Chapter 5: Destined

Sam let out a strangled sob, pulling Gabriel in for a bruising kiss as cheers sounded from their friends and pack mates. Gadreel and Castiel joined the pair in the circle, embracing their brother and the alpha holding him tightly. Gabriel pulled away from Sam long enough to embrace his brothers, wiping the tears from his eyes before turning to Rowena. "Thank you," he managed, his voice weak from disuse.

Rowena smiled and moved closer to the omega, running gentle fingers across his forehead as she checked her handiwork. "It looks like the graft is holding just fine. Your own brain will rework its neural connections to adjust for the repairs we made. You may find yourself forgetting how to say certain words for a while, or saying to wrong words, but it will get better the more you speak. I get the feeling that you enjoy talking, so that part should not be hard."

Gabriel grinned and turned back to Sam, glancing at Dean who had moved to sit behind his brother. "Thank you, both of you, for everything you did to help me. I can never repay you."

Dean grinned and reached over Sam's shoulder and clasped the omega's shoulder. "You don't have to, Gabe. You're family, and we take care of our family."

The blonde ducked his head and tucked it under Sam's chin, completely overwhelmed by Dean's support and his own sudden return to health. Sam stood up from the uncomfortable kneeling position he had been holding since the spell, slipping one arm under Gabriel's legs and holding him close to his chest. He wasn't willing to lose contact with the omega just yet. "I need to take him somewhere quiet where he can rest. Tasha, do you have a room?"

"Take the one that Cas, Balthy, and I have been using between hospital shifts," Gadreel offered. "You remember where it is?"

"Yeah. We'll be out in a couple of hours for supper."

Cas and Gadreel moved back to the bed against the wall, holding each other and whispering softly as they came to terms with everything that had happened since that morning. Dean pulled Benny and Tasha to the side, working out a new guest room situation since Sam and Gabriel would no longer need to stay in the hospital wing. Jo moved to join the two redheaded witches on the floor, helping to move the candles back into their protective boxes.

"Hi, I'm Jo," the blonde offered. "We didn't really get a chance for introductions earlier."

Rowena nodded politely and touched her fingers to the alpha's cheek, taking a quick measure of the woman before returning to her supplies. "I met your mother once, Jo, before you were born. She was scouting near Spellbound lands and we had a bit of a chat. Wonderful woman."

"Thank you," Jo replied, confusion in her brown eyes.

Charlie chuckled as she started to clean the sigil off of the floor. "Don't mind her, Jo; Rowena has a story about everyone. Either she knew your ancestors or she has a story about your lineage that she thinks you need to know."

"They do need to know," Rowena countered. "None of these wolves know their history, and it's high time they learned. Wait until I've had a wee nap and something to eat and I'll have some more stories for all of you. Charlie, can you finish cleaning up?"

"Yeah, of course." Rowena carefully rose to her feet, smoothing her hands down her simple purple dress before moving to join Tasha and Dean near the door. The Wilderness omega took her arm and led her out of the room, Max at their heels as the women talked about the spell the witch had just cast.

Dean tapped Benny's shoulder and nodded toward the two omegas, waiting until all three were gone before joining Jo in the center of the room. "Jo, Sam told me about the supply issue, and it's not a big deal. I'll bring it up to Asa in the morning and we'll probably lead some hunting parties out later this week."

"Alright, cool. I'll work on that in the morning. Who can I count on to join?"

Dean shrugged. "All of us will help out. Now that Gabriel is better, we don't have to stay so close to the city. We may even be able to peel Sam away from his side for a few hours."

Jo snorted as she took a wet cloth to the floor, scrubbing away the dark lines. "Yeah, right. You won't be able to pull them apart until spring."

Dean chuckled and rolled his eyes, leaving the two women to clean in peace.

Charlie watched Jo for a long moment before she decided to speak. "So, how long have you been running with the Winchester brothers?"

"Couple of years. I wanted to run with an established band for a while before I had to go home and worry about finding a mate and a place in the pack. I give them a hard time, but I love both of those boys like brothers. I couldn't ask for a better family."

"They risked a lot for Gabriel, for an omega from a rival pack. I'm kinda impressed, and so is Rowena. She came because of that."

Jo reached out with curled fingers and brushed her knuckles against Charlie's collarbone. In her pack, it was a friendly, open gesture of respect between equals. Startlingly green eyes rose to scrutinize the alpha's face, a slow grin spreading across the young witch's face. "You came, too," Jo murmured. "It couldn't have been easy, putting yourself at the mercy of this pack in the hope that you could help one broken omega find his voice."

"It couldn't have been easy, jumping into a fight with a pack of Spellbound troublemakers to save four omegas who were the brothers of your northern enemy," Charlie countered, drying the floor as she lifted her box of supplies and rose to her feet.

Jo smiled at the compliment, gently taking the box out of Charlie's hands and nodding toward the hallway. "Let me show you to your room."

"Samshine, you don't have to carry me."

The alpha chuckled as he set Gabriel down on the large bed, kneeling down in front of him. "I thought I would never hear you say that ridiculous nickname again."

"You don't mind it?"

"Not anymore. Call me whatever ridiculous nicknames you want to." He twined his fingers with Gabriel's, resting his hands on the omega's knees. After the scare that afternoon, Sam couldn't bear to not be in physical contact with the smaller blonde.

Gabriel chuckled. "I'm sure I'll think of plenty more. I heard Rowena call you a moose when she first saw you; what do you think of Samoose?"

"Fine, but try not to use it in front of Dean. He'll never let me live it down." Sam reached up and cupped Gabriel's cheek in his hand, running the fingers of his other one through the blonde's hair. "Say it again, Gabe."

The omega smiled, knowing exactly what Sam wanted. Later, much later, he would reflect upon the loss of his voice as the catalyst for his bond with the tall alpha, but right now he was just happy that they were together. "I love you, Sam."

"I love you, too, Gabe."

"Great! Does that mean you'll finally court me?"

Sam grinned and wrapped his arms around the omega, falling onto the bed with the Celestial stretched across his chest. "Gabe, I will court you, I will mate you, I will do anything you want. I'm just glad you're better."

"Does that mean we can move out of the hospital wing? I am so tired of those beds."

"Well, yeah, of course. You could have moved out when Max removed your stitches, but it was easier for us all to watch you in a room with a half-dozen beds."

Gabriel tucked his head under Sam's chin, understanding exactly what the alpha wouldn't say. "It was a suicide watch."

"Yeah," Sam replied softly. "Tasha didn't know if you lost your mental voice, but I knew that it would be the final straw for you. We had to keep you from changing."

"Well, at least I understand why you were so frantic at the lake. I didn't . . . when I realized that I had no voice, I panicked. I wanted . . . I needed to tell you how I felt. I'm sorry I ran."

"No, Gabe, don't be. I have no idea what you were going through, and I am just so glad that Rowena intercepted you."

"They all saw my wings," Gabe whispered. "I don't even know how I flew across that lake, but I never bothered to fold them away when I got to the woods."

"And that's something we'll deal with later," Sam replied, how tone broking no argument. "For now, you're going to get a little rest."

"Alright, Sam." Gabe inhaled the alpha's soothing scent, closing his eyes and letting darkness claim him. For the first time in weeks, his dreams were pleasant.

They saw the huge Spellbound fortress hours before they reached it. The tall, spindly black castle rose above the hilly land in a watchful silence, both ominous and comforting at the same time. Meg and Ruby paused at the top of the hill overlooking the dormant farmland below, raising their heads to the sky and howling across the emptiness. Balthazar listened as a faint voice answered, following the two females as they headed down toward the castle.

"Crowley is going to meet us at the gates."

"Did you tell him that Rowena isn't here?"

Ruby snorted, the sound flashing as a roll of her eyes in his mind. "No thanks, I'd like a chance to explain myself in person. I have to act like this isn't anything out of the ordinary."

The trio made it to the front gates before they were met by anyone. Two alpha guards stood in their path, each one holding a spear crossed over their chests. The taller man glanced at his companion, stepping forward and holding his spear out in a defensive stance. "Ruby, who is your new companion?"

The two Spellbound females switched forms, Balthazar shrugging out of the supply pack and following their lead. He swung the bag onto his shoulders and tightened the straps around his chest, standing halfway behind Meg and keeping his blue eyes averted. No matter what Michael thought, Balthazar and his brothers knew how to behave like "proper omegas" when it was required of them.

The taller of the guards stepped forward, sniffing in the direction of the blonde omega but not daring to step past Meg. She might be only a beta, but she had a reputation for ruthlessness among her pack and very few wolves would dare to cross her. "You brought a Wilderness wolf here? Where are Rowena and Charlie?"

Ruby straightened and stepped forward, glaring at the alpha who had questioned her. "Where is Crowley? You said he would meet us here." She outranked him among the overall Spellbound pack, a member of Crowley's inner circle, so defying her wouldn't end well for the alpha guard.

The younger, dark-skinned alpha guard glanced over his shoulder through the open gate and nodded at another guard standing in the shadows. A few moments later, that guard stepped forward, a dark, brooding man walking just behind him. He was a couple of inches shorter than Balthazar with dark hair and a scruffy beard, his red eyes never leaving the omega as he slowly advanced on the group. Ruby's lighter red eyes never left his dark crimson ones, but Meg kept her gaze averted and Balthazar stared at his feet. He knew better than to intentionally irritate the Head Alpha of another pack during their first meeting.

"Where is my mother?"

His voice was deeper than Balthazar had expected, and he spoke with an interesting accent that was different than Rowena's but sounded somewhat similar. Ruby shrugged and glanced away from her alpha, feigning a nonchalance that she certainly didn't feel. "She had urgent business with Tasha and her pack. They have a severely wounded omega who required her special healing skills. She took Charlie with her, of course, and asked that we entertain the omega's brother for the rest of the winter."

Balthazar gasped as the symbol on his arm began to tingle, pulling his sleeve up and placing his fingers on the purple mark as Tasha had instructed him. He knew that the other five wolves had turned to him at the motion, but he had to know why the witch was calling him.

"Balthazar, good. I was worried you wouldn't answer." The whisper echoed in his mind, and he resisted the urge to shake his head at the weird buzzing it left behind.

"Uh, yeah, I'm here," he whispered back, his eyes closed as he concentrated on the bond. "Did something happen?"

"Rowena healed your brother."

The omega fell to his knees in a cross between shock and relief, some detached part of his mind registering Meg's arms wrapping around him in support. "Thank you. Thank her for me, please. Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. He's resting right now, but Rowena said it worked completely." There was the sensation of a chuckle from the brown-skinned witch. "His first words were 'I love you, Sam,' so I think he's going to be okay."

"I'm glad. Thank you for all of your help, Tasha. Tell my brothers that I'm okay."

"I will." Tasha's voice faded from his mind as the omega looked up, taking a deep breath before letting Meg help him to his feet.

"How is your brother?"

"Rowena healed him. He's fine." Balthazar grinned and gripped Meg's arms briefly before stepping away from the beta.

Crowley cleared his throat. "If you are quite done."

Balthazar raised his blue eyes to meet Crowley's crimson, a flash of anger rising in his chest at the alpha's tone. "Yeah, I'm sorry that my suicidal brother's health interrupted your posturing, but you can bite me."

Ruby gasped and Meg froze at the omega's insolent tone. Crowley tilted his head, his eyes widening almost imperceptibly in shock as Balthazar clenched his jaw and glared back. He might be an omega, but he had no problems standing up for his family.

The tableau shattered as Crowley threw his head back and laughed, one hand over his heart and the other reaching out in a welcoming gesture toward the taller omega. "I haven't met anyone with such spirit in many a year. What's your name, omega?"

"Balthazar." He held out his arms, palms up, and smiled as Crowley reached out to grasp his elbows, leaving behind a trace of his scent. "I'm a son of Chuck and Naomi."

"Really? A Spellbound wolf coming from Wilderness lands?"

"We had a run in with your northern subjects," Balthazar replied, stepping closer to Crowley as Ruby and Meg moved to the side. "Dean and his pack saved us. And now your mother has saved my brother from the injuries Asmodeus inflicted on him."

"If I could do something about Cain and his misbegotten brood, know that I would." Crowley glanced over his shoulder at the guard who had led him out of the gates. "Fetch Linda for me. Our guest will need somewhere to stay." He turned back to Balthazar and gestured for the tall blonde to follow him. "How long did my mother say she would be gone?"

"She told me to return to the border on the Spring Equinox."

"Well, I guess we should get you settled, Balthazar. I have a feeling we're going to have an interesting winter."

Ruby exchanged a charged look with Meg, who shrugged before following their Head Alpha into the city. At least he wasn't angry about his mother.

Dean's pack, including the three omegas, had joined Asa's pack for supper, eating at a single long table in the main hall. It was the first time since they arrived that the two packs had eaten together instead of each small group snacking in their rooms or eating by the lake. Gabriel's voice rose above all others, the omega clearly making up for lost time as he officially met each of the members of the small Wilderness pack that had helped save his life. Rowena and Charlie sat with Tasha at the head of the table, the witchy conversation above generally everyone's head, even Max not following some of it. Jo, seated beside Charlie, passed her new friend one of the sliced pink fruits from the center platter and catching her attention during a sudden lull in the witch conversation.

"Charlie, can I ask you a question? I worry that it might be too personal."

The omega shrugged and tried the fruit. "Hey, this is pretty good. What is it?"

"It's a type of melon that grows south of our border. Only Asa's pack trades for them, but they will all be gone soon. In the middle of winter, we only have jams and preserves."

"Huh, cool. Yeah, ask away."

Jo ran one hand through her hair, glancing at her plate. "Tasha, Rowena, and Max all have purple eyes, and I always thought that it was the sign of a witch. But you have powers, too."

"And you want to know why my eyes are green?"

"Yeah."

"That's not too personal, at least in Spellbound lands. Rowena explains it better than I do, but only naturally-born witches have purple eyes. The children of witches who only have latent power will have red eyes, and the rest of us just have normal eyes."

"You weren't born with your powers?"

Charlie shook her head. "Nope. Rowena found me as a pup and trained me to be a witch. I draw my power from certain tattoos, sigils, and relics, but I don't technically have any power of my own. Generally I catalyze her spells, or act as her anchor. Sometimes I perform a supporting task like you saw with the spell we just did for Gabriel. I can do some things on my own, but I will never be as strong as Tasha or Max."

Jo met Charlie's intense emerald eyes, glancing down at the omega's arm briefly and wondering if the tattoo on her inner arm was her only one. "You have more than one tattoo?"

Charlie winked saucily before turning back to her meal. "Maybe if you behave, I'll show you sometime." Jo's eyes widened as she struggled to find a response, eventually returning to her meal in silence.

Rowena glanced across the table at Gabriel, tilting her head curiously as she caught the omega's golden eyes. "You want to know what I was talking about when we first met, about the physical feature that Celestial wolves sometimes have."

Gabriel nodded, glancing at Castiel as silence descended on the table. Asa's mother, Lorraine, leaned across the table from her position at the opposite end, glancing at Elvis and Bucky who seemed to know what the witch was referencing. "What are you talking about, Rowena?"

The witch nodded at the three omega brothers. "It's their burden, if they wish to share it. I can explain the history and the import of their situation, but only they can agree to trust your pack with this secret."

Dean cleared his throat and turned to Asa. "I've accepted them into my pack, after learning of their secret. They have a situation that forced them to leave their lands on pain of death. I have no problem with it, but if you do, we will gladly leave in the morning. I won't put your pack at risk without your consent."

Asa tilted his head, blue-green eyes watching his fellow alpha curiously. "Is my pack in danger from retaliation in relation to this secret, even if we don't know what it is?"

"Yeah, I think you might be. I don't think Michael would venture this far south, and Rowena seems to think that Crowley would not see this as a threat, but I can't promise you anything."

Asa snorted. "Neither of them concern me, Dean. We've been at war for so long that a new danger from Celestial or Spellbound won't phase my pack. I'd rather know the danger, but I can promise you that nothing will convince me to send you away in the dead of winter."

Dean closed his eyes and bowed his head gratefully, that small gesture putting him at the mercy of the ginger alpha. Castiel turned toward Rowena and nodded, giving her permission to reveal their secret to this small, tightly-knit pack.

"I think I should start from the beginning. This is a long story, so please bear with me. None of the packs remember this anymore, but once upon an age, there was only one huge tribe here."

Asa's mother, the omega Lorraine, snorted from her end of the table. "How can you know that if the three packs have forgotten? I've heard that you are old, but you cannot possibly remember a time before the war."

Rowena chuckled, clearly used to such skepticism. "Ah, lass, I'm so much older than I look. I was already old when your great-great-grandfathers fought alongside Matthew Winchester to gain control of the Wilderness lands. My son was born before Henry Winchester, though he doesn't look anywhere close to that age. I knew when Chuck was King of the Three Lands."

"What?" Castiel leaned forward, his eyes narrowed in that confused, disbelieving way that Dean found so endearing. "Chuck, as in my father? Rowena, that can't be true."

"Do you know how old he is, pup?"

"I don't know, sixty?"

Rowena smiled softly to herself. "Multiply that by ten and you're close. Your father ruled as the King of the Three Lands for over a hundred years before civil war broke the tribe, and you have been at war ever since."

Sam did the math in his head, shaking his head in amazement. "Rowena, you can't be five hundred years old! That's not possible."

The redhead grinned and shrugged, running her fingers through her curled hair. "I am the most powerful witch this land has ever seen, and I look good for my age."

"My father is not a witch," Gadreel countered, leaning forward on his arms. "How could he have possibly lived for that long?"

"He and his twin sister Amara were born with a special bond that bestowed upon them a grand measure of the kind of magic that is only rarely seen in Celestial wolves nowadays, and then only minutely so. Like me, your father and aunt are effectively immortal. However, he and his sister disagreed on how to handle the civil uprising and he eventually lost control of his throne. Amara disappeared, and Chuck stayed in the mountains to rule what was left of his people. The most powerful witches, including the coven that had raised and trained me, headed east, and the bulk of his warriors headed south. That is why the Wilderness wolves are known for their strength and fighting prowess and the Spellbounds are known for their magical powers."

"What are Celestials known for?"

Rowena grinned, taking a sip of her wine before answering. "Some of their children can fly."

Castiel gasped at the implication that his wings were not so uncommon, instinctively grabbing for Dean's arm as his brothers also reached for their partners. Bucky and Elvis nodded at each other as Randy and Garth leaned over to stare at the three Celestials. Asa frowned slightly before shrugging and gesturing for Rowena to continue, glancing at Gabriel as he figured out what Rowena had seen when she arrived.

The witch nodded as she continued her story. "Each pack was formed by a certain subset of the original tribe, so the power that Spellbounds have never shows up in other packs, just as that wild, untamed strength never shows up anywhere except Wilderness lands. The differences between our three peoples was the catalyst for the civil war."

"And the wings? Only Celestials can have them?"

"Yes. They used to be more common, of course. In the old days, winged wolves served as scouts and messengers, enforcing peace through the Three Lands under Chuck's rule. Most of them were omegas, since no one of any tribe would dare harm them, and even now the wings are more common with omega pups. They will show up when the omega is in heat, usually three to five years after their first one. Our theory was that the wings appeared when the wolves were grown enough to serve."

"Is that what we are, messengers?" Castiel's cobalt eyes eagerly searched Rowena's face for some hint of his purpose in life, for the reason he had sprouted wings at twenty years old.

"In a way, yes. You are meant to be messengers, but the four of you are more than that. There is a prophecy that you are the harbingers of a grand destiny, one that will destroy the three packs."

"How is that a 'grand destiny'?" Castiel demanded, clenching his fist on the table. "Apparently the Celestials are the only ones who remember that prophecy, and I know that Michael would kill all of us to keep it from coming to pass."

Rowena titled her head. "Castiel, destruction is not a bad thing. The disparate packs have to be broken before the new King can rise."

Gabriel reached across Sam and grabbed his brother's hand, offering Castiel some measure of support and comfort. "Rowena, who is the new King? Michael?"

"I don't know. I never saw that. All I saw was the war to destroy the three packs and clear the way for the King. All I know is that Chuck will never take up that mantle again; it angered Amara too much when he was the ruler, and he has spent the last five years sequestered with her in the mountains north of your home. He won't abandon her again."

"You saw?" Gadreel tilted his head, golden eyes flicking to his brothers before returning to Rowena. "Are you the prophet that Metatron quoted?"

"No, dear, not me. I only channeled what prophets saw, since they couldn't articulate their visions. I was there five hundred years ago when my bonded prophet saw this future, and I related the story to Metatron when he visited my lands so many decades ago. I knew that only the Celestials needed to know, so I had him write a book of all of the prophecies I had ever channeled. There were hundreds, and I think that most of them have come to pass already, but this one is still in the future. If the four of you live, I can guarantee that the packs will fall. I cannot guarantee that the new King will rise, because my prophet could never see past you and your brothers."

"So the future of all three lands rests on the shoulders of these four omegas that we rescued?"

"Yes, Dean, precisely."

"What can we do to ensure that it is a good future?"

The witch shrugged, a warning glint in her purple eyes. "You could kill them."

Three growls filled the air instantly at her words, Jo's lighter voice joining Dean, Sam, and Benny a moment later. Charlie chuckled at their reaction, reaching over to rub her thumb over the back of Jo's hand, slowly calming the alpha. The three Celestial omegas copied the gesture, knowing that there was no threat behind Rowena's words and needing to reassure their partners that there was no danger in the room.

"I would hazard a guess that your reactions render that option impossible."

"No kidding," Dean snapped, his eyes flashing with a hint of alpha anger.

"Good." The offended alphas and beta fully relaxed at the word, knowing in that moment that Rowena was on their side. "I wanted to make sure that they would be protected before I tell you your fates." She glanced over at Tasha and tilted her head, some silent communication passing between the witches.

"This part is not for us, Asa," Tasha announced, rising to her feet and holding a hand out to her mate. Asa, his mother, his children, and his pack mates followed her out of the room, leaving Rowena and Charlie alone with Dean's extended pack.

"I saw the prophecy in her mind, the prophet I channeled, and there are only three outcomes to this situation. One, all of the omegas die, which is obviously an unacceptable situation. Two, the omegas are emotionally broken and never catalyze the war. Three, the omegas create bonds with wolves from the three packs and tear through the fabric of our society. There is a long path ahead of you, and there is no distinction between the second and third options until the very end. If you succeed, the King will rise. If you fail, the omegas will still die, but the packs will be left too broken to ever recover."

Dean stared at the witch, unable to move as Castiel climbed into his lap for some measure of comfort. He slowly closed his arms around the omega, surprised at how small the man could make himself when he was upset. "You know, I was okay with this prophecy before, but now I really hate it."

Rowena smiled sadly. "I know. Trust me, I hated it myself five hundred years ago, and that was before Chuck lost control of the tribes and his people fragmented. I never told him about this future until fifty or so years ago. Sometimes I think that we could have prevented the fracture, that we could have held the Three Lands together, if only I had been braver back then. I was a young apprentice witch, like young Charlie here, and I believed my High Priestess when she said that witches needed to live separate from the brutish warriors and the flighty messengers in order to hone our powers. It took me a hundred years to realize that I had helped cause the Fall."

Jo looked at her pack mates; Dean with Cas huddled into a ball in his arms, Sam with Gabriel cuddled in his lap, and Benny with Gadreel leaning against his shoulder. She felt a sudden surge of alpha protectiveness, a desire to help keep these omegas from harm. "It wasn't your fault, Rowena. It sounds like the split was a long time coming. The only thing we can do now is move forward, protect these three and their brother, and make a future that we will all be happy to live in." She smiled at her alpha, Dean slowly returning the gesture as he relaxed. "All we have to do is see where this path takes us, and find this King, who I assume will be an alpha."

"Aye, he will. That is all I know. It might be Michael, or his brother Lucifer; it could be John or one of his two sons; it could be Crowley or Cain for all I know. It may happen far enough in the future to be one of your pups. The only thing I know is that the King will rise at the end, when the tribes are weakest, assuming that the four omegas still stand."

"Sam, it's too much to process. I still have questions, but all I can think about is how ominous her words sounded. The fate of every wolf that any of us has ever known rests on me and my little brothers. I don't know how to handle that."

"One day at a time," Sam replied, stripping out of his clothes and slipping into the one bed in the guest room Tasha had given them. The two had to wait for John Winchester's permission to mate, but that didn't prevent them from sleeping together and cuddling like they had done the entire time Gabriel was healing.

The smaller omega curled up against his side, resting his head on Sam's chest as the alpha's arm wrapped around him. "I'm honestly revisiting the suicide watch conversation in my mind. I know that Cas has already thought that everything would be better if we returned to our own lands and let Michael kill us."

"No! Gabe, that is not an option! I don't care about the dangers or risks we are taking here; I'm going to be with you. I love you too much to do anything else."

"I know," the blonde soothed, closing his eyes. "I just hope Dean can keep Cas as grounded."

Cas sat on the edge of his bed for hours, staring at nothing with glazed-over blue eyes, barely breathing. Gadreel, who had been sharing the room with his brother, had run to get Dean before leaving, hoping that the alpha could help his little brother. For the moment, Dean just let him sit and think, knowing that sometimes it was the best choice.

Finally, so softly that Dean almost missed it, Cas spoke. "What even is a messenger? Some kind of peacekeeper? Am I a weapon?"

"I don't know," Dean answered honestly. "I don't know what's going to happen. But, to be honest, two of Rowena's options kinda suck, so I'm going to try for the third."

Cas couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips. "No, I really don't relish the idea of being dead or broken, either."

Dean moved from his chair to the bed, tentatively reaching out to rest an arm around Cas's shoulders. "I kinda like the idea of you standing by my side when I watch the new King rise. What do you think of that?"

Cas leaned against Dean's side and smiled as he felt the alpha's fingers in his hair. The simple motion helped to soothe his nerves, letting him work through Rowena's words rationally so that he could decide what to ask her when they spoke in the morning. The witch had indicated that the omegas would have more questions the next day before gently sending them all to bed. Whenever she spoke to him, Cas felt like an errant pup, but it reminded him of the way his mother had treated him when he was very young and he almost craved that warmth.

"I think you are propositioning me," Cas replied flippantly, his mood significantly lighter.

Dean grinned and leaned down to kiss Cas's forehead. "Do you want me to?"

Cas looked up, having slouched down somewhat in the alpha's arms, and offered the traditional request. "Dean Winchester, will you court me?"

"Of course I will." Dean kissed Cas's forehead gently before pulling the omega to his feet and gesturing for him to undress. "Take your clothes off so we can get some sleep." Cas raised one eyebrow before pulling his shirt off. "Just sleep," Dean assured him, removing his own shirt and tossing it on a nearby chair. Cas's omega instincts bristled at the untidiness, but his eyes settled on the four jagged scars across Dean's upper left bicep and those thoughts vanished.

Cas reached up and ran his fingers across the scars, eyes tightened in pain. "I wish you had let Tasha heal these. I'm so sorry, Dean."

The alpha shrugged. "I'm not. You taught me a lesson that day, and I'll keep the scars so I don't forget it. I didn't take the time to figure out what was going on with you and your brothers, and I attacked an omega, which is unforgivable. These are scars I deserve."

Cas frowned and shook his head, but he knew that he couldn't refute the alpha's words. He glanced over his shoulder at the bed, whining low in his throat.

"What is it?"

"Dean, can we . . . can we sleep in wolf form? I just . . . I'll feel better that way."

"Of course, Cas." Dean shifted and found a spot on the rug in the center of the room, laying on his side as Cas shifted and stretched out beside him. The omega twitched his shoulders and freed his wings, stretching them out to cover Dean like a blanket before burying his nose in the alpha's neck. Sighing in contentment, the omega let sleep claim him.

"How many other Celestials have been born with wings?"

Rowena looked up from her cross stitch for a moment, tilting her head at the young omega. She had taken the three boys down to the lake, Charlie sitting with her and Jo serving as the only guard, currently patrolling around the lake. Dean had vehemently disagreed with her decision, but the witch ignored his protests and did what she wanted. She knew that the three Celestials had questions that they might feel more comfortable asking without their Wilderness partners hovering nearby, and honestly the alpha overprotective scent had been almost too much at breakfast that morning.

"Three others in the past twenty years. One of them has already sprouted wings, and the other two will this year during their heat."

"How do you even know this?"

Charlie snorted. "Cas, you should just accept that she knows. If it helps, a witch will keep her bond with her prophet until the next prophet is chosen."

"Is your prophet still alive?"

Rowena shook her head. "No, that wee lass died almost five hundred years ago. Another one has not been called yet. Unfortunately, all I'm seeing is an echo of what I used to channel, so I can't clarify the image. All I know is that one lives in Wilderness lands and is the offspring of a powerful Celestial from one of the splinter packs. The second two currently live in Spellbound lands, though both have to be at least half Celestial in order to have inherited their wings. I don't have any way to know if I have ever met them, though it's possible that I have. They're both young, but they will come into their power soon. I'm reasonably certain that all three of them are omegas, but I can't make out their genders or faces. I do know that you'll need all three of them to complete your quest."

Gadreel crossed his arms over his chest, working his jaw in that strange way that meant he was thinking something over. "I'm going to assume that you have no more for us than that."

"Nope, that's all I know. I knew when the four of you were born, of course, but there was only one surge of power each year. I didn't realize there were four of you until I met Balthazar. I could see the bone structure that indicated a winged Celestial, though no one else alive would know how to accurately identify you."

"Is it unusual to have so many messengers born at once?"

"Nowadays it is. In the past, we would have a dozen or more in each generation. There was a hundred year gap between the last messenger and the half-Wilderness pup. He was an alpha."

Gabriel leaned forward, his cross stitch abandoned in his lap. Rowena had suggested the activity as it was popular among omegas in her land, and the three Celestials had been eager to learn. During long, cold winters it helped to have something to do. "Was that alpha your mate?"

The witch closed her eyes briefly, the needle in her hand shaking. "We weren't mated, but we were together. After Fergus was born as an alpha, I had to leave Celestial lands. They are not welcoming of half-breed alphas in their pack. My partner was not willing to leave his tribe, even though I warned him that his fate was a bloody one." She paused for a long moment, her hands still in her lap as Charlie leaned over and wrapped a comforting arm around her waist. "I never found out the exact reason, whether it was his wings or his son, but his pack eventually tore him apart. Fergus never got to meet his father."

Charlie took up the narrative from there, giving Rowena some time to recover. She may not have been mated to that Celestial alpha, but she had cared for him. "In general, less than a dozen winged wolves have been born each century since the Fall, most of them hiding their true nature from the other Celestial wolves. I've actually studied the issue in depth, and I think that there was a loss of something when the packs split. Other than the four of you, sons of Chuck, there may not be any other purebred Celestial messengers. The others are of mixed parentage, as far as Rowena knows. I think that there would be more witches, more messengers, and more legacies if there was more breeding between the packs."

"What are legacies?"

"It's a colloquial term, and I don't think any of you use it anymore. It's what Rowena calls the more powerful Wilderness wolves, the ones who are stronger than they should be or can run longer and faster than their pack mates. It's not as noticeable as messengers or witches, but you already know a few legacies. Sam and Dean, for example, are legacies, as is their father and their grandfather. Their mother is a half-legacy, since her father was one, and I've heard that she is quite the warrior herself. Asa is a half-legacy and his daughter is a full one, as is Jo. It's that insane strength and power that has let the Wilderness Pack keep the Celestials and Spellbounds at bay for so many hundreds of years even though we have magic on our side and Michael's pack has the advantage of numbers."

"What happens when a legacy mates with a messenger?"

Rowena touched Charlie's wrist, indicating that she would answer. "Anything could happen. Fergus isn't a witch or a messenger, but he does have some latent powers and he was able to overcome Abaddon for control of the Spellbound pack, even though she is also half-witch. He was also able to cast Cain out, which Abaddon was never strong enough to do, and he is aging as slowly as a powerful witch. The pup can take after either parent, or be a powerful amalgamation of both. However, if only one parent has one of these special traits, there is a very low chance of it passing on to the pups. Except, somehow, with the Winchester line that manages to pop out at least one legacy every generation."

Charlie reached into her satchel and produced a roll of parchment, passing it to Cas. "I keep track of every special pup throughout the three packs. Sometimes we do not identify them at birth, especially messengers, but I try to notate them when we do meet."

"Wow, Charlie; this is really impressive." Gadreel ran his finger across his family tree, his own name written in beautiful calligraphy beside Gabriel's. They and the younger twins had small wing images above their names, clearly marking them as messengers. "Did you just update this part here?"

"Yes, as soon as I knew all of your names. I keep notes separately, and these are just the travel versions of my family trees. I have more complete, intricate ones at home." She took her scrolls back and rolled them back up, returning them to her bag carefully. "This is one of those projects that Rowena assigns to her apprentices. I think that Tasha kept the records before me."

Castiel pushed himself to his feet, his crafts abandoned on his blanket, walking a few steps closer to the lake. Jo noticed him instantly, running up to make sure he was okay. Cas smiled and ran his fingers through her blonde fur, patting her shoulder before returning to his seat. Satisfied that the omegas were still safe, Jo headed for the forest border to continue her patrol.

"Are we weapons?" When he had asked Dean the same question, there had been trepidation in his tone, but he no longer feared the answer.

"Of course you are, child. So am I. So are Charlie and Tasha. So are Sam, Dean, and Jo. We are all weapons in this great, unending war between the packs, though none of us have been used to full effect in generations. Being a weapon is a powerful thing, a great feeling, as long as you are in control of where you are aimed."

"I'd like to be aimed at Asmodeus," Gabriel growled, his fists clenched in his lap. "I'd like to be strong enough to pay him back for what he did to me."

Rowena nodded. "Fine, focus on that. I can teach you your history and your purpose here, and your new pack mates can teach you to fight. They will be far superior teachers to the ones you had in Celestial lands."

Jo appeared beside Rowena, gently nudging the tiny witch to catch her attention. None of the omegas could hear her thoughts while in human form, but Rowena was a powerful enough witch to hear anyone in wolf form, no matter their pack or tribe. "It's going to start snowing soon, and it smells like one of the bad squalls from the mountains. You might want to take this garden party indoors."

Rowena nodded and tucked her cross stitch and supplies back into her small bag. "Jo tells me that a storm is coming, and Wilderness wolves have always been known for their weather sense."

The group headed back to the city, Jo sending Rowena the mental equivalent of an eye roll at the three Wilderness males waiting for them. The witch nodded in agreement, moving to stand in front of the three male omegas before crossing her arms over her chest and glaring.

Dean, who had already taken a step forward to embrace Castiel, paused, confusion overriding the anxious color of his scent. Sam and Benny stood just behind him, taking their cues from their alpha and waiting patiently for him to resolve this odd confrontation with Rowena. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing's wrong, pup," Rowena replied. "That's most of the problem, as a matter of fact. You and your brother are not taking care to control your emotions, and your worry is stinking up the place, even though these omegas are in no immediate danger. I've had a nice, long chat with these boys about their future, and they have more or less come to terms with it. I need the three of you to find a way to be okay with it if any of us are going to survive this coming war."

Dean clenched his jaw and glanced at Castiel standing behind the petite witch, stormy green eyes meeting clear blue as some silent communication passed between them. Slowly, clearly unhappy with the idea, Dean relaxed his body and let his scent clear. Sam and Benny followed his lead, the redheaded witch finally stepping aside and letting them embrace their omegas.

"Dean, we want you to teach us to fight."

"Sure, Cas, whatever you want. I've seen you fight, though; you're already pretty good."

"We were trained by a Celestial peacekeeper, but he is nowhere near the warrior that Wilderness pack can produce. Rowena told us that we are weapons, and we want to be good ones." Cas smiled and lightly punched Dean's shoulder. "She said you're a weapon, too. We're the same, just from different lands."

"Really?" Dean wrapped his arm around Cas's shoulders and led him back into the city, looking up as the first flakes of snow floated down out of the sky. "Weapons for this war?"

"We used to be weapons to defend the Three Lands, apparently. The witches, the messengers like me, and the legacies like you were meant to keep the packs together. Now we mostly fight each other, except for messengers who have been systematically killed in my lands the last few times they popped up. Rowena says that we should learn how to fight so we can choose where we are aimed. I think that you and your pack mates would make able teachers."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. I'm sure we can figure out how to work flying into your attack rotation, as well, and we'll train on days that we don't head out to hunt." He glanced up again, narrowing his eyes at the dark clouds racing to fill the sky. "It's going to be a long winter."

Linda Tran was an interesting woman. She was almost a foot shorter than Balthazar, possibly the smallest adult in the entire castle, but she bossed everyone around better than anyone except Crowley. Even the Head Alpha would bow to her will from time to time. The beta had two pups following in her shadows, silently appraising Balthazar as he was led on a tour of the city. Her biological son, Kevin, shared her pale complexion, straight black hair, and black eyes, though the young omega was taller than his mother. Her other son, an adopted Celestial, was close to Kevin in height, though he had light brown hair, faintly freckled skin, and light brown eyes.

Balthazar recognized the adopted Celestial's scent immediately, having already learned his true identity in the forest. Fifteen years earlier, during a violent incursion into Celestial lands, the Spellbound pack had killed Naomi's sister, a vicious beta who had even more restrictive views on omegas than the rest of her family. Balthazar was glad that his young cousin did not have to be raised by that toxic woman, and instead had been found by this stern but loving beta.

At some point during the tour, Linda paused to speak with a fruit merchant, leaving the three omegas to speak in peace. Samandriel leaned closer to Balthazar and took a tentative sniff, not getting too close even though omegas rarely minded being scented by their own subgender. "You smell like me, a little."

Balthazar nodded. "Our mothers were sisters. Your birth mother . . . she didn't have a high opinion of omegas. She was one of the strongest voices in council urging my parents to take a strong 'interest' in where my brothers and I ended up."

The younger omega nodded. "I know some things about her, and my father. Crowley told me that they were disappointed that I was an omega, that they didn't want me. He said I was left behind in the raid, even before my birth parents were killed."

"I wasn't there, I was far too young, but that sounds like my unlamented aunt and uncle. You're far better off here, where at least they seem to have some respect for omegas."

Samandriel nodded. "I have heard some things about Michael that makes me glad he's not my brother, Balthazar. I'll assume they are all true."

"Yeah, they are." He could tell from their stances and mannerisms that the younger omegas were not used to being around other people; both of them reacted to the slightest sound even though they consciously tried to control the instinct. "How long have you been living in the city? I remember Meg saying something about the return being recent."

"Yeah, we've only been here a couple of months. We met Meg and Ruby briefly when they came to the castle to collect Rowena and Charlie. I have to admit, neither of us were brave enough to speak with the witches. This is the first time Mother has brought us to town for more than a day or two. We've lived along the border our whole lives, manning the guard stations and moving around with the seasons. I think she wanted to protect us from the city politics. Kevin's father was a Celestial, so we both have some extra-acute senses that helped us avoid detection while still getting valuable information for Crowley."

"And now you've come to town to mate?"

Kevin snorted. "Alfie has, and Mother wants me to, but I don't really care about that. I'm more of a scholar than a pup factory for some horny alpha."

Balthazar and Samandriel both rolled their eyes at that, knowing that Kevin didn't truly believe his words but understanding the sentiment. Now that he had a choice in who he would mate, the blue-eyed Celestial found that he also had little urge to choose. "Wait, Alfie?"

Samandriel laughed and shook his head. "Kevin has called me that since we were young pups. Unfortunately, Crowley heard him and he's taken a liking to my nickname."

"Where did it come from?"

"He has a stupid strangled howl in wolf form," Kevin replied, grinning widely at his younger brother. "You listen to him sometime and see if it doesn't sound like alf alf alfeeeeeeee."

Linda returned to the trio before Balthazar could reply, but he did take a moment to offer his own nickname to the brothers. "If you don't mind me calling you Alfie, you're welcome to call me Balthy. We both have ridiculously long and pompous Celestial names, so we might as well make it easy on ourselves."

Linda finally led the group to the castle proper, Balthazar catching Ruby's eye where she and Meg lounged at a guard station outside. He smiled as the pair climbed down to meet him, both of them greeting Linda as befitted her status as the official pack leader of her tiny band.

"Beta, may we speak with Balthazar?"

"For a moment," Linda replied sharply, the smile in her eyes belying her harsh words. "I have to get the boys settled before supper is served."

Ruby grinned and nodded at the restriction. "How has our local tiger mom been treating you?"

"Wonderfully," he answered honestly. "My own mother never had much to do with us, so she's a bit of fresh air, to be honest."

Linda snorted. "Great, it looks like I've adopted another son."

"He needs your firm hand, Mother," Kevin teased, tapping Balthazar with a half-curled fist in a gesture of camaraderie. "Besides, I'm pretty sure all three of us are related anyway, so he's at least a cousin or something."

"Well, Meg and I will leave you to get set up. It's going to be a hard winter, and you'll be grateful to have our best spy looking after you."

Linda apparently owned a small wing of the imposing castle, on the third floor looking north toward the city's gardens. She assigned Balthazar the bedroom next to Samandriel's, though they all shared a common living and dining area. Since he hadn't brought any supplies at all, the two boys offered Balthazar some simple clothes from their own wardrobes to tide him over until Linda could have him something made in town.

Balthazar looked around the small bedroom in amazement. It was sparsely furnished, with only a bed, a table, and a single chair, but he could see the gardens out of the window and he didn't have to share with anyone. Never in his life had the omega slept alone; his mother had only allotted one bedroom suite to each set of twins. Even in Asa's home he had shared a room with Castiel and Gadreel, one of them always sleeping in the hospital wing at Gabriel's side during his long recovery. For the next two months, at least, he would finally have some privacy. Even though he missed his brothers, and especially his twin, Balthazar was glad to have a room to himself. For the first time since crossing the border into Spellbound lands, the young omega silently thanked Rowena for insisting that he undertake this pilgrimage. He was going to enjoy the chance to grow into his own wolf.

A quick tap on the door caught his attention, and Balthazar took a moment to revel in the fact that someone was asking permission to enter his space. He called out a welcome, smiling as Linda slid into the room. "Balthazar, I do have a question for you, but it's kind of personal and I didn't want to ask around a bunch of alphas and betas."

"Linda, you can call me Balthy, and I know exactly what you are going to ask. My heat was a month ago and I won't have another until summer."

Linda raised one eyebrow in surprise. "That is a very unusual schedule. Did something trigger you early?"

"No, my brothers and I have always had winter heats. It's really inconvenient, being the only targets during a period of enforced inactivity."

"I can see how it would be. Male omegas tend to be earlier than females, even here. My boys will go into heat right before spring hits. Crowley says that you will still be here then."

"You want me to stay with them during their heat?"

"If you don't mind. I don't know how you do it in your lands, but they'll still both be unmated this year and will be sequestered here, in this wing. It's one of the reasons Crowley gave me so much space."

"One of the reasons?"

"He's also a little afraid of me," Linda replied, winking conspiratorially at the taller man.

"No one ever accused him of being stupid," Balthazar replied. "Of course I'll stay with them. I know how much it means to me to have my brothers nearby when I'm going through it."

Linda smiled and clapped Balthazar on the shoulder. "I'm glad you came."