InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Curse of the Wolf ❯ Trapped ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 11: Trapped

 

Kouga put on a burst of shard enhanced speed when he heard Kagome calling to him. He ran as fast and as far as he could before he collapsed from the agony in his ribs, his head spinning. He had a moment of nausea from the pain in his head but took some deep breaths until it passed.

 

Fucking mutt, what's his problem anyways? I didn't do anything. He hobbled over to a tree and lay down with his back against it. He stayed still, trying to allow time for his ribs to knit back together. He felt a hot, prickling behind his eyes the more he thought of what had happened.

 

Doesn't he trust me? I mean I know we were rivals in the past but that's all over, right? Kouga began to worry as to why Inuyasha would act so harshly towards him.

 

It was something that had always been in the back of his mind. He knew, just from watching, that Kagome really liked the hanyou, maybe she even loved him and he would feel some jealousy when Inuyasha, his Inuyasha, would pay attention to her. He understood that the half demon had feelings for her too but he was always consoled by the fact that Inuyasha wanted to be with him. He even understood that the white haired boy couldn't ignore her, that would make everyone suspicious but it still bothered him when he saw some of the tender looks the hanyou would give the girl.

 

Maybe he's changed his mind, maybe he wants to be with her instead of me, he thought miserably. The more he thought about it the more insecure he felt until finally he had himself believing it.

 

Now what do I do? I can't go back to the pack, they won't accept me now. Inuyasha doesn't want me…, this thought made a pressure build up in his chest, like someone was sitting on it and not letting his heart beat.

 

He shook himself out of his sorrow, anger and resentment growing in its place. Who needs him, fucking jerk, half breed mutt. I don't and I don't need anyone else either. He's turned me into a fucking woman; that ends now! He waited until he felt his ribs had pretty well healed and then slipping into his wolf form, he slunk into the forest and away from everything he loved.

 

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It didn't take the group long to realize that they wouldn't be able to follow Kouga's scent. The wind created from when he ran using the shards blew the scent away, allowing it to dissipate in the air.

 

“Where could he have gone?” Kagome asked, worry lacing her voice.

 

“I think I might know,” returned Inuyasha, turning to the west and heading to a certain mountain.

 

It took them a day to reach Kouga's cave but only a few seconds to realize he wasn't there and probably hadn't been since they found the two boys there those few months ago. Inuyasha really began to get worried. “Would he go back to the pack?” he asked Ginta.

 

“I doubt it, he abandoned the pack, I'm sure they have someone else as alpha now,” he said with a bit of an accusatory note to his voice. He sighed when he was the look of misery cross the hanyou's face. “But I'll go look, maybe he's hanging around on our old territory.”

 

“I'll go with you,” offered Hakkaku. The two wolf demons took off leaving the others to head back towards the village.

 

“He did know we were going back, maybe he just needed some time to cool off. He might be there now waiting for us,” Miroku told the group. He was a bit mystified as to why Inuyasha seemed to care so much. He understood that maybe he felt badly. But still, the hanyou seemed as upset, if not more so, than Kagome. He wondered if he was the only one to notice this.

 

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Kouga had travelled far to a completely different region of Japan and was currently tracking a rabbit in his animal form. He actually liked his wolf form and he enjoyed the feeling of freedom he got from the animalistic sensations and instincts. There were times when he would stay this way for days, getting lost in the simple passions and perceptions of his beast. Now was one of those times as his blood hummed with the joy of the hunt allowing him to forget, at least for awhile, why he was out here in this unknown forest by himself.

 

So involved was he in getting closer to the rabbit without startling it that he didn't notice the metal jaws hidden under the leaves until his leg was firmly clamped between the wicked, spiked teeth. He yowled out in pain, his leg broken, unable to heal as the steel trap held the bones open. He pulled and bit at the trap, blood flowing out of the wound on his leg and then his mouth as he was unable to break the metal jaws with his teeth.

 

He momentarily thought of transforming back into his human form but then discarded the idea. If he did, his human leg being much larger in circumference than his wolf one, would most likely be cut off as the jaws of the trap would not expand to accept the larger appendage.

 

The trap was held to the ground with a chain attached to a spike and he tried to pull the trap out of the ground hoping to at least get out of the area. He had no success and his perceptions began to grey out as unconsciousness claimed him, the pain unbearable.

 

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The trapper looked down on the large black wolf held in his trap. He noticed the unusual coloration of the animals face mask and ruff and felt the unmistakeable aura of youkai.

 

The former monk pulled out a leather strap from his horse's saddle bag and a sutra from his pocket. He folded the strap with the sutra inside and tied it around the neck of the wolf before unclamping the jaws of the trap. He then used leather thongs and tied the animal's legs together and its mouth closed, slinging the creature over the horses back.

 

“There now,” the dark haired, slightly balding man cooed to the unconscious wolf. “I don't know what luck brought you to me but if you're what I think you are, you'll heal quick enough and then they'll be nothing to beat me in the fights. You're going to make me a lot of money, wolfie.” He gave the unconscious Kouga a pat on the shoulder and with a happy grin started walking back to his village, leading the horse.