Chapter 6

Answers

You're not off the hook that easy.

Kagome knew it couldn't be put off forever. She had a lot of answer for to Koga. But, it was still taking her some time to come down from her shock of him being there.

Seeing the ookami Alpha just randomly skid into the village clearing was unexpected but Kagome couldn't deny she was ecstatic to see him again.

He was here. Right in front of, well, more like behind, her. And, she was having the hardest time trying to unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth.

He was alive, well, and didn't seem to be ready to gut her for what had happened to his tribe. But, she wasn't about to push his good graces too far. He deserved the truth. Hell, she was impressed he wasn't dragging her back to his den and demanding it there.

"What do you want to know?" she asked as she started to search for her healer's basket she kept out of the way.

"Is Naraku why you left?"

Kagome froze as she reached for some of the herbs she'd need to treat her wound. Of all the questions he would ask, that one took her by surprise.

Swallowing low, she nodded and then quickly kicked herself since Koga couldn't see it anyway.

"Yes," she replied calmly. "I didn't want to believe he was there. But, when Sango, Ginta and I went to face the yokai poisoning the river, there was no denying it any-longer."

Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat when Koga remained silent. He didn't move from his spot, neither.

"I'm so sorry, Koga," she quickly offered. "I know I should have told you, or left sooner, but I—"

"How long have you run from him?"

Kagome knew there was no-point in apologizing. Koga wouldn't let her. Whether that meant he'd already forgiven her or he never would, she had no idea. But, if he wanted to move-on, she wouldn't argue.

"Too long," she replied, as she started to untie her haori. "At least since I first entered adulthood and my powers matured. I had to leave my village, my family, everything I knew and run. I have ever since."

"Because of the jewel?"

Kagome sighed as she nodded again. "That's his main goal, yes. Like he said, I'm just the vessel. Or rather…..I was."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I thought he'd forgotten about the Jewel," Kagome replied as she surveyed the most-recent wound. "Or, rather hoped for it. I'd been among the Northern tribe for a few years, if you remember."

Koga only grunted in reply, a fist coming up to perch his chin on as he seemed to stare transfixed outside the doorway.

"I didn't know the ookami were in the mountains," Kagome continued, hating the silence. "I had…already brought so much pain and anguish to the villages that had given me shelter. Including Sango's.
'He always found me. So, I thought if I disappeared, went someplace he couldn't reach, that he'd give up on claiming the Jewel.
'The Northern tribe found me. And, at first, they wanted to kill me. But, Shiro's father was dying and he wanted me to heal him first. I don't know if it was a test or if he was serious but, I did what I could. And, as a result, Shiro promised I would always have a place with the tribe."

"Until I came," Koga added, still unmoving.

Kagome couldn't help but smile. "Yes, until you came. But, you needed my help and I wanted to go with you. I owed all of them for the gift they gave me."

"Gift?" Koga asked, back bending in slight confusion.

"A normal life," Kagome answered calmly. "A life where I didn't have to look over my shoulder every day. I didn't have to worry if I was going to be attacked or discovered.
'It wasn't perfect. I was still among yokai but, I knew what they wanted from me. And, after awhile, it all became routine."

Kagome suspected Koga's silence was forced. He had more he wanted to ask, to know. However, he merely released a heavy breath with a nod.

"What is Naraku?"

Kagome hated this part. Absolutely hated this part of the long talk they were having. Although, she was quick to realize she was doing most of the talking and Koga was barely putting ten words together. Still, it was progress….she thought.

"He's a yokai…kind of."

"What do you mean, kind of?" Koga snarled, frustration roughening his tone.

"I mean, he's not one kind of yokai," Kagome replied, swallowing low. "He's…..many and none."

"How is that possible?"

Kagome shrugged in heavy defeat. "I don't know. He's different from any yokai I've ever encountered. He seems to constantly change and is very crafty."

"The taijiya seems to think he was human," Koga replied, causing Kagome to falter as she applied the salve she'd found to clean the wound.

"Sango has been searching for Naraku since he destroyed her village," Kagome informed. "It's possible she may know something I don't."

"Why does he want the Jewel?"

Kagome snorted in humorless amusement.

"Why does anyone want it?" she replied glibly. "Even you."

The jab was probably unfair but Kagome saw no reason to beat around the bush. It was like a bandage that had crusted over the wound. Nothing to do but just rip it off. Apparently, Koga felt that rip.

"Me?" he asked, his back going ram-rod straight.

Kagome nodded again. "Yes. Naraku was telling the truth when he said what the Jewel was. It can grant any wish or desire you want. And, it calls to beings of dark energy….like yokai."

"I know that," Koga answered, his tone tight, as if gritting his teeth.

Kagome could feel a lump lodging in her throat but she pressed on. There was no going back anyway.

"As long as it was inside my body, it was safe," Kagome replied, setting her jaw as she started to go for her wrapping. "But, now, it's out and that means its call will be even stronger. You may be feeling it already."

"Am I?" Koga replied, keeping his gaze glued forward.

"Or, you may have all along but—"

Kagome never had the chance to finish when Koga suddenly rose to his feet and gripped the frame of her room's door.

"Finish what you need to," he ground out right before he slid it shut behind him with a definitive snap.

Kagome stared in stunned silence as she watched Koga's shadow practically stomp back down the hall. Blinking in wide-eyed confusion, she struggled to try and make sense of the suddenly heavy silence in her room.

What just happened?

Koga was hot-headed but surely he wasn't so high-strung he couldn't even hear the truth. Unless, he thought she was saying everything Naraku said was right.

Kagome groaned as she resisted the urge to smack her forehead. She couldn't have been that stupid, could she?

Starting to rise to her feet, she was first ready to follow after the Alpha and clear up the misunderstanding. However, the sudden sting in her side reminded the young priestess she was pretty much half-naked with a half-wrapped wound. She had to finish.

Huffing in frustration at her timing, Kagome quickly plopped back down and refocused on finishing her task. Hopefully before Koga did something foolish.

SSS

Koga crouched down by a nearby pond in the temple's central garden, more mad than he ever remembered being.

He didn't want to hear anymore. Not now, not ever!

Already, Koga's blood was roaring at losing his enemy but the possibility of losing his woman too…

Koga needed distance, space. He needed quiet to calm his instincts and think. Something, the young leader admittedly didn't too very often but now, he didn't trust what he would do if he didn't.

Ookami mated for life. That was how they were. There was no-other way.

To hear that bastard, Naraku, dare suggest that Koga's feelings were all based on the influence of a stupid little ball had the Alpha gritting his teeth in frustration. To hear Kagome try and confirm it, made him want to kill something.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that Jewel had influence. Even now, he could feel it try and call to him. However, it was so faint, so far from his notice, Koga could push it from his mind without a second thought. Even if there had been any affect from the hidden babble, it was non-existent now.

No, the Jewel didn't determine his feelings. Unfortunately, in Naraku's efforts to shake Koga, he'd done it to Kagome instead. And, that was what infuriated Koga the most!

She doubted. Whether from years of trickery or simply the dripping lies of that bastard, she doubted everything that Koga had tried to show her. And, now he had to try and pick up the pieces.

Koga glared down at the reflection in the pond's smooth surface. Naraku was going to die. If nothing else, for the years of terror and heart-ache he'd put Kagome through. But, now, he'd also die for the damage he'd manage to cause between them.

If he could just figure out how to fix this.

"Koga?"

Kagome's soft plea had the Alpha tensing in place. She'd followed him. And, everything in Koga's mind was begging her to leave. He didn't think he could take her foolish theories much longer.

"Koga, please don't misunderstand," she pushed, the desperation in her tone causing Koga to clench his fists. "I don't mean to hurt you. Or, to say Naraku was right. He just wasn't….entirely lying."

Stop.

"That's his specialty," Kagome continued. "Lying with the truth."

Don't!

"But, even if all you wanted was the Jewel, I don't hold it against you. I certainly don't judge you for it."

Koga felt like he was about to be sick. Why wouldn't she just stop?

"You've been kind to me," Kagome replied. "And, that's meant a lot. You've probably been the only person who's ever treated me like a normal woman. You seemed to see something in me and, for so long I had to try and hide what I was. You never ask me to do that and…..it has made me realize that I care for you.
'I know that seems foolish, now. You probably don't ever want to see me again but it's the truth and—"

Koga couldn't take it anymore. He refused to!

Snapping up to his feet, the Alpha turned blazing eyes towards the woman standing like she was ready to bolt from him. With wide determined steps he marched towards her, his strides swallowing the soft grass separating them.

Kagome seemed to catch on to his mood and started to back away, never tearing her wide eyes from him, even when she backed into a budding sakura tree.

"Koga? Koga! Wait! Just let me explain—"

However, Kagome wasn't able to finish her thought. Koga didn't let her. Without hesitation, he launched his clawed fists against the tree, digging his nails into the bark as he caged his woman against it and pressed his mouth to hers.

The following silence was the sweetest he'd ever known.