Chapter Text
Long ago, when the world was young, before the stars adorned the sky, only the moon lit the night. The moon: the winged white wolf, the god of wolves and of Omegas, darkness’s bane. However, for one day in its cycle, the moon is new and dead and gone from the sky. This was the Black Moon - when the night was lightless. On this day, it was unwise for travellers to wander in the forest, as the darkness gave rise to many strange and fell creatures who sought to take any unsuspecting traveller as their food or their slave. Or worse.
But yet this traveller, this werewolf, this one was alone, for he had no choice but to be so, even on this most dangerous of nights.
The creature, yellow-gold in his wolf form, padded through the thick forest, following the steady flow of the stream, depending on his keen eyes to guide him in the thick, pitch black darkness. Eventually, the stream opened up to a calm, flat lake. It was early winter, so there was snow on the ground, but the lake remained unfrozen still.
And here, alone in the dark, he heard movement.
The splash of water came from his right, motivating him to change to his human form and don a crudely made furskin jacket, cloak, and pants from the pack he always carried with him. This done, he quickly clasped his bow and arrow, readying it in his hands. Whatever creature lay at the source of that sound, there was little chance of it bearing good will. Not on a Black Moon.
He crept closer, searching the shore as he drew his bearskin cloak tightly around him.
There. A pale figure, unclothed, walking out of the lake he'd been swimming in, shaking his black hair dry.
And he was beautiful.
The wolf had never seen anyone so handsome, or anyone so pale - pale as snow in the mountains, with eyes the color of the sky in summer. Even in such darkness, he could make those eyes out - they seemed to glow in their radiance.
It wasn’t until the smell hit him, though, that he lowered his bow.
The smell of spring flowers, of freshness, of a mountain spring. And fertility.
The figure was an Omega. An Omega wolf.
But that made no sense. An Omega out here alone? He must have been abandoned.
“Hail, Omega! I mean you no harm!” he shouted as he ran towards the figure.
The figure glanced up at him, eyes glimmering, smiling widely before going back to drying himself. He didn’t seem afraid at all.
“Are you well?” the wolf asked, searching for the caretaker Alpha or Beta that must be nearby, but smelling no other.
“Yes, of course,” the figure replied.
“Are you not cold?” he said, unable to help looking at his damp, pale, naked body. He was delicate and fair, without blemish or scar, scent like the smell of heaven.
The wolf couldn’t help but feel himself become aroused at the sight of him.
The figure appeared lost in thought for a moment. “Yes,” he at last responded. “Yes, I am cold.”
“Here,” the wolf replied, forcing himself to look away as he shrugged the cloak off his shoulders to offer the poor Omega.
“Oh!” the figure responded cheerfully. “Thank you,” he said, hugging the cloak around him. The large coat swallowed his small figure, but he seemed delighted by it.
“You shouldn’t be alone. Fell creatures roam the forest during a Black Moon, and even some Alpha wolves will take advantage of a lone Omega such as yourself.”
“But you are an Alpha, and you didn’t.”
The wolf smiled. “What are you doing out here on your own?”
“I could ask the same of you. After all, I hear it is bad luck for a wolf to wander the forest when there is no moon in the sky.”
The wolf smirked wryly. “Bad luck and I are old friends.”
“Yet you remain kind.”
The wolf shrugged. “I doubt that. You however seem quite suspicious.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. A perfectly at-ease Omega alone on a Black Moon? For all I know you’re a skinchanger, a warlock or demon, or some siren formed to delight my fantasies to lure me in and slay me.”
“I delight your fantasies?”
“You evade the question. You, lone Omega, seem too good to be true. How do I know you are not going to drag me to the bottom of the lake once my back is turned?”
The figure appeared lost in thought as he ran his gaze up and down the Alpha wolf’s body. “I very much doubt you are the sort to be led anywhere against his will.”
The wolf smiled. That much was true. “So what, then? You speak cordially to me, yet you yourself are hardly commonplace. So what are you? Good? Evil?”
The figure smiled widely. “I am myself.”
“A vague answer.”
“Oh, then, what may I call you?” the figure said, sitting down in the snow, hugging the cloak close. “Good? Evil?”
The wolf rubbed the back of his neck. “I used to know, but now I’m not so sure. But I suppose you may call me ‘Dean.’”
“Dean,” the figure said, as if tasting it in his mouth. He seemed to like it.
“So are you going to tell me your name? Or yet another riddle?”
The figure giggled. “I am Castiel.”
“Castiel?” Dean said thoughtfully. “I’ve not heard that name before.”
“I am from very far away.”
“I could guess,” he said, looking down at the frail, lean Omega now curled up in his cloak. Look at him, so small, so helpless. In his Alpha heart, he couldn’t leave him like this. He had to care for him. Some part of him just wanted to hold the Omega close and share their body heat, keep him safe and protected in his arms. Despite his strangeness.
“Are…” Dean asked hesitantly, “Are you hungry?”
“Hungry?” Castiel said, tilting his head. “Yes, I believe so.”
Dean pulled the pack from his back and set it in front of him, digging through its contents before finally espying a pouch full of freshly picked berries. “Here,” he said, pouring the berries into his hands and extending them towards the Omega.
“You… You offer me your food?”
“Yes. You said you were hungry.”
A puzzled look crossed the Omega’s expressive face as he looked deep into Dean’s eyes, as if such an act was incomprehensible, foreign. “I thank you, Dean. You are very generous,” he said, gently taking the berries from the Alpha’s large hands.
Dean shrugged as he sat down crosslegged across from the Omega. “Not really.”
Castiel popped one of the berries in his luscious mouth, the taste bringing a smile to the his lips.“You say that, yet you have been nothing but gracious to me, a complete stranger.”
“I… I suppose I merely want to keep you safe.”
“Keep me safe?”
“Yes. Night during a Black Moon is very dangerous. And you… you look so helpless. I don’t want you to get hurt or killed.”
“That is very kind, Dean.”
“It is likely just mindless Alpha instinct. Not really kindness,” Dean said, turning away.
Before he knew what was happening, the Omega had crawled on Dean’s lap, straddling him and nuzzling his cheek.
Dean froze in shock. “I, I don’t-”
“You don’t seem mindless to me, Dean,” Castiel smiled.
Oh, god. The Castiel’s scent was so perfect, so wonderful. He couldn’t help but bury his nose in the Omega’s throat to inhale more of its heavy ambrosia. He always wanted to smell that scent. Forever.
Suddenly, Castiel pulled away, tilting his head as he looked closely at Dean’s now flushed face, his blue eyes shimmering with curiosity. “Your face is speckled.”
“What?” Dean asked, still coming off the high of the scent and the feeling of Omega on his lap. God, Castiel was still astride him, arousing him even more.
“Your face. It’s speckled.”
“Oh,” Dean breathed. “Yes.”
Castiel grinned widely. “I like it.”
“Oh?” Dean said, unable to hold back his blush at the compliment.
Change the subject, change the subject.
“Do you have any family, people to look out for you?” he asked.
“No, I take care of myself,” Castiel responded before leaning against Dean’s shoulder and sighing happily. “You are very warm. It’s nice.”
Oh, fuck.
Calm down. From where he’s from this might be normal. Don’t assume he means anything. You don’t want to hurt him.
I don’t want to hurt him.
“You are truly alone, then?” Dean asked, concerned.
“Yes,” Castiel responded, resting his head happily on Dean’s shoulders. “Are you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“My, uh,” he said, halting. “My pack and family were… they were killed.”
Castiel leaned back, sadness in his eyes. “That is terrible. I am truly sorry.”
Dean averted his eyes. “Yes, so I am the wolf that no one wants. I don’t blame you if you- if you want to stay away. You are a magnificent Omega. You deserve better company than I. Lone wolves are dangerous.”
“As am I,” Castiel said with a toothy grin. “And I am not frightened of you.”
“You aren’t?” Dean replied, partially amused and partially surprised. Most wolves, upon discovering that he had no pack, would desert him immediately. After all, there must be a reason he was alone.
“Of course not. And I am sure you’ll find a pack to take you in. You are good and gentle, and when you love, you love deeply.”
“Oh, and you can tell this how?”
“I’m insightful,” Castiel chirped.
Dean couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t know much at all about this Omega, but he knew that he wanted to learn more of him. And he knew that he was going to keep him safe, no matter what it took.
“Oh, it’s sunrise!” Castiel said, looking to the east as soft pink rays peeked above the horizon. “I must leave,” he said, climbing off of Dean’s lap.
“Leave?” Dean said, dismay in his voice, and feeling suddenly chilled by the loss of his warm companion.
“Of course! All things must end.”
“Please stay. I swear I will hunt for you and protect you.”
“I cannot stay.”
“I will go with you then, to keep you safe.”
“You cannot come with me.”
“Why, Castiel?” Dean said, hurt.
The Omega’s bright blue eyes turned to him, even more vivid in the dawning light. For a moment, there was a hint of sorrow in them. “I am alone. I must always be alone. That is how these things are.”
“They don’t have to be.”
“No, Dean. Some things cannot be changed.”
“Please, Castiel,” Dean begged, standing to his feet.
Castiel turned to look at him for a long while, saying nothing. At last, however, he reached up to kiss Dean’s forehead. “May you be blessed on your path,” he said, taking off the cloak he had been wearing, and offering it back to the wolf.
“Keep it,” Dean said, eyes to the snow-covered ground to grant the frail, naked Omega some privacy.
“Dean-”
“You have no cloak of your own. I want you to stay warm. It would be my honor if you would keep it.”
Castiel fell silent, rendered speechless. He’d never experienced such an act of selflessness before. “…Thank you, Dean,” he at last said. Once more, he clothed himself in the large bearskin cloak, so long on him that it dragged against the snow, before directing his eyes to the telltale rays of the rising sun. Before he could turn away, however, Dean clasped his narrow wrist, drawing the Omega’s gaze to him.
“Will I ever see you again?” Dean said, an ache burning in his chest. Now that he’d met him, he never wanted to leave him. He wanted to always be there, to protect him. To keep him warm. But to lose him forever…?
Castiel was quiet for what felt like a very long time, before, at last, he spoke.
“Yes, Dean,” he said with a whisper. “Yes, you may see me again.”
“When?” Dean asked, eagerly.
“Next Black Moon, come here, and wait for me. Come alone.”
Black Moon?
“I vow to the sun and moon, I will be there.”
At last, Castiel once again smiled. “Farewell, Speckled Wolf.”
And at that, he turned and entered the still-dark forest, and was gone.
Dean did not follow him.