While Amara continued to absorb her own Darkness—the very power she had spread around while pretending to be wounded after the angels fired the Heavenly Cannon—Alex calmly lit a cigarette.

One question wouldn’t leave his mind: why had Amara teleported Dean halfway across the country to this exact place?

Looking around, Alex noted that despite the grayness and the scorched land left behind by the strike of the Heavenly Cannon, the area looked… unexpectedly picturesque. Even after Amara reclaimed her scattered Darkness, the place was still quite suitable for a quiet walk.

When she heard Alex’s question, Amara looked at him and, after a short pause, answered. She said she had stumbled upon this place by chance. There had been a small town here, with surprisingly kind and welcoming people. She liked the atmosphere—calm, warm. That was why she wanted to see Dean and take a walk with him here, in a place that had given her a rare sense of peace.

Amara’s words made Alex hesitate slightly. He let out a heavy sigh. Because that very town she was talking about was now a city of the dead. All of its residents had been turned into statues of salt.

Even without Alex saying a word, Amara already understood everything. She couldn’t feel a single living being within a five-kilometer radius. This realization stirred genuine anger in her—rage at the actions of the angels and what they had been willing to do just to wound her slightly.

But realizing the scale of the tragedy, Amara suppressed that anger and only sighed heavily, silently mourning the lives of the people who had died because of her.

She understood more and more clearly that her purpose was to become the guardian goddess of this universe—to protect it from any threats, to safeguard all living things. And now, knowing that innocent people had died because of her, she felt only pain and sorrow.

Amara felt every grain of suffering those people had experienced in their final moments. Noticing her state, Alex silently patted her on the shoulder in a gesture of support. Amara appreciated it.

She considered Alex the only friend she could speak to openly—the one who truly understood her. After their conversation, Amara was already preparing to leave. She knew she had nothing more to do here—now that Alex was present, the situation was under control.

But before she could teleport away, both of them heard the crack of a broken branch. Amara turned her head, sighed softly, and casually waved her hand. In the next moment, a tree was ripped out by the roots and thrown aside. Standing in its place were Castiel and Ambriel.

Ambriel’s face showed genuine horror—she clearly had no idea what to do now after everything she had seen and heard. Castiel, on the other hand, looked surprisingly calm. That immediately put Alex on guard.

Amara knew Castiel only from Dean’s stories, but seeing him in person, she frowned slightly. Castiel calmly raised his hand and touched Ambriel’s forehead. In the same instant, the angel girl lost consciousness. Alex and Amara looked at him in surprise.

“Why don’t I feel the same filth from you that emanates from my brother’s other creations?” Amara asked, frowning.

Hearing her words, Alex slightly raised an eyebrow and also looked closely at Castiel. Now he understood that this feeling wasn’t his alone. If Amara sensed the same thing, then it wasn’t just his imagination.

The longer Alex looked at Castiel, the more convinced he became that this Castiel was different from the one he had heard about before. Castiel himself didn’t react to the question at all. He calmly crouched down and once again touched Ambriel’s head, completely ignoring the presence of Alex and Amara.

Alex narrowed his eyes and activated his magical sight. He saw Castiel rewriting Ambriel’s memories—carefully, professionally, without the slightest harm to her mind. When he finished, Castiel stood up and looked at Alex.

That look finally threw Alex off balance. In Castiel’s eyes, he saw the very same gaze Adam had once looked at him with. Then Castiel shifted his gaze to Amara.

“That’s because I was not created by the hands of the one you call your brother, Amara,” he said calmly.

Alex’s fists clenched with a crack as he took a step forward.

“Enough riddles. Tell me who you really are, Castiel.”

He gave a cold smirk.

“Usually, my conversations with people like you are very short. I’d rather not kill someone I consider a friend. But for the sake of a happy ending for this universe… I wouldn’t mind putting you through a meat grinder.”

Castiel looked at him without a trace of fear.

“Just as he said,” he replied evenly. “Our brother is rather aggressive when it comes to saving worlds. I thought you had already figured out who I am, little brother.”

Alex went pale.

“Fuck…” he groaned. “Don’t tell me…”

His insane theory had been true all along.

Alex looked at Castiel. He nodded silently, confirming that every word was true.

The realization hit with such force that Alex covered his face with his hands and let out a dull groan. Pain pulsed in his temples, as if reality itself had decided to remind him that sometimes even gods are not ready for the truth.

When Alex first met Castiel and felt something strangely familiar and close about him, he had brushed it off. He blamed it on the fact that the angel, no matter what, kept siding with humanity again and again. On his desperate attempts to bring everything to a happy ending—even when Chuck’s hand time after time steered the story toward tragedy.

The thought that Castiel might be his brother had appeared back then only as a stupid joke. Absurd, almost funny. Alex never allowed himself to consider it seriously.

Now that “joke” was staring him straight in the face.

Amara looked closely first at Castiel, then at Alex, who appeared as if his world had just been turned upside down. It took her only a couple of seconds to put two and two together—especially after Castiel’s silent confirmation.

“Are you saying that you’re his brother?” she asked, frowning. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t you do anything? Why did you spend all this time hanging around Dean and his brother Sam?”

“Don’t expect anything from him,” Alex said wearily, lowering his hands from his face and casting a heavy look at Castiel. “My brother follows an ancient prohibition imposed by our father. Neither he nor my other brothers can directly influence Creation. There are a few exceptions, but even those are just crumbs. All he’s allowed is minimal interference.”

Castiel nodded.

“That’s correct. My influence is strictly limited. With the exception of our youngest brother,” he paused briefly. “He was born later, outside the bounds of that rule. That’s why he has far greater freedom.”

Amara looked thoughtfully at Castiel, then back at Alex, waiting for him to continue.

Alex let out a heavy sigh and began to explain. There was no point in hiding something like this—it wasn’t a secret protected by the ancient prohibition. Many powerful beings knew that the Creator had once forbidden himself and his children from interfering in the lives of their creations, granting them the greatest gift of all—Freedom.

Castiel supplemented the story, adding details of his own. He had existed even back when that rule was first established.

Amara listened attentively, nodding from time to time. Half of it she already knew from Alex himself—back at the very beginning of their acquaintance. Now, the missing fragments fell into place, forming a complete picture.

At the same time, a real stir broke out in Alex’s family. The news that Castiel was his brother caused an uproar among his wives and daughters. Especially the daughters, who enthusiastically learned that they now had a new uncle they could visit… and possibly talk into giving them something.

The family itself was surprised, but not so much by the fact of kinship as by the realization that until now they had seen Castiel only as a character from the TV series Supernatural. And nothing more.

“All right, brother,” Alex said, taking a drag from his cigarette. “Now explain how long you’ve been in this world. And if it turns out you screwed everything up from the very beginning, I’ll kick your ass. Even if you are my brother.”

He snapped his fingers.

“But first, let’s change locations. I’m not going to discuss things like this in the middle of a forest that was just blasted by the Heavenly Cannon. I don’t want anyone listening in.”

The next instant, a massive magic circle flared to life beneath Alex’s feet, encompassing both Amara and Castiel.

A moment later—and they were in Hawaii.

In an empty alley, Alex gestured for them to follow. Soon, they entered a small family café with a warm, cozy atmosphere. Alex ordered coffee for everyone. Amara decided to try the local cuisine.

Castiel took off his beige trench coat and carefully hung it over the back of a chair, then calmly sat down.

Alex tapped his fingers against the table, never taking his eyes off him. Castiel met his stare with the same calm, as if there were nothing unusual about the situation.

When the coffee arrived, Alex took a sip, exhaled, and nodded to signal that he could speak.

“I heard the prayer of Castiel from this world,” he began. “Back then, he was trapped in Purgatory. Exhausted, wounded, but still determined to save everyone. I offered him rest, and I took his place.”

He took a sip of coffee.

“I knew you would come. That’s why I waited. I tried to minimize the damage.”

Alex let out a bleak smirk.

“Doesn’t sound convincing, brother. Want me to remind you what happened because of you? The fall of the angels. The civil war. Dean became a demon because you couldn’t finish off Metatron.”

He sharply pointed a finger at Castiel.

“And how the hell did Rowena even manage to put a curse on you? You’re not just some feathered asshole. You’re a primordial angel. A cosmic being.”

“I admit it,” Castiel replied calmly. “Part of the blame lies with me. But because of the restrictions, I can’t rewrite fate the way you do. I tried to change the destined ending, but Chuck interfered again and again, steering everything back to the script he wrote for his ‘great finale.'”

“Let’s assume that,” Alex said slowly. “You couldn’t unite the heavenly army. Let’s assume Chuck interfered. Fine—even Dean’s death and his transformation into a demon can be written off as ‘bad luck.'”

He leaned forward.

“But now answer me this: how did Rowena manage to curse you? I don’t believe some witch could break a cosmic being.”

Castiel smiled faintly.

“She couldn’t.”

Alex raised an eyebrow.

“Then what was all that bullshit with blood from the eyes, madness, and everything else?”

“Acting,” Castiel answered calmly. “When Dean and Sam weren’t watching, I took lessons. To make it look believable.”

He paused and added with a slight smile:

“Who would’ve thought those lessons would be so difficult that I’d have to put in that much effort?”

Hearing Castiel’s words, Alex choked on his coffee and stared at him as if something utterly impossible were sitting across from him.

Amara, who was calmly enjoying traditional Hawaiian cuisine at the time, only briefly glanced at Castiel before shifting her gaze to Alex. A thought immediately crossed her mind that they truly were brothers—and that both of them put the same level of effort into playing their roles.

After wiping the coffee from his face and the table, Alex barely managed to suppress a heavy sigh, already imagining the scene: Castiel, in his ever-present trench coat, sitting in an acting studio and rehearsing emotions with a stone-faced expression. He began rubbing his temples, feeling the situation grow so absurd that he almost forgot he himself was far from a model of sanity.

Alex’s only justification was that, unlike Castiel, he had never attended an acting school.

Noticing his brother’s reaction, Castiel smiled faintly and calmly took a sip of his coffee.

“All right, brother,” Alex exhaled, placing his hands on the table. “I’ll pretend I never heard about your trips to acting school. Better tell me—where do you keep disappearing to all the time?”

“I pretend to help,” Castiel replied evenly, as if he were stating something self-evident. “You took on the main workload, so I tried not to get in the way. I handled minor errands. Nothing more.”

Alex looked at him with a blank stare.

“So in Dean’s and Sam’s eyes you’re still ‘looking for a way to deal with Amara,’ while in reality you’re just wandering around somewhere, playing the role of a useful team member?”

“For example,” Castiel continued thoughtfully, “last week I attended painting lessons. I was interested in how your wife Alice paints. I wanted to try depicting something on canvas myself.”

He paused and added:

“Before that, I observed dog racing. Surprisingly fast creatures—running in circles after a plush rabbit. Very fascinating. Though I lost money on the bets. Luck does not always favor one, but victories and defeats are a natural part of existence.”

“Acting lessons, painting, dog racing…” Amara drawled, sipping her fruit cocktail and smiling. “And here I thought you were the strangest one in the family, Alex. Turns out it runs in the family. And why am I not surprised?”

Alex nodded, stroking his chin.

“Our father once took my daughters to an amusement park the size of an entire world. Then he took them to catch Pokémon. And after that, he left them on Pandora—where every second resident has issues with their head. So yes, looking at it that way, it’s definitely a family thing.”

“Oh, my nieces…” Castiel said with a light smile. “It would be worth visiting them someday. Our brother Adam also has children, but they’ve long since grown up and started families of their own. I can understand Father. He always insisted that we create families of our own.”

Amara looked at both of them with amusement, sipping her cocktail. Alex only shook his head—Castiel had no idea that his nieces were absolute gremlins, albeit in very cute packaging.

Amara grew curious and asked to hear about Alex’s daughters. She herself had no children, and she considered Alex a friend she trusted. Alex shrugged and took out his phone. First, he showed photos of his daughters. Amara couldn’t help but squint slightly, smiling—the girls really were adorable.

Then Alex opened the family chat. And that’s when it began.

The first photo showed four girls riding atop a massive minotaur. Amara immediately had questions: how, why, and for what reason.

Alex showed a message from Freya, in which she wrote that Anya, Nyaruko, Jinx, and Tina had fed the minotaur something incomprehensible. As a result, it went into berserker mode and escaped the dungeon.

And Alex didn’t stop there. Next came a video of those same four girls hijacking a car, tying Psycho to it, and reenacting a Mad Max scene—flying off a cliff at full speed.

Then there was a strange Pokémon battle that caused even more destruction than the enraged minotaur. Amara watched all of this in open shock, then looked back at Alex, silently asking: Are you serious?

Alex only smiled faintly and nodded. Amara snorted. It was obvious how deeply Alex loved his daughters—so much so that he was willing to forgive them even for such “pranks.”

After sitting a little longer in the café in Hawaii, Alex suggested they get back to business. Amara waved her hand and immediately vanished into thin air.

Alex and Castiel exchanged glances. Before leaving, Alex decided to brief his brother on his upcoming plans, so he wouldn’t accidentally ruin things with any impulsive actions.

Castiel listened attentively and nodded, agreeing to help. Still, Alex didn’t place much hope in this—he knew perfectly well how strictly his brother was limited by the rules set by the Creator.

After that, they teleported back to the Bunker. Upon returning, they found everyone gathered in the main hall, including Dean—he was already looking noticeably better and no longer appeared as if he had just been pulled out of a microwave.

Lucina, Alice, Samantha, Enid, and Wednesday now looked at Castiel differently. The truth had come out—he was Alex’s real brother.

“Judging by your faces, you didn’t find anything,” Dean said as soon as Alex and Castiel appeared.

“What do you mean ‘nothing’?” Alex shrugged. “We found Amara. This time I got lucky—she didn’t send me flying. She just showed off that the angels’ tricks didn’t hurt her, though they did make her a little angry.”

“I understand why she let you go,” Sam remarked. “After all, you’re Death. But Cass is an angel. Technically, she should have attacked him.”

“We had to make a deal,” Castiel said calmly, playing along with Alex.

Dean frowned and got up from his chair.

“What kind of deal?”

“We had to tell her that Lucifer would be breaking free soon,” Alex answered, giving a slight nod. “Either that, or I would have had to go back alone.”

“So you gave Darkness information about Lucifer’s escape?” Sam frowned. “Basically, you tricked her?”

“Did you buy us some time or not?” Wednesday interjected, playing along with Alex.

Alex nodded and began improvising a plausible lie to convince Dean and Sam. Castiel actively assisted him—no longer just an angel, but a brother who now had to fully demonstrate his acting skills, helping Alex sell the story.

After listening to their explanation, Dean and Sam exchanged glances and nodded, understanding that they had gained a little time.

Lucina, however, watched the whole scene with a blank stare. Two brothers were carefully deceiving the other two, and from the outside, it looked like a cheap comedy series. In fact, she wasn’t the only one thinking that— the other girls observed this performance of lies with clear enjoyment, barely holding back their laughter.

When Alex finished his story, he concluded that Amara wasn’t planning to destroy the world—at least not until she lured her brother out. Moreover, according to Alex, Amara wanted to show him exactly how everything he had built on lies would be destroyed by her hands—right before his eyes. And this would only happen when she managed to drag him out of the hole where he was hiding.

Dean and Sam believed him. After all, Alex had no reason to lie about something like this.

But the question immediately arose again—what on earth was Dean doing so far away, and in the company of Amara, no less?

Dean explained what their conversation had been like, what they talked about, and admitted that Amara had simply wanted to see him. Their talk was interrupted by a shot from the Heavenly cannon, and she never really had the chance to tell him anything important.

Alex, of course, could have added that Dean and Amara had kissed—Amara herself had told him so. But then his carefully constructed lie would have gone straight to hell.

After the conversation ended, Alex headed to the kitchen to cook for everyone. He paid special attention to making a large portion for Dean—after the recovery, Dean was suffering from a truly savage hunger.

While Alex was busy cooking, he contacted Jesse again to share everything he knew about the weapon the angels had used.

After listening, Jesse said that a group of scientists was already working on it. Their goal was to restore the damaged region and make it livable again. Among other things, they were developing a device that could prevent all living beings from turning into salt within the impact zone of the heavenly weapon.

Alex merely snorted—he wasn’t surprised in the slightest that the Bureau of Control had already taken charge. Before ending the call, he added that if any help was needed, the scientist in charge of the research should contact him directly. After chatting with Jesse for a bit about unrelated topics, Alex ended the call and returned to cooking.

As soon as he finished, Dean was the first to appear in the kitchen—with the expression of a man who hadn’t been fed for at least a week. While everyone else ate calmly, Dean demolished his food at a pace that suggested someone was about to snatch his plate away.

And, unsurprisingly, he choked and started coughing. Alex let out a heavy sigh, walked over, and slapped Dean on the back. At that very moment, Dean spat out something that looked suspiciously like a red stone.

“What the hell is that?” Dean asked, pointing at the object. “Did you put something in the food?”

“I didn’t add anything like that to the food,” Alex replied lazily, continuing to eat. “That’s your blood that turned into salt. You can sell it on eBay with the label ‘bloody salt.'”

Dean stared at the little stone in shock, then carefully picked it up and examined it closely. Everyone else watched him in silence, with the unspoken question: he wouldn’t…

Of course he did.

Dean licked the bloody salt to make sure it really was salt. At that moment, the entire group collectively expressed their disgust. Dean, however, smacked his lips, tasting salt and blood, fully confirming that Alex had been right.

“Dude, not at the table,” Sam grimaced. “How do you even come up with stuff like that?”

“Aren’t you curious what it tastes like?” Dean rolled his eyes. “It’s technically part of me. What’s so gross about that? Besides, it tastes like salt with blood.”

“As Alex said,” Wednesday added calmly without looking up, “you can sell it. I’m sure there are collectors who would pay a lot of money for something like that.”

“Seriously?” Dean perked up, thoughtfully examining the salt. “I wonder how much I could get for it.”

“Dude, don’t even think about it,” Sam said immediately, trying to snatch the stone away. “First, it’s disgusting. And second, why would you even sell something like that?”

“Sammy, extra money never hurts,” Dean grinned, pushing his brother away. “And besides, it’s my bloody salt. I’ll decide what to do with it myself.”

Alex and the girls continued eating calmly, despite Dean and Sam still arguing among themselves.

Dean insisted that the bloody salt could be sold for a good price, while Sam called his brother an idiot, pointing out that no sane person would buy such a disgusting thing.

Alex looked at Wednesday. When their eyes met, he immediately understood—she had deliberately mentioned the collectors.

Looking him straight in the eyes, Wednesday gave the faintest of smiles before returning to her food. She enjoyed creating chaos and watching the world around her slowly burn.

Alex just smirked and focused back on his meal, ignoring the usual bickering between Sam and Dean. Otherwise, both brothers would once again get lost in their own thoughts—about how, in a single moment, everything had gone to hell at a frightening pace.

Sam was still bewildered after Lucifer’s deception, and Dean still couldn’t fully grasp what exactly connected him to Amara.

Several short days passed this way.

Alex sat in the Bunker library with Wednesday. She was already reading another book from the collection gathered by the Men of Letters.

Nearby, at a large table, sat Sam. Dozens of open books were scattered around him—after the failure with Lucifer, he was desperately searching for other ways to oppose Amara.

Lucina, Samantha, Enid, and Alice had gone shopping to replenish the supplies, which had noticeably dwindled.

Dean was trying to find any task he could handle just to finally get some distraction. They had been stuck in the bunker all these days without going anywhere, and it was starting to irritate him.

Alex lay on Wednesday’s lap with his eyes closed, simply resting. He waited for Sam to find information about the artifact known as the Hand of God—a relic said to have been touched by God Himself and potentially usable against Amara.

With his eyes closed, Alex subtly observed what was happening with Crowley and Rowena. As he had predicted, Lucifer had broken out of his cage and headed straight for them first.

Crowley was chained, while Rowena appeared to be dead. In reality, she had implanted a special artifact under her skin capable of saving her life in such a situation. Now, Rowena was hiding, mortally afraid of Lucifer, while Crowley played the role of his new chained dog.

Slightly smiling, Alex opened his eyes, rolled onto his back, and looked at Wednesday. She lowered her gaze and gently placed her hand over his eyes. Alex smiled, took her hand, and kissed it.

Wednesday merely rolled her eyes slightly. She had become so accustomed to Alex’s displays of affection that they had become something natural and familiar to her.

“Finally! I’ve found us a job!” Dean announced, bursting into the library with a tablet in hand.

“Dean, this isn’t the time. We don’t know how long we have before Amara turns her attention back to the world,” Sam said, turning to his brother.

“Sam, we haven’t found anything for several days. We’re just sitting around here. We need some kind of distraction. And this job just came up,” Dean replied, placing the tablet on the table.

Alex, who had been lying on Wednesday’s lap, immediately got up and walked over to see what job Dean had found.

Noticing Alex’s support, Dean smirked and slid the tablet closer.

Wednesday closed her book and stood behind Alex, placing her hands on his back. She was gathering material for her new book, and every case—especially one involving a mysterious death—served as a source of inspiration for her.

Alex quickly scanned the article about the death of a retiree in a nursing home.

Reading the news, he thoughtfully stroked his chin, trying to recall which kind of creature might have been involved in the incident.

“Well, what do you think? Retiree smashed his head in his own room. Doors and windows locked. Evil spirits, possession, or some other creature decided to finish him off. Either way—it’s definitely our kind of case,” Dean said with a smirk.

“I’ll take it. Excellent material for my book. Find another case for yourself,” Wednesday said calmly, finishing the article.

“No way. Don’t ruin this for me. We need a distraction. I’m already tired of sitting around in this damn bunker with nothing to do. Don’t take away the little happiness I have left,” Dean said, looking at Wednesday like she was the main villain.

Wednesday responded with an unflinching look that clearly conveyed: she didn’t care about his feelings, and he could do whatever he wanted—just don’t get in her way.

By that time, Lucina, Alice, Enid, and Samantha had returned from grocery shopping. Without any ceremony, Wednesday announced that they were coming with her to gather new material for her book, making it immediately clear that objections were not accepted.

The girls exchanged glances and looked at Wednesday, after which she handed them a tablet. After reading the news, they agreed without much protest. Enid immediately declared that this would be a girls-only mission, no guys allowed.

Before they left, Alex almost pleaded with Wednesday not to kill the retiree before his time. She responded with a blank stare, said nothing, and went to gather her things.

When the girls left the library, Dean stood there with a stunned and empty expression, realizing he wasn’t going anywhere and would have to stay in the bunker. And he had worked so hard to find even a little distraction.

Alex and Sam just laughed at his expression. Dean wearily sat down at the table, but at that moment his phone rang. He answered with a slight smile, but almost immediately his expression turned serious—and that didn’t escape the attention of Alex and Sam.

“Who was calling, Dean?” Sam asked when the call ended.

“Claire. She says she needs our help with some kind of monster,” Dean replied, putting the phone in his pocket.

“Claire—the girl who’s supposedly Castiel’s daughter… or his vessel, Jimmy?” Alex raised an eyebrow.

“That’s the one. So, shall we go? We can also check on Jody and see how she’s managing being a mom to two teenage girls at once,” Dean said, standing from the table.

“I think we can. Otherwise you’ll start whining again like a kid because you’ve got nothing to do,” Sam noted, closing his book.

“I’m not whining. I’m just stating facts,” Dean grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Then I’m coming with you. I’ve got nothing else to do right now. Either I go to the Elders’ House to annoy Jesse, or the scientists in the research department annoy me. But meeting Jody? I wouldn’t mind that,” Alex said, stretching slightly.

“If you’re coming with us, I’ll say this right away—no,” Dean said, looking at him.

“What are you talking about?” Alex raised an eyebrow.

“You know exactly what I mean. Don’t even think about hitting on Claire—or Alex, for that matter. Or I’ll kick your ass,” Dean threatened.

“Do I look like a womanizer?” Alex asked in genuine surprise.

“Said the guy with five fiancées. Watch your words, Alex,” Sam smirked.

“Go to hell, both of you. What jerks. I thought we were friends. I considered you my brothers, and you stab me in the back,” Alex exclaimed, waving his hands.

Dean and Sam just laughed and went to change clothes. Alex sighed, looked at his outfit, and gave it a slight shake. In the next moment, he was already wearing a new outfit—black jeans, a black T-shirt, a black haori, and hanafuda earrings in his ears.

Stretching, Alex headed to the garage to wait for his brothers. Climbing into the back seat of the Impala, he made himself comfortable and closed his eyes, hands behind his head. The drive to Sioux Falls would take about four hours anyway.

For extra comfort, Alex pulled out his headphones and turned on some music. When Dean and Sam approached the car, they immediately noticed Alex, dressed differently, sprawled out on the back seat with his eyes closed.

As the Impala rolled out of the Bunker garage, Alex lay back calmly, reflecting on the story of Jody, Claire, and Alex.

As he remembered, Jody Mills first encountered the supernatural when the dead began rising in Sioux Falls. One of them turned out to be her son, who ultimately killed her husband. That day, Jody lost everything.

Claire’s story wasn’t any better. After the original Castiel took over Jimmy Novak’s body, she lost her father. Then her mother disappeared while searching for her missing husband, leaving Claire in her grandmother’s care. After her grandmother’s death, the girl ended up in a foster home and kept running from one family to another until she fell in with a bad crowd.

Once again, ending up in a group home for troubled kids, the staff somehow got in touch with Claire’s supposed father—Castiel.

As for Alex Jones, vampires had used her as bait, luring victims into their lair. This continued until Dean, Sam, and Jody rescued her. Since then, Alex had been living with Jody, trying to lead a normal life.

“Dean, Sam… why didn’t you take Claire in yourselves? If she’s so obsessed with hunting monsters, you could have just trained her. It would’ve caused fewer problems than letting her figure everything out on her own,” Alex said, sitting down and taking out his headphones.

“We didn’t think about it at the time. And Castiel thought she shouldn’t live that kind of life. Knowing Claire’s personality, she probably wouldn’t have listened to the guy who, essentially, stole her father’s body. Let’s just say they don’t have the warmest relationship,” Sam replied, turning to Alex.

“I can understand her. At least she isn’t trying to get revenge on Castiel for what he did,” Alex said quietly.

“She’s a teenager. She doesn’t need to be meddling in this work. And don’t even think about bringing up your age or the girls’ age,” Dean snapped, turning back.

Alex just smiled and raised his hands, showing he wasn’t going to pursue the topic. In truth, he was simply thinking that Castiel could officially adopt Claire, and she would become his niece—nothing more.

Alex wanted to discuss this personally with Castiel so that he could decide how to proceed. After all, it was Castiel who was currently interacting with Claire, not the one he had replaced.

To be continued…

(I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and I’ve decided it’s better to let Alex find out the truth about Castiel being his brother sooner rather than at the very end of the arc, as I’d planned. So we’ll explore the Supernatural plot a bit more, and then head straight to Silent Hill, and from there to Derry, perhaps. If you’re looking forward to anything else in the story, feel free to tell me. Or maybe you already told me and I just forgot, in which case just remind me.)

Early access to chapters on my patreon: p*treon.com/GreedHunter

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep