"Once the skin is pulled off, we clean it and leave it to dry."

"It's a bit gross."

"You'll get used to it."

Dean and Cas were preparing the deer together. They were outside of the home and working on the ground.

"The skin's important. We can use the fur to make clothes, and they're really useful in the snow."

Cas looked at Dean quizzically. "Snow?"

"Uh, yeah. Snow."

"What is that?"

Dean slowly set down the tool he was using to skin the deer and turned to Cas. "You don't know what snow is? Like in winter? The cold white stuff that freezes or turns into water?" Cas shook his head. "How cold does it get here in winter?"

"Cold enough to kill off most of the fruit. That's difficult. The grass doesn't grow. But…snow?"

"I guess it's not that bad inside the mountains. Where I'm from, winter gets pretty brutal. It snows and snow, which means nothing can grow. We gotta be careful with our livestock or they can die. And then, well, we hibernate…"

Dean had a feeling that Cas wouldn't know that word, and he was right. The beta shot another puzzled stare at him.

"Hibernating is when you sleep for days—weeks, even, sometimes."

Cas suddenly looked shocked. "That's possible?!"

"For us, yeah. But only if it's super cold and we let our bodies feel it. We'll nestle up in our homes and sleep for a wicked long time."

"And you don't have to eat?"

"Nope, we sleep through it."

"That's so strange!"

Dean laughed gently. "I think it's strange that you all don't do it."

"I never realized how blessed we were in this place. I knew that it was special, but…"

"It's special for me, too." Dean leaned over and kissed Cas on the lips. "It's where I met my mate."

"Ohh."

Cas closed his eyes and inhaled rigidly. Dean's touch was very welcome. Even though they had mated twice now, a kiss from him still felt electric.

They continued to work on the deer until all salvageable parts were removed and the meat was ready to be cooked. Dean showed him how to salt and dry some of it to keep for later, while the rest was to be cooked over an open flame. Cas didn't worry about his herd being upset. They needed to get used to him and his mate cooking meet. For Gadreel and Gabe, this was already happening.

"Hail, Dean," Gadreel said in his usually calm voice. He and his mate approached the spit roast casually. Gabe had his eggs. "We see that you're preparing hunter's food."

"Yeah," said Dean. "You wanna join?"

The other couple looked at one another. Gabe grinned real wide and Gadreel gave a tiny nod.

"Very well," said the taller one, "Thank you."

Cas was most pleased with this. He missed interacting with his herd. It was nice for them to give his new lifestyle a chance.

"I wanna try this meat stuff," said Gabe. He sat on a rock carefully and nestle his eggs better into his lap. "Dreel says he will, too."

"Will you?" Cas asked to be sure. Gadreel looked mildly uncertain.

"Yes," he said. His voice was dry.

"Here ya go!"

Dean gave a cheer as he began to pull cooked meat off of the bones. Gabe was interested to watch but Gadreel seemed a little nauseated by it all. When the hunter gave him a plate of venison, he politely sampled it despite his clear disgust of the idea. Dean and Cas watched patiently.

"Well?" Dean asked.

Gadreel chewed on it with great care, his forehead wrinkled up in thought, then swallowed and said, "It's better than I had thought."

Dean laughed and touched Cas' shoulder. "See? They're all right!"

Gabriel was more excited to give it a shot, but he found the flavor to be too strong.

"Argh, and I thought it'd be good!" he groaned.

"It's okay," Dean told him, taking the meat back. "I bet there's some sort of animal out there you'd enjoy. Deer does tend to be strong."

"Blah."

He was grumpy now, especially when he was Gadreel, who was so adamantly against it at first, enjoy himself. But everyone had a good chat and a laugh, and by the time evening was rolling in, there were no frowns.

"We are going to sleep now," Gadreel said as he stood up. The fire glowed on his face. "Tomorrow, we will harvest the wheat."

"Thanks for everything!" Gabe exclaimed, joining his mate and waving.

"Goodbye," Cas told them both.

"Take care," said Dean.

After their guests left, Dean and Cas brought everything inside and also began to unwind for the night. Cas got some water he was keeping in a bowl and washed his mouth out while Dean was going through his belongings.

"Since we're basically our own little pack down," said the alpha, "Could you help cut my hair?"

"Of course."

Dean had a small pair of metal scissors that he handed to his mate.

"Oh!" Cas hummed loudly as he took them. "This is nice metal! Where did it come from?"

"My pack used to work with it. We had a few mines near our settlement."

"Incredible! Did you make money out of it? I know the scissors and razors that we bought from caravaners was incredibly priced."

"Nah, we never sold it. The work put into mining it was so much and so dangerous that we just had enough for our own use."

"Ah, I see. That makes sense."

Dean sat down and Cas squat behind him with the scissors in his hand. He had cut other's hair before so it was nothing new, though Dean liked it quite short. It took a little while and by the time he was done, they were exhausted.

"I'm going to share my nest with someone," Cas mused to himself softly as he prepared the sleeping area. Dean undressed completely and sat down into the nest.

"I kinda wish it was my first time, too," he said.

"I don't care."

Cas eyed Dean's incredible body while he disrobed, too. He politely sat next to him and they embraced.

"No?" Dean asked.

"No."

They shared a few kisses and lay down. Cas faced Dean and hooked a leg around his. Dean smiled.

"I do love you," the alpha whispered. "With all my heart. You're a good guy. Sweet, intelligent…"

"Oh, Dean, I love you so…"

One of Dean's hands came down to Cas' stomach and gently touched him there. "Let's hope…"

"Yes, indeed."

It didn't take very long and they were both asleep

The following morning was hotter than before. Nobody slept well. The air was soupy with humidity and the sun, which hadn't even raised much yet, was already too hot.

Cas and Dean immediately went down to the river upon waking up. They stepped inside the cool water together and enjoyed it before starting their day. When they passed the pack's wagons, Dean noticed that they were urgently preparing to leave.

"Are you heading out now?" Dean asked Meg.

"Mm. Cain says it's going to storm."

Cas felt his nerves jump.

"And how does he know?" Dean snapped.

"The heat. The air. He says it feels like the before and we aren't taking chances. But…"

Meg looked at both Cas and Dean. She smiled sadly.

"But Cain wants to leave one of our wagons with you, in case you decide to follow us."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. We're going to mark our way with pennants bearing the mark of the Pastures. If you want to follow…you'll have a safe route."

"Mark of the Pastures?" Cas asked.

"The sign that represents where we've come from," said Dean. "They're on our wagons."

Dean pointed to a sign above the rear entrance to one of them. Cas hadn't noticed before, but there was a triangular flag that had a red flag with a green light painted beneath it.

"Oh," Cas hummed. "I see. But…Meg, do you…think…"

"No idea," she said. "But we've decided to leave so we're going to."

The pack was in a bit of a panic, clearly. The betas with eggs were nowhere to be seen, while everyone else scurried about the place and packed things into their wagons. Dean offered his assistance but they didn't want it. They had a small pack and waited for the pack to head out.

"Dean?"

Cain took the alpha aside.

"We're still going to stay," Dean replied instantly. "Thanks for the wagon."

"To be fair, it is yours. You deserve to keep it. However…we would strongly encourage you to join us. Perhaps not now, but someday. You and your mate shall always be welcome within our pack."

"Thanks."

"We worry about the weather, though. I wish you would heed our warnings."

"I just don't think a storm could be that bad here, and what're the odds of another one coming here?"

Cain hesitated.

"We—believe—that maybe all of the land is to be struck by such a storm, and then not again."

"And what makes you think that?" Dean asked, sucking his teeth.

"We have had signs."

"You and your ladies?"

Cain nodded. Dean frowned.

"Well," the leader said quietly, "Good luck."

Dean gave a small sigh and turned away. He rejoined Cas and went back to their house.

"What about the wagon?" Cas asked as they walked.

"I'll get it."

"That's very generous of them, don't you think?"

Dean said nothing. He just sighed and groaned to himself. Cas was worried.

"Are you positive that you would rather stay here?"

"Yeah."

"Absolutely?"

"Mmhm."

Apprehensive, Cas collected some fruit for breakfast and they ate within the house. It was so terribly hot already that they wanted to minimize their time inside.

They day rolled on painfully. Dean was clearly bothered by his pack leaving, whether it be a potential storm of the secret desire to go with them, Cas did not know. It wasn't until the next morning that Dean's attitude changed.

"Dean! Dean! Wake up!"

Cas sat up and shook his mate awake.

"Mm…huh…whaa…huh?"

Dean blinked his heavy eyelids and looked up at Cas. It was another hot morning. The room was uncomfortable but Cas was smiling.

"Feel me!"

His low voice was pleasantly ecstatic. He had two hands on his stomach and left room for one of Dean's. The alpha touched him.

"I dunn gettittt…wutt'm I feelin'?"

"I'm with eggs!"

"AH!"

This snapped Dean awake instantly. He sat up now and touched Cas with both hands. He felt and felt, applying a gentle pressure as he tried to feel something inside. Just behind his navel, there was a bumpy feeling and Dean grinned.

"It is!" He yelped. "You're growing eggs! Holy shit! It's—hoh—it's gonna happen fast, now! They grow real, real fast! Oh, praise Chuck!"

They both stood up and embraced, exchanged wild kisses and many laughs.

"I'm still fertile," Cas uttered, tears of joy rolling from his eyes now. "We're going to have a family!"