Koga sat silently on a bluff that over looked the valley where his den was settled. Smiling at all the twists that fate handed down to him.

Like Kagome for example. He fell in love with her, but she didn't share his love. She had fallen in love with the mercenary Bankotsu and broke his heart.

When he found out, that had been the worst day of his life. But had also turned into a blessing. For had he not lost her, then he would not have found his mate.

Sora. Sora was a oukami hanyou. He met her when she was just over fifty years old. She had long black hair and cute black ears like Inuyasha had at one time. She had the mark of a fang that came down about ½ an inch off the outer corner of her right eye.

She was the daughter of the leader of a oukami youkai tribe in the Western lands. Soshi had taken a ningen mate when his died while birthing his second son. Both of his sons, Sanosuke and Shigure were protective over their younger sister, instead of shunning her like most youkai would.

By the time he had met her, she was a warrior in her own right. Soshi saw the look of shock when he saw her and busted out laughing. He told Koga not to judge because she was hanyou and not youkai. That the three trainers that she had were himself and his sons.

Koga could not pass up the chance to see if there as a hanyou that would prove to be stronger than Inuyasha so he challenged her to a sparing match. When they finally stopped, it was tied, each had lost and won ten times.

Since that day, neither had been able to get the other out of their minds! When Soshi sent for him again, he was more than happy to run to his den. The chance of getting to see Sora again, and confirming that it was just because she was a fighter was welcome. Ginta and Hakaku came along with him.

"Papa."

He was ripped from his reprieve when he heard twin voices coming from behind him. He turned a bright smile to his youngest pups. Isamu and Akira were standing behind him. They were his youngest at ten years old, even though they only looked to be the size of a five year old ningen child. Both of them were youkai, Isamu had long auburn hair that he kept in a pony tail like his father. Akira had long white hair that she left flowing down to the middle of her back.

Both of these pups had his blue eyes. He spun around and beckoned them to come to him. "What you pups up to?"

Isamu flopped down next to his father and shrugged his shoulders. "Since we are not old enough to start training yet, we are bored father."

Akira climbed on her papa's lap and snuggled into his embrace as he wrapped his arms around her. "Do you think you could tell us a story papa?" She loved it when her mama told her stories, and she figured that her papa could tell ones just as good.

Koga smiled and hugged his youngest daughter. "Of course I can tell you a story. Now let me see which one shall I tell you?"

Isamu jumped up and said, "How about the time you fought with The Band Of Seven!?"

Akira glared over at her twin brother. "Iie brother. That is too much fighting in it. I want to hear about something like what mama tells us."

Koga smiled. When it came to his attention, he gives it evenly with all eight of his pups, but they always seemed to fight over it. 'Like they are fighting over a bone I swear.' "Well Akira, what kinds of stories does mama tell you?"

Akira turned shocked eyes up at her father. "Well papa, she tells us stories about some of the adventures she had before and after she met you."

"Ahhhh I see. Well has she ever told you all about how we met, up to the day you were born?"

Koga had to laugh when both his pups head began to vigorously shake back and forth. "Would you like me to tell you that one?" The little heads stopped for a fraction of a second before they began to shake up and down.

"Alright, alright then I will tell you." He picked up his pups and walked to the shade of a tree and sat down leaning against it. Once again, as usual, Akira was back in his lap and Isamu on his right side. That was when he noticed his two middle sets of twins coming. And they weren't happy at all. He looked up just as they broke the rise of the hill that lead to the bluff and said, "Well what are the four of you doing?"

Emiko and Yuriko stomped up to their father and flopped down on his left side. Yuriko was older than Emiko, even though they looked like the twins. Yuriko was twins with Daisuke, and Emiko was twins with Seiji. Yuriko and Emiko both had their mother's green eyes and silver hair. They were hanyou, born right after their mother so they had the silver ears.

The boys followed right behind their twin sisters and flopped down on his right side. Daisuke reached over and scooped up Isamu and flopped him down on his lap. The boys were identical as well. They were hanyou also, and hand black hair and ears, exactly like their mother, but they had their father's eyes.

Yuriko crossed her arms and glared at her twin, while Emiko did the same to hers. Yuriko then looked to her father with softer eyes and growled out, "These two baka's need to have their heads knocked around a little papa."

"Nani?"

Emiko never took her eyes off Seiji. "Yuriko and I were training down by the river. We were running through the drills that you showed us yesterday when they decided to get in the middle of it."

Koga knew his daughters were angry. No they were pissed. He turned hard eyes to his two middle sons. "Well?"

Daisuke smiled as he looked at Yuriko, "Oh father, we didn't do anything that bad. They were next to the river and we helped them go for a swim. They are the ones that spent the next couple hours chasing us down."

Before Koga could answer he smiled as his eldest son and daughter approached. They seemed to know when the family was gathering. They were adults now, but would still sit and gather around with the rest of the pups when Sora would start telling stories and it seemed they knew when the pack was gathering.

Kosha smiled down as his foolish little brother. "Daisuke, you and Seiji would do well to learn. Don't mess with a woman. Especially ones that are fighters like our sisters are."

He flopped down next to Emiko and smiled as his twin sister Mizuki sat down next to him. He looked over at Mizuki as he said, "I had to learn that the hard way when I challenged Mizuki to a sparing match when we were just a little bigger than Isamu and Akira."

Mizuki smiled smugly at her twin brother. They were both youkai and looked exactly the same, except for the eyes. She had her mother's green eyes and he had their father's blue eyes. "Hai shatei. But I do not think that your little brother's will understand until they are firmly flattened."

Koga busted out laughing. His pups were his life and now he hall eight of them around him. "Hai Mizuki. That is your mother coming out in you. After all our first meeting was spent in a day of sparing."

Isamu looked up at his father and raised an eyebrow. "Mama was a fighter?"

"Hai sochi. And a remarkable one at that. We spared all day and tied. I won ten and so did she."

Akira turned annoyed eyes up to her father. "Papa you said you would tell us about how you met mama!"

Koga smiled as he sat his hand on her head. "Hai, that is true."

Mizuki had never heard the story told straight out before. Something would remind her mother or father about something that happened before, and that was the only part of the story told. "Father you are going to tell the whole story this time?"

"Hai."

Kosha stood and leaped up in the tree and got comfortable. "About time the mystery is revealed. Mizuki and I are the eldest and are one hundred and fifteen years old, and we have never heard the whole story."

Isamu looked up at his eldest brother. "Honto ni?"

"Hai. Something would always happen that would remind them of part of the story. They would talk about just that part then it would be done."

Emiko and Yuriko had softened and were now looking to their father. Emiko asked, "Papa, why haven't you or mama ever told us this story before?"

Koga stared dumb founded at his daughter for a second. Emiko always asked the questions that you would not think of yourself. She was always able to throw people off that way and find out what she needs to find out from anyone. "I don't know. It just never came up."

Sora walked up toward the group. Knowing they all knew she was coming. She smiled when she heard the story that he was going to tell them. She sighed as she reached them. "Well utenshi you are going to tell that story. I don't know why it never came up before."

She mad her way around her pups and sat down next to Koga. She smiled as she looked around and up. Her pack was her life. She did not fight so much anymore now that she was a mother. Reaching over she took Isamu from his older brother and smiled. "Go on Koga. It is about time we tell them this story."

Koga smiled and wrapped an arm around his mate's waist. "Well I know where to start, and since this was your idea Akira where do you want us to stop the story at?"

Akira smiled. "Stop when you get to when me and Isamu were born."

"Hai."

Koga then began to tell the story of how he and Sora met and bonded becoming mates. He started with that one fateful day when he found Kagome holding hands with Bankotsu. The cursed and blessed day when his life changed, for the better.