Title: "Ritual"

Author: Hoping2improve

Rating: T

Status: Complete

Fandom: Inuyasha - Kouga/OC

Author's Note: This is a small drabble, and is intended to draw readers into my main story (which is undergoing a rewrite), One-Track Mind, from which it stems. It plays with a concept I decided I wanted to toy with in a forum thread. This is the result. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to ask questions, and of course, reviews are always appreciated. Thank you!

Kouga stared at his wife, her face troubled - now, it would seem, even in her sleep.

Yer gonna be the death of me, I swear… he thought. I feel like I'm choking every moment I'm with you…

His hand lightly passed over her neck, just barely touching it. He glanced uncomfortably at the darkening bruises that covered her throat and face. They were his doing – he knew it, but it made him squirm inside. He had never thought that he would actually hurt a female, in spite of all his tough posturing.

But she drove him mad, made him break almost every moral he had ever held. And a part of him loved it. You… I don't know what it is…You drag me down, you taunt me and refuse me, you make me a fool in front of everyone… And I can't control you… And I hate it. I hate it and you make me want to do it… Damn you, why do you do this to me?

A solution to the problem wandered to his frustrated, weary mind. Thoughts flickered, but none took hold, save the one. A worrisome smile cut his mouth in two as he bared his fangs and bent his head down. Fixing his intent in his mind, to make sure there could be no mistake, he said a quick prayer to the spirits of his ancestors, asking for their aid in guiding him with this woman.

He bit her hard on the neck, letting his sharp fangs bury themselves in the soft flesh. Awake with a violent start, she let out a feral snarl, trying to grasp the situation and twist herself away to fight back. She didn't understand the ritual – if she did, she would have neutered him before she let it happen – and it made her fear spike.

She would be his wife, and only his, even if they did both hate each other. He knew that, after this, each time she got excited, she would emit his scent - driving off any potential sexual partners with a sense of smell. The strange scent always made others feel awkward and hopefully prevented infidelity. Hopefully. He was painfully aware of her female human lover, who, even if she had known, would not be affected by it as he hoped, for she herself had not the nose to detect it. But, as for Akiko, it would cause her physical pain if she got too worked up - he wasn't aware that it reacted to neurotransmitters - adrenaline, to be precise - and caused the recipient's endorphin pool to drop into nonexistence. It made even the slightest injury nothing less than agonizing.

Part of him disliked doing this to her, binding her, but he couldn't have her pulling another stunt like the one she had with that slut! Such a thing would be the end of him, and of their measure of security - most greviously, that of their daughter. But another part, the side of himself he despised and feared, was delighted at the possibilities this presented. That part, unfortunately, seemed to be the one he revealed more often of late, no matter that he was disgusted with himself for the things he said and did. Much as he didn't want to face it, he could no longer look at his reflection; he was now what he had always hated: a monster.

He didn't want to confront that just then, and concentrated on his task, pouring his demon power into her body, altering it. Such a change would not fade, even after he had died. This was binding - her to him, as he was chained to her - and it was now impossible to undo.

Blood bubbled up around his teeth as he held fast, pinning her down with the weight of his body, reveling in the way she tasted with her fear and confusion. She let out an animalistic whine of pain.

So she's showing herself for a true bitch now, is she? he thought with malice, seeing her as she appeared to him: as a dog, not an individual with genuine sentience and intelligence. He told himself it was to calm her down, but what he did next was really to make her feel as uncomfortable as he felt:

He reached under the blankets and slowly drew his right hand down her body, letting her feel just how much control he had in this moment. He felt her shudder and squirm, and as his hand roamed lower, playing with her in an almost teasing manner, she finally spoke. What she said filled him with guilt – but he did not release her entirely – and, for once, he listened.

"Kouga… Stop…"

-END-