

"We have three omega brothers," Anna answered, "all from the Empress. None of Dad's many concubines has ever thrown one. They're all younger than me, and Gadreel has only just met with Donna. Gabriel will probably meet with her, too, and Samandriel will insist even though he's still a bit young. They're all eager to find good mates and start their own families."

"Donna," Dean mused. "I know that name. She's the Imperial Matchmaker?"

"Yeah, has been for a while. She was apprenticed under Rowena, who stepped down and took a position in a rural village some sixteen years ago. She's already found suitable matches for Michael and Lucifer, as well as our few half-siblings who have asked."

"Not for Castiel?" Dean couldn't help the swoop his heart did at the reminder that the raven-haired captain was not promised to someone when he got home from war. Some of the things Claire had said during their first meal together flashed through his mind.

"Castiel is cautious," Balthazar murmured, keeping his voice low to ensure the privacy of their conversation. He knew that his brother trusted this Steve person, but he wouldn't want his private life to be broadcast throughout the army. "I know that you've spoken with Claire a number of times; did she tell you her history?"

"Yeah, she did. She also said that Castiel won't visit the Matchmaker."

"Yeah, he won't. He likes to tell people that it's because he has complete trust in the Ancestors and doesn't need any meddling from anyone else, but I think he's just afraid after what Claire's mother did. April was . . . a manipulative, lying scumbag. She came from a disgraced noble line and hoped that a child with Castiel would improve her fortunes. She was banished the day that Claire was born, and she didn't even cry. Who doesn't cry when they lose a child? Claire was just a means to an end for her, so it's better for the girl that we raised her, and not April. After that, Castiel says that he can't put his fate or his daughter's in the hands of a Matchmaker, no matter how much we all care for Donna."

Dean snorted. "Must be nice to have that kind of option. My dad's tried a dozen different times to find me a match in the village, and his name alone should have ensured victory. I wasn't compatible with any of them."

"Have you tried your village Matchmaker?"

"He threw me out," Dean chuckled, finally removed enough from the incident that he could brush it off with a touch of humor. "He said he'd never be able to find me a mate."

"Maybe you weren't specific enough," Anna offered. "You have to go to the Matchmaker with a list, usually one that your dam or sire helped you put together. Me, I want someone tall but not overbearing. I'm Imperial, so he has to be a noble, but I prefer that he not have gone to war. Also, the further away from the Imperial City that he lives, the better. I don't mind moving in with him and his family if it means I can get some distance from mine."

"Donna told Anna that she was being unreasonable," Balthazar teased, jumping back as his sister took a swing at him. "She asked for a beta male specifically, but most beta males want to be the dominant one, and they want a good chance for pups. They go for omegas when they can, and the few left who would ask for a beta female are generally doing it because their family is too poor or too common to attract an omega. Certainly none of them has gone to their Matchmaker and asked for a dominant female beta with war honors and an Imperial title!"

"So maybe I won't be his first choice! She didn't need to dismiss me out of hand."

"She said you should ask for alphas, like all Imperial beta females do."

"Yeah? Why don't you tell Steve what Donna thought of your requests?"

Balthazar cleared his throat uncertainly, suddenly determined not to make eye contact. "I just said I wanted an omega with some spice. They don't all have to be these meek, whimpering little wallflowers. I want one who could be independent if they want, but would be perfectly happy to do the whole mate and pups thing."

"He prefers males," Charlie pointed out, "but they have to be shorter than him. He can't stand the thought of his mate towering over him."

"There aren't a lot of independent omegas," Dean pointed out, "and few of them would be male. They're so rare that they tend to have good matches arranged from childhood, the parents just waiting to see if the two are compatible after their presentation."

"You have an omega brother, right? I remember John had an omega son before he left the Imperial City."

"Yeah, I do. He's got a number of good prospects, Dad's just waiting for me to get home from war to see if I make a name for myself that might help the match." Dean hoped his lie would go unnoticed; the last thing he wanted to do was to let his new companions know how hard it was for his fake brother to find a match. They would find that unusual for John's omega son.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, that seems fair. I think Dad's doing the same thing with the boys."

"Benny, what did you ask for?"

The burly alpha chuckled and rubbed his beard. "Donna accepted my visit because of my close friendship with the Imperial Family. I asked her for an omega who was tall enough and brave enough to look me in the eye. I'd like it if he would enjoy cooking as much as I do, and I do prefer omegas so I can have a family one day."

"What's so odd about that?"

Anna chuckled and reached over to punch Benny in the arm. "He made his request after meeting my dear brother Gadreel, who is over six feet tall, big and broad like an alpha with a stronger chin than most of my alpha brothers, and is the sweetest, softest spoken omega I have ever met. He has his streak of independence, son of the Emperor that he is, but he is just so genuinely kind and protective of the younger omegas that Benny kinda fell in love."

The burly alpha blushed, adjusting his pack to distract from his discomfort. "Gad is nice enough, but I'd never be suitable for him. Imperials don't mate commoners. If Donna could find another male omega like him, even from one of the villages, I would be fine with that. She said that we shouldn't make requests based on infatuations that will fade instead of basic compatibilities that will survive for the rest of our lives."

Dean felt a stab of sympathy for this burly alpha who would never be able to find out if what he felt for Gadreel could become something real. "Hey, I'm sorry, man. Maybe you'll gain enough honor fighting the Huns that the Emperor would consider your suit for the prince."

Benny chuckled and reached out to pat the younger man on the back. "Thanks, brother, but I know that Donna is right. Gadreel is a lovely young man and I greatly enjoy his company, but he's an Imperial omega. He's destined for greater mates than me."

Charlie grinned at the interaction as they headed into another uphill stretch of their march. At some point they would get through the first part of the mountain range and into the lower valleys where the rice for the Imperial City and surrounding areas was grown. "I didn't ask for anything very specific, but I'm also not an Imperial so I saw my local Matchmaker. She advised that I come back when the war is over and she promises that she can get me a good alpha female with reasonable titles along the lines of the ones I'm going to have when I'm done here."

"An alpha female? Charlie, I can't say that's a normal request. Most alpha females where I'm from go for omega females, not betas."

"Yeah, but often their requests are denied and a lot of alpha females refuse their second options, so they spend their lives alone. There are a couple of spinster alpha females in my town, and a young friend of mine who has had issues at the Matchmaker."

"Not as many issues as you, I'd guess," Charlie teased, grinning as Dean smiled.

"Nah, not as many issues. Dad actually considered her as a partner for my omega brother, but they weren't compatible. I always got the feeling that she preferred females, anyway, but she would never say anything about that to our Matchmaker."

Charlie's eyes lit up at that, nudging Anna out of the way so she could walk closer to Dean. "Oh really? Why not?"

"Our Matchmaker has very traditional ideas about how matches should work, including people putting their complete trust in him and his methods. He doesn't seem to mind if alpha or beta males have some preferences, but females and omegas shouldn't. Female alphas are rare in our town, and their parents tend to make private matches before Crowley is needed."

Balthazar chuckled. "Crowley? Isn't that Rowena's son? I thought I'd heard that he followed in her footsteps, though not much else. Maybe I should meet with him and see if he has any ideas where I can look for a partner."

Dean chuckled and shook his head. "I don't think you'd like him. He doesn't have a lot of male omegas on his list and all of them are the meek, quiet, invisible ones."

Balthazar shrugged. "I've already spoken to three Matchmakers who brushed me off; what's one more? So, Steve, what did you ask Crowley for?"

Dean thought quickly, trying to translate his conversation with the Matchmaker into the alpha-side equivalent. "I asked for an omega who was willing to speak his mind. I wanted him to be smart, able to protect himself when needed, and unwilling to live under the strictures of society that say that an omega, especially a male one, has to be silent."

The four soldiers stared at Dean after his answer, which had certainly been more impassioned at the end than he had intended. "You really love your brother, don't you?"

Well, at least that was one question he could answer honestly, even if Balthazar was referring to John's oldest son and not the younger ones that Den was actually protecting. "Yeah, I do."

"Have you been . . . sabotaging his matches, Steve?"

"It's not unheard of," Anna murmured. "I've convinced four alpha who were sniffing around my baby brothers that there were easier pickings in other royal courts."

"Arranged marriages or not, Gad, Gabe, and Alfie deserve to have compatible mates who will treat them as kindly as Cas, Anna, and I do," Balthazar added. "You want the same thing for your brother, and we can respect that."

"I don't know if I'm making anything better for him," Dean whispered, falling deeper into his character of the concerned younger alpha brother. He was finding his fake identity easier to maintain when he thought about Sam's outburst at dinner the night he left. That boy loved him and wanted the best for him, and he had gently persuaded a couple of alphas in town that Dean would not be a good mate for them. "Unfortunately, the Matchmaker does not agree. He thinks that my brother should try harder to be quiet and demure so he can attract a proper alpha."

"What does your dad think? Ours tolerates our machinations, but eventually the boys will accept courtships from noble alphas."

"Dad said that we could find a better Matchmaker, one who will let my brother be more specific about his requests. I don't think it will work."

Balthazar shrugged. "It could. Your dad is very well regarded in the Imperial Court, and your brother was born in the palace. Certainly he would be eligible to stand before Donna."

"Dad, uh, suggested something like that to him."

"Make sure your brother takes him up on that. I'm sure he can get some better prospects from her list than from a village Matchmaker or even the people that your Dad knows personally. If it helps, I'll talk to her and ask her to take the meeting."

"Wow, thanks Balthazar."

"We're going to war together; it's the least I can do."


Dean shivered in the night air, cursing the mountains that were trying their best to keep the warmth of the fire from reaching his skin. He had scooted closer three times already, but he was not made for these altitudes. Claire plopped down beside him on his log and handed him a heavy cloak, waiting for him to wrap it around himself before offering him a bowl of food. "You don't get a lot of snow in your village, I'm guessing?"

"Not like this, no." They had spent their second day trudging through knee-deep snow, two of the horses tethered to a long log to drag a path in front of the soldiers. Most of the horses were from mountain stock, so they didn't mind the cold, but Dean had wrapped Khan's legs with wool when it was his turn to pull the log. Kevin and Cri-Kee had spent the morning shivering in the canon wagon until Dean tucked both of them inside his armor where they could benefit from the heat of his overworked body. Now that it was night and they were no longer marching, however, the omega was freezing.

"I've spent a lot of time in the snow, so this doesn't bother me much. Dad likes the mountains. You'll want to bunk down in one of the communal tents tonight to conserve heat if you don't want to be an icicle in the morning."

Dean, who had been fine the night before on the lower slopes, shook his head. If he slept in the middle of an alpha huddle, he would be found out for sure. "I can't."

"Your family really modest? My aunts and uncles are very close, and they don't mind sharing personal space when needed. It could save your life, Steve."

Dean sighed and dug into his supper, buying time as he thought through his options. He felt Kevin's tiny claws against his side, tapping insistently on his lowest rib. He counted the taps and tracked the position, nodding slowly as he interpreted the message. Kevin thought that he could hide his scent that long, and he also wasn't fond of the cold. "I, uh, I guess you're right, Claire. I still don't like the idea."

"Well, what if you shared the tent with me and my family only? All of my aunts and uncles will be piled in with me and Dad tonight, and I know he wouldn't mind if I invited you."

"Claire, I can't do that."

"He likes you, Steve, and he won't let you suffer. Please say you'll stay with us?"

Dean looked down into those expressive blue eyes, ones that she had clearly inherited from her more stoic father, and he sighed. "Yeah, alright, if the Captain says it's alright. I'll have to do the supplies check first, of course."

"Of course! See you in an hour."

The young alpha skipped off, presumably to tell her dad the news, and Dean sighed as he cupped one hand over the faint bulge in his shirt that hid his guardian dragon. "This is a bad idea, Kev."

"It's a great idea," the dragon whispered back, followed by an affirmative chirp from the little cricket. "I had words with Khan and he will let us bunk with him and the other horses. He has a really warm blanket and give off obnoxious amounts of body heat. If you put some lotion on before going to bed, you'll be alright until morning."

"She wants me to sleep with Castiel and all of his siblings."

Kevin chuckled, worming his way up to stick his head out of the front of Dean's shirt. He reached out and stole a couple pieces of chicken from the bowl, offering Cri-Kee a tiny piece before popping the rest in his mouth. "I was right, then; you do like him."

"I mean, yeah, a little bit. It's just because he's the dominant alpha here; an omega will always respond to someone like that. I don't know him well enough to actually like him, and nothing could happen between us anyway. Officially, I'm an alpha, and that's how he'll always know me. I'm just worried what he will scent me if we're so close to each other."

"He won't. I can't. Come on, Dean; finish eating and get ready for bed."