Awoken by the sounds of laughter, Kagome slowly slitted her eyes open, but made no move to actually get up. She was stiff, horribly uncomfortable, no amount of stretching seemed to work out her muscles, and there was a stabbing pain in her hip. She had thought she was used to sleeping on harder surfaces having spent three years sleeping on the ground, but she was wrong. Though, she supposed there was a difference between dirt and grass covered ground and the floor of a cave. Then again, the stiffness could also be because she was surrounded on both sides by an animal that weighs as much or more than her that kept her in one position for longer than her body was meant to be in one position.

Not picking her head up, she let her eyes roam the area, and discovered she was back in the smaller chamber she originally fell asleep in. She also noticed very quickly the woman and cubs were gone, replaced with more wolves than she had ever seen in one place. She knew Kouga had a lot of animals, but she didn't realize there were enough to fill such a large area, and them not be laying on top of each other.

Sliding her eyes down, she recognized Shun nearly right away from the markings on his fur, and if she had to level a guess, it was most likely Shun's beta that was laying behind her. If it wasn't for the two wolves holding her in place, Kagome was positive she wouldn't be so sore because she would have been able to actually move. Another issue was, she was boiling in her skin between the wolves cuddling, the fur she was laying on, and the one she was under that the two animals were on top of, effectively trapping her in place. While she was positive that was at least part of the goal, she almost felt like she was suffocating she was so hot.

Getting later in the morning, Kouga decided to go check on the human, and there was a certain level of amusement on his part when he reached the sleeping chamber for the females and cubs.

He wasn't sure, exactly, how she would react waking up where she hadn't fallen back to sleep, but knowing her like he did, he assumed she would have rather that then find out she was by herself in a room full of men. However, if she asked, he would tell her since there were so many running in and out during the morning hours as the member of the pack woke up, he felt it would be better to have her, not so much out of the way, but at least outside of the excitement of the morning activities.

The very boisterous voices and antics of the cubs could get under the skin of even the most docile creatures before they had their breakfast, and with the fitful sleep he knew Kagome had gotten, he had felt it best to remove her from a situation where she could possibly snap at one of the cubs and entirely remove the possibility of her feeling bad about it.

Leaning a shoulder on the stone opening, Kouga crossed his arms as he grinned at the struggling Miko as she tried in vain to move Shun's fluffy ass enough to get up. With a chuckle in the back of his throat, Kouga curled his tongue behind his teeth, blowing a high, octave changing whistle.

Much to Kagome's surprise, but not at all to Kouga's, both wolves that were on the bed with her rolled to their feet without so much as touching her, the one behind her leaping over her body and onto the floor without even disturbing the fur of the blanket she wasted no time throwing off her body. Though her body was instantly covered in goosebumps from the rush of much cooler air than she was expecting, Kagome still fanned at her face as she pushed herself into a sitting position, looking at Kouga as she rubbed her sore hip. "You mean to tell me that was all I needed to do? Blow a damn whistle?"

Popping a shoulder in a quick shrug, Kouga grinned wide enough to show a fang. "That, or just say, 'move it, fat ass'. Either one usually works." Uncrossing one arm he reached down and let his claws slide thought Shun's thick coat as he passed by, scratching at the animal's flank. "Doesn't it, ya chunky bastard?" Patting Shun's hip, chuckling quietly at the noise of affection from the animal, he sent him, as well as the rest of the wolves, on their way as he returned his sights to Kagome. "How are you this morning? Did you sleep okay after I got up?"

Stretching her body and twisting from side to side to pop her spine, Kagome let out a sigh when everything popped back into place. "I guess so. I mean, I didn't even know I was moved, so I must have eventually gone back to sleep."

Nodding slowly, Kouga made a noise in his throat. "You were pretty out of it, yeah. Didn't think you would sleep this late, though. It's almost midday."

Visibly jolting at the knowledge she slept so late, Kagome blinked. "Is it really?"

Clicking his tongue, Kouga nodded again. "You had a pretty rough night, last night."

Knowing that was an understatement, Kagome didn't respond, but instead turned to wake up Shippo, only to gasp when he wasn't in the little cove at the back of the platform where she knew him to be. Looking at at Kouga, her eyes were wide. "Where's Shippo?"

Holding up a hand to stave off a freak out, Kouga kept his voice level. "Calm down, Kagome; he's fine. He woke up about the same time as the rest of the cubs did, and instead of leaving him in here where he might have ended up waking you up, I took him onto the cliffs. He's with the rest of the cubs, showing off his magic tricks."

Letting out a hard breath, Kagome scratched at the back of her head. "Sorry. It's just..."

Kouga just waved her off. "It's fine. I know how important he is to you." Then his nose wrinkled and his eyes crinkled in the corners. "Not exactly sure how reassuring you'll find this, but Ginta is the one keeping an eye on him right now."

Nodding to the wolf, Kagome finally moved to stand, lacing her fingers together and, moving her arms above her head, stretched as high as her could. With another grunt as she popped her shoulders, she sagged slightly as she lowered her arms. "I thought cubs weren't allowed out of here without their mothers."

Kouga just shrugged again, tearing his eyes away from the skin that was once again covered when Kagome dropped her arms. "Under normal circumstances, yeah, but it's not like we lock up the kid because its mother is sick. However, in the middle of the night when no one knows where the hell they are? That shit is just asking for all likes of trouble, so no... cubs absolutely are not allowed outside unsupervised after sundown. When the sun is up and everyone else is running around, not to mention the fucking alpha? Someone will have eyes on the little scamps, so the rules around here lax more than a just a little bit. The only exception after dark is if their mother is either ill or pregnant and they have to go to the bathroom. In which case, either one of the animals or an available female will keep an eye on the little one."

Stifling a yawn as she made her way across the cavern, she crossed her arms as she tilted her head to the side. "Why not the father? Shouldn't he take over his cub's care if their mother is unable to?"

Nose wrinkling at the question, Kouga grunted and shook his head. "Not so much, no, and not because he's not interested or anything like that. The females of the pack are free to rut with whoever the hell they want, and most of them don't rut with just one male while in heat. I don't know who any of those cubs were sired by, and neither does anyone else. They are just as likely to belong to Ginta or Hakkaku as they are to belong to Ryu or Mosamaru. It's because we don't know the sirehood that makes everyone so willing to look after each individual cub, because that cub that runs off and gets hurt could very likely be theirs. There is only one female in any wolf demon tribe where the sirehood of her cubs is certain, and that's the alpha female's, and those cubs would belong to the..."

When Kouga trailed off with a cocked brow, Kagome finished it, proving she understood the explanation thus far. "Alpha male."

With one sharp nod, Kouga tsked. "Exactly, and currently, we are one alpha female short." Pausing for a moment, he hummed before looking down at the Miko that was now standing right in front of him. "That's not to say if a cub woke up one of the men they wouldn't take the cub to the bathroom; it's just more so the kid doesn't. Female cubs especially don't care to wake up one the males because they have to take a piss. The only exception to that is if, for whatever reason, that female cub is scared; be it from a nightmare, or she heard something, or she just thought she did. Then she'll gladly wake however many men necessary for her to feel safe again, and every single one of her chosen protectors will kill the shadows if she asks them to."

Nodding slowly in understanding, a sly smirk then pulled at Kagome's lips as she looked up at him through her lashes. "So, could any of them be yours?"

Kouga snorted as he dipped his head and looked her dead in the eyes. "Not a single one."

Clearly caught off guard by that answer, when Kouga pulled back, Kagome blinked. "So, you've never slept with any of the women here?"

Brows raising, the corner of Kouga's upper lip curled. "When the Hell did I say that? I said none of the cubs were mine, not that I haven't enjoyed my position in the past. I just never did it while they were in heat." Pausing a moment, he gave his words some thought, but ultimately, it all came down to the same thing. "You know what? I don't even give a shit how this sounds. Our women can fuck whoever the hell they want, whenever the hell they want to fuck, but the moment they offer themselves to another male, I have no use for them. As the alpha of this pack I am within my rights to have whatever female I choose, at any time of my choosing, but I am a Lord and a Prince. At no point would I ever lower myself to sharing a female with someone else. When I do have my own cubs, they'll come from my alpha female, not some random bitch in heat." He knew he fucked up the moment he gave away the secret he had kept from her about actually being important, but the look on her face clearly said the cat was out of the bag.

While it was true he was roughly 45 years younger than Sesshoumaru, he had actually held the title of Lord for about 23 years longer than the Inu. The difference between the two was Kouga never coveted the position he inherited from his father. However, being the territorial bastard he was, he certainly wouldn't be giving it up while there was air in his lungs.

Both brows hidden by her bangs, Kagome's voice was a mix of shock and awe. There was quite a bit in that statement he just made she felt was worth further exploration, but there was a singular part that caught most of her attention. She knew he was a prince; she found that out the day they met, but it had been explained over the years that particular title literally only had to do with wolves. To find out his was also a Lord as well was enough to make her breath catch because the only demon lord she had any experience with was Sesshoumaru. "Lord?"

His signature grin in place, Kouga chuckled as he gave a smart assed bow of his head. "Of the Eastern Lands. How Shippo and the slayer knew that and you didn't is slightly odd, if you want the truth. That aside, because of titles being involved, things in this tribe work a little different than they do in other wolf packs. My female won't just be the alpha female of this group, but the Lady of the Lands as well... among other things."

Crossing her arms, she gave the wolf a glare, but it didn't hold any heat, and was mostly playful. "All these years of this 'my woman' business, and you didn't even think it was necessary to make sure I knew what all that shit would entail?"

Pointing a finger at her, his expression smoothed out, and his voice wasn't nearly as good natured. "Don't even try it. My position within Demonic Society only would have mattered had you made any indication of accepting my numerous advances. If you would have, I would have told you. Since you haven't, I fail to see why my being a demon lord matters. To another point, you did know I was a prince. Of the two titles I have, that's the more important one, because royalty trumps nobility any day."

Blinking at the defensiveness on Kouga's part, she did give his words an additional moment thought before she gave him a jerky nod. "Touche."

Letting out a light sigh, Kouga reached out a hand, taking hold of Kagome's, and lacing his fingers with hers. Looking her in the eyes, his voice lowered to something much more soothing, and held all the care he held for her. "Look, Kagome. While we're on that subject, you know good and damn well how I feel about you. Regardless of titles I don't really care about, you're the only one I want by my side; not as my lady, or my princess; just mine."

She was flattered, she really was. She wasn't, however, ready to entertain anything that had to do with her not being able to go home; even knowing that was very likely going to be the case. So, instead of responding to what Kouga said with much more than a dark blush and a shy smile, she cleared her throat and averted her eyes. "So, yesterday, when you said to build a new world, you meant with you."

Kouga nodded his head as his signature grin split his lips. "Oh, absolutely. You know, three years ago, I considered doing some very underhanded shit to have you by my side."

Unable to help it, Kagome snorted, amusement lighting her eyes. "You did try some underhanded shit."

There was chuckle that befit his demonic blood on the air as Kouga shook his head. "No... I didn't, trust me. Stepping in to protect you and a handful of wild flowers ain't shit compared to some of the other things I could have done. But, the thing is, I didn't want to win that way. I wanted you to choose me because you wanted to be with me; not because you just didn't want to be with him."

It was almost delicate the way Kagome's tongue poked out from behind her lips, lightly running the length as she fought to find the words she wanted to say to him. When she started speaking, she wasn't sure if what she was saying was making any sense, but she threw out her thoughts she had in the hot spring before she found out she had been trapped in the past. "To tell you the truth, I don't think... there was ever a possibility for that to happen... and it's not fair." Flicking her eyes to Kouga's curious ones, she sighed. "And it's not just you, either. Back home, there's this boy named Hojo. He's a great guy. Kinda nerdy, a little weird in his... extreme interest of infectious diseases and herbal remedies."

Waving a hand at the cocked brow she was getting, Kagome grunted. "Believe me... you do not want to know. Point being, as far as humans go, he's... just about fucking perfect. He's the guy every girl in my school wanted. If it wasn't for being pulled into the past, I probably would have, too. But, since that's not what happened, he just... he doesn't measure up, anymore."

It was then she lowered her eyes, her voice going slightly quieter. "And then there's you. You're a great guy. A little weird, kinda nerdy at times. But as far as demons go you're just about fucking perfect."

Quick to pull her flush against his body, Kouga smirked down at her as he laced his fingers together behind her back to hold her in place. "I'm good with stopping this conversation right there." To both his shock, and delight, she didn't pull away like she always had in the past, and against his better judgement, there was a blossoming hope in his gut.

With a small smile her lips, Kagome sighed with a slight amusement, though it really wasn't funny. "But..." rolling her eyes when Kouga responded with a 'damn it, woman', she continued as she looked up at Kouga through her lashes. "But, this has always felt wrong. Not 'bad' wrong, either, but like I'm cheating or something. No matter how much I tell myself I'm not, remind myself I'm not his, that I have never been his, that I never will be his, and that I sure as fuck don't want to be his, it's never made the feeling go away. It's never really, truly, felt like my choice either, because who in their right mind would ever choose to come second to a corpse?" Lowering her eyes to Kouga's stomach since she was still so close, she sighed again. "That's what's not fair."

With a hum in his throat, Kouga took a long moment to consider what she said, but really, he was more focused on what she didn't. Clicking the back of his tongue, he tilted his head to the side. "Maybe not, but you see..." waiting for he to look back up at him, he dipped his head once again. The tip of his nose touching hers, his voice was nearly nonexistent it was so quiet. "Perspective really is a hell of a thing." Voice still soft, he pulled back only enough to allow Kagome's eyes to focus on his. "You gave me yours, now here's mine. You've never let me hold you like this before, not when you weren't upset or crying, anyway, and you haven't pulled away from me yet. You slept in my arms last night, pitching a fit whenever my grip went lax. Nothing you said says you don't want this, but your actions clearly say you do. Actions, Kagome, are what matter, and those tell me you're exactly where you want to be."

Still not pulling away from the wolf, Kagome sighed to herself as tears prickled her eyes again. "I want to go home." If she were in the mindset to be honest, if even to herself, the words actually burned her tongue, but she wasn't ready to admit to anything but those five words.

With a very shallow nod, Kouga's eyes turned to liquid as he slightly tilted his head. "And I will do whatever I have to, to get you there. If there is a way, I swear to the Kami themselves, Kagome, I'll find it." Moving one hand out from behind her, he used it to cup her cheek. "But, if there isn't, you have a place here. It might not be the same as where you're from, but I can promise you it's certainly never boring."

Unknown to her, Kagome leaded her head slightly into Kouga's palm, licking her lips and swallowing hard. "But, what about what you just said about not wanting me to choose you just because I couldn't have something else?"

Kagome might not have realized what she did, but Kouga felt it, and that seed of hope grew just a little bit more. His voice soft, he locked their eyes. "I'm a wolf, Kagome, a pack animal. Family is everything to us. I don't mind coming second to that. I do mind coming second to a hanyou, though."

In an attempt to dispel the heavy atmosphere that settled around her, Kagome smiled slightly with a quiet chuckle. "I thought loyalty was everything to a wolf."

Nose wrinkling as he head slowly rolled on his shoulders, Kouga looked back at her with a fang flashing smirk. "That's more of a... personal thing. If you recall, it was your loyalty to your kit that changed how I saw you. I am an alpha after all, which makes that particular trait everything to me."

Giving that a moment's thought, the memory surfacing in Kagome's mind, she pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth. It was true. Before she basically threw Shippo off the side of a damn cliff, she was nothing more than a captive, something to be used because of what she could do. Then, after she sent Shippo away, and in clear view of Kouga, he did completely change toward her. Not so much in the way he acted, but in the way he spoke to her. He was still brash and straightforward, telling her without care she was going to be 'his woman', but over time, she learned that was just him. He never beat around the bush, getting directly to the bottom line, and backing his words up. Her slapping the damn taste out of his mouth for that comment wasn't even a deterrent. Honestly, it only seemed to spur him on, and he had kept that 'his woman' shit up for three solid years.

For those three years, whenever he could, he showered her with his attention and special form of affection, while she spent those same three years with someone who only ever showed her any kindness at all when he knew she was pissed off, and she was positive he only did it for two reasons; so she would feed him and so she wouldn't leave.

Kagome knew she was completely useless in the eyes of Inuyasha. Nothing she ever did was good enough, because she wasn't Kikyo. The only thing she has the dead bitch doesn't is the fact she could see the shards, but she was curious if that was actually true. If that was the case, and Kikyo could, then he didn't need her anymore. And, if that was the case, she was starting to wonder if what he did was much less about him just not having to make a choice he clearly already made, but more about just getting rid of her, even after everything she had ever done for him.

Looking up at Kouga through her lashes, her bottom lip still trapped, she redirected her thoughts back to him. There were a few things she had often wondered about when it came to the wolf, the biggest being, if he hadn't just blown in and out, if he would have stayed longer than he did, if things would have been different. So, she decided to ask. "Why did you never stay?" When she saw a questioning look settle on his face, she elaborated. "When you showed up to save the day. Why did you always leave?"

With a hum in his throat, Kouga shrugged. "Because... you were convinced you wanted him and I... couldn't watch it." Then, he grunted as he once again wrapped his arms around her waist, his head slightly tilted and his brows drawn. "It physically hurt to see you look at the mutt like the fucker hung the damn stars in the sky. It didn't hurt any less to walk away, but I just... I couldn't stomach it."

Once again knowing it was better to put a stop to the happenings, Kagome did the opposite. Instead of pulling away, she sighed as she laid her cheek against Kouga's chest, closing her eyes with a quiet sigh when she felt his arms tighten around her. While the comment that fell from her lips in that moment slipped undetected past her verbal filter, after it was given life, Kagome couldn't really argue with it.

"You should have kidnapped me again."