She couldn't tell if she was dreaming or awake.

The sky twisted with a purple haze and silver balls of light plummeted toward the Earth. The tiny lights landed everywhere around her, raining in a thunderstorm of comets. And then one by one, they went out.

Then it got darker until she could see nothing but the blurry swirling haze.
"Kagome" A voice called out. She moved her lips to answer but nothing came out. Her eyes kept blinking, opening slower and slower each time. She twitched her muscles but they agonizingly tightened until she was immobilized.

She'd never felt a pain like this.

The air seemed to disappear and her throat closed. "Kagome, Kagome." The voice kept calling. Warmth suddenly circled around her. Kagome took a deep breath and the air returned.

Kagome took another breath. And then a name slipped off her tongue.

"Kouga."

~*~*~

"Kougaaaa! When are we going to stop running in circles?" Hakkaku complained when his leader finally came to a stop.

Ginta caught up a second later, his face burning red from running. He put both hands on his knees and leaned forward to catch his breath.

"Yeah," He agreed, puffing, "There's no way Naraku's out here. We would have found something by now."

"Are you lazy wolves ever going to stop complaining?" Kouga folded his arms over his chest. The wind raced through the trees and pushed his hair to twirl and dance with it. He looked toward the sunset, squinting through to bright light to try to see something in the distance.

He didn't like to admit it, but Ginta and Hakkaku were probably right. They'd run this trail before sniffing out that ugly iron scent Naraku had and following run down prints in the dirt.

All that floated in the air now was the deep rich scents of the plant life and pollen that the wind had swept up.

"Why is he so irritated?" He heard Hakkaku mutter but didn't turn to acknowledge it.

"Probably starving like us." Ginta replied in the same muttered voice.

"No, it's probably because he hasn't seen Onii-san in over a month. He hasn't stopped whispering her name when he's asleep."

"Oh…"

"You know I can hear you!" Kouga growled, spinning around to face the other two.

They sprung apart in seconds, suddenly becoming engrossed in the floor.

Rubbing his hands together, Hakkaku spoke up before Kouga turned away.

"Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to go see her Kouga. It's been a month. She might be starting to think you don't care about her anymore."

Kouga's thoughts darkened at the words. He ground his heel into the hard dirt below them as he did one more survey of the land.

"Kagome wouldn't doubt me like that." He tried to assure himself but his tone didn't reinforce it.

"Well, Kouga it wouldn't hurt to go see her." Ginta took up in Hakkaku's place and they both fiercely nodded when he turned to look at them.

Kouga's mood shifted to something he didn't want to admit. He could picture Kagome in his mind—everything from her long raven hair to her glistening eyes. But every time he could get a good imagine of her in his head, that stupid dog had to come in and ruin it. Even in his mind.

And even more bothersome was Kouga's continued suspicions about their relationship. Inuyasha and Kagome clearly weren't mates, he could tell that. Nor had there been any signs that they were going to be. Inuyasha's dawdling were already enough of a reason to cost him Kagome. If he was taking too long, Kouga had ever right to step in and take his place.

And yet he wasn't sure Kagome agreed. It'd been a few months now and she never gave any sign of returning his advances. A frown inched up on him as he thought about this. While nothing had changed, maybe he was becoming more concerned about it because his feelings for Kagome were growing.

The wolf prince turned and started to run leaving Hakkaku and Ginta in his dust. The running and empowerment of the jewels helped empty his mind some but thoughts still plagued him. When he first met Kagome she was just a game to him, a good mate he had to hunt down and woo until he got his way. And as time went on it seemed all he could think about was her. Apparently he was even speaking in his dreams about her.

Kouga growled in frustration and slid to a halt. He put his nose up to the air and breathed in.

All he smelt were flowers. And the wind abruptly shifted and brought him her scent. Hakkaku and Ginta were screaming at him to wait up. Kouga gave them a few moments, his mind trying to think rationally over something he already decided. He would go to her.

~*~

A/N: Hey guys, I did this because there just weren't enough Kouga/Kagome fics out there. Also this isn't an Inuyasha bashing fic so no worries. I plan for it to be tastefully done. : ) And even without the pairing, it should be cool in its own respect.

Drop me a line and tell me what you think.