Chapter 1 ~ The Well ~

Beep Beep Beep...

Slam

"No... not yet..." A very sleepy Kagome Higurashi rolled over and pulled the covers back over her head. She had been having very intense dreams the past few months, since her sixteenth birthday to be exact. They were incredibly strange and confusing. She could never see his face and he moved like lightening around her. The only thing she recognized from the dreams was the well at her family's shrine, but it was different. Her family home was gone, replaced by nothing except forest as far as she could tell.

"Kagome! Kagome honey, breakfast is ready!" Her mother called cheerily from downstairs in the kitchen. Her stomach grumbled after hearing the announcement. She tossed her blankets off and sat up, stretching a little.

"Well, here we go again..." She said to herself with a sigh. "Another day with no sleep." She went into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face trying to give herself an extra boost of energy. She examined the bags under her eyes while she brushed her teeth, now used to seeing them there. She brushed out her long raven hair then grabbed her school uniform and sluggishly put it on before walking, almost zombie like, down the stairs to where her mother, grandfather, and little brother Souta were already sitting at the table eating their breakfast.

"Good morning dear." Her mother said cheerfully until she saw her daughters exhausted features. "Still having those weird dreams?" She asked with a frown, already knowing the answer.

Kagome simply nodded and sat down reaching for the coffee. She savored the first sweet sip trying to will her body to absorb as much of the caffeine as possible before downing the rest of the cup.

"Man sis, you look awful." Souta whispered, the normally light-hearted boy's face scrunching up with concern. "Maybe you should go back to that psychologist..."

"Gee, thanks" She mumbled shooting her brother a glare from the corner of her eye.

"You should stay home today dear and try to rest some more." Her mother suggested. "One day of missed school won't hurt."

"What?! Why do I have to go to school then?!" Souta jumped up. "No fair..." He said crossing his arms over his chest with a pout.

"Souta!" Their mother scolded. "Your sister needs the rest."

"Thanks momma..." She said with a half-smile. She grabbed a piece of toast and shoved it in her mouth before she headed back upstairs and flopped back onto her bed not bothering to change. She hugged her pillow and closed her eyes praying that the dream wouldn't come this time.

Darkness surrounded her as she kept falling down what seemed like a never ending black hole until she landed gently, like she was as light as a feather, on the ground. She looked up seeing the opening of the well. Grabbing onto the rocks she slowly climbed up out of the well. Once she made it she hoisted herself out and sat down in front of the well using it for support. She looked around at all the trees, a gentle breeze blowing through them. It was so beautiful, but where was she? She recognized the well, but everything else was foreign.

Suddenly she heard a rustling coming from one of the trees and immediately jumped up looking in that direction. "Probably just a bird or something..." She said to herself keeping her eyes fixed on that spot. She took a step in that direction, somehow already knowing it was not a bird. She felt her body pulling her in that direction, moving on its own. She saw a flash of red as whatever it was started moving from tree to tree.

She tried to keep up with the red flash as it kept moving, circling her, like she was prey. It should have frightened her, but instead she felt anticipation and excitement. She lost track of the flash, she whipped around trying to find it again only to see nothing, but red right in front of her face. A low growl came from deep in his throat, but it wasn't threatening it was something else... territorial maybe.

Kagome shot straight up in her bed. "Not again..." She shook her head. The terrifying part of her dream was that she didn't know why she was having it and it happened every single time she would try and shut her eyes. The dream was so real it felt like it took energy from her, making her that much more tired when she woke up.

She glanced over at the clock on her nightstand, it was almost noon. She got up and straightened out her clothes and smoothed her hair before heading downstairs and out of her house straight for the well. Her body, like in the dream, acting on its own. She paused at the entrance for a moment while she stared at the well. She slowly walked up feeling the pull growing stronger by the second. Placing her hands on the rim and carefully peaking down into the darkness.

"Hello?" She called down feeling a bit silly. She thought for a moment, maybe a flashlight would help. "This is stupid. What is wrong with me?" She turned around and sat on the edge of the well and sighed. "Am I losing my mind or something?"

Without warning the edge that she sat on crumbled and she tumbled backwards falling down the well. Once again surrounded by darkness she screamed, but she couldn't figure out if she was dreaming again. She must be because she would have hit the ground by now.

~ Inuyasha ~

He lazily laid in his favorite tree. Well, his favorite since the dreams started, the well always in his site. He had been waiting impatiently for months now, what was taking her so damn long. As soon as the dreams started he knew it was time, he came to the little clearing and never left. He had been waiting for centuries and finally the dreams had started. If she didn't show up soon he was going to have to make that old woman help him figure out how he could go and get her.

A breeze kicked up and Inuyasha breathed in deeply "Fucking finally!" He swiftly switched to a crouching position on the branch watching the well intently. He wasn't sure why she was coming out of a well when he hadn't seen her fall in, but it wasn't that important as long as she was here. He watched her pull herself out of the well. She looked confused as hell, silly humans they're always a half step behind.

He smirked when she looked in his direction. She looked exhausted, but even more beautiful than in his dreams. He shook his head to get himself to snap out of it, trying to remind himself that that was not what was important here. She was a means to an end. He needed to get stronger and mating with her would do that. He couldn't get all wrapped up in his instincts, even though they were screaming at him.

After he claimed her as his mate he would finally have an edge on his asshole brother, Sesshomaru. He would finally be able to properly wield his father's sword, Tessaiga. After they mated he would just take off. The pull can't be that hard to resist after all.

It shouldn't be too hard to get her to mate with him, after all she felt the same pull he did and then once he put some distance between them it would hopefully be easier to ignore. He's seen many demons get so damn whipped by their human mates and that was not going to happen to him. It was a blessing and a curse. Finding your mate unleashes the full strength of your powers, but your cursed having to babysit a human for all eternity. Someone's idea of a fucked up joke for sure. He started moving through the trees, he couldn't help but be a little impressed that her eyes could keep up with him.

~ Kagome ~

This has got to be a dream, she had to be dreaming again. Either that or she really has completely lost her mind. She watched him circle around trying to keep up all the while still telling herself she was about to wake up... any minute now. She watched him circle her a couple times before losing track of him in the trees. She turned around, already knowing he would be right there and then she would wake up. She stared at the red in front of her face and heard the growl, but she didn't wake. She panicked for a moment and shut her eyes tightly still telling herself it's just a dream and any moment now you will wake up.

She felt a hand on her chin forcing her head up while her eyes were still tightly shut. "Is my lovely little mate scared?" He asked amused. Her eyes shot open and he was inches from her face his hand still firmly holding her chin in place. "This isn't a dream my mate. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Before she had anytime to respond, let alone think, his lips were firmly planted against hers. Her body instinctively moved into his and another low growl rumbled in his throat. As the shock started to ware off a little she started pushing against him. He grabbed her hips firmly holding her in place. "You're not getting away that easy" He said through his lips pressed firmly against her mouth. She raised her arm and slapped him across the face as hard as she possibly could. The shock caused him to let her go and she turned to run.

"What the fuck was that for stupid?" He yelled while she ran through the clearing into the trees. He took off after her, catching up with ease. She barely made it past the tree line and he already had a hold of her arm. "You can't just go running off idiot. Do you want to get yourself killed?!"

"Let me go! Who the hell are you? Where am I?" She tried to pull her arm free, but it didn't even budge. What in the world happened, this had to be a dream. He said it wasn't though, how would he know? Confusion was riddled all over her face.

"You know who I am mate. You've been dreaming about me." He said sternly.

"How do you know that?" She looked him in the eyes and couldn't stop herself from noticing how beautiful they were. Like shimmering, liquid pools of gold. She lost herself for a moment in his eyes.

"Because I've been dreaming about you too." He said like it was obvious and he didn't understand why they were having this conversation. He pulled her closer and lightly pushed a stray hair back behind her ear making her breath catch in her throat. "Relax" He whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you Kagome".

"How do you... know my name?" Her eyes widened a little in surprise. She started taking in more of him. She noticed his gorgeous silver hair, she had never seen anything like it. She looked up a little higher... were those dog ears? She fought the urge to reach up and touch them, they looked so soft.

"Because you're my mate." He lightly dragged one of his claws down her neck sending pulse waves throughout her body. He had claws too!? Who the hell was this guy and what was he? "Don't forget to breathe" He smirked revealing one of his fangs while he continued to lightly caress her neck with his nails.

"Mate?" She questioned as she tried to pull away again.

"Yes, you are my mate. You're mine now." He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her firmly against his lips again. She lifter her arm about to land another blow to the side of his face when he let go of her neck, releasing her from the kiss so he could stop her hand from connecting with his face again. "Would you stop doing that!" He barked.

"Would you stop trying to kiss me! I don't belong to anyone!" She yelled back

This may be a little more difficult than he thought, she's a stubborn little wench. He couldn't help but kind of like it, although it was very frustrating. She didn't seem to understand what was going on. He wondered what the hell was on the other end of that well. He took a moment to notice that her clothes were rather strange too. Maybe he needed to take a different approach. If he answered her stupid questions maybe she would calm the fuck down.

"Sorry, but yeah you do. You're MY mate." He put emphasis on the my part. "Look, I'll let go of you, but you need to stop trying to run away. You're going to get yourself hurt running around on your own. You have to let me protect you, okay?" He said with a very serious look. Once he mated her she could run away all she wanted, but until then he needed to keep an eye on her.

"Okay, but you need to start answering my questions." She demanded.

"Sure." He replied letting go of her arms. She was a fiery little thing. Stop it, he told himself. She's the means to an end damn it, nothing more. Keep your head in the game. He really wasn't expecting his instincts and the pull to be this strong.

"Okay, my first question. Who are you? And your reply better be more than just I'm your mate." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

He sighed. "My name is Inuyasha, if that's what you mean."

"Inuyasha... Okay, now where am I?" Saying his name felt so right.

"Kaede's Village, Next?" He couldn't help but feel a jolt shoot through him as she said his name. He quickly shook it off. He wanted to get through all these questions as soon as possible so they could get back to the matter at hand.

"Village?... What... umm... time era are we in?" She asked looking around some more. This was absolutely insane.

"The fuedal era..." He looked at her a little confused himself now. That well must be some kind of portal. This could be perfect, after we mate I can throw her back down the well and seal it. That's loads of distance between us. I need to shut this shit down as fast as possible.

"WHAT?!" Her eyes wide with shock.

"Well, I guess that explains a lot." I wonder what time she's...He stopped himself again. No, it doesn't matter. I need to get a hold of myself. "Anymore questions?" She looked kind of wobbly and pale. He grabbed her and lowered her to the grass sitting next to her with his arms around her. "Take a deep breath mate" He cursed himself in his head, he needed to stop calling her that. It's a term of endearment for those happily mated. This wasn't going to be happily ever after. It just kept flying out of his mouth though, he couldn't stop it.

She leaned against his chest and his heart skipped a beat. "Fuck" he whispered under his breath. She didn't seem to notice his issues since she was wrapping her head around her own, which was a good thing for him in that moment.

"Kagome..." He practiced. She looked up at him bewildered. He looked into her big blue eyes and he melted, not being able to control his concern for her "I'm going to take you to Kaede. She will probably explain all this better than I can." It would also give him a chance to knock some sense into his brain. She nodded her head and he instinctively scooped her up and carried her to Kaede's hut.