Like Cats and Dogs

Chapter 21

"They hurt him," Castiel says quietly, slumping down on the floor, all the fight gone out of him. Anna kneels at his side, her arms coming around his shoulders.

"I know. But Dean is strong. Isn't your mate strong?"

Castiel laughs. He can imagine Dean grinning and wiggling his eyebrows at the compliment.

"He is."

"What do you think Dean would do if you got hurt, by one of his pack no less, trying to help him?"

Dean would be furious. Dean would cup Castiel's face in his gentle hands and yell at him and ask how he could be so stupid. And Castiel would climb into his lap and kiss his worries away, because they have each other.

Except they don't have each other. Castiel should have gone with him this morning, should have held him closer, should have kissed him longer before he left.

"This is my fault. If we weren't mates, then—"

"Shhh," Anna says quietly, placing a finger over his lips. "This isn't easy, and neither is it your fault. But it will work out in the end."

Castiel isn't sure anymore that that is true.

"I think I'll go home," he sighs, dragging himself to his feet. If Dean comes looking for him, he wants to be sure that he is easily found. And Anna is right. Castiel cannot put himself in the line of fire for the sake of Dean's safety. That won't help anyone, if Dean's father is true to his promise.

Anna smiles and pets his hair. "I'll bring you something to eat. Go, Castiel. Try to rest."

He wants to laugh. That isn't going to happen any time soon.

***

Dean is in his room when he wakes up, and his body aches something fierce. He groans and stretches, sitting up and looking around. No one else is present, and he'd bet that the door is bolted from the outside. He tries it anyway.

When it doesn't open Dean flops back onto his bed and contemplates the mess of shit that is his life right now. This was worst case scenario for his dad finding out about Cas, which is ironic as hell considering his good intentions when he'd gotten home. But there's that whole thing about hell and good intentions, so maybe he should have known better.

He doesn't even want to think about Cas right now. His skin already feels itchy and too warm, and thoughts of his mate don't help when said mate is out of his reach. Luckily, the wolf is too busy deciding whether or not they could break down the door with the lock in place. He's pretty sure they can. Dean envies his confidence. They use solitary for emergencies, like when someone's mate passes away and they go off the rails for a little bit. Dean isn't some raging, out of control alpha—at least not yet—so the chances of him getting through that lock are slim at best.

He's been staring at the ceiling for god knows how long when the lock slides open and someone walks in. He knows it's Sam without even looking.

"Hey little brother. Think I fucked up royally enough?"

Sam doesn't laugh or respond, which is a huge red flag. Dean sits up and eyes his brother, furrowing his eyebrows. Sam's shoulders are tight, his eyes tired and brimming with worry. He tosses a plastic wrapped sandwich onto Dean's bed and frowns, crossing his arms.

"What's wrong?"

"Wish I knew. Something bad."

Dean's stomach drops.

"Cas, is he—"

"No idea. His pack dragged him away. I'm not talking about Cas. Though I could go for some explanation about what the hell happened at that meeting."