There was no point in continuing the hunt that night, since it was growing rapidly dark and Meg had inevitably been prowling throughout the day. They set up a small camp right then and there and settled for the evening. Charlie had many questions for Meg.

"So you're a hunter?"

"Yeah."

"And you hunt? Live in a pack?"

"Mhm."

They watched each other across the fire Cas had built. Charlie was incredibly intrigued and that didn't come as a surprise since she told Cas earlier about her jealousy of Ruby.

"You must be a great hunter!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Must be," Meg said with a smirk. She chewed a piece of dried venison and continued, "You walked right into my trap, you know."

"It was amazing! It really was. You used your horse as a decoy. I always thought my senses of the forest were incredibly honed, but I didn't hear you coming at all!"

Charlie smiled wide-eyed as she showered Meg with endless praise. Cas remained silent the entire time, with his eyes going from hunter to fairy rapidly, intrigued by their discussion. He was happy to be out of the spotlight for once.

"Ah, it's just how we're raised," Meg explained rather humbly. "You fairies don't have animals?"

"We do, but we rely on our speed, mostly. Not traps and cunning. I'm impressed! You came rather slow, didn't you?"

"Mmh," Meg hummed. "I can't exactly give away my techniques."

"And that blade? Is that what you hunt with?"

"Now always. We have traps and smaller knives, larger knives."

Cas couldn't believe that. Her blade was already so gigantic that he figured there was no point in one larger.

"We also adopted the bow and arrow."

"Bow and arrow?" asked Charlie.

"That's what Dean used, right?" Cas chimed in now. Meg nodded slowly and took another bite of meat.

"Something his mother brought into our pack," she said.

"His mother? He never told me about her."

"Well," Meg hesitated softly, "He didn't know her."

"What happened?" Charlie asked, sitting so close to the edge of the log she roosted that she nearly fell off. Her wings fluttered erratically. Apparently, storytelling was a grant past time for the fairy folk.

"I wasn't around," Meg began, "I've only heard this story from Cain, and he's never said everything. But Dean's mother came here when he just a baby. She wandered into our pack seeking refuge. She had the bow and arrow and a lot of things. We think she came from the city."

"The city…"

Cas' eyes stared at the ground with wonderment.

"So…Dean doesn't really have the blood of a hunter?"

"We raised him to be one," Meg boasted. No doubt anyone would be proud to have such a skilled alpha formed amongst their own people. "They say that his mother wanted that. And then, she left…"

"Any idea where she went?" The fairy asked in a tiny, curious voice.

"I don't really know, but I have a feeling she had come from the big city to the southeast. The one that I'm going to get the rest of my potion ingredients in."

"You're going to a big city?!"

Charlie's wings flapped even greater now.

"Yep! Why? You want to come with me?"

The fairy froze.

"C-Can I?"

"They won't be able to see you," Meg snickered.

"Not right now, no—but they will! If I spend enough time around you, my resistance will fade and they will see me. Just like Ruby!"

"Right," Cas agreed softly when the fairy looked in his direction. "You realize that I can't come with you."

"I know," Charlie said sadly. She knew that truth was coming.

"It's okay," Meg told him. "Charlie and I can do it. Hm?"

"Yeah! But will you help us find the unicorn still?"

Cas took a deep breath.

"One more day," he said. "I'll help for one more day but then I must keep going."

"Do you know where you're going?" asked Meg.

"No, but I wish I did…"

"Maybe you ought to ask Chuck again?" the fairy asked.

That was good advice. His initial sign had come from the heavens, and perhaps now he needed another to reassure his efforts.

Once Charlie and Meg settled for the night, Cas took his egg and wandered to a place where the treetops opened enough that he could see the sky. He studied the stars momentarily to get his bearings and make sure he was facing east, and then he closed his eyes and prayed.

"Is Dean out there? Is he waiting for me? Am I heading the right direction? All I need…is another sign…tell me if I'm correct…"

As soon as he opened his eyes, he looked up and waited. Just as before, another meteor came shooting by, headed in the exact same easterly direction. It wasn't as big as the first, in fact it was quite tiny, but still obvious.

Cas held his breath as he saw it, sure that it was a sign. There was no way that a coincidence could be that exact.

It wasn't done, either! Another one came, and a third! The same size and all heading in the same direction. Cas waited and waited, but that was it. Three together. That was more than enough, though—he had been told again that the east was where he must go.

"Cas, even if you don't find Dean, I'm happy that you have that egg."

It was morning now, and the three were up and already back on the path to finding the unicorn.

"Me, too," Cas hummed. He looked down at the bundle strapped to his chest and touched it fondly, one hand still grasping the horse's reins.

"Yeah, but," Charlie interrupted, "If you find Dean, you can just have more, right?"

She was sitting on Meg's horse now, arms around her waist. Cas thought nothing of it.

"Not exactly," Cas admitted. "I'm sure my fertile years are coming to a close."

"Fertile years?"

Meg looked back at Charlie and nodded.

"Our betas can only have eggs until they're, what, 24? 25?"

"About that, yes," Cas agreed. "How long are fairies fertile?"

Charlie laughed. "A long time! But…that's so sad! You need fairy dust!"

"Fairy dust?"

Both Cas and Meg asked simultaneously.

"Fairy dust! I throw it on you and you'll have at least five more years of fertility!"

The horses both slowed as Cas showed keen interest in this magic. Charlie was more than eager to help, so she leaped off of Meg's stallion and pulled a tiny pouch from her things. She went to open it but Cas stopped her.

"Wait!" he yelled. Meg laughed. "You need to ask people before you do throw powder on them, or give them the fairy touch!"

Charlie frowned.

"Okay…do you want the fairy dust?"

"What happens when you do it?"

"A few more years of fertility."

"Will it hurt? Will anything else change?"

Charlie shook her head. "Painless, nothing else. Oh, you might get spots like I have…"

Cas flared his nostrils. "Spots?! On my face like that?"

"I don't think they'll be on your face! Just your hips and back! But they're cute, aren't they?"

Cas wasn't sure how to respond. Meg, however, had some ideas.

"What's a few spots for another shot at making a big family with Dean?"

A big family with Dean?

The beta closed his eyes. He thought about having eggs again, only this time Dean would be there. And they would have many. So many.

"I want the fairy dust."

"Okay!"

As if she had been waiting anxiously for years, she pulled open the tiny pouch and tossed a huge handful of sparkling powder all of Cas. It puffed out smoke, and the pieces were so fine that it nearly was a gas and not a solid! It was an interesting sight to behold, since the cloud had an iridescent shimmer to it. But, as quickly as Charlie had tossed it, the dust settled and slowly faded.

"How do you feel?" Meg asked after giving Cas a moment.

"Unchanged, really."

"I bet it's worked and I bet it was worth it!" Charlie said. She turned to Meg. "What about you? Do you want more fertile years? Or do you, um—" her voice slowed and the excitement dwindled. Cas thought she may have even been embarrassed. "Or do you have eggs already?"

Meg pursed her lips.

"I did, but not anymore. But I don't need that powdery shit. Alphas don't lose their fertility until they're old."

The fairy's eyes opened wide. She nearly dropped the now-empty pouch.

"Alpha? Did you say—"

Proudly, Meg tilted her head and said, "Yeah, that's right. I'm an alpha."

"An—alpha—female?! There's—such a thing?!"

Charlie's face burned bright red and she suddenly couldn't look at Meg. Cas watched carefully but said nothing.

"It's rare," Meg added. Nothing more was said about that.

The hunt for the unicorn continued well into the greater part of the day, and Cas was becoming tiresome. He kept thinking about the shooting stars and wondered if they had any time significance. The longer he wandered the woods with the two ladies, the longer Dean might be waiting. Or in pain. Cas shuddered.

"I think it's about time for me to take a different path," he announced grimly.

"Already?" Charlie asked in a sad voice. She sounded defeated. "But the unicorn…"

"We've been looking but we don't even have a lead. At all. I can't keep wasting my time."

"Wait!"

Meg's voice broke the sadness. She pointed at the forest floor and immediately dismounted the horse.

"Look!"

Squatting down to the check the soil, she noted a trail of hoof prints that they hadn't noticed yet. Charlie and Cas both joined her.

"Maybe they're from us?" Cas suggested.

"No, look…"

Meg used her open palm to measure the length of their horses' prints and compared them to the new ones. These were nearly twice as big. Cas' eyes widened.

"Could it be?"

"Oh, Cas! You can't leave us now!" Charlie pleaded, her wings fluttering at a great speed. "We've made progress! Just one more night! We might never see you again!"

Cas gave in. Charlie had a point. The tracks were unusual and it would be worth pursuing them. Unfortunately, the large hoof prints only went so far.

"Damn!"

Meg cursed when they realized the tracks were gone. They had suddenly vanished in the middle of a muddy path.

"How?!"

"It's getting dark," Charlie said with a yawn. "Maybe we'll see them better tomorrow?"

"Then you'll track them without me," said Cas. "I'm sorry. I'll stay this night but leave in the morning."

Nobody could argue with that, and they were at least happy that Cas would rest with them. He made up a nest and settled in, keeping his egg nice and close. He wasn't sure what Charlie and Meg's sleeping arrangements were and it didn't matter. It was none of his business.

He closed his eyes and thought about Dean. Maybe he wasn't very far away, now—maybe that's what the meteors meant. Perhaps he just had to leave the forest and he would run into him. Meeting Sam and Ruby and then Meg was just as unlikely, and it happened. He had been saved by many people now. It was time for fate to turn around on him.

"So…an alpha female?"

Cas was about to fall asleep when he heard Charlie speaking in a soft voice, not terribly close but close enough that he could understand her.

"Yeah."

"I'm kinda…interested in what you have, um, down there…"

This was a private conversation that Cas shouldn't have been eavesdropping on, but in all honesty, he wondered what Meg had beneath the hood, too.

"I've got a little, tiny penis, like your small finger," Meg explained. Her voice was light and comical. "It doesn't do much. I don't need it."

"Oh! I have one of those, too! I've been an alpha, too?"

"No, I don't think so…hm…let me see."

"See? Okay."

There was the sound of clothes shifting. Cas held his breath. He felt terrible for listening, but they weren't trying to hide their words as well as they could.

Charlie gasped softly.

"That's just your beta female bits," Meg said as if she were an expert on the matter. "My old mate had the same thing."

"Ohh. Could I…see yours?"

"Sure."

More shifting noises and Charlie made a loud sound of surprise. Meg grunted.

"How do you breed, then?" the fairy asked.

"You see this hole? Just like yours…when I get off and I come, my sperm juices out of me and, haha…you can…you can figure the rest out."

"Then you rub them together?"

"Mm…"

"Curious."

"You want to try?"

Cas almost gasped audibly. This was certainly something he should never listen to! He went to cover his ears, but he realized that would involve letting go of his egg. He didn't like to do that when he slept, so he was forced to listen, trying his best to replace their noises with images of Dean.

"Sit together like this," Meg said. "I'll hook my leg—oof—just—aah…"

"Oh, my!" Charlie breathed. "Then we grind like—aah!"

"It's good, it's good! The stickiness is good!"

"Ah, by Chuck! Ooh!"

Guiltily, Cas closed his eyes tight and worked harder than ever to block out their noises. This was intimate. It was wrong of him to hear. Why couldn't they be quieter? They went on for a long while, but at least Cas was finally able to envision his darling Dean instead.