Warning: The one where there is knotting.
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Pervading cold.
His back is flat on hard rock.
There is a parcel of weight on his chest. Pointy bones dig between his ribs.
Dean takes a shaky breath, filling his lungs with chill damp air… salty, sour, the long dead crab that four year old Sammy had hidden in the Impala… in the background something sweet spicy musk and home…
Tiny slender fingers are wrapped around his left pointer finger. Dean's other hand braces a little body at its lower back.
There's a pup. A pup kneels on his body, a babe to keep warm and safe.
He tries to open his eyes but the lids weigh heavy.
When did he have a pup? Surely he'd remember his own child?
Did he hit his head when he fell to this unyielding ground?
He swallows hard, searching his errant brain for clues to piece together. He's collarless, unmated. Is the pup not his, this babe who tugs on his heart strings? How could he forget if he and Benny had a pup?
Benny!
Dean's eyes flash open.
The Angiak is perched upright, adhering to Dean's hand. Two gray fingers of its other hand are being sucked between thin bloodless lips.
Dean fixates on the pathetic creature, wowed that it downed him and pulled him into its lure, but also fascinated at its stillness and the way it is staring upwards with its huge glassy eyes… upwards at Benny.
Benny is scolding the Angiak, waggling a finger not ten inches from its face.
"You naughty little pup. Look what you've done to Omega Dean. He was trying to help you."
The Angiak's head tilts more towards the alpha. Its claw-like boney little fingers grip tighter, but the creature's attention is all devoted to Benny.
It makes a snuffling little cry. Dean almost passes out again in amazement, when the Angiak keels over, hiding its face into his neck. It rubs its cheek against the patch of skin revealed by the opening of Dean's coat and shirts, scenting and maybe scent-marking him.
Almost of its own volition, Dean's hand rises to rub soothing circles through the thin chilled damp shift covering the creature's back.
"You're a good pup. Bet you were real good for your Papa." Dean coos. He might be projecting but he imagines the tension loosening out of the tiny thing's muscles. "Alpha isn't upset with you. He's making sure we are okay. Poor baby, you are so cold."
There is muffled whine. Dean feels his body heat leeching out, being absorbed by the pup. He doesn't begrudge the lost of vitality. It's not much and he doesn't plan to allow it continue for long.
It flips his stomach that he is permitting a monster to feed on him, but this situation is like no other he ever encountered. He feels that this time he'll be doing the mark a favor by putting it down. Is the Angiak all monster? Does a remnant of Rowan Emery's pup exist? This creature has a miserable existence. Is it alone and crying under the waves except for once a year when it comes to search for its Papa? It finds an omega like Rowan and takes all their love, comfort and energy, which Dean now believes each boy freely offered before their memories were wiped. Under the sea, does it feed on its psychic link, drawing more through nightmares that plague the unfortunate donor, until they leave Gauntlet, mate their alpha, or time wears the link away?
If there was a spell to undo this curse or possession or whatever the fuck, then Dean would do it. He'd take the pup as his own. But there isn't a spell, and he wonders if that thought was original, or if mid-feed Jonah imagined the Angiak as his and Geoff's first pup.
It's difficult to rise without disturbing his burden. Strong arms come under his to help him up. Benny's got them. Dean leans sideways letting his alpha take his weight. He rubs their bodies together, thanking him wordlessly for his support, transmitting how glad he is that Benny is there.
The Angiak stirs, lifts its head, and fixes a glare at the alpha.
Benny's hand is not perfectly steady when he cards damp strands of dark hair back from the creature's forehead. It closes its eyes.
Dean shifts his hold, getting a hand under its butt, allowing it to wrap its legs around his hip opposite to Benny.
"You wanna come with us, Lil'one?" Benny asks softly with anxious eyes searching Dean's for approval.
"We'll go up along the cliff." Dean whispers tenderly, imbuing his voice with the encouraging lift he'd use with any toddling pup. He's not sure if it understands language, maybe it was Benny's chiding tone that had held its attention as Dean woke. On the other hand it must have been talked to by its victims. Perhaps it can mind read. Dean tries projecting a pleasant picture of walking the cliff path with Benny. "Come on, Little One, let's get out of this stinky cave."
Again it could be imagination or the feeding, but he feels the Angiak brighten at his words.
Benny guides them out. Dean clings to the nuzzling pup as he makes the short jump from the ledge. His alpha guides him by the elbow over the slimier jutting rocks. A wave reaches its white foam edge over Dean's boot, rippling into the rock pool he is crossing. The tide has turned. He must have unconscious for a while. Dean bites his lip, sorry for the worry Benny must have gone through.
Along the sands of Shark Tooth Bay, Benny takes off his coat and lays it over Dean's shoulders. It swaddles him and the pup, who makes a surprised meep, before snuggling into the material. The kindness has a dual purpose, to hide their burden from any late night prying eyes, and an attempt to prevent Dean from becoming more chilled.
Cradling the Angiak close, Dean allows Benny to assist again, leading them through the long grasses to where the hill rises. The Angiak makes suckling noises as if it misses its pacifier, though Dean guesses back then it was Rowan's nipple or nothing.
Dean's footing slips on the icy dew. Benny is there to make sure he doesn't slide down on his ass. By the light of the moon, Dean sees Benny shooting him a worried glance. The unspoken question, of if the spirit is draining Dean's life force too much, is answered silently with a shake of the omega's head.
Benny risks throwing his arm over Dean's shoulder. Before the Angiak can startle, the alpha begins to whistle. It takes Dean a few moments to place the tune as Benny moves between whistling and then humming Morningtown Ride. Dean rocks the little thing to the rhythm of their steps and the lullaby. As they crest the hill and move along the cliff path to where they can descend to the chapel, Dean croons the lyrics he remembers, skipping and changing a few words that escape him.
"Maybe it is raining where our crew will ride, all the little travelers warm and snug inside. Rocking rolling riding out along the bay."
The Angiak's lids fall. It rests against Dean, ears perked listening to the alpha's and the omega's attempt to soothe.
Benny joins in, "Somewhere there is day. Somewhere there is Morningtown many miles away"
With its eyes closed the slip of a pup looks pathetic and tugs on Dean's heart. He wishes it wasn't a child of the living dead. If this was a living victim of some other monster, then Dean would never let it go. He'd be at the nearest courthouse solemnizing his mating to Benny and applying to be its guardian. The seed of doubt erupts once more that these broody cravings are part of the Angiak's spell, a prelude to the grand finale sucking of energy and the amnesia. Deep down, Dean recognizes that walking along, cradling his own pup, under his alpha's arm, is something that he wants and that he'll fight to achieve. Mentally he thanks the revenant in his arms. He hopes there is a happy after for this more innocent, more desperate of the creatures he has hunted. He prays that both the Angiak and the soul of Pup Emery will be at rest.
The first indigo washes of pre-dawn hint in the East, when the scrape of the churchyard gate on gravel, alerts Dean that his alpha is opening the way. Benny marches towards the tall white chapel, but Dean is reluctant to enter the structure. It was the long dead church elders who condemned Rowan Emery and by default robbed Rowan's pup of life. Dean's got a fickle relationship with God. He's not above pleading for aid in dire situations, and he's seen some shit that would have a whore running for a nunnery. Holy water is one of the most efficient weapons. It must get its power from some divine source. At his core though, he's agnostic. What sort of God would permit the injustices and cruelties of this world? Where was God when a demon burned his Mommy on the ceiling? When Rowan Emery screamed to deaf ears that his pup was in the cave under The Knuckle?
He won't bring the Angiak into the church. The creature has existed exposed to the elements this long. They'll put it to rest outside amongst the stones.
Benny trails behind as Dean walks towards the dawn and the older markers. The omega carefully lowers his body to sit between two plots where no-one places flowers anymore.
Benny's got both canteens of holy water slung over his shoulder. Dean thinks he is whistling The Dock of The Bay. Settled down, he shucks the extra layer of his alpha's wool coat. The Angiak's skin is pinking up. It is not yet healthy, alive or human looking, but it has color in its cheeks. A little pink tongue darts out as if tasting the air. It makes a plaintive wail in Benny's direction, as if it wants the alpha to cuddle it too.
"I know. I know," Benny soothes, reaches his hand out and pats its back above Dean's hand.
Dean and Benny's fingers touch. The alpha's body heat makes Dean realize how cold he has become.
"How about a name?" Benny asks. "You think it'd like that?"
It can't do any harm. At least it will go to its eternal rest with its own name, not Angiak, or Pup Emery. Dean can't tell if it's male, female, alpha, beta or omega. No record existed of Rowan's child's gender. The monstrous spirit, possession, or transmutation has washed away the pup's humanity over multitudes of tides. Like its Papa it might take a gender neutral name, one Dean will etch into his heart, and Benny will never forget.
"Something universal?" Dean suggests, keeping his voice low.
Benny hums. "Phoenix?"
Dean shakes his head in awe. It's perfect. Benny got it in one.
"Hey pup," Dean tickles around the back of its ear. Eyes that seem navy blue look at him. "Phoenix Emery. I don't know if you remember, or if you're even the same being as the little pup left in the cave…"
The Angiak shudders.
"Phoenix rises from the flame. You like that? Pup Phoenix?"
The kiss is clumsy, wet, drooling, and lip smacking to Dean's jaw. The hunter blinks as his charge plants more unpracticed baby-kisses to his face. He laughs under the grateful affection.
It's time. They have done all they can for the Angiak. The day is brightening. Soon the first islanders will be about. Dean doesn't want to know how the Angiak hides omega prey during the daylight hours. On balance, battery powering Phoenix hasn't been the worst night of his life, but Dean hasn't signed up for disappearing into a fugue, being sucked into the earth, or sliding into another dimension, to be fed from until the moon begins to wane.
He cradles the pup close, takes a moment to rub its back and press his cheek to its forehead.
"Alpha." Dean lifts a hand for one of the canteens.
Benny uncaps it. The alpha surprises him by leaning down to kiss the top of the Angiak's head, causing it to snuggle with a purring noise into Dean's armpit.
Dean adjusts the pup so he can take its weight on his left arm. He sucks air, offering a hopeful prayer for a good outcome.
He tilts the canteen so a trickle of water flows gently over the Angiak's forehead. There is no hissing noise, no steam rising, no pain inflicted.
"Phoenix," Dean intones, pouring the second trickle of holy water.
The pup blinks at him. Benny crouches beside and places his arm the hunter's shoulders.
The third pour is not as feeble. Dean empties the canteen, water flowing through the pup's hair and over Dean's arm.
"I baptize you in the Name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost."
Benny adds softly, "Go in peace, Little One."
Dean's arms are lighter. The Angiak weighs less than a feather. A little tentative smile curves its lips. Dean is riveted by the sweet expression on its face, as it begins to blur. The body shape dissolves into gray smoke, features becoming indistinct, and then, like that, without fanfare, it is gone.
Tears flow down Dean's cheeks. He looks up. Streaks of wetness shine on Benny's face.
"Is it always so…" Benny chokes, "… sad?"
"No." Dean wails, unable to describe victory dances and fist pumps. His arms are empty.
Sadness at the whole freaking awfulness of the hunt gives away to the realization that they did it without harm, injury or casualties. Relief propels Dean into Benny's body, seeking heat, solace and safety.
Benny pats him down repeating, "Are you alright? Is it truly gone? Are you okay, Dean?"
"We did it," Dean sighs gladly, "You'n'me, Alpha."
Benny grins, as he helps Dean to his feet. The omega bends down to retrieve Benny's overcoat and offers to return it.
"I'm good, Sugar. You are frozen."
Dean rubs at his arms, his alpha's words are true. "How about we go home and warm up?"
Benny links his arm as they begin their walk back to the cabin. "Sounds good. Y'know, Darlin', you were amazing."
"You weren't so bad," Dean comments coyly. "Seeing you scolding it when I came round…"
There is a growly huff. "Your plea to hold back is all that stopped me from trying to behead the creepy thing… yet when you woke up, and you were cradling it, and it responded… I didn't know what to think."
"You did good." Dean praises.
"We make a good team." Benny responds.
Dean's chest puffs. He is not alone. His alpha and he make a good hunting pair.
Full of admiration, Benny asks, "How do you do it? Thankless, dangerous, yet you've saved countless boys from a terrifying experience."
"We saved them." Dean bumps his alpha's shoulder. "That's the reward, saving people, knowing you've made a difference."
"I can see it."
"You can?"
"Yeah Sugar. I can." Benny smiles. "And I saw you, so focused, so determined, yet you weren't cruel or mean to the poor weird creature. I feel we did good for Phoenix too. You were superb."
Dean chuckles. "I'm a badass omega."
He twists on his heel to walk a few steps backwards and wink at his alpha.
"Nothing bad about that sweet ass, Darlin'" Benny gives as good as he gets.
Dean smacks him on the arm, comes closer, gets to fulfill a desire and pull Benny by the suspenders until their bodies are flush. Their lips meet in a passionate embrace fueled by released endorphins of a post-hunt high. Dean's back hits the side of the firehouse. He pulls on elastic, not letting Benny go. A hand cups his neck, directing the kiss.
"There ain't nothing more that I want than to claim you here and now," Benny rumbles.
Dean's agreement in lost into his alpha's skin.
"But I don't wanna be arrested for indecency."
With a full body chuckle, Dean steps out of the embrace. "Race you home."
"Dean!"
The omega gets a few yards head start, but as their laughter and pounding feet enliven the deserted Gaunt street, Benny catches up. He puts all his alpha on display, scooping Dean up, arms under his knees. The omega's mirth spills over. He attributes being snagged into a bridal carry to his drained energy. He doesn't bother rationalizing how he throws his arms around Benny's neck and tries to suck a deep hickey into his neck on the way to the cabin.
"Gonna warm you up." Benny promises. "Gonna share my body heat under our blankets. Gonna feel your skin against mine."
"That's more like it." Dean mutters.
Placed on his feet to enter the cabin, Dean pulls Benny through the door, slamming it behind. Clothes fly. Weapons clatter to the floor. Benny growls, crowding his omega backwards in a way that sparks a flare of need. Dean nips at exposed neck, rubs his lips into Benny's beard. Knees hit the bed. Craving all of his alpha, Dean pulls him down. They maul each other like lions at play. They roll in the linens, tossing them, rooting to make a mating nest. They instinctively synchronize, always in skin to skin contact. It's primal and raw and so right. Dean wants to present. He makes to go on his knees, whines when Benny manhandles him onto his back.
"See you." Benny commands.
Dean reaches to join their fingers together. He strains his neck back exposing as much of his throat as he can. Benny leans down, pushing their hands to the pillows and nibbles at Dean's skin. He sucks the column of Dean's neck, traces with teeth, pinches where collar bone joins shoulder.
"Here?" The alpha asks.
"Yes, Hell Yeah. Come on, Alpha, come on." Dean pants. Every fiber craves this. He wants Benny's bite, his claim, his knot. He wants to be Benny's, wants Benny to be his.
It's painful, blinding, hurts. Hallmark cards never write verses about the intense agony of teeth tearing into skin, blood pumping burn. Dean digs his nails into the back of Benny's hands. He hisses through it. Benny growls, highly aroused, cock hard as diamond, hot and trapped. His alpha laves the wound, saliva mixing his omega's blood. And Dean is slick, hips rising. The sudden pain is fading to a background ache, replaced by vigorous need to be joined into one mated couple with his alpha.
"Need you." Dean keens.
"I got you." Benny grinds down.
"Benny." Dean releases his grip on his alpha's hands, uses the freedom to touch, wrap their bodies tighter.
Benny slides down. Ecstasy breaks over the hunter as the tip of his head is kissed, sucked and given his alpha's full attention. This is all kinds of wonderful but the claim craves to be fulfilled.
Dean mewls and wriggles for attention, uncaring of the wanton image he presents. Benny releases his cock to chuckle. Goddamn him.
"Alpha. Please." Dean begs. The need is driving him crazy.
"My omega. My Dean."
Beard rubbing sensitive inner thigh skin, Benny's tongue swipes Dean's heavy sack. Fingers find him wet, open, willing, trembling.
"Bestest Omega."
The praise glows.
Dean's hands rove to find his alpha's swollen velvet length. Under Dean's enthusiastic jerking hand job, he can feel Benny's knotting muscles clenching in preparation. Breath catches that he is the one eliciting Benny's knot to swell. Omega power is sweet and heady. Benny's knot promises to be formidable and it's all for him.
"Dean, open for me." It's a directive from his alpha, said with tender awe.
Drawing his knees up, Dean almost loses his senses at the sensation of Benny's tongue sucking and laving his rim. He grips his own legs for want of what to do.
"My alpha. My Mate… my mate…" The word is amazing.
Dean's mate enters slowly, allowing him to adjust to the push and slight burn. He's filled in a way he'd never imagined, relentlessly and completely. His blood pounds, thundering through his veins, heart stutters with arousal.
"Move, Alpha. Please move."
And Benny does, filling the morning air with terms of endearment and praise, receiving his name on a looping repeat from Dean's throat. Benny catches Dean's prostate. His ball sack slaps Dean's skin. His knot grows, putting delicious yet maddening pressure on the omega's gland. As Dean comes with a roar, hot strings of spend hitting Benny's and his torsos, his omega muscles lock in Benny's knot, tying them together.
"Sugar, Oh," Benny breathes, head thrown back, sweat decorating his neck and chest, "So good. Can't hold. Oh, Dean. My Mate."
His alpha's whole body vibrates as he comes. Knot pulses. Come coats Dean's insides, continuously pulsing filling him.
"I wish I was in heat." Dean cries aloud, out of the blue overwhelmed by wanting a pup of their own.
"Shush, Darlin', shush, Mon Cher." Benny's hand cards his hair. Eyes shine full of devotion from above.
"Benny." Dean's throat is raw, his heart open and exposed.
"We'll have your heats," Benny pledges, shifting them to face each other on their sides, tangling legs, ensuring his weight won't crush his new mate while they are tied. "We'll have our time for a pup… pups?"
The hopeful end lilt has Dean smiling.
"Sugar, our mating is ours."
A wrinkle creases Dean's brow seeking explanation.
"We decided," Benny begins, stroking the side of Dean's face. "No, scratch that… we chose each other. If I had no morals, we could have mated that first night. Our scents matched."
Dean hums. He wouldn't have objected because it is Benny, but it would have been traumatic to go from being almost raped to be suddenly mated.
"We discovered each other compatible. We get on. Hell, I went on your hunt." Benny grins.
"Hunted together." Dean amends.
That earns him a kiss pressed to his jaw.
"No heat pheromones. No heat cravings clouding your mind or mine. That's what I mean. United, joined, and mated because we freely give each other." With careful enunciation, Benny whispers into the shell of Dean's ear. "I freely give myself to you."
"And I to you." Dean responds with the rote mating ceremony words for betas and alphas. Normally the omega speaks the words Benny uttered and the alpha accepts the gift with a simple 'Mine' or 'My Omega'.
They fall into a light slumber. Dean wakes. They remain tied but muscles no longer seize. Benny eases them gingerly into a spooning position. He wraps his arms around Dean anew.
"Will we have to leave here?" Benny asks over Dean's shoulder.
A stone of regret lodges in Dean's stomach. "I can stay if you wish it."
"But you would be miserable trapped on this island." Benny speaks Dean's unformed thoughts. "Not hunting, away from your Dad."
Dean raises an eyebrow unseen by his mate. Being away from John for a spell isn't high on his list of downsides.
"I need to talk with Mac. Don't wanna leave him hanging. Might have to put in a couple shifts." Benny clicks his tongue. "A few days, Dean? Is that good for you?"
"Yes, Alpha. That's good." Dean's eyes water. He's the luckiest son of bitch on the planet.
"How's the mark?" Benny's fingers tip lightly around the bite.
"Sore," Dean cranes his neck and eyes trying to see the wound. "Not too bad. 's not bleeding."
"I'll dress it when we get up."
"That'd be peachy." Dean mumbles, pulling one of his alpha's strong arms around him and making a comfy nest in their cocoon for another nap. He bets Benny's one of those romantic minded alphas who renew their claim with purpling hickeys, never letting it fade away. He makes a personal vow to always adorn his alpha's skin with his own marks.
"I'm sorry, Mon Cher, there's nowhere to purchase a collar on Gauntlet." Benny rushes to add on, "That's if you don't want mating rings instead, because…"
It's Dean's turn to shush his mate. He twists his neck round so he can see Benny, saying firmly, "I want your collar."
The force of his statement shocks them both. The vehemence comes from Dean's most hoarded desires.
"All my life I've denied, been denied, been unable to be who I am. Forced to pass as beta. Sups and chemicals rammed down my gut. Unable to ride out my heats. Pretending I don't care, didn't want…" Dean gulps back all his pent up sorrows. He steadies his voice. "I am omega and I will not hide any longer. I am proud to be your mate. I don't want a ring exchange, I want everyone to know I'm your omega, My Alpha."
"Dean," Benny holds him tight, "I'd be honored."
"I'm not wearing sparkles." Dean pouts happily, "or pink, or freaky D-rings, or some shiny metal chain link necklace thing."
"Uh-hum, Dean picks his own collar. Check."
"You've gotta like it too." Dean pipes up.
"I got input. Check." Benny's chest rumbles with amusement. "Better wait until we hit Bangor, or maybe Portland, to find a mating notary. Wouldn't want a place with a poor selection of collars, you might dump my ass."
That joshing earns Benny a soft elbowing. "Shuddup. I'm no diva."
"I know, Sugar. You want the perfect one."
"Right on." Dean is mollified. Snuggles in, all is good. He treasures this time, the morning of his mating. He tries to commit each detail to memory, to freeze it cryogenically or in the amber of his cortex. He wants to store it up against crap future days, troubles they will face. When the shit hits the fan without a paddle, from now on, he'll have Benny beside him, joined, each holding a piece of the other, mates.
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Just to be a party pooper I will kindly remind my readers that Dean needs to call John.