Chapter 2: Queens


Dean leaned against the wall and sighed, glaring balefully at the lamp in the corner. His current guards, a beta named Ellen and the beta girl, Jo, she had raised when she tended the nursery in her youth, were sitting on the sofa near the door, reading reports. They were nice enough, Ellen was certainly the mothering sort, but Jo clearly wanted to be outside working the fields or going on patrol with the alpha guards instead of babysitting the two rogues. Sam, who had taken a long shower as soon as they were brought to their prison, stuffed his face, and crashed in the back bedroom, had gotten Ellen to bring him a few books to read while they waited for the queen to see them. Dean was too restless to read, though he had tried, and having access to good food and clean water was certainly better than living in the woods. He knew it wouldn't last, though.

The door opened to admit Castiel, the next guard on the rotation. Usually they had two or three betas watching them, but the alphas would guard them alone, secure in their strength against the youngsters. Ellen smiled at the alpha and patted his arm as she and Jo left, closing and locking the door behind them. Castiel was not content to sit in the corner and read; just as he had two days ago when he met Dean, he wanted to engage the boys in conversation and get to know them better before taking them to see Gabriel. "Good morning, Dean."

"Is it morning? I can't tell without a window."

"It is late morning, and the window would be too much of a security risk, as you know. Uriel and Rufus wanted to throw you in the dungeon, which isn't a prison so much as a root cellar, but I outrank them."

"You're a full sibling of the current queen and an alpha; of course you do."

Castiel settled on the chair across from Dean, taking the pitcher of water from the counter in the kitchen and pouring two glasses. He dropped a slice of lemon in each cup before handing one to his companion, who had to admit that this fancy water wasn't half bad. "Garth said you were troubled when he was watching over you last night; you kept having nightmares about losing your supplies."

Dean glanced at his bag just inside the front bedroom, the duffel that contained all of his worldly goods and a special pouch of herbs and oils that he would be in a lot of trouble without. He knew what his nightmare had been about, but he was terrified to tell Castiel. "Yeah?"

"Dean, I can't smell you very well but I know that you are hiding something. You were very upset when I said that Gabe was in the birthing chamber and you would have to wait to see him, and now you are having nightmares about losing your bag. I know you are dampening your scent with something, though your brother isn't, but I can't help you if you don't tell me the truth. What are you hiding?"

"Cas, man, I don't think you want to know. It's . . . it's not what you think. Trust me, it's better if I just keep doing what I'm doing."

"Until you run out of your blockers? How much can you have left? I didn't go through your supplies, except to remove your weapons, but if you are from far away then I'd bet your herbs are from far away, too. How much do you have left?"

"Not a lot," Dean admitted, staring into his water. "One of the plants is rare, even where I am from. I was hoping that the mountains east of here would have more growing wild if I can find it before winter. Dad would trade for it sometimes, but I don't know who with."

"And what happens when you run out?"

Dean clenched his free hand into a fist, knowing that his scent was broadcasting his terror. "I can't be here when I do, Cas. I can't be in any hive."

"Why?" Cas placed his cup on the table and took Dean's from him, moving to sit beside the younger man on the couch. Dean shied away, but a gentle arm around his back halted his escape. "I'm not going to hurt you, Dean, I swear. Maybe I can find a supplier for your herbs or talk Gabe into taking an earlier audience if it's this dire, but you have to tell me why."

"I'm not a beta," Dean whispered, his words breaking on his tears. He wiped them away angrily, knowing that his dad would be furious at him for crying. "I'm not a beta, but I need everyone here to keep believing that so they let us go."

"Are you an alpha with a failed presentation?" It was terribly uncommon, but alphas who never presented couldn't breed a queen and spent their lives relegated to beta roles in the hive. Many of them went rogue, their conflicting instincts preventing them from ever fitting in.

"No," Dean whispered. "I'm an omega."

Cas actually recoiled at that, the shock in his scent strong enough to pull Sam out of his room. Thankfully, the small apartment was decently soundproofed, so no one could be listening at the door or through the wall. "An omega?! A queen?"

"I'm not a queen, though I expect that my mother planned to make me one. I've never mated, never ascended, and I don't want to." Dean turned pained eyes toward Cas, hoping that his instincts were right and this alpha could be trusted. "I didn't want you to bring me here. This is dangerous for your hive and your queen. What would happen in a hive with a postpartum queen if a young, virile omega suddenly appeared? There could be a civil war inside your hive and I wouldn't be able to stop it. I have to leave, I'm poison to your family."

Cas stared at Dean for a long moment, eyes locked as he subtly sniffed the air. He still couldn't detect any omega undertones to the rogue's aroma, but that wasn't something that anyone would lie about. "You're right, your presence could divide the family. We have a number of guard alphas would leap at the chance to mate a young queen and start their own hive, but I won't let that happen to you. If you don't want to be queen, you don't have to be. Is this why your sire wouldn't join a new hive after your queen died?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. He said that no one would accept us with Dean being an omega and all. Dad found a way to make blockers so people would think he was a beta. Now that he's dead, we don't know where to find all of the ingredients so it's not safe for us to be around hives."

Cas touched Dean's neck in a question, waiting until the omega nodded before leaning in. This close, even the best blockers couldn't completely cover that natural sweetness of an unmated omega, a virgin queen. His scent, apple blossoms and vanilla, was very appealing, and Cas had to spend a long moment reigning his alpha in. When he spoke, he knew that his gravelly voice betrayed his struggle. "Give me your list and I will try to find the herbs. Gabe should be fit to take an audience tomorrow afternoon, and I will take you to see him then. I will make sure the chamber is cleared of his mates and guards, and only the healers and I will attend him. That should be safe enough."

"Ok, I can last that long, for sure."

Cas smiled and reached up to gently caress the back of Dean's neck, an action that omegas generally always found soothing but alphas couldn't stand. He smiled and leaned into the caress, his scent finally calming. "Feel better?"

"A little, yeah. Thanks, Cas. We truly just want to be on our way and not cause any trouble here in your hive."

"Winter's not too far off; what will you do?"

"I don't know," Dean admitted. "Dad had some hunter friends in the mountains, loners who don't want to join a hive, and we hoped they might take us in. As long as I can keep making my scent blockers, that is."

"You don't want to find a hive who will accept you as you are?"

Dean snorted at that. "Cas, I'm an omega. We're rare. How many children did your last queen have before Gabe popped out?"

"There was an older omega hatchling about twenty years before he was born, and that omega took over a nearby hive whose queen never bred an heir. Gabe was the second and last omega child out of nearly seven hundred offspring."

"Exactly. Omegas are one in five hundred, so we are all expected to become queen, take a good handful of alpha mates, and start a hive somewhere. I never wanted that, I just wanted one good alpha who loved me to settle down with. I only want to have a few children, not breed like crazy two or three times a year, and I don't want to administer a whole hive. I don't want that many people to look up to me, expect me to protect and nurture them. I have Sam, and he's the only person I ever wanted to take care of."

Cas turned his gaze on Sam, meeting sad hazel eyes half-hidden behind unruly brown hair. He made a mental note to ask the boy if he wanted a haircut. "What do you want, Sam? You're young, but you're big enough to attract an omega and join a harem. Do you have a preference? I prefer men, but not all alphas are picky."

"I don't think I have a preference," Sam admitted. "I've had beta girlfriends and boyfriends in some of the independent towns we visited over the years, but I would really love to be able to find an omega who wanted me and get settled down. I'm too young, though, and Dean would be lonely if I left him." Independent towns were ruled by councils of betas and alphas, though they never had resident omegas. Sometimes, they would adopt hatchlings from hives where they had familial connections, but often they were a gathering place for young adults who were hoping to make a name for themselves and be accepted into a full hive. Unless they were from a wealthy or powerful hive, most young alphas could expect to spend a few years in an independent town before petitioning to join a queen's harem.

Cas nodded, continuing to rub the back of Dean's neck until the omega started to purr. Alphas could roar, and betas could chirp, but only omegas could purr, using the sound to calm their hives and bond with their mates. As a pre-ascension omega, Dean was only purring because he felt safe and wanted to express his trust. Slowly, his stress and sleepless nights catching up with him, Dean leaned his head on Cas's shoulder, nudging the alpha to tell him to keep rubbing his neck. Sam grinned lopsidedly as his brother fell asleep, his purrs fading into soft snores as Cas slowly moved back so he could settle Dean across the entire couch. Sam dashed into the front bedroom and grabbed a blanket, bringing it and a small pillow back to help make his brother more comfortable. Cas smiled and moved away, Sam following him into the tiny kitchenette.

"Will you really help us, Cas? Dean raised me and has protected me my whole life, but I'm the alpha and I'm grown up now. I should start looking out for him, so I'm asking you as a fellow alpha to help me protect the man who would be my queen if our mother wasn't killed."

Cas nodded. "You would have stayed with him at least for a few years, even as I protect my older brother. I will get you an audience with Gabe and I'll make sure that nothing happens to you or Dean, okay?"

"Thanks, Cas. And thanks for all the food; Dean's been trying really hard to keep me healthy but food isn't so easy to find in the wild."

"I remember how hungry I got as I hit my final growth spurt. We have the food to spare, don't worry, we just don't like when it vanishes without explanation."

"Ha, yeah, sorry about that. Thank you, Cas, for real."

"Of course."


"Gabe? How are you doing?"

"Cassie! How is my favorite brother?" Gabe tried to push himself up from his couch, but the healer sitting by his head forcefully returned him to his reclining position. Rowena was tiny, thought Gabe wasn't very tall himself, but no one dared cross the Head Healer. Before Rowena became a healer, she had briefly served in the nursery and raised one of the hive's adopted young betas, Crowley, but she didn't look nearly old enough to have reared the dark-haired assassin.

"Good, Gabe. I missed you. How was your birthing?"

"Not bad, four eggs. There was a fifth, but the shell was discolored so the healers destroyed it." When the eggs were laid, the shells were very soft and a light translucent cream color, slowly hardening and gaining brighter colors as they reached their hatch date. Shells that had more than a few specks of color when laid held fetuses that would never successfully hatch, usually due to developmental defects that would make them incompatible with life. One bad egg every few years wasn't unusual, but Gabe's last clutch also had one bad egg and the clutch before that had two. It was a worrisome pattern, though the healers wouldn't be willing to stress him just yet by pointing that out. Gabe knew, of course.

"Four is good. Benny and Kali?"

"Yeah. Balthazar has asked to attend me next time, and maybe Ishim. Ruby and Ketch both are still spending time with their beta partners raising a couple hatchlings from our previous clutch so they have begged off."

"Have you given more thought to my suggestion that you take a seventh mate?" Cas settled on a chair near the couch, Missouri glaring at him for a moment over her knitting before returning to it. She was the Healer Second, Rowena's closest friend, and possibly psychic. Cas was pretty sure the woman could read his mind, so he was always very respectful around her.

Gabe shrugged, shifting his hips uncomfortably. Cas was glad that he didn't have to give birth; that ice pack his brother was sitting on to help bring down the swelling from laying those eggs didn't look very comfortable. Gabe's mates stayed far away from the queen for a few days after he gave birth, waiting patiently for his libido and good nature to return; a postpartum queen would rarely be interested in anything more sexual than cuddling for weeks. "I mean, I sent a couple of messages to nearby hives, but no one really has young alphas ready to move. They offered me the standard ones who had courted two or three queens before, but I don't want someone who has been through that process. I'd prefer another male, I think, preferably another tall one with good genetics." He knew that his bad eggs were becoming a concern, and often a new mate could lead to many healthy clutches whether he sired them or not. Ruby was currently Gabe's youngest mate, but she wasn't a spring chicken by any means.

"If I find you one, would you interview him?"

Gabe grinned and leaned forward slightly, his scent growing interested. "Have you found me such a strapping youth, my dear brother?"

"Perhaps."

"Well, when can I meet him?"

"As soon as your ass is healed enough for you to take an audience."

The queen's eyes widened as he realized what his brother was hinting at. "The rogues? Anna thought one of them was a young alpha."

"He was, and they have requested an audience with you as soon as possible. There's a . . . slight complication with this situation so I recommend that you see them as soon as possible."

"Not today," Rowena interjected, not even bothering to look up from her book as she pushed Gabe back down on his couch. "We can possibly have him ready for a single audience tomorrow afternoon as long as it is not too stressful."

"I can't promise that, but I can guarantee that I will be there and that these rogues are completely harmless." Missouri shot Castiel a look, and he smiled disarmingly at her. "Of course, my dear brother's loyal healers should be in attendance, though I will banish all other alphas and betas from the chamber before bringing in the rogues."

Gabe's curiosity brightened his scent at that. "What's going on with the rogues that you want to keep them away from the other guards?"

"And from your mates, too. You know how protective alphas can be to any perceived threat, especially when you are in this condition. I don't want any issues, and I have already spent enough time with the boys to know that they will not cause any trouble."

"Alright, Cas, I trust your judgment. Arrange the audience for tomorrow afternoon."


Cas led Dean and Sam through empty hallways, their old boots scuffing against the floor. The other guards had been furious when Cas dismissed them and stated that he would take the rogues to see Gabe alone. Even worse, the queen's official mates were banned from his chambers, and only two healers were allowed to attend him. In many hives, the official mates held the most power, but Gabriel loved his baby brother so much that none of them were stupid enough to argue against the orders. The alphas vanished toward the edges of the hive, fervently guarding every other hallway and door in the large complex, even sending out the beta assassin's core to hide near the main entrances while Cas walked toward the throne room.

The throne room in Gabe's hive was relatively small. Though they were a wealthy family, the Novaks had never believed in flaunting their good fortune. The small chamber, with Gabe's raised dais on one end and benches along the walls under huge windows, wasn't more than forty feet long. Beautifully carved mahogany tables, an extremely expensive wood this far north, decorated the space, holding carefully-tended plants, crystalline figures, and small statues. The center of the room just below the dais was empty, clearly where Gabe's visitors would stand when seeking audience, and the space was marked by a lovely patterned rug, the Novak Hive crest worked in blues and golds. Dean and Sam came to a stop there, waiting with their heads bowed for Cas to announce them.

"Gabriel, Queen of the Novak Hive, allow me to introduce our visitors, Dean and Sam. They offer great apologies for trespassing and seek your forgiveness here today."

Gabe, who did feel somewhat better this afternoon, slowly pushed himself to his feet to examine the strangers. Rowena and Missouri, who had taken the chairs lower on the dais that often held a couple of the mated alphas, helped him take the few steps to the floor, hovering nearby in case he needed them. Cas couldn't help but remember Dean's words about his presence in a hive with a postpartum queen, clearly seeing infirmity in his beloved brother that an intruder could exploit to split the alphas or take over the hive completely.

"What hive are you two from, what queen, what sire?"

Dean, who Gabe's nose marked as a beta, spoke, declaring himself the more dominant of the two; at their age and as they were rogues, the oldest sibling tended to take on that role. "Our hive is gone, both of our parents dead. We have not used our family name in twenty years."

Gabe tilted his head, reaching out to touch Dean's chin and force the boy to look him in the eye. Gabe was shorter by several inches, but he got the impression that this rogue was trying to make himself small and insignificant, not a trait that he was used to seeing in betas. Maybe his nose was wrong and this was a failed alpha, a boy who never presented. He would be unwelcome in any hive other than his birth one, and there only as long as his dam lived. "Tell me anyway."

"We are of Winchester Hive, both sons of Queen Mary and her favored mate John. Mary died in a fire, an assassination planned by a nearby hive, and John managed to save just us. The rest of our family, the rest of our hive, is gone."

"I think I heard about this, when I was much younger. The Campbell Hive was furious, asking all nearby hives for assistance in striking back at the invaders, but that was a thousand miles away. We couldn't send our alphas that far for that long with my own dam getting so old. I think the invaders eventually turned on each other and the remaining subsumed members of the old hive were able to kill them off, including the queen."

"Some of her alphas had left by then, searching for a younger queen. We tracked one of them, Azazel, here, but the trail ran cold. We think he found our sire this spring and killed him."

"So you two have been alone ever since? Where are you headed?"

Dean pointed out the window at the misty peaks just visible in the distance. They weren't the tallest mountains in the country, but they had their appeal, and no hive actually claimed them as territory. "Dad had some friends in the mountains, he said. We were hoping to get there before winter and find some hunters to take us in."

Gabe nodded, accepting the explanation, before turning to the younger brother. This Sam was incredibly tall, and Gabe barely came up to his chin. Even without his scent, this man's frame screamed alpha, a young, virile male without any queen scent at all. If this was the alpha male Cas had used to bribe Gabe into this meeting, then he was 100% on board with the plan. The question was if Sam was interested in mating a queen. "So, tall, broad, and handsome; what are your plans for the winter?"

Sam blushed slightly and ducked his head, letting his shaggy brown hair cover his face. It had clearly been some time since the boys had taken advantage of modern amenities like scissors, but the longer hair somehow suited him. "Uh, what Dean said, of course."

Gabe chuckled and reached out to force the alpha to raise his head, meeting hazel eyes flecked with green. Unlike Dean, Sam wasn't trying to hide his height, though he might be hunching just a little, and Gabe could feel how excited his omega was getting at the fact that he had to look up at this man. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

"Okay, so you're still a little young to be out of your birth hive, but you could be old enough to have moved on to a new family as a guard with potential to grow into a mate if you wanted. Tell me your plans, Sam Winchester, for this winter and after."

Sam's eyes flicked to Dean, somewhat worried but asking permission. "Go ahead and tell him, Sammy," Dean murmured, his scent not betraying his feelings at all. Gabe wasn't used to not being able to read people.

"I, uh, I want to join a hive. I mean, Dad was just trying to protect us and all, but he could have found a hive to take us in long ago. Dean and I don't have very good social skills, and being around strange alphas and betas has always been hard for us. It didn't have to be. I want to mate a queen and have hatchlings of my own one day; I don't want to spend the rest of my life trying to avenge our queen's death."

"You think you're attractive enough to catch a queen's eye?"

Sam straightened at that, pulling himself up to his true height as he reached out and cupped Gabe's chin in his hand. This, of course, was one of the reasons Cas had cleared the chamber; that action would be seen as an attack by the queen's mates and they would have lunged at the young alpha. Alone, however, Gabe clearly liked the move, his scent swelling with the heady notes of arousal. Sam caught it, of course, his alpha nose stronger than a beta's, and his own scent strengthened in response. He carefully caressed Gabe's chin with his thumb, staring deep into whiskey-gold eyes until the omega pressed back and softly purred. "I think I might be," Sam whispered, his voice somehow deeper than it had been before.

"Cassie," Gabe whispered, captivated by the young alpha's hazel eyes, "I think I accept."

Sam chuckled, still rubbing Gabe's scruffy cheek. "Did your little brother offer me to you in exchange for your forgiveness?"

"No, though he did plead your case. I'm having . . . this isn't something I would normally talk to outsiders about, but I've had more dead eggs than I should at my age." Rowena moved to argue, to tell her queen that a few dead eggs were nothing to worry about, but Missouri grabbed her arm and stopped her.

Sam nodded. "We heard about things like that when we lived on the coast. Your alphas are older, then? All of them over forty?"

"Ruby is the youngest, but she's in her early forties, yeah."

"Some queens need to have younger mates to keep their pregnancies healthy. Just the presence of a younger alpha can help keep your hormones in check and ensure a safe delivery."

"Cas and a couple of my other guards agree with you. Young alphas rarely get a shot at queens, though, and my subtle feelers to nearby hives haven't revealed any alphas who appeal to me."

"Hmm, really? What kind of alphas appeal to you?" Sam was teasing now, turning the full force of his charm on this blond queen. Dean had known that his brother wanted to mate, but he had never seen this lighthearted, flirty version of the kid.

"Moose sized ones," Gabe purred, nuzzling Sam's palm. "If you mate me, you wouldn't be able to apply to a larger hive later to get a better position or a different type of queen." Some alphas had gender preferences in their partners, and Gabe had no way to know that Cas had already asked Sam that exact question. There were alphas who were quite close to their queens, loved them deeply, but had no interest in mating them. Often they would stay in that hive and serve as guards, finding their lovers among the betas who matched their preference.

Sam leaned forward and offered Gabe a brief kiss, holding the connection just long enough to get a full exchange of scents and to determine that his alpha and Gabe's omega were both incredibly interested in a full merger. "I didn't come to your hive looking for a mate," Sam whispered when they pulled apart, never releasing Gabe's cheek as he wrapped his free arm around the omega's waist, "but I'm not interested in ever leaving."

"What do I have to do to keep you?"

Cas, who had kept silent off to the side with Rowena and Missouri, both of whom were eager to get the queen back into his bed to relax, cleared his throat. "There's a catch, brother."

"Name it."

"Gabe." The alpha's sharp voice broke the connection between Gabe and Sam, the omega turning to face Cas, though he didn't move far enough away to make the younger man release him. "Dean has to stay, too."

"Cas, no," Dean argued, turning fully to face the alpha. "I can't, you know that. Sam can stay, I want him to be happy, but you need to let me leave. I'll be fine in the mountains."

"You won't, Dean. What happens when those hunter friends of your dad's find out what you are? They won't leave you in peace, you know that."

"Dean?"

"Sam, I'll be fine. I promise. Just stay here, have your queen, and let me go."

"I don't understand," Gabe interjected. "Why would there be an issue with Dean staying? What is he, an unpresented alpha? I'm sure there are betas here who would help center him, let him live a normal life in the Hive."

"He's not an unpresented alpha."

"Cas, please, just let me go."

Cas stepped forward and grabbed Dean's shoulder, azure eyes boring into terrified emerald, holding them until Dean stopped trying to break free. "Dean, you have to stay. Gabe will be able to protect you from rogue alphas who wouldn't respect your desires and you'll be able to stay with your brother and watch out for him. I know you don't want to leave your brother."

"I wanted to be a beta," Dean whispered, so close to Cas that Gabe and Sam could barely hear him. "I liked raising Sam, he was such a cute little baby. It was hard to keep him . . . it was hard to keep him clean and fed and healthy on the road but I did it. Dad told me to take care of him, and I always did. I couldn't stand the thought of . . . if I didn't take care of him, I thought that Dad would leave him behind at one of the friendly hives we visited. I couldn't let that happen."

"Dean," Sam whispered, tears in his eyes. He hadn't known how hard Dean had fought to care for him, or how much stress his brother had been under for years.

"You did a good job, Dean. Is that what you want to do, work with hatchlings? You could do that here; Gabe certainly produces enough of them."

"It wouldn't be allowed. An omega raising hatchlings?"

Gabe gasped at the word, his nose twitching as he tried to confirm Dean's subgender. There was no queen scent, not on him or Sam, which meant that he had to be a virgin. Blockers, which Gabe now realized that Dean was wearing, couldn't hide a full queen scent. Thinking quickly, the blond queen freed himself from Sam's arms and stepped up behind Dean, placing a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Look, a virgin queen in my hive is dangerous, I know that, especially with my current condition, but I am determined to give both of you a better life. This isn't my libido talking, either, Dean-o; not all omegas have a lot of options about their future, but I'll give you that option if you want."

Dean turned to face Gabe, terrified but also somehow relieved that his secret was out. "How? I can't wear blockers forever and I have never heard of an omega taking on another queen's scent after presentation."

"I have," Rowena piped up. "It's not common here, but many other countries have multi-queen hives with a senior queen and up to five junior queens. I visited a hive in Scotland with a senior queen and three juniors, and it was huge. They had nearly five dozen alphas and ten times as many betas, not counting hatchlings. A hive in Germany reached out to them after their senior queen died, asking if one of the juniors wanted to bring his mates and their partner betas over to take over the hive, as their juniors were all young and not comfortable running a hive. Their system creates a lot more stable alliances, and the betas and alphas can move easily between allied hives without queen scent issues."

"Are you suggesting we do that here?"

"If it means these two scrumptious boys can stay in the hive, absolutely."

Gabe sighed and dropped his head, not even bothering to look at his healer. "Please tell me you're speaking from your years of experience with those European hives and not with your libido, not that I think either of them will take you as a lover."

"Pity," Rowena replied. "Your beautiful angel of a brother has also rebuffed my advances."

Said angelic brother rolled his blue eyes before turning his attention back to Dean. "If Rowena can do this, integrate a second queen into the hive, will you stay?"

"I don't want a harem of mates, but I can't stay alone forever or I'll just be a lure for the unmated alphas here."

"Take one mate, then. As long as you are mated, you'll be left alone and you won't suffer the terrible heats that you have in the past."

"Whoever you want, Dean-o. You can pick from any of my unmated alphas or we will find you someone from a different hive if you prefer. Will you stay?"

Dean half-turned to look over his shoulder at Sam, to base his answer on his brother's happiness as he clearly had for most of his life, but Cas grabbed his faced and forced him to turn back. "No, Dean. Gabe asked if you want to stay, not if your brother wants to stay. I'm guessing your sire never asked what you wanted, but I am asking now. Do you want to stay?"

Dean swallowed once, licking his lips before nodding. "Yeah, I want to stay."

"Alright, then we will start working on the details. For now, I think you should stay with me until we get your scent merged with the hive; I trust most of the guards but there are some of them and some of the more dominant betas that you should stay away from." Dean nodded and leaned forward to carefully rest his forehead on Cas's shoulder, accepting the alpha's strength and protection. "You'll have to stop taking your blockers," Cas murmured, wrapping his arms around the omega. "You can't accept a scent if you aren't producing one."

"Yeah, I understand."

"Ok, Rowena, what do we need to do?"

The healer walked toward Gabe and pushed him back toward the door behind the throne that led to the queen's private chambers, grabbing Sam's hand and dragging him with her. Missouri, without needing instructions from the Head Healer, tapped Cas on the shoulder and nodded toward the side exit from the throne room, indicating that he should take Dean to his private rooms. "I'll collect their belongings and bring them to you and Gabriel."

"Thank you, Missouri." Cas used the arm wrapped around Dean's waist to guide him toward the door, leading the silent omega to his private chambers. It was clear that Dean had expended too much energy in the throne room and now just needed someone to watch over him for a little while. Omegas were strong, able to handle multiple mates and lead huge hives, but a fully realized queen would have plenty of support. Dean was alone and had somehow managed to raise his brother under the care of only his alpha sire for years, later taking on that burden of care alone. Cas could only imagine how exhausted the younger man was.

Dean blindly followed the alpha into his sitting room, letting Cas help him curl up on one end of the couch under a light blanket. "Are you leaving?"

"No, I'm going to stay here. Let me get you some water."

"Okay."

Cas returned a moment later with a bottle of water, handing it to Dean and sitting down beside him. He grabbed a book from the low table nearby and settled onto the couch, smiling as Dean carefully scooted closer and leaned against his side. "Are you okay?"

Dean sipped his water and peeked at Cas's book over his shoulder. "Yeah, I think so. I can't say this is what I expected a few days ago when we came into your territory. It's going to take me some time to get used to the idea that I have a home."

"Take all the time that you need. We'll take care of you."

"Thanks for everything, Cas." Dean hooked his chin over Cas's shoulder and stared at his book, smiling as the alpha adjusted his position so his guest could read. "Beekeeping? Your hive doesn't have bees, I checked all of the fields."

"Yes, thank you for reminding me of your invasion," Cas replied wryly. "Crowley is going to allocate some space for a hive so I can get some bees. I've always wanted to have some so we can diversify the plants that we grow. Currently we rely on wild bees, but we don't get the best harvests and Kevin recommended that we try this. His hive keeps bees and they trade a lot of bee-pollinated fruit and honey with us and our neighbors."

"Interesting. Have you always been interested in bees?"

"Off and on. I like honey, and this will be a fun project, I think."

"Who will take care of the bees when you leave to become mate to another queen?"

Cas shrugged, turning the page in his book and examining the pictures of a beekeeper's suit. "I have no intention of leaving Gabriel. My other alpha siblings don't, either. We will stay in this hive for the rest of our lives and protect him, and we'll help groom his heir."

"Really? You don't want to mate?"

"I don't have to mate an omega. If I choose, I can find a beta partner and we could be very happy together. Anna and Akobel have already done so, and it little bothers them that Charlie and Lily cannot have children. Besides, alphas have to fight for the attention of their queen and I don't want to spend the rest of my life as one of six or seven favorites of another queen. Zar and Benny tell me that I am strange; they are Gabe's mates but also have permanent beta lovers, a situation that suits them but would never suit me. Most of Gabe's mates are perfectly happy to entrust most of his emotional support to his Prime Alpha and leave them to their partners, only asking for their assistance during one heat every few years. Alphas, in general, are perfectly content with this type of arrangement, but we aren't given a lot of choice if we want to breed. Only two out of every thousand babies is born an omega, and alphas have a drive to pass their genetics on to the next generation. Biological children are not as important to me as they are to so many alphas, your brother included."

"They aren't important to me, either," Dean murmured, "though I gather you'd guessed that. I would like to raise some hatchlings, but I wouldn't care if I had laid their eggs."

"As soon as you are fully weaned off of your blockers and Rowena has helped us mark you with Gabe's queen scent, I will take you to see the new eggs and last year's hatchlings."

"Thank you, Cas; that'd be great." Dean stifled a yawn, adjusting his position so he could rest his head on Cas's shoulder and watch him read for a while. Slowly, as the stress of the day finally caught up with him, the omega slid down until his head was in Cas's lap, holding onto the edge of the alpha's trench coat. Smiling, Cas reached down and pulled the blanket up to cover him, letting the omega nap as he read.