InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ All Things Come Full Circle ❯ Chapter 19 ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter 19

When Inukigo and Kouga had been gone for nearly an hour, Inuyasha began to grow impatient and started pacing in the small section of the den that his group occupied.

“What’s taking so long? They should have been back by now.”

“Inuyasha, calm down. I’m sure that they’re fine,” Kagome said calmly while reading one of her textbooks.

“I don’t like her being alone with him for so long.”

“I wonder what kinds of things Kouga had in mind for his private time with Inukigo that could be taking this long,” Miroku said with a smile, which earned him a smack from Sango.

Miroku’s perverted take on his current dilemma had Inuyasha remembering when he and Kagome had marked each other. He knew that Kouga was most likely planning on asking Inukigo to take his mark, and without warning, images came unbidden to his mind about what may be going on if she said yes. He blushed and shook his to clear the unwanted thoughts, then continued his pacing as he grew more worried.

He was almost ready to go out and look for the two of them, despite what he might walk in on, when he heard muffled voices outside the den and his sister and Kouga walked through the waterfall with smiles on their faces. Inuyasha sighed with relief from seeing his sister laughing and happy.

‘Guess Kouga didn’t mess up then.’

However, he frowned when he noticed that there was no mark on Kouga’s shoulder. Had he been wrong when he assumed Kouga was taking Inukigo out to ask her to be his mate? But then why was Inukigo so happy?

Kouga leaned over and whispered something in Inukigo’s ear that made her blush, then he kissed her on the cheek and walked away. Inukigo watched him for a moment with a smile on her face, then decided to join her brother and their companions in their small section of the den. Her excitement was radiating from her and Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow at her as she came to a stop before him.

“What are you so happy about?”

Still smiling she began untying the clasps at the neck of her haori, then she pulled away the material to proudly show off the mark on her shoulder. Inuyasha’s eyes widened and he leaned in closer to get a better look. Unfortunately, the wolf demons in the den noticed the scrutiny that he was giving to her shoulder and whispers rose up as they all looked in Inuyasha’s and Inukigo’s direction. The two hanyous didn’t notice that the whole den was now a captive audience.

“I didn’t notice a mark on Kouga when you came into the den,” Inuyasha commented as he backed away a step.

Inukigo’s smile fell just a little as she refastened the ties on her haori.

“Kouga explained that wolves mark a little differently than dog demons. The bite is still in the same place, but females don’t mark males. For a male wolf demon to be marked anywhere, it means he took an unwilling partner. The only mark Kouga will receive from me is the final mating mark.”

“Ah, I see,” Inuyasha replied with a nod, “I guess that you’ll be wanting to stay through tomorrow night then?”

“Yes. I want to show him. You don’t mind, right?”

Inuyasha sighed and shrugged.

“Not really. This wolf stink is starting to get to me though.”

Inukigo laughed and nuzzled his cheek.

“Thanks.”

“Keh.”

“Um…In uyasha…” Kagome spoke up.

“What?” He asked, turning around to look at her.

Kagome simply nodded in the direction of the outer part of the den. Inuyasha looked where she was directing him and saw that they had the attention of pretty much every wolf in the den. He growled then put an arm around Inukigo’s shoulders and directed her to sit with the rest of the group.

“They’re already pissed off. How wonderful,” Inukigo sighed as she sat down, her good mood ruined.

“Don’t worry Inukigo,” Sango soothed, “I’m sure that Kouga will straighten things out with them.”

“It’s not any of their business anyway, just ignore them sis.”

Inukigo just sighed and nodded. A few moments later her ears perked up and her expression lightened as she sensed Kouga walking towards them.

“I talked to Ginta and Hakkaku,” he said as he sat down, “I told them about us, and they’re going to help make sure that the pack minds their own business. There’ll probably be some stares, but that’s only because most of them have nothing better to do. Don’t let it bother you, okay?”

Inukigo nodded and gave him a small smile.

“I’ll try.”

“So…are you going to stay the night?” Kouga asked hopefully.

“Actually, we were planning to stay here tomorrow night as well. Is that okay?”

“Of course! You can stay as long as you want.”

“Great,” Inukigo replied with a smile.

‘Now all I can do is hope that tomorrow will be a very uneventful day.’

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When Inukigo woke the next morning, she could already feel the changes in her body as her demon blood began to wane. Her senses were just beginning to dull and her head felt a little fuzzy as she opened her eyes to survey the den. All of the wolves were still sleeping, as were her companions. A quick glance at the opposite side of the den revealed that Kouga was still asleep as well. He had wanted her to spend the night with him, but was disappointed when she said no. She had told him that she would rather not give the rest of the wolves more to talk about, and he had given in after receiving a quick kiss goodnight. Now she was considering going over and laying down with him, but not just to make up for the night before. She had another reason as well. Just as she was about to stand up, a voice stopped her.

“Where are you going?”

Inukigo looked over at Inuyasha, who had one eye cracked open and was watching her.

“To Kouga.”

“I thought you didn’t want to give the wolves more to gossip about.”

“I don’t,” she replied, then shifted closer to him so she could whisper quietly enough to make sure he was the only one who heard her, “My scent is going to start changing soon. I want to keep tonight a surprise, so if I’m around him for most of the day, he won’t notice that it’s changing. Plus, if he does notice, he’ll probably blurt it out before he realizes what it means and the whole den will know. I’d rather they didn’t.”

Inuyasha nodded in understanding.

“Go on then, before he wakes up and you miss your chance.”

Inukigo smiled at him, then got up and carefully began to creep across the den towards Kouga’s sleeping area. She prided herself for not alerting a single wolf to her movements. Then she got down on all fours and crawled towards Kouga, who was sprawled out on his back on the large pile of straw that made up his bedding. She managed to get to his side before he finally noticed her presence, and she was tucked up against him by the time he woke up. He looked down at her with surprise.

“Inukigo? I thought…”

Inukigo held a finger to her lips as a sign for him to be quiet then whispered to him softly.

“I changed my mind. I wanted to sleep here with you for a little while. That alright?”

“Of course,” he whispered back, wrapping his arms around her and turning to his side so they were face to face, “As if I would ever turn you away.”

Inukigo smiled at him and tucked her head under his chin with a sigh. She had been on edge for most of the night and hadn’t really even been able to doze because of the hostile surroundings. Now she could feel the tension flowing out of her body, and it seemed that Kouga could feel her relax as well.

“Are you nervous because of my pack?”

“A little,” she admitted, “It just puts me on edge to be around so many people that hate me. I’ve always been this way, can’t really help it.”

She felt Kouga nod against her head.

“Go on to sleep. We’ve got a little while before the pack wakes up.”

Inukigo sighed gratefully and within moments she was gone.

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Much to Inukigo’s delight, the day was rather uneventful. Aside from the moment of awkwardness when the pack began to rise and saw herself and Kouga sleeping together on his bedding, the day went rather smoothly. All of the wolves took Kouga’s warnings to heart and managed to keep their opinions of Inukigo to themselves.

Inukigo carried on with her plan to stay near Kouga for the entire day, and it seemed to work because if he did notice any change in her scent as the day wore on he made no indication of it. She felt a little badly for making Inuyasha and the rest of her companions stay an extra day because they all seemed to be pretty bored. Inuyasha was the worst of them, because while the others found ways to pass the time, he just brooded and Inukigo could tell he working very hard to keep from complaining about his situation.

So all in all, the day was peaceful for the most part. But that changed as evening drew near. It was just a few hours before sunset when a howl sounded from the forest that even Inukigo could pick up on with her muted hearing. Everyone was sitting outside, and Kouga began growling beside her.

“What is it?”

“Shit,” was all he said as he stood up and began walking in the direction of the forest.

All of the other wolves seemed to be very interested in the howl as well and were all coming out to gather in front of the den. Inukigo wasn’t sure that she liked what this could mean and got up to follow after Kouga.

“Ooi, Kouga, what’s wrong?”

Kouga turned to look at her with a frown on his face.

“That howl was a signal from another pack to let us know that they’re approaching. Problem is, I recognize the howl, and it could mean trouble.”

Inukigo looked at him in confusion.

“Why? Who is it?”

Just as he was about to answer when the pack in question exited the forest, led by a she-wolf dressed in white fur. Kouga sighed in frustration.

“Ayame.”

“Ayame?” she questioned, confused by the tone of his voice.

The red-headed wolf demon strode towards them with conviction, a frown apparent on her face as she drew closer. When she stopped directly before the two of them, Inukigo thought that she looked almost disgusted.

Kagome, Inuyasha, and the others looked at each other with worry, because they were well aware of Ayame’s feelings for Kouga, and knew that this could be trouble.

“So it’s true.”

Kouga regarded Ayame suspiciously.

“What’s true?”

“Before dawn, one of your pack members arrived at the Elders’ den. He said he had run all through the day and night to bring them some very valuable information,” as she spoke, Ayame stared at Inukigo but her words were meant for Kouga, “To him it had appeared that you had become fond of a half dog demon woman. He said that she arrived at the den, and was very forward with you, yet you made no actions to discourage her. I see that his words were true.”

Kouga was seething.

“Who was it?!” he growled, “Who dared?! That was my news to give to the Elders when I was ready.”

“And when would you have told them? After you took her for your mate?” Kouga simply growled at her words, “The wolf who brought us the news is now under the protection of the Elders. After giving us his message, he feared your wrath.”

“He was right to,” Kouga growled under his breath.

“Kouga?” Inukigo asked softly, laying a hand on his arm, “What’s all this about?”

Kouga sighed as he tried to calm himself.

“The Tribe Elders that govern over this pack have a certain say in everything. They can’t make orders relating to my personal life, like forbid me to be with you, but they can complain and make threats. I wanted to tell them about this in person so I could be there to defend my decision to court you. Looks like that won’t be happening.”

“Make threats? On you?” Inukigo asked with concern.

Kouga shook his head.

“I’m what they would call a valuable tribe member, they wouldn’t do anything to me. They’d threaten you, hoping to get me to rethink my decision.”

Inukigo’s eyes widened.

“That’s right,” Ayame spoke up, “The Elders have already ordered that you meet with them immediately to discuss this issue. As for you,” she declared, pointing at Inukigo, “I challenge you for rite of courtship.”

Inukigo stared at the red haired girl in shock.

“Me?” she looked to Kouga for an explanation.

Kouga looked away uncomfortably.

“It’s a part of wolf demon courtship. Males can court more than one female, so the females can challenge each other for the right to be courted.”

Inukigo’s eyes widened and she wanted to say, ‘But you’ve already marked me,’ but she held it in. Kouga hadn’t mentioned that he’d marked her to Ayame, so it was possible he didn’t want the she-wolf to know.

‘I’ll ask him about it later.’

“So what does that mean? If I lose then you can’t court me?”

“No, the decision is ultimately mine. But it’s meant as a chance for the challenging female to gain the favour of the male by displaying her strength. Even if Ayame were to win, it doesn’t mean that I would give up on courting you.”

“Then what does she have to gain from this?” Inukigo asked, though she was looking at Ayame.

“If you decline, then you would be declared a coward and expected to back off. And it’s not very common, but these fights can be to the death.”

Inukigo heard shocked noises from her companions but kept her attention on Ayame.

“Is that it? You think you can kill me?”

Ayame didn’t reply, but her silence was answer enough.

“Kouga, would Ayame be considered the strongest female in your tribe?” she asked.

Kouga had to think about it for a moment, then nodded.

“Yeah, she would be. Why?”

“If I defeated the strongest female of the tribe in a challenge, that would earn me the respect of your pack, right?”

“Yeah, it should,” Kouga replied, catching on to what she was thinking, “I’ll make sure it does anyway.”

“So what do I have to do to win this challenge?”

“You need to either make her submit, make it clear to everyone present that there is no chance of her winning, or kill her, if it comes to that.”

Inukigo nodded and cracked her knuckles.

“Alright then Ayame, I accept your challenge. I’m ready whenever you are.”

The she-wolf took her proclamation very literally, seeing as she jumped at Inukigo as soon as the words of acceptance were out of her mouth. Inukigo’s eyes widened as she sidestepped the angry woman and moved to put some distance between them. Ayame didn’t let her get far and began charging at Inukigo relentlessly, forcing their audience to move back and give the two women a wide berth.

Inukigo doubted that she would be able to make Ayame submit, seeing as the wolf demon was very determined to win this challenge. So her only options were to prove that she was the stronger female, or kill Ayame.

She had to admit that the she-wolf was fast; she was having a difficult time dodging all of Ayame’s attacks.

‘But that’s because I’ll be human in a few hours. Of all the times for this to happen…’

Kouga seemed to notice Inukigo’s difficulty as well and moved to stand beside Inuyasha and Kagome.

“Is something wrong with Inukigo? I know she’s faster than this, so why does it look like Ayame is giving her such a hard time?”

Inuyasha and Kagome knew exactly what was wrong, but neither of them revealed the information. Inukigo wanted it to be a surprise and they weren’t going to spoil it for her.

“I don’t know. Maybe she’s taking it easy on her,” Inuyasha lied.

Kouga didn’t say anything but seemed to accepted the explanation as he continued to watch the two females fighting.

To her credit, Inukigo was staying ahead of Ayame rather well, despite the weakening of her normal abilities. She knew that she was going to have to think of something soon though; her stamina was not up to par and she knew that she would tire out before the full demon she was facing. But she could also tell that Ayame was getting frustrated, and there would be an opening eventually.

It came when Ayame charged while off balance after she had landed sloppily on her last run and hadn’t bothered to correct herself. Inukigo was able to grab Ayame’s hands and grappled with the wolf demon, glad to see that her strength wasn’t gone just yet.

Ayame snarled as Inukigo twisted her arms behind her back and shoved her to the ground with a knee at the small of her back. Ayame struggled, but Inukigo was able to hold on for the time being.

“Give up, Ayame. It’ll be less painful.”

“Never!” Ayame growled, “Kouga is mine! He promised me!”

Inukigo’s eyes widened at the declaration and her gaze locked onto Kouga’s equally shocked expression. Her distraction gave Ayame the opening to break free and throw her off, sending Inukigo across the ground and leaving her a bit disoriented. Ayame was up quickly and on top of Inukigo with her fist closed around the hanyou’s throat. Inukigo choked as she clawed at the hand around her neck, but Ayame was livid and would not budge.

“He promised that he would make me his mate long before he ever met you, so what makes you think you even have a chance?!”

Inukigo was growing light-headed from the lack of oxygen and was starting to see black spots in her vision.

“That’s fucking bullshit Ayame!” she heard Kouga yell in her hazy mind.

“No it isn’t! You told me that night on the mountain that you would one day make me your mate.”

“You were a fucking whelp! Whatever promise you think I made isn’t worth shit! I would never have meant it!”

Ayame’s eyes burned and she turned back to Inukigo and applied more pressure on the hanyou’s windpipe.

Inukigo forced herself to pull it together. No way was this emotionally unstable wolf going to kill her. And she was curious to hear Kouga’s explanation for Ayame’s accusations. Letting go of the hand at her throat, Inukigo balled her fist as tightly as she could and punched Ayame’s side for all she was worth. The she-wolf gasped as the wind was knocked out of her and her hold on Inukigo’s neck loosened, allowing the hanyou to take a well-needed lungful of air. She then growled and grabbed Ayame, throwing the other woman off of her. She shook her head to clear it as she got to her feet, and continued growling as she watched Ayame sit up and clutch her side.

“This is pointless. Submit now before I’m really forced to hurt you.”

Ayame didn’t heed the warning and jumped up to run at Inukigo again. Inukigo was quickly becoming irritated with Ayame’s stubbornness and grabbed the redhead’s forearms as she ran past and swung her around before slamming her into the ground.

‘Thank the gods the strength is the last thing to go…though I am lucky that she’s not so great at keeping her focus.’

Ayame groaned as she saw stars, having almost passed up from the last hit. Before she could get up, Inukigo had her foot pressed against Ayame’s neck and was glaring down at her disdainfully.

“You won’t win. Just stop before I hurt you.”

Ayame ignored the words, then grabbed Inukigo’s leg, digging her claws deep into the muscle. Inukigo didn’t flinch, nor did she move as she continued to apply more pressure to the wolf youkai’s windpipe.

“I don’t want to kill you, but I have no problems doing it if you force me. Submit.”

Ayame shook her head and her grip tightened to the point where Inukigo grimaced in pain, though she made it look like irritation.

‘I have to be careful or she’s going to rip the muscle out. That’s not something I’ll be able to heal in a few hours. But I can’t just pull her off now either, she’s got her claws in too deep.’

Frowning, she eased up on Ayame’s neck a fraction, and like she hoped the demoness thought she was weakening and relaxed her grip in response. Before Ayame had the chance to fight back, Inukigo jerked her leg away and grabbed Ayame’s hair and threw her down face first, then pulled her arms back painfully and pinned her to the ground. Ayame could barely struggle, let alone move in the position Inukigo had her in.

“Submit, damn it. I’m growing tired of this bullshit,” Inukigo snarled over the other woman’s head.

“Never,” Ayame growled.

Inukigo growled back, her frustration very apparent. She wanted this over now so she could give her leg time to heal before she turned human. That was when Kouga’s voice was heard from the sidelines.

“Is there any doubt in the minds of all those who witness this challenge that Inukigo should not be declared the victor?”

Inukigo looked up in his direction, and finally took notice of all the wolf demons surrounding them. She was surprised that they had such an audience, but what was even more surprising was that every one of them remained silent. Not a whisper was heard through the crowd in response to Kouga’s question. She looked back at her intended mate and saw a very proud smirk on his face.

“There are no objections, so I declare Inukigo the winner. You can let her up now, it’s over.”

Inukigo breathed a sigh of relief and slowly got off Ayame’s back. Her leg was throbbing and bleeding freely, but other than that she was fine. She took a few steps toward Kouga with her back to Ayame, when he began to growl in warning.

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you Ayame. If you take a swipe at her outside of a challenge, then it’s anyone’s place to step in and stop you, including mine. You would be smart to reconsider.”

Inukigo stopped and looked over her shoulder and saw that Ayame was up and poised to jump at her back.

“Don’t you know when to quit?” she asked with a frown.

Apparently the answer was no because Ayame ignored Kouga’s warning and jumped at Inukigo’s back anyway. The hanyou woman was finished trying not to hurt her too badly and easily punched Ayame in the jaw, seeing as how she was recklessly flying straight at her. Inukigo cracked her knuckles as she watched Ayame land at the feet of her escorts, then continued walking toward Kouga. When she reached his side she turned to watch Ayame with the rest of the pack.

“I suggest you leave Ayame. You have worn out your welcome,” Kouga said coldly, “Tell the Elders that I will meet with them and that I will be leaving tomorrow.”

The red headed wolf demon got to her feet and frowned.

“You’ll be sorry for this. They’ll never let him mark and mate you.”

Inukigo’s expression hardened.

“We’ll see.”

With one last growl, Ayame turned towards the forest and ran off with her small entourage. Kouga wrapped an arm around Inukigo’s shoulder and gave her a smug grin.

“That was great, though you did worry me for a few minutes,” then he lowered his voice to keep the pack from hearing, “How’s your leg?”

“Still bleeding,” she whispered back, “Don’t go fussing over me just yet though. It’ll ruin the image if I need to be tended to right away.”

Kouga nodded in understanding and gave her shoulder a squeeze, then released her as Inuyasha and the rest of her companions stepped forward to see if she was alright. In the mean time, Kouga addressed his pack.

“After that display, I believe that there should be no further remarks about Inukigo’s worthiness to be at my side. Am I right?”

Inukigo was startled when the wolves actually cheered for her instead of voicing their disapproval. She thought she even heard a few of them call her ‘nee-san’. Kouga didn’t look to gauge her reaction and kept talking.

“I know that all of you are aware that I have marked Inukigo already. The Elders have no knowledge of this right now, and I want to keep it that way until I am ready to tell them myself. I trust that all of you will make sure that this information does not leave this den.”

All of the wolves responded affirmatively and Kouga turned to give her a wide smile. She returned it, then was surprised again by the suggestion that started spreading throughout the pack.

“Come celebrate with us nee-san!”

“Yes, we must celebrate your acceptance into the pack!”

Kouga was still smiling, but Inukigo’s eyes widened in panic.

‘I can’t stay and celebrate with them! I’ll be human! What should I do…I can’t let all of them find out…’

A quick glance at her brother and companions showed that they were thinking the same thing she was. She laughed nervously and tried to get herself out of it.

“That isn’t really necessary…I’m grateful for all of your acceptance, but you really don’t have to throw a celebration for me.”

“Nonsense!” One of them shouted out, “It’s tradition! You must celebrate with us!”

Inukigo was at a loss. She really didn’t want the entire wolf pack knowing about her human night. Kouga noticed her distress and stepped in front of her with a concerned frown on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

She sighed as she answered him.

“Nothing…but I really kind of wanted to have a quiet evening so I could relax a bit…”

“C’mon, it’ll be fun. Besides, they’ll probably be offended if you turn them down.”

“Really?” she asked, chewing on her lip when he nodded.

‘Guess I don’t really have any other choice…’

She took Kouga’s hand and pulled him away from the rest of the pack, limping as she went, and made sure that they were far enough so that they wouldn’t be overheard.

“Looks like she’s going to tell him outright,” Inuyasha commented.

“Yeah. She needed a way to explain why she doesn’t really want to celebrate with the wolves,” Kagome added.

“There goes her surprise, too bad,” Shippou piped up from Kagome’s shoulder.

“Now I know something’s wrong,” Kouga said when Inukigo stopped pulling him, “What’s up?”

“There’s really no way I could get out of celebrating with the wolves without upsetting them?”

“Well, maybe. If I’m the one who gives them a reason. Why are you so set against it?”

“Normally I wouldn’t be,” she tried to explain, worrying her lip again. Kouga would have said that she looked cute if it wouldn’t for the fact that he knew she was distressed, “Tonight…tonight I’ll be human…and I don’t really want the entire pack to know that the night of the full moon is my time of weakness.”

Kouga’s eyebrows shot up at her news.

“Tonight is when you turn human?”

Inukigo nodded.

“I was going to surprise you later…”

“Thank you for telling me,” he replied, nuzzling the side of her face, “I know it’s something hanyous prefer to hide. Your brother was pissed when I found out his-”

Inukigo pulled away with wide eyes.

“You know when my brother turns human?”

“Yes, but that’s besides the point. I’ll get you out of the celebration, but you don’t have to hide it from the pack. They consider you one of their own now, they won’t use it against you or let outsiders know. You’re safe with them.”

Inukigo eyed him sceptically.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. I trust my pack, and if they’re treating you as pack sister, then you really have nothing to worry about. You’re the only female, so all the attention will be on you. It’ll be like having a pack of overprotective brothers.”

“Really? Wow…and I thought one was a lot. You’re sure that’s how they’d react?

Kouga nodded. Inukigo took a deep breath but shook her head.

“I can’t do it. I believe you, but I just can’t reveal that to them. Not yet.”

Kouga pulled her into a hug and rested his head on top of hers.

“It’s okay. It must be hard revealing it to anyone after having to hide it for so long.”

Inukigo nodded, the pulled away with a small smile and led him back to the rest of the group, standing by his side as he addressed the pack.

“Sorry guys, but the celebration will have to wait. I want to take a look at Inukigo’s leg and let her get some rest,” a chorus of groans rose up from the small crowd, “Enough of that. We can celebrate tomorrow morning, and if you can’t wait then celebrate tonight in her name. I’m taking her out to one of the smaller caves for the night.”

“All of you, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And I’ll definitely party with you tomorrow morning, so don’t have too much fun without me.”

The wolves cheered and laughed as Inukigo turned to Kouga and smiled at him.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” he replied, “We should probably get going now. I do really want to get a look at your leg. From the amount of blood you’re trailing around, those wounds must be deep.”

Inukigo looked down and saw that she had indeed been leaving a trail of blood behind her. Inuyasha and her companions moved towards them and her brother looked concerned.

“Can you keep walking on that leg?”

After carefully putting weight on her injured limb Inukigo found that it did still hurt, which meant that the injury itself was probably pretty serious, but she could manage for now.

“As long as I don’t have to run on it, I’m good,” she replied, then she looked up at her brother and intended mate, “Don’t either one of you even consider carrying me in front of the entire pack. I just earned their respect, I’d rather not lose it by appearing weak.”

Both males sighed and nodded, knowing that it was pointless to try to argue with her.

“How far are these caves, Kouga?” Inuyasha asked.

“Not too far. We’ll get there with plenty of time before sunset.”

Inukigo inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Plenty of time to get myself healed up a bit.’

“Let’s get going then.”

Everyone agreed and the group moved off, following Kouga to the caves he had been talking about. Much to Inukigo’s dismay, as soon as they were out of sight Kouga came back and swung her up into his arms. He calmly reminded her that she hadn’t said anything about carrying her while they weren’t in front of the pack.

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“Alright, let’s have a look at that leg.”

Inukigo sighed in irritation and rolled her eyes as Kouga picked up her foot and began removing her boot. As soon as they had entered the cave and gotten settled, he had sat her down against a wall and started fussing.

She watched as he got the boot off, then carefully untied the string that kept her hakama bunched at her ankle. Once that was done, he took great care in rolling back the torn and bloodied cloth so he could get a look at the injuries on her leg.

“Shit,” he cursed when he finally got a clear look at it, “What a mess.”

Inukigo, as well as the rest of the group, were inclined to agree with him. Ayame really had made a mess of her lower leg. What would have been deep puncture wounds had become gashes when Inukigo had jerked her leg away from Ayame’s hold. There was one for each of Ayame’s fingers, and there was definitely muscle damage. It was a wonder she could walk.

“Here, Kouga,” Kagome said as she handed the wolf youkai a bowl of water and a cloth. She was quickly learning that intended mates preferred to take care of each other without much outside interference. She was sure that the same was true for fully mated pairs as well.

Kouga accepted the water with a ‘thanks’ then began to carefully wipe the blood from Inukigo’s leg. She flinched but didn’t voice her discomfort. It took a few minutes for Kouga to finish at the pace he was going, and when he was done the water in the bowl was pink. He gently lifted her foot again, propping it up against his chest so he could get a good look at her leg.

“You’re still bleeding,” he commented as he watched the blood slowly pool in the gashes, “These won’t be closed by the time the sun sets if they’re left alone.”

She was just about to suggest he get some bandages from Kagome, when he moved her foot again, this time to his shoulder, and lowered his face to one of the deeper claw marks. Inukigo winced when his tongue began probing at the wound, but flushed in embarrassment despite the slight pain. While the demon part of her brain - which was for the most part dominant - rationalized that what Kouga was doing was perfectly normal, the part of her brain that was human whispered that her friends were watching something that it considered a little strange and vaguely intimate. She knew that it wasn’t, because normally Inuyasha was the one who tended to her injuries by doing the exact same thing. Regardless of what her demonic instincts told her, her face still burned with embarrassment.

Looking up, she saw that the humans of the group were watching curiously, while the demons didn’t really pay any attention to what was going on. Kagome especially looked like she really wanted to ask about what was going on, but she probably thought that she’d be interrupting. Inukigo managed to put aside her embarrassment and tried focusing on explaining what was going on to her friends.

“The saliva of some species of demons have healing properties. Canine is one of the strongest.”

“So, Kouga is healing your leg by licking it like that?” Kagome asked in astonishment.

Kouga was completely ignoring the conversation and continued focusing on his task.

“Not completely, but enough for now,” Inukigo replied, “Our saliva works best at quickly closing open wounds, not healing them fully. Basically, once the wound is closed the saliva can’t get past the skin so it loses its effect.”

“Does it hurt when he does that?” Sango asked.

“Not really. It does a little at first, but after awhile it starts to feel a lot better.”

“Remarkable,” Miroku commented, “Why is it we’ve never heard of this ability before?” He asked, looking at Inuyasha.

The hanyou blushed and growled.

“Keh. It’s not something that humans would really understand. Besides, it’s more of a family thing. Only mates, intended mates, and immediate family do it. And no way in hell am I ever licking your wounds anyway!”

“No, perhaps you wouldn’t. But now that Inukigo is with us maybe-”

“Not a chance Miroku,” Inukigo cut in quickly, frowning darkly at the monk.

Miroku laughed nervously and sighed.

“Never mind then.”

Inukigo rolled her eyes, then closed them as she sat back against the wall of the cave and tried to relax. She listened as Kagome and Sango started preparing a meal for all of them, and smiled when she heard Inuyasha complaining about being bored. She didn’t even register Kouga licking her wounds until he stopped a short time later. Opening her eyes, she watched as he looked over his handiwork.

“That’s the best I can do,” he commented as he glanced up at her.

Her leg wasn’t bleeding anymore, but it was still torn up pretty badly. Then she met Kouga’s eyes and blushed when she saw the look he was giving her through hazy, half-lidded eyes.

‘Well, he did just get a good amount of my blood.’

“Get some ointment and bandages from Kagome. That’ll do for tonight.”

Kouga nodded and was about to get up when Kagome appeared with the aforementioned items.

“I saw that you were finished and thought that you might want these. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”

Kouga thanked her once again, then opened the jar of ointment and began to carefully spread it on Inukigo’s wounds. She winced slightly but the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before. By the time he had started wrapping the bandage around her leg she was accustomed to it and it didn’t bother her anymore.

‘But it will as soon as I turn human…damn.’

Just as he declared he was done, Kagome called them over for dinner and Kouga picked her up so they could both sit over with the group. She was only partway through her meal when she paused and lay down her bowl. Kouga looked at her with concern.

“Inukigo?”

“Sun’s going down,” she replied casually, then her body shimmered as the transformation started. Her hair bled to black and her ears shifted down her head until they were positioned as normal human ears. Her claws and fangs became blunt and shortened, and when she opened her eyes they were a deep brown. She released a deep breath that she had been holding and was happy to find that her leg didn’t bother her too much at all. It was throbbing but it was tolerable. Inukigo then looked up at Kouga’s face to see his reaction.

His eyes were wide open and he was staring at her intently. The cave suddenly got very quiet and if her ears had still been on top of her head Inukigo would have been flattening them to her skull in response to his scrutiny. She held her breath as he reached back and untied her - now black - hair and ran his hand through it before tucking it behind one of her human ears. He then gently grasped her chin so he could keep her head still as he looked at her eyes.

“You still look like you…but you don’t look like you,” he frowned as his words contradicted each other, “I mean, your face looks the same, but your hair and eye colours are so different. Not to mention your ears.”

“Fangs and claws are gone too,” she reminded.

Kouga nodded, then tilted her face from side to side as if he were appraising her.

“It’ll do, I suppose,” he commented lightly, then his face split into a sly smirk, “Though I’d have to see if any of your parts are affected by the transformation…” he said leadingly, then unabashedly looked down at her breasts so she knew exactly what he was referring to.

Everyone sputtered at his forwardness, then began laughing uncontrollably, except for Inuyasha, Inukigo and Shippou. Shippou because he was really too young to grasp what Kouga was insinuating, Inuyasha was pissed because he was reminded that the wolf had seen Inukigo’s chest and was now commenting on it, and Inukigo blushed bright red in her embarrassment.

She huffed and picked up her bowl, determined to continue eating and appear as though his comment had no effect on her whatsoever, but the colour of her face gave her away easily. Kouga chuckled and kissed her on the temple, then went back to eating his own meal.

A few hours later, everyone decided that they’d had enough excitement for one day and started getting ready for bed. Sango and Miroku had already settled down for the night, and Kirara had conveniently placed herself between the two, intending on protecting her mistress. Shippou had taken up sleeping with Kirara, saying that Kagome and Inuyasha had gotten too mushy for his tastes. Kagome had gotten her sleeping bag out and was going about her nightly rituals while Inuyasha watched. Inukigo and Kouga sat together against the wall of the cave, Inukigo having already expressed her desire to not go to sleep, much to Kouga’s displeasure.

She was currently massaging her injured leg, just below her knee. The throbbing from earlier had become more pronounced and was a bit less tolerable than it had been before. Kouga opened his eyes and noticed what she was doing.

“Hey, does your leg hurt?”

“A little,” she admitted, keeping her eyes closed, “It just aches a bit.”

Kouga reached over and took her hand away from her leg, then grabbed her thigh and turned her sideways so she was still reclining against the wall, but now her legs rested across his lap. One of his arms wrapped around her waist to pull her closer to his body, and the other went to massaging her sore leg like she had been doing. Inukigo sighed once she was settled and rested her head against his shoulder.

“You know, if you went to sleep then you wouldn’t even feel it,” he said lightly.

Inukigo frowned.

“No.”

Kouga sighed and began toying with her hair with the hand that was at her waist.

“You’re so stubborn.”

“I’ve been telling her that for years,” Inuyasha commented.

Unable to growl, Inukigo settled for sticking her tongue out at him.

“You’re one to talk,” she pouted.

“So how do you deal with her?” Kouga asked.

“Keh, I know a way to get her to sleep, but she’s all cuddled up against you now so there’s nothing I can do.”

“How?”

Inukigo tensed, hoping that Inuyasha wouldn’t tell, but Kagome beat him to it.

“He makes this rumbling sound in his chest. Like a really soft growl.”

Inuyasha was grateful that she didn’t use the word ‘purr’ to describe it.

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Kouga said with a frown, “I’ve never tried.”

Inukigo breathed a sigh of relief and Kouga directed his frown at her.

“Don’t think you’re getting off easy. I’ll find some way to get you to sleep.”

“I could give her pain relievers. Those made her sleepy last time,” Kagome offered.

“No way!” Inukigo protested, “You are not getting me to take those little white pills ever again.”

Kouga didn’t really know what they were talking about, but that didn’t stop him.

“Hey, Kagome, give me some of those pain reliever things.”

Inukigo’s eyes widened and she tried to crawl out of his arms.

“No! I don’t want them!”

Kouga’s grip tightened, and he had no trouble holding onto her since she was human. He took the pills from Kagome, as well as the cup of water she brought with them. Instead of forcing Inukigo to take them like everyone thought he would, he simply popped them into his own mouth and followed them up with a huge mouthful of water. Inukigo was so confused by his actions that she stopped struggling completely and was totally unprepared when his mouth crashed into hers and his tongue was prying her lips open. She didn’t give much resistance, and as soon as he had her mouth open he forced the pills and water that were in his mouth into hers. She was so startled that she could do nothing but swallow, and it wasn’t until she had it all down that she realized what he had done. And she certainly wasn’t happy about it.

“You bastard! What’d ya do that for?!”

She smacked him on the arm and tried to get away again, but Kouga simply rolled his eyes and held on.

“Calm down. It’s done now so there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Inukigo huffed and crossed her arms, but did as he said.

“Fine. But I think I deserve to have some questions answered for that trick.”

Kouga wasn’t sure he liked that idea, but agreed that it was fair given what he had just done.

“Go ahead.”

“Alright. What made Ayame so sure that you would choose her as your mate? She said something about you making her a promise.”

“She keeps saying that I made her that promise while she was training up in the mountains. I can’t remember doing it, but even if I did I know that I wouldn’t have meant it. She would have only been a little whelp back then, and there’s no way that I would ever made that kind of promise to a kid. Maybe I said it to keep her spirits up, I don’t know.”

“Conceited,” Inukigo drawled with a smirk, “Thinking a promise like that can take all of a girl’s worries away.”

“Hey, it took away a lot of your worries didn’t it?” He shot back.

Inukigo didn’t deny it and kept the smile on her face.

“She was so stubborn. I was worried that I was really going to have to hurt her. I was wondering why you didn’t just tell her about the mark until you told the pack to keep quiet. I could have avoided all that trouble.”

“Um, actually, no you couldn’t,” Kouga said uneasily.

“Why not? You’ve marked me so that takes away the chance for competition, right?”

“There’s another reason why male wolves aren’t marked before the mating ritual,” he said, not meeting her eyes.

“Huh?”

“Like I said during your fight with Ayame, male wolves can court more than one female at a time. That includes marking more than one female at a time. Letting Ayame know I had marked up wouldn’t have made a difference, except that the Elders would find out and there could be a lot of trouble.”

He still wouldn’t look at her and Inukigo’s eyes widened.

“You…can mark more that one female?”

“Yeah, but not take more than one mark. That’s the other reason that I won’t receive one until the mating ritual.”

“O-oh,” she replied quietly.

Inuyasha, Kagome, and the others watched silently as the waited for Kouga’s reply.

“I would never court a second female, Inukigo,” Kouga said softly, “I just thought I should tell you before you heard it somewhere else and started doubting me. I was surprised that Ayame didn’t say anything about it.”

“You…really won’t court anyone else? I know that wolf demons can…rut without being mated. You know that you can’t have that with me.”

“Is this really a conversation you should be having in front of an audience?” Inuyasha asked with a scowl.

Inukigo ducked her head, having forgotten that they were listening. Kouga just returned the look and ignored him.

“Of course I know that. Believe me, I’ve gone a very long time without sex, I can wait until we become mates.”

Inuyasha snorted and Kouga glared darkly at him.

“Contrary to popular belief, many wolves choose to be monogamous and to court only the female they want for their mate. We don’t just go and rut with any willing female just because we can.”

Inuyasha blushed and looked away.

“Keh!”

“Inuyasha, leave your sister alone and get over here,” Kagome said from where she was sitting on her sleeping bag, “Or I’ll say it.”

“Kagome…” Inuyasha growled.

“I-will-say-it.”

Inuyasha growled and levelled Kouga with one more glare, then did as he was told before Kagome pounded him into the ground. Inukigo sent Kagome a grateful smile, glad someone had gotten Inuyasha to leave them alone for a little while, because she wasn’t up to telling him to back off herself. Kagome returned the smile, then went about the task of convincing Inuyasha that they were safe enough for him to share the sleeping bag with her.

Inukigo sighed, then grimaced. Her leg was starting to feel better, that meant the pills were working and she would be getting sleepy soon.

“I’m still mad at you,” she grumbled against Kouga’s shoulder.

“Oh?” Kouga asked softly, a small smirk on his face.

“Un. You’re going to be sorry to playing that trick on me. Someday when you least expect it, I’m gonna get you back.”

Kouga could hear sleep creeping into her voice and her breath evening out.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Inukigo didn’t hear him, because she was already fast asleep.

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Holy crap…this took a lot longer than I first anticipated. Sorry it took me such a long time, hopefully the next one will be out much faster *crosses fingers* Thanks for the reviews guys and girls, and hopefully mm.org will allow reviews this time around *rolls eyes*