InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Beauty Meets Beast ❯ Of Wolves and Curses ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Beauty Meets Beast

Theblackangels- um…..thanks?

me579- sorry, my spring break was weeks ago

Chapter 4: Of Wolves and Curses

A vicious growling filled the room as Sesshoumaru glared at Kagome, who stood stone still in front of him. “What do you think you are doing?” He snarled, his grip upon her shoulder tightening almost to the point where his claws would break her skin.

“I…” Kagome squeaked, willing her vocal cords to work as she stared into his anger filled eyes.

“Get out,” he said icily.

His eyes flashing red dangerously and his youki exploded into the room, blocking out all else. Sensing this, Kagome's miko powers flared to life of their own accord, desperate to defend her from the oncoming danger his youki promised. His grip immediately loosened and he leapt away to prevent being purified. As soon as he let go, Kagome took off out the door, her instincts screaming for her to get as far away from this youkai as possible.

Her legs carried her all the way out of the castle into the courtyard, but she didn't stop there. She ran past the cowering guards and out the gate. `My miko energy must still be radiating from me,' she thought briefly as she continued to run. She ran for what seemed hours until her legs finally gave out and she collapsed against a tree, her muscles quivering as her spent adrenaline slowly left her body. As she became aware of her surroundings, Kagome stiffened. She was out in the middle of who knows where, with no supplies, but, more importantly, she didn't have her bow…

A sound in front of her made her jump. Her mind began to reel with the possibilities of what it could be. She heard it again, louder than before. She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't work. She had overexerted herself too much when she ran. In front of her, the bushes began to move ominously. Gasping, she began frantically searching around her for something to use as a weapon, cursing herself for being caught without one. Her eyes clouded over in fear when she couldn't find anything. Moments later, a wolf youkai emerged from the bushes. For a moment she relaxed, thinking that he might be a friend of Kouga, but then she noticed the glint in his eyes.

“It must be my lucky day,” he said as he stalked towards her. “Are you out here all alone little miko? How very fortunate for me.”

Kagome could only watch in fear as she was slowly surrounded by wolf youkai. As they approached her, one of them hesitated, and she heard him tell the one that had spoken to her that she was an ally of that `scum' Kouga. `So that proves it,' she thought, `they're not from Kouga's pack.' Her skin began to crawl as she realized that she was about to be killed, or worse, raped to death. `Oh, why did I run away?! Why couldn't I have just stayed inside the castle walls?!'

The wolves began to circle her, licking their lips in anticipation. Kagome watched as the one that had spoken to her slowly approached her. `He must be the leader.' She tried to prepare herself for what was to come. He knelt before her, his fingers coming up to clasp her chin. His face drew closer to hers, his lips drawn into a smirk. Drawing upon her last line of defense, Kagome flared her powers as soon as his lips made contact with her own. Growling, he jumped back like he'd been burned.

“You bitch!”

She screamed when he suddenly punched her, knocking her over. In the blink of an eye he was on top of her, holding down her now struggling body. He leaned down to her ear, venom dripping from his voice as he whispered in her ear, “I was going to be gentle, but now I am going to take pleasure in breaking you.” His claws ripped through her clothes, tearing her skin in the process. She screamed, wishing for it to end.

She whimpered when she heard his vicious growl, but when she heard it again she realized it wasn't coming from him moments before he was thrown off her. She caught a glimpse of silver and gasped. `Sesshoumaru?' Was he here? Had he been the one to rescue her? She shook her head to clear her vision, gasping yet again when she could finally see her savior. It was Sesshoumaru. `But why would he save me?' She noticed that he didn't have his swords, which wasn't really that big of a deal since he could fight fine without them. He knelt in front of her, practically begging the wolves to attack. When they did, they all attacked at once. Blood began to soak through his pristine kimono, but she couldn't tell if it was his or not. For a moment, he struggled and it looked as if they might overpower them, but then it was all over and he was turning to face her.

“Are you alright?” He said, removing his outer haori and handing it to her to cover herself with. She nodded and accepted the cloth, her brain still trying to comprehend why he saved her. But she didn't get to think long because he suddenly bent over in what looked like pain. “Sesshoumaru! What's wrong?” She slowly stood and ran to him as he fell over. She cradled his head in her lap, checking his head for fever. She brushed the hair from his face and had to hold in her gasp as his hair turned black in her hand. `What is causing this?' she thought as she watched the regal taiyoukai turn into what he hated most, a human. When the transformation was complete, she noticed that he'd lost consciousness, his human body not able to handle his wounds.

“Oh Kami, now what am I going to do?” Kagome muttered. There was no way she could carry him back, she was still too worn out, plus she doubted she'd have been able to at full strength. Fortunately, Kami seemed to be smiling upon her though, for moments later, an inuyoukai appeared from behind the trees.

“Lord Sesshoumaru!” he said, quickly running the rest of the way to them.

Kagome, recognizing him as Sesshoumaru head of security, Drake, sighed in relief. `Thank Kami!'

“Are you alright?” he asked, taking in her state of dress and their surroundings. “What happened?”

“I was stupid and ran all the way out here unarmed and these idiot wolves showed up and almost….almost…..” she trailed off and Drake placed his hand upon her shoulder, “And then Sesshoumaru showed up and killed them. But I don't know what happened after that. He just turned into a human and collapsed. I don't know what I would have done if…”

“Yeah yeah, you can thank me later. Right now, let's just get you back to the castle. Can you walk?” He reached down and picked Sesshoumaru up. Kagome nodded and stood as well, making him sigh in relief. `At least I don't have to carry both of them.' When they finally reached the castle, Kagome couldn't contain her sigh of relief. Drake too, seemed more at ease now that they were inside the fortress-like walls of the castle. It had taken them quite a while to get back, which greatly frustrated him. If she hadn't been with him, he could have gotten here in half the time. Looking around he sighed, “We can only hope one of the healers is still awake.”

“That's not necessary,”

“What do you mean `not necessary'?” he growled, causing Kagome to step back slightly. “Are you blind!? These wounds are too much for his weakened state! He needs medical assistance!!!!”

Kagome sighed, guys could be such blockheads. “It is not necessary because I can care for his wounds. I've had to take care of far worse wounds than his.”

He looked at her skeptically for a moment before he sighed and turned away from her. “Fine, follow me.”

Kagome merely nodded and began to follow silently behind him. He led her into an area of the castle she'd never seen before. The very aura surrounding this part of the castle was darker. The walls held a mystery that made her shiver and shadows lurked all around, beckoning her to enter their embrace. `This must be Sesshoumaru's private wing,' she thought to herself as Drake stopped in front of a door at the far end of the hall.

“Woman,” he gritted out, barely sparing her a glance, “unless you wish to care for him in the hall, I suggest you open the door.”

“Oh. Duh,” Kagome muttered, rushing ahead of him to open the rather large door to what she assumed was Sesshoumaru's bedroom.

Once the door was open, Drake wasted no time in placing Sesshoumaru on the large bed in the far corner of the room. He laid him out carefully before turning to Kagome, “I must go take care of something, but I will send Kaliegha to assist you.”

Kagome could only nod and watched him leave, shocked that he was leaving her alone with Sesshoumaru. She turned back to Sesshoumaru and sighed. He was in bad shape. His kimono was covered in blood, though she doubted most of it was his. Slowly, she peeled the thick cloth from his body until he was completely bare. Now normally, by this point she would be blushing. Profusely. But at the moment she was too she was too concerned with his health to be embarrassed.

It wasn't as bad as it looked. She'd been correct in her assumption that most of the blood was not his. In fact, he looked more bruised than anything. Remembering that he had clutched his stomach when he fell, she gently ran her hands over the expanse of his chest, gasping when her hands collided with a series of bumps that were definitely not supposed to be there. “He's broken his ribs,” she sighed before sliding her hands over the rest of his chest, glad when she didn't find anything else. Kaliegha entered moments later with a rag and a bowl of warm water.

“Thanks,” Kagome said as the young demoness placed the objects before her.

“Do you need any help?” she asked softly, silently taking in the battered body of her lord.

“If you can help me clean and bind his ribs, I think I can handle everything else.”

When they had effectively cleaned and wrapped his chest, Kaliegha went back to bed, promising that she would return if Kagome needed her. After she'd left, Kagome set about cleaning the blood from the rest of his body. Most of his wounds were close to being healed, which led her to believe that they had healed before he transformed. But there were still some wounds open and she cleaned those as best she could. She silently wished for a first aid kit, but alas, those would not be invented for several hundred years.

“Why are you doing this?”

Kagome jumped, she'd been so wrapped up in what she was doing that she hadn't noticed he'd awakened. “What?”

“As soon as morning comes I will heal,” he said, trying in vain to sit up.

Kagome sighed and pushed him back down onto the bed, getting the distinct impression that, had he been a demon, he would be growling at her. “I know,” she said softly, raising the cloth to clean his face, “but there is no reason for you to be uncomfortable until then.”

His now violet eyes gazed upon her in wonder as she continued to care for him. Who was this woman who defied all logic? Her actions went against everything he knew about humans. Most humans, and demons for that matter, were terrified of him, but she was not. Even though he had taken her from all she knew, she was still willing to care for him.

“Thank you,” she said softly, rousing him from his thoughts, “for stopping them I mean.”

“You are welcome.” She glanced into his eyes and he got the feeling she wanted to ask him something. “What is it?” he sighed, too tired to care.

“Um…I was just wondering…”

“You wish to know why I am human?” She nodded and he sighed, sliding further down into the blankets that now covered his form. “I am cursed. Every night, unless I am inside the castle, I turn into a human.” There, he'd said it. He'd admitted his shameful weakness.

As she sat there, her eyes still locked with his, all Kagome could think was, “Why?”

“I was cursed by a miko. For what reason, I am not sure. Nor do I know how to lift it.”

“Oh,”