Chapter Text
Cas’ family had a million questions for Dean and he hung back as they took turns asking him about his life, his pack, his career goals. It seemed Dean was relieved that they didn’t expect Cas to control all aspects of his life, and that he’d have the chance to see at least some, if not all of his dreams come true.
Dean knew how to make waffles from scratch, and without a recipe. Cas marveled over that. If he’d lived his entire life in the forests, how did he know to make them without a recipe? He had so many questions for his familiar and everything Dean said or did made even more pop into his head. The wolf was charming, friendly, and it was clear even his mother and Anna found him just as gorgeous as Cas did, if the heart eyes they kept throwing his way were any indication. It gave him a better idea as to why girls seemed to flock to the wolf, he was naturally charismatic on top of extremely attractive.
When they all sat down to eat, Dean chose the seat next to Cas’ and as everyone dug in, he found his witch’s hand under the table and squeezed it gently. Cas practically beamed at him. There were rules against falling in love with one’s familiar, but that was for the ones that were only animal. He knew there were different ones, old but not completely outdated that were meant for the rare occurrence when one’s familiar was a shifter. There were a variety of different kinds of shifter and Cas wondered if his deep affection and his natural pull towards wolves was how he ended up with a werewolf shifter as his. Perhaps the fates were favoring him after all.
When breakfast was over and everything had been cleaned up. Rich brought out the dusty old tome he’d ran to fetch earlier. He set it down on the dining room table and called Cas and Dean over to show them what he’d been talking about.
“I was right about the prophecy. There is one witch every 100 centuries who is destined to be the most powerful. It is a covetous position and many witches would see that one dead before they’d let them ascend and come fully into their powers. The prophecy states that the witch will be born with a natural gift for dabbling in all magic, but as any other witch, will have a strong draw to one form or another. In your case, it’s natural earth magic, just like your mother and Anna. The ceremony to call forth their familiar will be performed as it is for every witch, however, the prophecy goes into a bit more detail from that point on.
“After the ceremony, a dark storm will roll in. The witch does not realize they are the one causing it. It will leave them restless, unable to sleep soundly, until the moment their familiar finally arrives. They come in the night, during the worst of the storm, and their arrival heralds the coming of a new age. Witch and familiar will bond, though the book doesn’t exactly explain how this bond differs from the usual witch/familiar bond, and at the moment the bond is complete, the witch will ascend, coming into their full powers. After that, no other witch can harm them, or their familiar. With the wave of a hand or a softly spoken spell they can dispel all evil, right all wrongs, and bring peace to the world. The familiar is a werewolf, according to the text, male, strong, an Alpha, with a destiny of their own. It gets a little vague after that, but apparently, if this is you two, you must complete that bond before anyone outside our coven figures out that you two are tied together.”
“Why? What happens if people figure it out?” Dean asked.
“Well, it would be like putting a death sentence on my son. Witches the world over will want to kill him to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled. Now, this is not all witches, mind you. Primarily it is those that do more than dabble in the dark arts. To have a witch of pure light possess the power to banish darkness entirely would basically end magic for them, and they don’t want that. The last witch to have a werewolf as their familiar was viciously hunted and slaughtered before the prophecy could be fulfilled. Same with the one before that.” Rich turned to his son, sliding his reading glasses off his nose and setting them on the table.
“There is such a thing as a witch’s mark. Now, this was thought to be something the colonists made up in order to hunt down those they believed were witches and have a legitimate excuse to kill them, but it was first whispered into their ears by a dark witch who was seeking to destroy those that practiced light, or more commonly called, “white” magic. As a result several witches and many innocent humans were needlessly murdered in the name of religion. The fact is, there is a mark, but it is only found on the witch of prophecy, and not until after the ceremony to call forth their familiar. So.” He stood back and looked his son in the eye. “What we need to do is find any new mark on your body that was not there yesterday. If that mark is there, then you are the witch from the prophecy.”
“What?” Cas stared at his father in wide eyed horror. “If others believe that, they’ll try to kill me!”
“But they won’t, because you will figure out what the bond is that will fulfill the prophecy.” Rich stated. There was excitement in his voice that had Cas and Dean looking at one another, each with an eyebrow raised.
“And how exactly am I supposed to do that?” Cas asked.
“We’ll call in Lady Pamela.” Rich nodded, as if that was the answer to everything. “Yes, I’ll call her immediately.” He rushed out of the room before his son or Dean could argue.
“What do you think this bond is that he’s talking about?” Dean asked as he sat down. He tried to read the prophecy but the book was spelled so only the Novak coven could read it. “How are we going to figure out what this entails? Is there a specific time frame we have to figure this out in?”
“I assume before other witches figure out that I’m like, the chosen one, or whatever.” Cas grumbled. “Before they start coming and trying to kill me. I can combat quite a few types of magic but there are some I simply cannot. I’m not strong enough.”
Dean sat back in his chair, one arm draped over the back as he stared thoughtfully at the book. Cas pushed it away with a growl that raised an eyebrow from the actual wolf.
“What do we do when we return to school and people start asking me about my familiar? I have friends that are eagerly awaiting word from me.”
“Well, familiars are only allowed into classrooms and places like the library and cafeteria if they’re under a certain size, right? What if you tell people yours is up in your dorm room because it’s too big? That way we can both attend our classes without that to worry about, then I can beat you to your room before you get up there, so if your friends come by, I can be in my wolf form.” Dean turned to look at him, only to find those blue eyes staring at him again. “You know, you stare an awful lot.”
Cas blinked and dropped his eyes. His cheeks flushed as he murmured an apology. “Or I don’t put that kind of stress or responsibility on you and I just tell them mine has not arrived yet. I don’t want you having to run around when you have studying to do too. Finals are next week.”
Dean realized he was right and nodded. “Yeah, I guess that way is better. Less likely for one of us to slip up. We just have to hang on until graduation. Then we can slip away relatively unnoticed.” He licked his lips as he attempted to appear as casual as possible. “Maybe we should tell everyone we’re dating. You know, so when my need to be close to you becomes a bit too much, it won’t look weird if we’re hanging out together.”
A knowing smile twitched at the corners of Cas’ lips as he looked at the other man. “You know, don’t you.” It wasn’t so much an accusation as it was a realization. He smiled wider when he saw the blush that spread across Dean’s cheeks, highlighting his freckles.
“I maybe caught you staring a few times. I also maybe mentioned how hot I thought you were to Charlie, who then maybe told me that you liked me.”
Cas gaped at him, not sure whether he should be embarrassed or flattered. He was leaning towards embarrassed.
“You…,” He narrowed his eyes. “How long have you known I liked you?”
Dean’s smile was less cocky and much more shy than he expected to see, especially after his attempt at a dominant display the night before.
“I just found out a few weeks ago. I, uh, caught you staring, so I started making a point of trying to get close to you, to see how much your scent would change when I was near you. For the record, you’re lousy at hiding your emotions.”
Cas groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Yes, this was definitely embarrassment. “I had no idea you were a wolf or I’d have tried harder to keep my feelings more neutral!”
Dean scratched at his chin, frowning at the stubble he could feel there. “Well, I wanted to apologize for last night, I know I came off seeming like an asshole. That’s not how I really am. It was a combination of being upset that I was suddenly finding myself tied to a witch, having to run all the way here in a horrible thunderstorm and getting soaking wet in the process, and finding out that the witch I was tied to was like, the hottest guy I’ve ever met. So yeah, my emotions and hormones were running a little higher than normal.”
“Please, don’t feel that you must flatter me, I promise I’ll be respectful of you.” Cas dropped his hands and stared at the book again.
“I’m not saying that just to flatter you, Cas. I’m…not so good with my feelings. Flirting, sure, it comes pretty easy, but actual feelings? Not so much. What I’m trying and failing at getting across to you is that this goes both ways. I like you too.”
Ok, so perhaps this was seeming less like a nightmare and more like a dream from which he hoped to never wake up. Never in a million years would he have thought Dean liked him too. He looked at the wolf and found those bright green eyes watching him again.
“Maybe we should find that mark.” Dean said suddenly.
“You think this is real?” Cas asked.
“Well, your dad sure does, and while shifters do get the call, no witch has gotten one in like, yeah, what your dad said, at least a thousand years. For the record, it was a wolf from my pack that got the call. I wonder if the witch came from your coven.” Dean sat up straight. “Let’s get you into the bathroom and see if anything new popped up overnight.”
“I believe I can check myself over.” Cas grumbled as he stood up. Dean was already heading for the bathroom but he glanced back, smirking at the witch’s embarrassment.
“Maybe, but you can’t check everywhere. Plus. I’ve always wondered what was under those long sleeve shirts you always wear.”
Cas’ jaw dropped as Dean disappeared around the corner. He followed after him and found the wolf already in the bathroom, turning on the light and leaning back against the counter expectantly.
“Tattoos.” He blurted.
“Come again?” Dean asked, confused.
“They cover tattoos. I have spells tattooed on my body. Down both arms, across one hip, on my ribs, and I have a series of protective symbols inked into my skin as well. Several on my back, on both legs, on my wrists.”
“Dude, that’s hot.” Dean was grinning and Cas cursed his body for reacting to such a look. He rubbed nervously at his arms.
“You won’t know what to look for.” He said lamely.
“How about you tell me which symbols and spells are supposed to be there and I tell you if there’s anything else visible?” Dean pushed off the counter and before Cas could protest, grabbed the hem of his pajama top and pulled it over the witch’s head. Cas gasped but Dean had already tossed the shirt aside and grabbed his wrists, preventing him from covering himself as the wolf’s eyes roamed hungrily over his body.
“You are fucking gorgeous.” He growled. Cas’ cock twitched but he held still, letting Dean drink in his fill. Suddenly Dean moved behind him, placing his hands on the witch’s shoulders and moving him in front of the mirror. “Does anything on your chest look different?”
Cas took several minutes studying his chest, and turned enough that he could see his sides and arms. There was nothing out of the ordinary he could see. Dean began reading off everything he saw on Cas’ back and at the witch’s request, went to grab his cell phone and take a picture of his back. From there Dean searched inside Cas’ mouth, in his hair, even under his eyelids, just in case. Nothing unusual could be seen.
“Gotta lose the pants.” Dean tugged at the waistband on Cas’ sleep pants, chuckling when his hands got slapped away.
“I can do that myself, thank you.” Cas grumbled as he untied the pants and slid them off. He felt self-conscious standing in front of Dean wearing nothing but his boxers, but Dean was busy studying the backs of his legs.
“How many leg tattoos and spells are we talking about?” He asked.
“A feather on my right ankle, a dragon eye on my left foot, and a rather lengthy spell on each thigh.” Cas replied.
“What about this weird looking Z on your inner thigh?”
Cas looked down, and sure enough, there was a weird looking Z on his thigh, halfway between his knee and groin. His stomach dropped as he stared at it.
“I’m guessing that’s not one of the ones you already had. This one looks more like a birthmark than a tattoo anyway. Does it have any meaning?” Dean had squatted down to get a better look at it but he was suddenly acutely aware of how badly Cas was shaking. He jumped back up to his feet and pulled the man into his arms. “Hey, it’s going to be ok. I told you before, no one is ever going to hurt you.”
“I-it’s a wolf’s hook.” Cas murmured against his neck.
“A what now?” Dean had never heard of that.
“It’s ancient, Nordic in origin, embraced by the Germans sometime after the Viking age.” Cas swallowed hard as he clung to Dean. “It refers to a literal hook that was used to capture and kill wolves. Back during a time when wolf packs were so large, and Dire wolves roamed all over Europe. The Vikings were warriors, good at a great many things, but they were dying by the droves at the hungry jaws of the wolves. So they began to kill them with these hooks. This is where the first humans would have gotten bitten. Fighting Dire wolves was nearly impossible, they were huge, but the Vikings gained the upper hand in the end. Eventually the hook lost its value when other tools became available. It was when the Vikings were first beginning to embrace their magical ability that the origin of the prophecy came about. The text my dad was reading from earlier? It’s not spelled, as you thought. It’s written in an ancient Nordic language that no longer exists anywhere except on stones, runes, or in certain texts where it was passed down, generation to generation. That book belonged to my ancestors.”
“Your ancestors…were Vikings.” Dean concluded.
“Yes.”
Dean inhaled slowly, breathing in the sweet clove and honey spice of his witch before exhaling.
“I descend from Dire wolves.”
Cas stepped back and they simply stared at one another for a long, long time.
“I’m so sorry, Dean.”
“For what? It sounds like there are forces at play here, and they’ve been at play for much longer than we’ve been alive. I know why my ancestors killed yours, and why yours retaliated and began to slaughter mine. It’s not like your ancestors were the only ones. The reason only shifters are Dire wolves anymore is because pure Dire wolves were driven into extinction. I think that somewhere, some ancient ancestor of mine had started off human, but had been bitten. Magic played into it somewhere and the first shifters were born. We have stories written down too, passed down along the generations. It seems like we’ve sort of always been destined to end up together.”
Cas huffed a humorless laugh. “You make it sound poetic.”
“Isn’t it though? I wonder if your dad has any kind of written documentation on the first shifter/witch connection. There probably is of the second one.”
Cas looked down at the mark on his thigh. This was real. Some magical entity, thousands of years ago had set this ball in motion. Others before him had failed, but he was supposed to fulfill this mystical destiny? Something he’d never heard of before this morning? He wanted to laugh, to scream, to pound his fists against the walls in frustration, but that would get him nowhere. Instead, he snapped his fingers and his clothing was back in place on his body.
“Whoa,” Dean’s eyes widened. “That’s…”
“I can do a lot more than that, but I prefer not to. I actually like doing things for myself.” Cas stared over Dean’s shoulder at his own reflection. The haunted eyes staring back at him were unnerving. To say he was scared was an understatement.
“I think we should compare notes, talk to my mom, get the history from the wolf’s point of view as well as from your family’s. Maybe somewhere along the line we can figure out how to seal this bond the way your ancestors hinted at.” Dean suggested. Cas dropped his gaze to Dean’s chest before nodding.
“Yes, we should do that. I can’t get away until after graduation though.”
“That works fine, my parents are coming to my graduation, I’ll introduce you then.” Dean tilted Cas’ head up so they were looking at each other. “It’s going to be ok, Cas. First, we ace our finals, then we deal with everything else. Somewhere between those two things, I’d like to take you on a date, or is that taboo?”
Cas’ stomach did that fluttering thing again as he smiled. “I’d love to go out with you.”
Dean pressed a soft kiss to his lips which just made the butterflies in Cas’ stomach explode.
“Let’s go tell your dad what we found, then we’ll make the drive back to school. I have a paper due tomorrow on the fall of the Roman Empire and I’m only about ¾ done with it.”
“I have an essay due for Art History, so I suppose we should head back.”
“Which car in the driveway is yours?” Dean asked as they walked out of the bathroom.
“Oh, mine is the ’64 Rambler.”
Dean’s grin was wide as they made their way to the parlor in search of Rich.
“We’re going to get along just fine, Cas. Just fine.”