Like Cats and Dogs

Chapter 21

Everything happens almost too quickly for Castiel to react. The wolf in front—he presumes Dean's father—whirls on his mate, gets him on the ground and knocks him out in seconds. Gabriel's hands are holding him back before Castiel even realizes that he'd moved. The other younger alpha, a tall wolf with shaggy hair, snarls and leaps forward only to be momentarily detained by an older alpha with a thick beard.

The wolf omega, a beautiful blonde woman, tends to the shaggy haired alpha first, taking some of the fire out of his eyes. She steps over Dean's limp form, and that's almost enough for Castiel to lose it.

The real test, though, is from Dean's father. The alpha stalks toward the group of leopards, stopping with a few feet between him and Michael. The alpha leopard hasn't budged, has barely even reacted to the scene in front of him. Lucifer is the same.

"You know about this?" the wolf snarls, baring his teeth. Michael gives him a curt nod. The wild animal gaze of Dean's father lands on Castiel, even as he struggles to get out of Gabriel's grasp. "You stay the hell away from my son."

The panther bares its teeth. "And if I don't?"

The wolf takes a step forward, dragging a growl out of both Lucifer and Michael.

"I'll kill you. And I'll make Dean watch."

Castiel loses it.

It takes both Hannah and Gabriel to drag Castiel away from his mate. He snarls at both of them, and they almost let him go. Their instincts tell them to make him happy, to make their omega happy, but the need to keep him safe seems to win out. Damn them.

All Castiel can think is that they are hurting his mate and Dean needs him. His mate needs him. He struggles the entire walk back, tugging his arms and trying to wriggle out of their grasp. Lucifer has to help a few times, but they keep a good grip on him.

They take him back to the cave where the Arch meets, closing the heavy metal doors and blocking his way.

"What the hell was that?" Gabriel snaps at him, smacking the back of his head and sounding annoyed.

"They hurt him," Castiel growls. He doesn't care about their treaty, or peace. He cares about Dean. "I need to help him."

"I know you are protective of your little puppy dog," Gabriel says, making brief eye contact with Michael before the latter disappears. "But big boy can handle himself."

"You don't know them," Castiel says, pacing around the room. The memory of Dean's father threatening to put him down circles around his brain. He hated seeing Dean like that, unconscious with his chest in the dirt.

"Neither do you. "

Castiel continues to pace. He has to get out of here. Has to get back to the wolves. Has to—

"Castiel?"

The sound of Anna's voice drags him from his thoughts.

"Anna."

She touches her palm to his cheek.

"Is everything alright?"

"No," he growls, pushing her hand away and trying not to inhale her scent. He doesn't want to be calm right now. He wants to feel this anger, this rage, he wants to channel it so that next time he sees those wolves, he can let them taste it.

That molten, fiery desperation only lasts so long. Anna knows what she's doing, how to deal with a pissed off leopard. How to deal with a pissed off Castiel.