A/n Hi everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews and I'm sorry it's taking me forever to update this story. I'm having major issues trying to get this story down in words for some reason. I promise to try and get the chapters up a bit more than I have.
I've been working on a few new stories for Kenshin. So please keep an eye out for those. My laptop is still dead but I was able to save Endure. It's hard to type on a mini laptop for long periods of time…which doesn't help my updating problem at all. But I'm making an effort.

So enough of my chatting. On to the story!

Disclaimer. I don't own Kenshin or Feehan.

Misao had already made up her mind that she couldn't return home without at least trying to find Aoshi a second time. Then at least she could face her people knowing she gave it her all. She didn't roll over and give up. Trouble was, she had no idea where to start, or any idea where she was. A quick climb up a tall tree helped her to orient herself. She was on the other side of the mountain. Her home was days away. And she knew she had about a days travel to get back to where she had attacked Aoshi.

Thinking of Aoshi brought back the pain in her stomach and chest. The girl hugged the thin trunk of the tree to keep from falling as she gasped for air. Tears sprung from her eyes and she was powerless to stop them.

"This better not be a habit." She grumbled to herself as the pain slowly faded. If she got this pain simply by thinking of the creature then she was going to have a very rough couple of weeks. "Damn Aoshi."

… . . …

"You don't think she's dead?" Daichi asked

The voice of the Alpha jolted Eiji and he whirled around away from his post to face his leader. He didn't have to ask who "She" was. It had been almost three weeks since Misao left to perform her task. There had been some commotion in the forest. A fight definitely had taken place. But no one had seen hide nor hair of the Carpathian or of Misao.

The young man lifted his head a notch. "No, I know she lives." He said simply. He pushed his mess of deep brown hair from his eyes and gazed at his leader. Eiji was only a hair taller than the Alpha but Daichi had pounds more muscle. The leader didn't let age make him soft. That was a death wish in this pack.

"You have more hope for my daughter than even I." Daichi admitted as he stepped up to join the young man at his post. The pair gazed off into the forest, knowing nothing of threat was out there.

"No one has seen Misao or the Carpathian. Scouts are pushing further into the forest than ever before now that Aoshi seems to be out of the picture." Eiji argued.

"Yes but where is Misao?" The alpha turned his gaze to the boy once more. "If she lives…when she returns here, she will be welcomed into the pack. Whether or not Aoshi Shinomori is dead."

That brought Eiji up short and he yanked his gaze from the forest back to the pack leader.

"Even though she didn't complete her mission?"

"The real test was to see if she would actually try." Daichi confessed. "She was assigned someone so out of her league. We all knew it was a hopeless chance of her attacking the leach, much less kill him. We were suppose to follow her out after a few weeks." The man sighed and looked away. "I didn't think she would have found him." The storm that raged weeks ago was proof that the demon had been angry. It wasn't the first time one of their kind had crossed hairs with Aoshi. "Now my little girl may be dead."

Eiji curled his lip, flashing sharp teeth for just an instant. "Sometimes I figured you wanted Misao dead." He said with contempt in his voice.

"I had to be hard on her because she was female. Otherwise she never would have survived it here."

Eiji took a slow, deep breath, his hands balled into fists at his side. He was tired of Misao always having to work twice as hard to get half the respect of the males. He was strong enough for both of them. He would show her the love she had always looked for. He would take care of her so she wouldn't have to be strong all the time. "If Misao comes back…I don't want to wait the customary year and ten days before she's considered a full member of the pack." He glared at the older man. The Alpha he knew he could beat this very moment if he wanted to. "I want to marry Misao as soon as possible."

Daichi blinked up at the slightly taller young man. "You want Misao right away? She wants you?"

"Yes." He said simply.

This was news to Daichi. He knew they were to be a mated pair and that Eiji would become Alpha. But he never knew the two loved each other. "Well yes." He finally said, as his mind calculated. "It will take a little time to get everything ready, maybe a few months but I don't see why we can't have a wedding as soon as possible. I'm the Alpha and I say you and Misao don't have to wait the year and ten days."

Eiji smiled slowly and it reached his eyes. "I'm glad we agreed." He turned his eyes back to the forest, eyes that shifted from joy to worry in an instant. "I hope she returns."

… . . …

It took exactly one day to find herself at the small stream by the steep hillside. The same spot where Aoshi had caught her, where he had taken her virginity. Misao couldn't call it rape really, it didn't feel like it. She had given in and allowed herself to enjoy it. To call it rape would have been a cheap cop-out. Misao crouched down on the sandy bank of the stream and placed two fingers into the deep claw marks that were still gouged into the forest floor. Even two weeks of exposure had yet to wear them away. She was unsure if these marks were from her or from Aoshi.

Ignoring the pain thinking of him brought, Misao reached out and pulled her clothes from the leaf litter. Her ninja uniform and cloak had been left behind, untouched. Misao shook the leaves, dirt and tiny insects from her ninja uniform and stripped out of the clothes the Carpathians gave her. The uniform felt rough and stiff from being out in the elements for so long, but she immediately felt far more comfortable in her own clothes. Her uniform didn't survive completely though. Aoshi had shredded it to remove it from her body.

There were claw marks and holes ripped at the seams. Misao had to tighten her belt to keep her navy blue shorts on; for Aoshi had shredded the waistband so much it refused o hold on to her hips anymore. There was also three holes slashes across her breasts down to her stomach. They weren't big but they were there and there were obviously claw marks.

She would have to mend them later. But right now Misao needed to concentrate on the area around her. This was the last place she remembered Aoshi being. She shook the leaves from her cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. Aoshi had broken the clasp so she simply tied the top corners of the cloak at her throat. Now in her normal clothes, Misao again crouched down and slowly combed the sandy bank. There was blood. Her blood mostly, but some flecks of his blood.

She could smell his scent, though it was thinned and weak from time. She could smell his leathery, woodsy scent. Strange that she couldn't remember how he had ripped off her clothes or how she came to have such marks on her clothing but she could remember his scent and the fact that he had stolen her virginity. She couldn't even remember if he bit her or not. Misao was sure this was information Megumi would have loved to have available to her. But she couldn't for the life of her remember.

Misao stood to leave when something else caught her eye. Wandering over she spotted a scrap of cloth under the dirt and leaf litter. The girl stooped to pick it up and found that it was not a scrap of cloth but a ragged jacket. A tan trench coat…Aoshi's coat. "Huh."

Misao breathed as she shook the dirt and leaves from the coat and held it out in front of her. The coat was huge, many sizes bigger than her. She couldn't remember how much bigger Aoshi was compared to her. She brought the item of clothing to her face and breathed deep. Yes, his scent was defiantly of deep, leathery and unbelievably masculine. She folded the coat and tucked it under her arm. She walked a wide circle, breathing in deep and finding his scent. It was very weak, old, but it was something Misao could go off of.

… . . …

When she was hungry she hunted…when she was tired, she slept. Time meant little to Misao. The passing of time was only noticeable to the female ninja because the sun would rise and set. She was obsessed.

She followed the trail for at least two days before it went cold, as if Aoshi vanished into the air. Perhaps he did. Perhaps the other Carpathians had already killed him. The girl worked slowly in a circle around Aoshi's last known scent to see if she could pick it up again. She did pick up a few scent trails of her own people. Scouts most likely, perhaps sent out to look for her. But nothing when it came to her target. And the comforting voice in her mind had fallen silent for so long, she was sure she had imagined it the whole time.

Exhausted to the point of dropping Misao decided she needed to take a break. She wasn't giving up…she just needed to recharge. And as much as she hated her own people, sleeping in her bed and having a real bath won her over and she nearly dragged herself in the direction of her village.

… . . …

The forest buzzed with the ki of shape shifters. Misao knew that feeling. It was the feeling of home. It took her three and half days to walk back. Her whole body ached and she was still wearing her ripped and bloodied ninja uniform. She was sure she looked like the walking dead. And her suspicions were confirmed when a boy no older than herself popped up from his post.

"Misao! You're alive." The boy's smile slowly faded and he even backed up a step as Misao approached him. Her eyes were fixed, almost glazed over in her stare. She felt like an empty shell of herself and she didn't know why. She was tired of fighting the pain in her gut and so she allowed her body to fill it, giving her expression a drawn, terrified look.

"Hey." She breathed in greeting with a nod of her head. She took another step forward and the boy took a step back

"I-I'm going to let them know you're here." The boy didn't wait for her to give any acknowledgment, he turned on his heel and dashed off as fast as he could.

Misao sighed and pushed her hair out of her face as she stumbled through the undergrowth. Even as she round the barrier of the trees and stepped out of the forest's edge, she could hear the boy calling.

"It's Misao!! She's come back! Misao is here, Misao!"

Almost instantly her people flooded out to see if it were true. Many seemed shocked to see her, others looked disappointed. A few of the friendlier men rushed up to greet her and pat her on the back. The women hung back in the doors and windows of their huts.

Then suddenly her father was there, and so was Eiji.

"Misao." Her father said, an unexplainable look on his face as he greeted her. "You've returned from your mission."

"Yes father. Only to clean up and rest up…then I'll be on my way again." The watched as everyone took a step back and looked at her shredded uniform and the dried blood on it.

"You've fought with the monster?" Daichi asked.

"Yes" Misao wobbled on her legs. "But I'm still after him." She half expected to be told to turn around and not come back till he was gone for good. It was a complete shock when her father shook his head.

"You've chased this leach away, you've fought him so valiantly and lived…no warrior has ever fought him and lived."

Eiji, who had been standing close to her yanked something from the side of her pack, Misao didn't have to look to know what it is. The taller shifter held it up for the crowd to see. It was Aoshi's torn and dirty coat. The older members of the village gasped, they knew that coat. The signature cloth of the leach that hunted them.

"Look. She's attacked him, wounded him. An immortal monster, this girl of your race has drawn his blood as he draws blood from humanity!" he called and a cheer went up. Eiji handed the coat to Daichi and draped his arm around Misao's shoulders, helping to hold her up on her feet as they walked.

"I just need to rest." She whispered, knowing Eiji would hear her. She felt her knees refuse to support her and her next step she felt herself going down, but Eiji was there to sweep the exhausted girl in his arms. Misao normally would have demanded rather rudely and loudly that he put her down…but Misao knew when she had hit her wall…she had nothing left. But even with surrendering and accepting help, the pain would not go away. even where Eiji held her, her skin prickled as she had a heat rash. What was wrong with her?

… . . …

She had a bit of a hero's welcome even though she didn't succeed in killing Aoshi. She had run him off apparently. Scouts and hunters could move further outside their territory. They even started dragging human girls to mate with from the city on the other side of the woods. They had stopped a few years ago, afraid that the screams of the females would bring Aoshi's wrath upon them. Now the girls screamed and cried in the background and no one came.

Misao was glad her hut was furthest back in the village where she didn't have to hear the crying and begging as much, but still she cursed the males from her bed where she slowly recovered. She hated her people. But they were her people and she had to be loyal to them.

Meanwhile, she was stuck in her bed and she wasn't too happy about that. She had never felt so weak or so tired in all her life. She slept for twelve hours once Eiji placed her in her bed. She woke finding herself mostly clean and in her pajamas. She could only hope her father or some of the other women had helped her. No one bothered her except her father, who brought her food. But her body was still pulsing with so much discomfort and pain that she couldn't imagine eating anything. When she tried, her stomach wouldn't hold it and it came right back up. And then she would feel even worse after the vomiting episodes were over.

She stuck to light foods. Soups, thick broths and dry cereals. After a week of bed rest, Misao was able to manage her pain until it was just an annoying thing in the back of her mind; and she was able to get out of bed and get dressed and have a real bath.

Gathering her toiletries and clean clothes Misao ventured outside for the first time all week. It was late afternoon and the heat of the early summer day was radiating up from the gravel path. Voices of people going about their day filtered from the maze of huts but Misao quickly made it to the bath house. She locked herself in, not that a tiny lock would stop someone who really wanted to get in. Stripping, Misao searched her body, she ached so bad she was sure she must have bruises all over her. But there was nothing. Oh sure, she had a few nicks and cuts and small fading bruises from her time trekking in the forest. But not the deep, large marks she felt covered half her body.

Shrugging, she filled a bucket with warm water, dumped it over her head and soaped her body. Dumping a second bucket of water over her to rinse off the soap, Misao started the long task of washing her hair. After that was done, she wrapped her hair in a towel and climbed into the small but deep tub.

"Ahh." She sighed as she sank into the warm water and allowed it to seep into her body and wash the pains away.

… . . …

It was dark when Misao found herself struggling with something. It was big and heavy with glowing eyes and snapping jaws. Misao struggled to hold it away as it tried to snap at her face. Her blankets and pillows flew off her bed as the creature climbed to straddle her legs and force her down against her bed.

"Papa!" Misao screamed. Having never called her father by that name since she was a child. But she was desperate as the flashing ivory jaws wrapped around her arm. Fangs punctured her skin and Misao shrieked. With her one free hand she attacked the creature's glowing eyes and succeeded in getting it to pull away from her, allowing the girl to slip her legs free and get to her feet.

But instead of her feet hitting the soft rug by her bed, it hit the forest floor. "What the hell?" She glanced around; she was outside in the middle of the forest. How did she get out here? Did that monster bring her here? But she was just in her bed. she turned to where she just jumped from her bed but it was gone. There was a low, rumbling growl…Misao had almost forgotten about the monster that had attack her and she whirled around to find it standing straight, looming much taller than she was and as it stepped out from under the shadow of the trees she could clearly see it in the moonlight.

It was Aoshi, torn and bloodied and completely set on killing her.

… . . …

Misao's eyes popped open and she was yanked into a sitting position before she even realized she moved. Her heart hammered almost painfully in her throat and she had to gasp for air, as if she had been holding her breath the entire dream.

It was a dream, wasn't it? Misao reached over and clicked on her bedside lamp and looked around her room. It was her room, she still was in bed, there was no monster.

"Gezz" She breathed softly as she waited for her body to calm down. It had felt so real she could feel the bruising weight of the Carpathian. His glowing eyes still seared into her vision. Her arm even hurt where he had bit her. Misao sighed and pushed her hair from her face before rubbing the ache from her arm. But she caught something by the light of the lamp and her blood ran cold.

Two small puncture marks bled just a few inches below her wrist. They weren't bleeding badly, they oozed as if the wounds were old and half healed. Misao glanced wildly about the room, had someone attacked her in her sleep. She breathed deep but caught no scent in the air and there was no one in her small one room hut. How did she get the wounds? She looked around in her bed, finding that she had smeared only a little blood on them in her sleep. But there was nothing there that would have harmed her. A thought came to her then. Of a cold, silent body trapped somewhere.

Aoshi...she didn't know why, but Misao had a feeling this had something to do with him. But there was no way the Carpathian would have made it past the guards...right? With her heart still hammering in her chest, Misao slipped from her bed and made her way to the small bathroom door to her left.

The bright white light in the bathroom made Misao blink a few times before sticking her bleeding wrists under the faucet of cold water. Her small body trembled, not with pain, for the wounds hardly hurt at all, but out of fear. Was Aoshi out there tormenting her somehow? Was he trying to even up the score for attacking him that night in the forest?

'Calm down.'

Misao yanked her head up and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. It was the first time she had heard the voice of her dragon since she left Megumi's house. She had long thought she had made the whole idea up of her unconscious dream talking to her. But here it was again, and almost against her control, she felt her body sag as her muscles relaxed, her heart slowed and her breathing evened out. Slowly, almost methodically she wrapped her wrists in bandages she had in the medicine cabinet and she slowly made her way back to bed. but the voice was silent once again. The ever nagging pain rushed to the front of her mind and Misao all but fell into bed and curled up under the covers.

... . . ...

Misao watched the young men practice and train from her hut window. She wanted so badly to go out and join them but her body was just so tired. It was an effort to stand at the window and not lean against the wall. It had been two weeks since that strange dream...two weeks since she heard the voice of her dragon. Misao looked down at her wrists, being a shifter meant that she had accelerated healing, but even she was surprised to find that the wounds had healed without a trace a few hours after that strange dream. She had only meant to stay home long enough to regain her strength and get her wits about her before starting off on the hunt again. But her body, it seemed, was betraying her.

She still couldn't keep most of her food down and she had to eat a good amount of the bland tasting soups and cereals just to keep her strength. just the idea of changing into her wolf form gave her dizzy spells. How was she suppose to face that bastard Aoshi the way she was?

The girl glanced back out the window in time to spot Eiji detach himself from the rest of the males and he made his way to her hut. Misao took one look at his bare chest and torn training uniform pants and her stomach gave a funny little flutter. It was normal, almost against her will even. Eiji and she were to be mated, and the scent of each other brought the hormones in both of them into raging. But almost as soon as the unexplained lust curled in her insides, so did a stomach turning feeling of disgust.

"Shit." Misao pulled away from the window as Eiji knocked softly on her door. Taking a deep breath she unlocked the door and pulled it open, plastering her ever bright smile on her face.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked, leaning one hand on the doorframe.

With sweat cutting trails down his well toned, tanned chest, his mop of long hair and brilliant smile it was difficult for Misao to ignore the pheromones filling the air between them. Misao had to fight the sudden compulsion to slam the door in his face. "Better..." she gave a bit of a shrug, keeping her smile on her face as she inched back into her room, keeping hold of the door.

"I was starting to get worried about you. Your father told me you couldn't really eat much."

His voice was true and his eyes held a look of worry a look Misao had never really seen from him before. He never looked at her that way. Misao found it hard to be rude to him and tell him to just leave her alone. A pain was growing low on her side and she pressed her hand on the spot to ease it. "Yeah, things were a little bad there for a while. But I'm sucking it up."

A hard look flashed over Eiji's features. "You should take care of yourself and not suck it up Misao. Going up against that leach bitch taxed your body." Suddenly, without warning, Eiji reached in and took Misao by the shoulder and pushed her further into the room and stepped inside.

Misao fought a wave of panic and chastised herself for such an irrational feeling. Eiji was her childhood friend, she knew she could knock him into next week even in her weak state. A low grumbling came from the earth. as if the very ground under her feet was growling. She looked up at Eiji but he didn't seem to hear anything out of the ordinary.

Eiji wasn't as big as Aoshi was but his male form seemed huge in her small room.

"I asked a favor of your father a little bit before you returned to the village, and he granted it to me." his tone was serious, his eyes heated. Misao had to turn away from those eyes.

"What was it?"

"To marry you right away."

Misao wasn't sure if the leap in her heart rate was from the idea of being married to Eiji or from the sudden spike in pain. It felt as if someone was twisting a stone blade in her side, scraping her hipbone in the process. She kept her eyes from Eiji, her face slightly turned away to hide the grimace of pain, "M-Marry?"

"I told you I would marry you." Eiji said, his face relaxed again and his smile returning.

"You never believed me. Even though we are destined to be a mated pair, I always had the power to change my mind. But I didn't want to Misao...I want you."

A/n Uh-oh…this doesn't bode well for me. Misao is having issues and Eiji just dropped the.."Oh-we're-getting-married-in-a-few-weeks" bomb. I noticed that my last chapter uploaded in bold print and I don't know why…weird. I might go back and fix it, but not till much later.

Thanks for reading everyone! Reviews are loved.