Here's the next story in the Family series. I have a lot going on right now, but hopefully I can still update pretty frequently. And I hope y'all like this story!

"Wait…" Alec said suspiciously. "I thought we were hunting…"

"We are," Dean said with a smile; he loved messing with the kid. Alec was always up for hunting, but he started being suspicious about 20 miles ago. They were in the middle of nowhere, and at first, he'd thought Dean had been kidding when he'd stopped the car on a hidden side road.

"Then why does it look like we're camping?" Alec asked, grabbing the bag that Sam was holding out to him. "Because I know we're not camping…" Alec continued. "…because you hate camping. You told Sam that like 20 times on the way here. And Sam always replied with 'we're not camping' every single time."

"We're not camping," Sam said with a smile. He was all for messing with Alec. They weren't going camping, but they both refused to tell Alec what they were really doing. They would have to tell him eventually though. He would need to know what they would be up against.

"Then why does it look like we're camping?" Alec repeated. "We're in the woods, we packed some food and enough clothes for a couple days, we're in the middle of nowhere, and did I mention we were in the woods? Why would we be in the woods if we weren't camping?"

Dean couldn't help but laugh. Alec scowled back at him. "We are hunting," Dean reassured. "But what we're hunting is in the woods."

"What is it?" Alec asked curiously.

"A Wendigo," Dean answered.

"Oh…cool," Alec said, nodded a little bit. Dean looked over at Sam who just smiled back. "I have no idea what that is," Alec stated when Sam and Dean didn't start explaining.

Dean chuckled and ruffled Alec's hair. Alec pushed his hand away and scowled, which just made Dean laugh more.

"It used to be human, but it turned to cannibalism to survive," Sam explained patiently. He shot a disapproving look to Dean, but he just shrugged back.

Sam opened his mouth to continue his explanation, but Dean cut him off, "It turned into this superhuman thing that is stronger and faster and is pretty much immortal. And it feed off of people to survive-"

"Which is where we come in," Sam cut in with a small smirk. Dean glared at him, but his smirk turned into a smile.

"Ok," Alec said before Sam and Dean could keep going. "How do you kill it?"

"Fire," Dean replied before Sam could. "We ended up using flare guns last time and they worked pretty well."

"And it lives in the middle of nowhere?" Alec asked, his eyebrows rising in disbelief.

Dean chuckled again, "Yeah-"

"It usually holes up somewhere dark and cold, like caves," Sam said over Dean.

Dean shook his head in amusement and lightly shoved Sam over. Sam couldn't help laughing at being able to aggravate him.

"Bitch," Dean said with a laugh.

"Jerk," Sam instantly shot back.

Dean caught Alec rolling his eyes, but he couldn't help the look of amusement on his face.

"Anyway…" Alec said after a moment. "How do you guys know it's a Wendigo?"

Dean shot a look over to Sam to see if he was going to answer, but he gestured for Dean to go ahead. "Well, there's been a pattern…people keep going missing about every 20 years. This year, there've been four disappearances."

"Cody and Stacy Carrolton were a couple that went camping six months ago and disappeared, Paul Westland went missing three months ago on a fishing trip, and a couple weeks ago, Zach Peters, lived around here and was just gone one morning," Sam said.

"That's what his wife says anyway," Dean muttered.

"How do we find it?" Alec asked.

"Well, we're gonna walk a ways to where some of them disappeared, and hopefully we'll track it down from there," Dean replied.

Sam held out a duffle bag for Alec to take, but then pulled it back slightly, "Did you pack some warm clothes?"

Alec rolled his eyes, "Yeah, even though I told you I run warmer than you do."

"I don't care," Sam sternly replied, "It gets cold up here, especially at night, and we can't afford you getting sick."

"Jeez, what did you worry about before I came along," Alec said sarcastically. "I don't get sick and I did pack warm clothes. You should probably stop worrying before you get an ulcer."

Dean threw his head back and laughed, "Alec, with the amount that Sam worries, it should be his middle name…"

"Sam Worry Winchester…I like it," Alec said with a smile.

"Sue me for caring," Sam grumbled.

"Oh, c'mon Sammy," Dean said, lightly bumping into Sam as he started walking. "We know you care."

"We care too," Alec threw in; coming up to Sam's other side. "We just don't want you to worry yourself to death."

Sam made a grab at Alec, but Alec took off and stood a few feet away out of reach. He had a wide smile on his face and Dean couldn't help but chuckle at the annoyance that covered Sam's face. Sam glared at Alec, and then switched his glare over to Dean.

Dean laughed for just a moment more before he sobered, "Alright, Alec get back over here. We should stop messin' around for a while and start hunting."

Alec smirked, but he walked back over to them a few seconds later.

"You think these people were lost?" Alec asked after they'd been walking for a few hours. He couldn't fathom why people would go this far just to go camping. It was like they were asking for some monster to eat them.

"Maybe," Dean replied over his shoulder.

Alec still had his doubts that this was a real hunt; he thought Sam and Dean were just messing with him. He kept waiting for Dean to prank him, but he hadn't done anything yet. The waiting was just about to kill him. He hated waiting for it, but he didn't want to be the one to strike first. He wanted to see what he was dealing with first.

Dean was walking a little ways ahead, leading the way, while Sam stayed back and walked with Alec.

"Is this a real hunt?" Alec whispered to Sam. He just had to make sure and he knew Sam wouldn't lie to him if he asked him outright.

Sam smiled and nodded, "Yeah, this is a real hunt."

Alec narrowed his eyes and scanned Sam's face just to make sure. Finding that Sam looked like he was telling the truth, Alec finally nodded. "Ok," he replied easily.

"Ok? That's it?" Sam asked in amusement. "You're just taking my word for it?"

Alec shrugged, "Yeah. If you say it's a hunt, then it is."

"…But if Dean said it was a hunt?" Sam asked slowly.

"If I asked him outright, he'd tell me the truth. Just like you did," Alec replied. He trusted Sam and Dean wholeheartedly. They'd shown him the same trust and it was only right that he return the favor.

Sam smiled and nodded. He looked like he was about to say something, but he never got the chance. One minute Sam was there and the next he wasn't. Alec looked around and spotted him just in time to see him hit a tree. There was a crack, and then Sam crumbled to the ground.

Alec was running before he could even process what happened. Thanks to his speed, he got to Sam before Dean did. Sam was breathing hard and he was struggling to sit up, but he was conscious so that was a good sign.

"Sam?!" Alec crouched down next to his fallen brother and carefully started to check him over.

"My leg…" Sam breathed out; sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Alec quickly switched his focus to Sam's left leg and instantly found the break. Sam's leg was bent at a painful angle and Alec winced in sympathy.

"You alright?!" Dean asked as he ran up to them. He had one of the flare guns out and was keeping his focus on the woods surrounding them.

"Yeah," Sam grunted, his teeth clenched against the pain.

Alec glanced up at Dean and met his worried gaze. "How bad is it?" Dean asked, looking away from him and scanning the woods again.

"I can set it…but…" Alec didn't want to finish his statement. This was going to really hurt Sam, and then they had to walk all the way back to the car…

"Do it," Sam cut in with determination.

"Sam…" Alec started slowly.

"Alec, do it," Sam stated.

Alec met his eyes, just to be sure, but Sam just stared back at him evenly. "That thing was fast…" Alec suddenly said to distract Sam.

"Yeah…told you it was rea-AHHHH!" Sam cried out as Alec snapped the bones back into place. Sam tried to rip his broken leg out of Alec's hold, but Alec refused to let go.

"Easy Sam," Dean murmured. He patted Sam's shoulder, but he kept his eyes trained on their surroundings. He wasn't going to let anything get to his brothers if he could help it.

"Sorry," Alec said sheepishly. "Thought it would be better if you weren't expecting it…"

"It's alright," Sam managed to ground out. His eyes were shut tight against the pain, but Alec knew it wasn't going to end any time soon.

"Don't move," Alec told Sam before he got up. He went looking for a couple of sturdy branches to use as a makeshift splint, and luckily, it didn't take too long to find. He went back to Sam's side with two branches in hand. He rummaged through his duffle until he found his least favorite t-shirt and started ripping it into strips.

"This is gonna hurt," Alec warned before he put the branches against Sam's leg. Sam let out a small sound whimper as Alec tied the strips tight to hold the branches in place. He hated doing this, but this was the only way Sam would be able to travel at all.

"You're doin' good, Alec," Dean quietly reassured, sensing that he was feeling guilty for causing Sam more pain.

Alec just nodded back to acknowledge that he'd heard Dean, but he didn't say anything in reply.

It only took him a few more minutes, and then he was done. Dean held out a bottle of water to Sam, and Sam gratefully took it from him.

"Thanks," Sam muttered, glancing at Dean and Alec.

"Think you can make it back to the car?" Dean asked.

Sam didn't immediately reply and Alec and Dean both shot him a look of concern. Alec knew with one look that whatever Sam was thinking, Dean wasn't going to like it.

"Dean, we already know we're on the right track," Sam started out and Dean instantly started shaking his head no.

"No. We're going back to the car and getting you to a hospital," Dean said, and it sounded like there wasn't any room for argument.

"We're already here. We just need to find it and-"

"No Sam!"

Alec thought about, for just a moment, the possibility of splitting up. He could take Sam back to the car and Dean could hunt the Wendigo. But there was no way he could leave Dean without backup, especially after seeing how fast this thing actually was.

"Dean," Sam said again, only this time his tone was softer. "There's a chance that the last guy is still alive. We have to find him." Dean looked up at Sam and met his eyes, and Alec knew Dean was about to cave. "Y'know, the saving people part of the family motto…" Sam said with a small smirk.

Dean smirked back and slowly started to nod. "Yeah…I don't like it, but we do need to try and get him out…"

"Before you even start thinking about splitting up," Alec cut in, seeing the look on Dean's face change from giving in, to getting a bad idea. "Cause I know you are. I've already thought about it, and it isn't happening. There's no way you're goin' after this thing by yourself."

"Alec…" Dean started, to try and reason with him.

"No," Alec said, refusing to give an inch. "Even crappy backup like me is better than nothing."

Alec kept his gaze locked with Dean's; there was no way he was letting Dean do this.

Dean must have realized that Alec wasn't budging because he sighed in frustration, "Fine." He looked away and went back to keeping an eye out for the Wendigo.

Alec breathed out a sigh of relief and turned back to Sam who was looking at him gratefully. Alec helped Sam up, but Sam had to lean heavily against him.

"I gotcha," Alec reassured, pulling Sam's arm over his shoulders and wrapping his arm around Sam's waist.

"Thanks Alec," Sam said after a few unsteady steps. Alec shot a quick smile over at Sam before they both had to go back to concentrating on walking.

Dean waited for them to hobble over before they slowly continued their search.

"You wanna stop here for a minute?" Alec asked once they cleared the trees to a small lake.

Sam just nodded back, unable to say anything in reply. He was out of breath and everything he had was going into just taking another step. Alec led him over to a rock wall a few feet away and helped him sit down. Sam leaned against the wall in relief, glad for the break.

Dean came over a moment later and gave him a water bottle. Sam nodded his thanks and drank about half the bottle before he handed it back.

"Think we should stop here for the night?" Dean asked Alec.

Alec glanced over at Sam and then looked back to Dean and nodded. "Yeah, we could use a break and the water will be one less side the Wendigo can attack us from."

Dean nodded in agreement, and then patted Alec on the chest, "You wanna get some firewood?"

"Sure," Alec replied.

He started walking back to the woods when Dean called out, "Don't go too far!"

"Whatever!" Alec called back, but Sam could hear the smile in his voice.

Dean shook his head and Sam couldn't help but chuckle. Dean and Alec were so similar and it was hilarious to see Dean get a taste of his own medicine.

"You just love it when he does that to me," Dean said, but he had a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Serves you right," Sam replied. "I've had to deal with it my whole life. It's nice to see it happen to you for a change."

Dean just grumbled back something unintelligible which just made Sam smile more. Dean always knew how to make him smile.

Alec came back and dumped an armload of firewood to the ground. He looked over at Sam and Dean for a second, but then he snapped his focus back to the woods. Sam and Dean both instantly went on high alert. They both trusted Alec's hearing more than their own.

Dean handed Sam a flare gun without taking his eyes off of Alec, and slowly started to stand.

Sam felt almost completely useless thanks to his leg. But at least he had a flare gun so he wasn't completely defenseless.

Alec kept his focus on the woods, but held his hand out behind him. Dean moved toward him and put the third flare gun in Alec's outstretched hand. Dean and Alec took up identical stances with their guns held up and ready to fire.

It was silent throughout the woods; birds weren't chirping and there wasn't even a rustle through the leaves. It was eerily quiet and Sam felt his skin crawl. His breathing sounded too loud to him, but he couldn't help it. His leg was killing him and he just wanted to hurry up and kill this thing and get out of there.

The leaves suddenly shifted to the left and all three of them snapped their attention that way. Sam couldn't see anything, and he knew the thing was just messing with them.

The leaves rustled again, but to their right this time. Dean silently motioned for Alec to back up towards Sam and he didn't argue. Alec slowly made his way back until he was next to Sam, but he was still focused on the woods.

Sam just barely caught a glimpse of something as it ran through the trees. He tried to follow it with his eyes, but it was just too fast.

There was nothing for a few minutes, but the three of them refused to relax.

It didn't matter how ready they were though, they just couldn't defend against something they couldn't see. It moved too fast for them to really react and it knew who its biggest threat would be. It blew by Dean and pushed him so he went flying and hit a tree hard. Dean crumpled to the ground and the Wendigo went right for Alec.

Sam was helpless as Alec followed its movement and lined up his shot. He fired, but he just barely missed. But that miss cost him.

The Wendigo ran up, smashed Alec's head against the rock wall, tossed him out to the lake where he landed with a splash, and then it was gone. It did that all faster than Sam could even shift his aim.

Sam looked around almost frantically to try and find the Wendigo. He blinked, and then the Wendigo was right in front on him. It knocked the flare gun from his hands, and then hit him hard and everything went black.

Dean struggled to his feet; his head and shoulder hurt, but he had his flare gun up and ready to fire as soon as he was conscious. He scanned the area, but he knew the Wendigo was gone; it was just part of his instincts.

Once he knew there wasn't a threat, he looked for his brothers. But they weren't by the rock wall where he last saw them.

His first thought was to call out for them, but that would probably just bring the Wendigo back. Instead, he slowly walked over to the rock wall and looked for any clues as to what happened. There was a streak of blood at about eye level that had probably come from Alec.

There was some more blood on the ground that he thought could have come from Sam. Dean crouched down and saw that there were drag marks from where he thought the Wendigo could have drug one of them. The drag marks were just for one person, which left more questions than it answered.

Which one of his brothers did the Wendigo take and where was his other brother?

Dean stood up and looked around him. He didn't see any footprints, but his eyes caught on some movement in the water. He squinted and saw ripples that were starting to fade and his breath caught in his chest. His instincts kicked in again, and he knew one of his brothers was in the water.

More soon...