"Goodness…"

Cas didn't even know what to do with himself when he returned home. He really needed to eat, but he didn't feel like going back outside for a while. This Dean fellow, though a bit brash, was overwhelmingly intoxicating. His musk was still heavy in Cas' nose. He kept inhaling, hoping that the smell would grow stronger but instead it slowly faded away.

"No…"

He closed his eyes and curled up into his nest. How strange was this experience? He couldn't help but wonder if all hunters had this effect on gatherers. Perhaps that was what led the two kinds of people to be separated.

"I can't…"

Cas kept mumbling to himself as he tried to get Dean's essence out of his mind. He covered his face with both hands and groaned loudly. What was he to do?! Who knew how long the hunters would stay! One strong alpha male couldn't stop him from going about his day. He had plenty of work to do. This was crazy.

He decided to get up anyway. Instilling himself with false confidence, he got out of his house and went into the woods to forage, bringing along a sturdy basket. Before he made it very far, he was flagged down by the beta female who had initially protested the pack's arrival.

"Cas!" she shouted.

"Tessa?"

"I want to talk to you for a moment."

"Okay."

Cas turned around and came back to face the woman. She was holding her eggs in a bundle but glaring at the man.

"I saw you talking to one of the hunters earlier," she said grimly.

"I did. Is that so wrong? They're our guests."

Tessa leaned closer to Cas and her voice dropped into a rigid whisper. "They are, but they're also hunters. And just so you know, the rest of our herd isn't exactly thrilled about you allowing them to stay."

"If we had a leader like they do, then we could have had them decide."

Tessa glared.

"Don't—don't start getting ideas from them! They're hunters!"

Cas sighed. There was no use in arguing. He wasn't entirely sure what to think of the matter, anyway. "We're all people," he said dismissively, turning away and going back into the woods.

"Cas!" Tessa yelled after him. He ignored it. His stomach was grumbling and that was much more important.

Though the forest was peppered with edible plants, Cas knew the best spots to find the sweetest, least picked over berries. He had to go some distance from his herd's settlement and hike over decently knotted roots. The ground, which was mostly flat all in the Valley, had slight dips and hills that Cas' feet knew very well. When he finally made it to his glade, he realized his was not alone.

"Tessa, please…"

His voice faded when he turned around and saw Dean standing there.

"Hey."

"Um, hello…Dean…were you following me?"

"Kind of."

Feeling violated, Cas kept his back towards a berry bush and held his basket close to his chest. Dean stood his ground and looked a little bashful.

"I heard that beta arguing with you," he said softly.

"Oh…"

"Now I feel bad that my pack is here."

Cas wrinkled his forehead. His shoulders relaxed and he lowered the basket. "Why?"

"It looks like your herd is mad because of us."

"No, my herd is mad because they're narrow minded. They're mad because I'm different."

"You think so?"

Cas nodded sadly. "I know so. They think I've chosen to be unmated, but I really didn't."

Dean stepped up to Cas now. His musk became noticeable and Cas swallowed tightly. It would be hard to focus with that strong scent.

"That's rotten," said Dean. "But it's weird, because you all think that hunters are savages…we would never treat a member of the pack differently for being unmated."

"I guess we are just different, then. That's it."

Cas sighed and quickly faced the berry bush. He had to distract himself from that strong, wicked smell. He pulled a few plump red ones and offered them to Dean.

"Do you eat fruit or only meat?"

Dean laughed. "We eat anything. Thanks." He took one of the berries and ate it. "This is great! Wow. Wish we grew fruit this good back where I'm from."

Cas was flattered. He gave Dean a few more berries and had some himself. "This is my special place for good fruit," he told the hunter. "Not many people in my herd know about it."

"I'll be sure to stay quiet."

"Oh, as if they would listen to you. I'd be surprised if they even gave you the chance to speak."

"You're right."

Dean decided to plot down on the grass and take his time eating the berries. Cas was filling the basket now. He used this as an excuse to keep some distance from Dean.

"If you don't mind me asking," Cas began, looking at Dean from time to time, "Why are you talking to me? Considering my herd and your pack ought not get along."

"I feel bad, partly. Bad 'cause I was rude to you earlier. But also I think you're nice to talk to. We have things in common."

"We do, but you lost your mate. I never had one."

Cas frowned as he said this. It was terribly rude to feel jealous that Dean had once had a clutch of eggs and a mate since they were all gone now. Dean glanced up at Cas.

"Does it matter what happened?" he asked. "The result is the same."

"I guess so."

"And in the end, my pack is gonna ship out of here and we won't see each again anyway. So why not make the most of it while we're here?"

Now Cas really frowned. What was the point of pursuing a friendship when it would end?

"I…guess so. But that sounds more like we shouldn't even start."

Feeling defeated, Cas took his basket and sat down close to Dean. He inhaled deeply and suppressed a tight moan.

"Never hurt to learn about new stuff," Dean said softly, popping a plump berry into his mouth. He eyed Cas and smiled. "Even if I only talk to you for two days, we'll retain what we learned forever."

"Hmm. Then what would you have us talk about?"

"Anything. Doesn't matter. Did you always live here?"

"Yes," Cas said, nodding confidently. "My herd has been in the Valley for generations upon generations. That's why we aren't afraid when your pack suggested we leave. We've been through storms. We've been through floods. The Valley provides and it has never let us down."

"Okay," Dean hummed. "That makes sense. But I doubt you've ever seen a storm like the one we faced. Think about it—it wiped out pretty much my entire pack. Just in an hour."

Cas gulped. "It…it couldn't be all that terrible, though…how is it possible? Had you seen storms like that before? Close?"

"No. Some thunder, some heavy rain, but this was the first time I experienced this kind of destruction. It was…horrible."

"Could you describe it? Or is that too painful?"

Dean took a deep breath. He had finished all of his berries and now his juice-stained fingers sat in his lap. Cas tried to focus on his words and not his scent.

"It's fine," Dean began. "The day was normal, though it had been pretty damn hot. We saw dark clouds coming as the sun began to set. Thought it was just some rain. The closer it got, we all realized that it wasn't just rain. It was the most mega-massive storm cloud ever.

"First there was wind. Wind that snapped trees, blew over our wagons, collapsed roofs," Dean shuddered at the memory. "A lot of us died from the wind alone. But that wasn't even the worst of it! Rain came along with lighting. Pow, pow, pow! The sky was dark and only the flashes lit up our world. I tried to hide my mate in the house, but the rain came so fast that it was flooding everything. We rushed out and scrambled with everyone else. Nobody knew what to do. It was raining so much, the wind was still blowing and our settlement was being demolished…"

"Oh, Dean, I'm sorry," Cas' tiny voice rang. He was compelled to touch the hunter's leg out of compassion. Dean didn't respond much to it.

"Cain got a hold of an upright wagon and was piling people into it. Nobody had time to grab many supplies. It was horrible. I can still hear the screams over the wind…"

"Dean," Cas interrupted again. He felt terrible for the man. It didn't matter that they were different kinds of people—loss was loss and pain was pain.

"My mate was about to get into the wagon when she dropped one of the eggs," Dean continued. His eyes looked empty as he stared at his hands. "It broke. I told her to get into the wagon anyway, Cain said we had to go right away and we still had two eggs left. But she freaked out so much that she jumped out of the wagon and tried to save the egg, even though it was gone. Then while she panicked, she um," he cleared his throat and looked at Cas, eyes bloodshot with tears, "She dropped the others. Cain told the wagon to move. My mate didn't know what to do, so she stood there and…well…"

He paused here. Cas recognized that it was wrong to say anything so they sat there in silent for a while. Lucky for him, the overwhelming sympathy made it easier to ignore Dean's scent. His instincts were quiet. Finally, Dean spoke again.

"I don't wanna say what happened, but we lost our eggs and I lost her."

"I'm sorry, Dean."

"Like I said before, it's okay. That's what happened and I've accepted it."

"Where will you go after this?"

"Follow my pack. Whatever Cain decides it what I'll do. Remember how I said I'm the second most potent alpha?" Cas nodded. How could he forget?! "When Cain dies, I become the leader."

Cas widened his eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter like it used to. What good is it to be the leader of a couple people?"

"There are still some eggs, right?"

"There are, but who are those kids going to breed with? We don't have enough people. We'll have to combine with another pack."

"Oh…that's true. Ah, wait!" Cas froze. "You aren't going to take over our herd, are you?!"

Dean couldn't help but laugh. "Why would we do that?"

"Because you're hunters?"

He kept laughing. "You're crazy, Cas. What do your people think hunters do? We hunt animals, not people. We would never do that. Joining another pack—not herd—is something that everyone votes on. Remember? We have leaders and make decisions and all of that. Don't worry."

Cas relaxed. "All right, I believe you."

"Anyway, I'm gonna get back to my pack. Thanks for the berries. Really. I appreciate it. I'll see you around."

Dean got up and said his goodbyes, leaving Cas sitting in the grass of the glade. Once the hunter was completely out of sight, Cas flung himself flat on the ground and sniffed where Dean had been sitting.

"Ohh, goodness!" he moaned. The aroma was so intense. Cas rubbed his face into the grass and smiled, closing his eyes. How could a person smell so good? Was this normal?