He didn't actually do too bad of a job for his first time. We did the rough work on a few of them but really didn't talk too much more about anything important. He needed a break from reality and this was the only thing I could think of to get his mind off his problems that got him some space from everyone else. Maybe Sam and I should try to find some sort of hobby for Cas, something he could do that had nothing to do with anything angelic in nature. Although I had no idea what that would be.

Once we got done cleaning and prepping the third hole I figured we should probably get back inside, or at least I should. I could feel the growing unease from the rest of them as time kept passing without answers. I'd delayed not just for Cas but because I knew that what he'd told me about the whole wolf thing wouldn't go over all that well. I'd kept trying to find a way to phrase it so it didn't sound as final as I knew it would but no matter how I worded it in my head, the facts were the facts. For the foreseeable future we were going to have a furry side, a pack bond and whatever wierdness was going to come along with it.

I set down the tools I was working working with and stood up, "May as well get this over with."

Cas had known me long enough to make the jump with me. "I can explain it if you would like, perhaps that would make things less upsetting. They're liable to want to ask questions anyway."

"Sure, let me give them the brief run-up then you can delve into all the ethereal theory."

He stood up, put his coat back on and looked at me, "Do you think you'll end up relocating to Starling City? It seems that would be easier for Oliver and Roy. They have deep roots there."

For some reason that got my back up a bit, "Well, Coyote's got deep roots back home and I'd been settling down there too."

He got the hint, "Oh, of course. I'm sorry. I just don't know her all that well. Sam told me she'd been a hunter so I just assumed she was like you and Sam were."

"That was a long time ago and only for a few years. She wasn't born into it like we were. She actually knows what a normal life is." And I really wanted to get back to that somehow, and do it sooner rather than later. "But to answer your question, I have no idea. Let's go."

When we made it back to the main room the tension in the air was even worse than when Cas and I'd left. I could feel Coyote and Sam trying to help the others stay calm, but it was getting kind of dicey. They were just about through another set of books that had been set on the table. "You all can quit looking for now. I doubt we'll find anything useful. Cas has some ideas, none of which you'll like. I don't think any hunters or Men of Letters ever came across critters like us. I'll let Cas fill you in on what he thinks, but remember, Cas didn't know how to get rid of the Mark either. So this isn't us quitting, this is just getting a better handle on the situation. Cas? Go for it."

He nodded and started talking. I joined with Sam and Coyote on flooding the pack bond with some sense of calm, mainly because I had a feeling Coyote wouldn't be so calm after she heard all this and it'd probably throw Sam off for a minute or two as well. Cas barely gotten through the explanation of how we actually had a separate being inside of us when Roy's fear spiked way high, Oliver was throttling his emotions back until Cas was all the way done. Coyote kind of surprised me, she looked and felt more like Cas was confirming a theory she'd already come up with. Sam, like Coyote, was riding it out, processing it. I wasn't linked to Dig but it seemed like he was just happy that we were getting some sort of answer, even if it was a crappy one.

Once Cas finished the room was dead silent. Roy's eyes were huge, Oliver was pondering, Coyote was staring off into the distance and Sam merely nodded once.

Dig leaned forward, set his elbows on the table and rested his chin on the top of fists, "So, until further notice, this is how things are going to be."

"Yeah."

"We're like hosts to some sort of creature?" Roy asked.

"Not at all Roy," Cas answered, "It's more like you have become a new creation. A hybrid version of human and semi-divine being if you like."

"Chosen ones," Coyote said, "Many religions and belief systems have stories about followers that were gifted something extra by their deities. That's basically what Fenris did."

That explained why she'd taken Cas's theory a lot calmer than I thought she would. She'd believed Fenris was one of her guides, although that wasn't exactly accurate any longer, he wasn't just a Native spirit after all, he also hadn't steered us wrong. We'd managed to kill Mairyn when nothing else seemed to be able to. The fact that I'd gotten shot point blank with silver and it had barely hurt told me everything I needed to know on how tough we were now.

"If it helps," Sam added, "You can think of us a meta-humans, like Flash. If you look at it that way, it's not quite as difficult to accept."

I'd forgotten about Flash. That was a good way to look at it, especially for Roy and Oliver.

Oliver had gone into analytical mode, which was a lot better than panic mode. "So, now what?" He asked.

"We stick to the plan, you guys go hunt and get used to this while Sam and I bully Death and the King of Hell into helping us out on the Purgatory problem. After that, we'll see. I'd imagine a lot of it will be based on how distance affects this pack bond thing. If you get back to Starling and can't stay in control, one of us will have to relocate. My honest opinion? Oliver, you're too damn stubborn to let something control you. Roy? Once you get over the shock of this you'll be fine. Look at this as a weapon, not a hindrance. You'll be able to hear or smell anything coming at you, you can't be killed by anything you'll come across in most fights in Starling, the bond will make it even easier to move as a team and Sam figured out we can talk mind to mind even in human form. There's really not a lot of downsides here that I can see. Remember what the other wolves said, Fenris' gift was designed to help them live, not take them over and destroy them. You have a new tool to fight crime with, use it."

They mulled that over.

"You have a point," Oliver finally said, then looked at his watch. "It's been a long day. I'm going to check in with Felicity and try to get some sleep."

"You okay?" I asked.

"Whether or not I am doesn't change the situation." He didn't say anything else as he walked down the hall. He'd somehow managed to either calm down or block out his panic so it felt like he had. He'd probably wake up in the morning and have it hit that this wasn't just some bad dream. A lot of times the morning after shit like this happens is a lot worse than the day it does.

I turned my attention back to Roy, of the two, I was more worried about Roy than Oliver. "How you holding up?"

He slid the book he'd been looking towards the center of the table and stared at the table top, not any of us. "Sam's point about Flash helps I guess. I mean, I knew there was a chance this could happen when I started hunting but, I guess I never really thought all that much about it. We're always so careful. This just happened so fast, I..."

"You've been damn lucky with Sam watching out for you," I told him, "He's been able to steer you clear of hunts that could go sideways like this one did."

"Yeah I know," he said, "I'll be okay. I don't have any other choice. There's still work for us to do. I just need time to process it I guess."

"We all do," Sam stated, "Go get some rest, we'll double down on finding a hunt tomorrow so you guys can get moving again. That'll help."

"Yeah, all right."

He felt a lot shakier than Oliver, but he was working his way through it. As soon as he was gone I grabbed some beers from the fridge, handed them out to everyone and sat back down. "Wonder if we'll burn through alcohol like we do food. Would kind of suck not being able to get buzzed at all anymore."

Dig shook his head and smiled, "I love how you manage to always keep your priorities straight Dean."

"Hey, these are important things to know."

There wasn't a lot more to say, we drank our beers in relative silence. Dig finished his off first and got up, "I'll dump Oliver's rental tomorrow and report it stolen, may as well tie up that loose end just in case. You guys should get some rest too. I think we'll have the easier part of this, hell, we'll just be hunting ghosts or whatever. Hope you can get the powers that be to step up and make sure this monster thing goes away."

"Thanks," Sam said. "See you in the morning."

"Night." He followed Oliver and Roy and disappeared down the hall.

I thought back over the day, it was about nine at night, which is pretty early for any of us to be hitting the hay but we'd all been through a lot.

Cas spoke up, "I'll keep looking and reading. I think you should do as Dig suggested."

I wasn't going to argue the point, "Yeah, probably a good idea."

Sam nodded, "All right, night then. If you find anything..."

Cas interrupted with a smile, "I'll tell you immediately."

"Thanks Cas."

"Of course."

The three of us cleaned up the take out stuff, tossed our empty bottles in the recycle bin and made our way to the rooms. Sam got to his first, gave us a quick nod and went in. Coyote wrapped her hand around mine once we were alone in the hallway.

"You all right honey?"

She didn't say anything, her emotions were all jumbled up as well. I didn't push her. As soon as we got to our room she went into the bathroom, pulled the mirror off the wall, carried it into our room and leaned it against the back wall. I shut our door, she undressed and crouched down in front of the mirror without saying a word.

"Honey?"

"I have to see," she answered and started shifting.

I don't know if she was shifting slower than before or if it just seemed that way because I didn't have anything else distracting me. She forced down any real screams of pain as her legs twisted and shortened, becoming much more muscled while completely reversing how they bend at the ankle and knee. Her arms gained muscle as well, along with paws and claws that flexed and retracted as she panted and whimpered.

Her shoulders shifted in direction, so did her hips so they could support four legs instead of arms and legs, then a tail started sprouting out of her lower back. The face and head was the worst to watch, her features became hideously distorted and unrecognizable as they changed from human to wolf, fangs sliced into her lower lip as they grew. I forced myself to keep watching, I knew that this was her way of making all of this real to her.

That long black hair I love so much seemed to fall away and disappear as the silvery gray fur sprouted and covered her entire body. I wished the fur grew in first because watching her entire skeleton re-align would look a lot less painful if it did. I saw and heard every single bone crack and move, not a one escaped some sort of change.

What was weird was that I had felt her pain when she'd been injured but I didn't feel the pain of this. I don't think she was blocking or anything, for some reason it just didn't transfer along the bond, which was probably a good thing since the wolf side responded to pain. If we felt it every time one of us changed we'd have a lot harder time staying sane.

After she was a fully formed wolf she stared at her reflection in the mirror as she moved her ears around and bared her fangs. I thought she was just as gorgeous with fur as without. I sank down on the floor next to her and put my arm over her back.

"I remember when I was a kid how I loved the stories of people being able to turn into animals. I thought it would be the most amazing thing ever. It's so confusing, I feel like me, but I'm covered in fur and walking on four legs."

"Well, you're still you. The outside doesn't matter and the whole wolf thing just seems to be an add on, not something that's changing who we really are. At least so far and all the other wolves we talked to still seemed to be who they were as humans. Sam didn't seem to pick up on any difference with Tom and the rest."

"True." She examined her paws and flexed her claws several times, then stood up and checked out her profile.

"You're still hot as hell as far as I'm concerned. Bright side, when it gets cold back home we've got built in fur suits now. Save on the heating bills."

She did a wolf version of a facepalm, guess that would be a facepaw in her current form, "You just complimented a wolf while discussing energy saving measures. The wonders never cease."

"Hold on." I stripped and shifted form while she watched. Once I was done I met her eyes, there was a slight compulsion to look away from her eyes but I pushed it away and she didn't get pissed off about it. "Two legs or four, we're the same people, same souls, just the outside is different. When you're off hunting with Roy and Oliver, especially Roy, you need to get them to understand that. I have a feeling that if they don't it won't end well. I've been mulling over what Cas, Fenris and my Warrior Spirit said. The first thing my Warrior Spirit said was that I had to accept this new side, incorporate it, if not, I'd go nuts. You, Sam and I have a lot more experience with these things, we'll all be fine. Those two don't. You have to help them or we may lose them."

She nodded, "I'll take care of it. Do you have an actual plan on how to get Death and Crowley to help out?"

"Course not, we never do." She didn't like that answer, "When dealing with Crowley the only plan that works is find something that he needs that happens to coincide with what we want. Death, all we can do is ask. We don't bully or negotiate with him, we ask, as nicely as possible. He says no, we move on to other options."

"All right, you've got more experience with them than I do. We should get some sleep."

We stared at each other for a minute, then looked at the bed, then back at each other. "Really don't feel like changing back," I said

"Yeah, me either. Guess you'll be washing wolf hair off sheets tomorrow."

We hopped up on the bed, curled up next to each other and I had a random last minute thought before passing out. "Would have sucked if any of us were allergic to dog hair."

A paw smacked the back of my head, "Love you," she said.

"You too."

All in all, the least horrific horrific day I'd had. I decided to not think about how much worse things could have been and go to sleep instead.