She heard the sound of him entering the cave before she actually saw him, peeking up from the collection of furs she was bundled in. The soft tread of his feet against the rock floor of her room, his light footsteps announcing his arrival. She heard him sigh as he approached her bedding. In that one sound, the tone of his usually confident voice sounded worried.
"Ayame." He whispered, choosing to be more delicate with her, as he prodded her form under the mountain of furs she was nestled under with his foot.
"Mmh" Ayame murmured, her arm sliding from under her bedding to pat his calf from where he stood. The strong corded muscles of his legs flexed at the touch of her hand.
Koga knew her well enough to know that she was trying to reassure him that she was fine. He wasn't buying it. Ginta and Hakkuku has told him she'd retreated to her cave early for the evening with no explanation other than saying she wasn't feeling well.
After prodding her Grandfather, he finally revealed that Ayame suffered from occasional spells when her head would trouble her. Gramps claimed that she suffered from nausea, dizziness, light-sensitivity and pounding in her head when these spells came over her.
"Com' 'ere. I brought you some water." Kneeling at the edge of her bed furs, he pulled the arm that stroked his calf until it's owner was forced to sit up. Propping Ayame's body up, he brought the canteen of water he'd brought with him to her lips. Koga watched her as she drank delicately from the bottle, her body resting in the crook of one of his arms. The female wolf's long red hair drapping over him.
The Wolf Demon Tribe Chief had never really noticed that the white wolf demon was so petite until recently. He found himself being more and more aware of how small she was, and her current state made it even clearer to him that she was teeny. He found himself worrying more and more; concerned she wasn't eating enough or that she might be coming down with some sickness.
"Thank you." She whispered when she'd finished drinking, the former pounding in her head was calming down as she inhaled his scent, "How'd you get past Gramps?" Ayame knew that Koga could have a blatant disregard for tradition when it suited his fancy but she figured that her Grandfather, the Elder, and him would've had some exchange for him to enter her bedchambers. Gramps must have had a heart attack at the idea of Koga coming in here, them being unmated. Gramps wanted to see her mated to someone strong more than anything.
"I'm the Chief, I'm just checking on you. It's my job to protect the Tribe. You're part of the Tribe Ayame." Koga was the youngest Chief in the history of the Wolf Demon Tribe. After losing so many comrades because of the evils of the half-demon Naruku; the wolf demon tribes had come together to help absorb their losses. Koga's remaining comrades had moved into the Northern mountains with Ayame and the elders. She knew he was working hard to protect and better all of the tribes, but Ayame also knew that that wasn't why he was here.
"It's just a headache, Koga. You didn't have anything better to do? You don't have patrol tonight?" Ayame responded, burrowing herself in his arm that still held her to cover her eyes from the imposing winter sunlight at the entrance to her bedchambers. She was waiting for the remains of her migraine to slowly dissolve.
"Doesn't matter. You felt bad enough to come lay down in bed before sundown. I know you're not feeling good. Besides, Gramps knew he shouldn't tell me you were sick if he didn't want me to come in your room." Koga was almost growling, how dare no one notify him immediately that she was feeling ill. He's been becoming increasingly overprotective of Ayame lately. He hasn't asked her yet, but she was basically his woman. He should know when his woman wasn't feeling good.
After coming back from the defeat of Naraku, he had specifically brought his remaining Tribe to the Mountains to be with her. While he appreciated Kagome for her friendship and kindness, he also recognized that her feelings for that mutt weren't something he could compete with. And to be honest, after all this time has passed, Koga was sure that he wasn't ever in love with her anyways, just her ability to see the shards.
Ever since coming back to the Northern Mountains he'd been sniffing around Ayame. Running on patrol with her, feasting with her, reforming the tribes with her in mind. Gramps had been giving him a hard time about it for the past few moons; saying that if he wanted to act like Ayame was his mate then he had to mate her. The old man was becoming increasingly impatient as he wanted to live to see his beloved granddaughter mated.
"I'll be ok soon. I just needed to lie down. Gramps shouldn't have worried you Koga." the auburn haired wolf murmured, reaching out to stroke Koga's shoulder. She reached up to nuzzle her nose in his neck, taking in a deep breath of his scent.
"Fine. I was worried. I told Gramps I was gonna bite him if I didn't get to see you." the brown wolf tightened his grip on her form, her naked body covered by the blankets she was wrapped in, "Ginta said you almost fainted. What the fuck was I supposed to do, just ignore it?"
"You can't threaten to bite my Grandfather. Even if you're worried." She sighed, rolling her eyes at him. He just couldn't help himself sometimes she guessed. Besides she knew that Koga and Gramps actually loved each other; and her. Her Grandfather actually liked that Koga called him Gramps instead of Elder, he just wanted them to be mated already. "And I'm already feeling much better, do you wanna come lay with me?" she patted the empty space next to her on her bed furs, hoping he'd relax and take her up on the offer.
"Keh. If it'll make you feel better woman, I'll lay with you." Koga laid her back down before pulling her covers back halfway and sliding under, fully clothed. He layed back against her bedding before rolling over to look at the much smaller wolf. Koga was being careful to make sure he didn't crush her. He watched her crawl over and snuggle herself against him. Her bare body cuddled up to his clothed one.
Ayame pulled at his hair tie, pulling his long black hair out of its ponytail. She smiled as he let her twirl her fingers in his raven-colored locks. Koga burrowed his face in her neck, his fangs brushing against the delicate skin there as he started lapping at her collar with his tongue.
"See, I'm already feeling much better Koga." She smiled, giving his hair a tug teasingly. She kissed his jaw before settling back down in their bed of pelts.
He was breathing deep in her neck, her curtain of auburn hair covering him, his blue eyes looked up to see her petite arms wrapping around his tan body. He was always so warm, his whole body just burned off heat; and currently Ayame was using to him to stave off winter's chill.
The sun was setting just outside her cave and the snowfall was picking up again. It had been snowing on and off all day as part of the first snowfall of the year. Koga's Tribe was experiencing their first winter in the Northern Mountains.
"Let's get married on the next full moon." Koga didn't say it like a question, he said it like he'd already made the decision. Truthfully, Koga and Gramps had both been wearing her down for a while about mating. Koga realized early into his move here that he wanted to marry Ayame just as badly as Gramps wanted him to.
Ayame yawned against him, "I told you, I'm not marrying you until you love me." She was burrowing herself deeper into his arms, her emerald green eyes fluttering closed.
Within months of returning to the mountains, Koga had confessed to her that he had remembered the promise he made her during the lunar rainbow. Much to his chagrin, Ayame had explained to him that she didn't want him to mate her just because he promised her he would; she only wanted to be mates if he really loved her. She wasn't going to be second best to anyone. If he didn't love her, then she wasn't going to ask him to be her mate. Wolves mate for life and she couldn't spend her whole life with someone who didn't love her.
"Shut up. You know I do." He growled, nipping at her neck in response to her being sassy with him. She was always challenging him, he'd never had somebody question him and not back off when he'd pushed them too. He kind of liked that his woman gave him a little shit sometimes. "I wouldn't have come here for you if I didn't." He loved challenging tradition but even he knew you didn't enter an unmarked female wolf's bedchamber. Gramps was going to give him so much crap for this later, but this was becoming a more & more frequent escapade for the brown wolf. Not that it mattered because when he marked her during the next full moon, she could move into his cave with him.
"Set it up with Gramps." the smaller wolf relented, pulling the covers up further over her petite frame. Her small hand reached up to smooth the dark hair from his face before nestling under their blankets.
Ayame knew he was getting restless about marriage, Koga was becoming more insistent with each moon's passing. He was spoiling her more and more with his attempts at chivalry; visiting her today when she became ill with headache, bringing her flowers, catching her wild boar for dinner. Recently, he'd even taken to being jealous, Koga had exploded when another wolf demon had started being "flirtatious" with her making Ayame roll her eyes as Koga pummeled the poor boy who was just offering to help her prepare food for the winter in place of Gramps.
Koga resumed his earlier task of suckling her neck satisfied that she was finally being agreeable, "Hey... I love you." He leaned up to kiss her forehead, his warm breath fanning against her temple. Ayame's eyes opened in shock before absorbing his words thoughtfully, after a moments passing her eyes closed gently again.
He'd taken recently to hinting at having such feelings for her but this was the first time Koga had ever just come out and said it. With Kagome, his confessions of love had been plentiful, even if they weren't real. But he never told Ayame things like that. If she brought the matter up, he would agree but he never actually told her his feelings.
"I know. Love you too." Ayame purred, and she knew it was true. In all of his flaws, he was very doting and made it perfectly clear to her that if he didn't want to be here with her then he wouldn't be. "You should stay here tonight, the snows falling fast and you could keep me warm."
She knew he wasn't used to the harsh snow of the Northern Mountains, even their lightest snow falls brought about thick sheets of the frozen slush. She knew he was strong and always warm, but the winter nights here could be hard even for someone as powerful as him.
"Keh." The Wolf Demon Tribe Chief agreed passively. He bite her pointed ear in agreement before kissing her forehead again, drifting off to sleep slowly himself.