Chapter Text
Dean bared his fangs and crouched, trying his best to look menacing. However, at seven, with short, chubby legs and baby fat, the tawny wolf pup was completely adorable. John, who was teaching his firstborn how to hunt, tried to smother his laughter.
“Lower, Dean,” he chuckled. “And don’t stick your butt so high. It makes it harder to lunge.”
Dean, tail wagging in excitement, obeyed his father’s instructions. “Like this?”
John hummed and circled his pup, analyzing his stance with a critical eye. “Yes, I think you’ve got it. Want to test your skills?”
“Yeah!” Dean jumped up, and excitedly followed his father deeper into the forest. “Are we going to hunt for real this time, dad? I don’t want to lunge at trees anymore. It’s so boooring. I can handle a real game!”
“Dean,” John admonished gently. “First rule of hunting: be quiet. Your prey will run if they hear you, so you have to be stealthy.”
“Okay,” Dean whispered, trying to mimic how John’s paws barely left a sound as they treaded in the forest.
“Don’t tiptoe around.”
Dean pouted. “I wasn’t tiptoeing.”
John smiled. “Yes, you were. Just walk lightly. Don’t step on any branches.”
The pup winced as a loud crack resounded in the forest as he stepped on a branch, breaking it in the process.
“But they’re everywhere!”
“Don’t worry. With practice, you’ll get the hang of it. Now hush, we’re close.”
Dean followed his father, sniffing around. His eyes grew wide as he caught on a warm, pulsing scent. “Is that... a bunny?” he whispered.
John nodded. He’d made sure they were upwind, so the rabbit wouldn’t catch their scent. It was a matter of silence now. He leaned down, and whispered softly in Dean’s ears, “It’s not far ahead. Behind that log there. Remember, be silent.”
Dean nodded solemnly and started to creep forward. John stood on guard behind him, watching.
Miraculously, the little pup managed to make no sound, until he saw the rabbit. It was a brown, little thing, and from its behavior, Dean knew it hadn’t noticed the danger it was in.
Dean crouched, once again sticking his butt a little too high. John inwardly sighed.
“GOTCHA!” Dean leaped at the rabbit. Startled, it turned to run and Dean gave chase. Unfortunately, the rabbit was too fast for the wolf pup. Panting, Dean watched, disappointed, as his prey bounded away.
“Next time, don’t yell, Dean,” John chuckled.
“I almost had it,” Dean whined.
“I know,” John smiled encouragingly. “You’ll get it next time. Just don’t stick your butt too high.”
Dean sulked all the way back to the small shifters town that their pack had claimed as their territory. But he brightened once the Winchesters’ little cottage came into view.
“Mommy!” he yipped, and followed Mary’s scent into the kitchen.
Mary laughed as she saw the wolf pup waddle in. “Dean Winchester, no shifting in the house!”
The pup whined, but then shifted. And then her naked, bright-eyed son was beaming at her. “Are you baking pie, Mommy?”
Mary chuckled. “Apples. Just for you, baby.”
“Yay!” Dean cheered, and hugged her.
“Why don’t you put some clothes on and go play? Cas is here.”
“Cas is here?” Dean’s eyes went round at the mention of his best friend.
“Yup,” Mary smiled. Her son was too cute for his own good. “He’s in the back porch with Sam.”
John entered the kitchen then, and walked up to kiss Mary.
“He yelled at the rabbit before he lunged,” John reported.
Mary laughed at Dean’s indignant pout. “Aww, don’t worry baby. You’ll get it next time.” She patted his head. “Why don’t you go play, now? I’ll call you when the pie is done.”
At the mention of pie, Dean grinned widely. “Okay, Mommy!”
Dean sprinted towards the changing room, where John had stashed their clothes before they went hunting. Nudity didn’t bother shifters, but it was better to be clothed when in human form.
~*:*:*:*~
Dean found Cas and Sam drawing on the porch. He was happy that Cas was there. In truth, when Naomi Novak had first brought over her son to the Winchesters’ household, their parents had intended Cas to be Sam’s playmate – as they are of the same age. But from the get-go, Cas had been closer to Dean, even though he was three years younger than the other boy.
For his part, Dean didn’t mind. He liked Cas, and considered him as his own baby brother. He was as protective of Cas as he was with Sam.
“Hi, guys!” Dean excitedly bounded over to them.
Sam mumbled a ‘hi, Dean’, not looking up from his drawing of a tree. But Cas beamed up at Dean. “Hello, Dean!”
“What are you drawing, Cas?”
His brother’s tree was easy to recognize, with brown sticks as the trunk and branches, and a green cloud over it. Cas, though, was drawing stripes of black and yellow over his paper, and Dean couldn’t figure out what it was supposed to be.
“Bee!” Cas clapped his hands excitedly.
Dean laughed. “Okay. This is great, guys!”
Sam smiled. “Thanks, Dean!”
“Deeean,” Cas whined, pulling at his sleeve. “Let’s play!”
“Okay,” Dean agreed to the younger pup easily. “What do you wanna play, Cas?”
“Chase!”
Dean grinned. Out of the three of them, only he had shifted. Mary had told him that Sam and Cas weren’t old enough to shift. Usually the wolf pups chased each other in their wolf forms; it was a good way to form the pack bond. Also, from a pup’s demeanor during the game, it can usually be guessed what the pup would present as. Alpha pups were the most aggresive. Usually, they were the ones doing the chasing, while omega and beta pups were usually the ones who ran.
After his first shift, John had taken him to the pups’ playgrounds and he and the other wolf pups of the village had chased each other. There had been no doubt that Dean was one of the alpha pups. After he’d overcame his initial nervousness, he’d chased all the other pups around, even the other alphas. He’d boasted of it to his brother and Cas.
Sam and Cas had never played chase before. And so, they deemed it as an exclusive game. At first, Dean had refused to play the game with them. But then Sam and Cas turned their soulful, pleading gaze on him, and he’d quickly relented. He’d made up his own chase game, combining it with hide and seek. It had become Cas’s favorite game ever since.
“Okay. I’ll count!”
Dean took off his clothes again, throwing them haphazardly on the porch. He closed his eyes and scrunched his nose, concentrating. Then, he shifted into his wolf form.
His wolf senses were much more keener than his human ones, especially his sense of smell. He was instantly assaulted by the grassy scent of their backyard, Sam and Cas’s sweet, milky scent – the scent of unpresented pups – and the mouthwatering scent of baking apple pie from inside of the house.
Sam and Cas looked taller than him now, but they were looking at him with awe-struck, slightly envious gaze. Cas reached out and ruffled Dean’s fur. He ran his short, chubby fingers through Dean’s fur, messing it up in the process. Dean didn’t mind, though. He liked it when Cas petted him.
“I can’t wait until I shift!” Cas said excitedly.
After a while, though, he growled. “C’mon! Go hide!”
Sam and Cas ran to their backyard, giggling. Dean laid down on the porch and crossed his paws over his eyes.
“One... Two... Three...”
