Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho

Recap: "Brother!" Came the agonizing howl. And instantly Sesshomaru was on his paws and ready to bolt out of the cave. He knew that howl. He's the one who taught her about it! Just in case he wasn't around and she needed him to come immediately, she only had to howl a certain way. And not only did that howl mean that she was here in this time, but she was in trouble.

In a flash of white Sesshomaru left the cave and headed to the human world.


Yoko gave a pained howl at the unexpected attack. He was so surprised that he almost lost his grip on Kagome. But he managed to get a grip on the scruff of her neck, and almost instantly Kagome went boneless in his grasp. Yoko thought that was pretty odd so he stored that little bit of information for later. 'This little vixen sure does pack a punch,' thought Yoko with a wince.

'Yeah, you can say that again. But why does it hurt so much?'

'Yes that is a very good question,' Yoko thought as he brought his hand up to his cheek. When his hand touched the wound it got coated in blood and his fingertips started to tingle. "Poison."

At the statement, everyone in the room stilled and turned their attention to the cut on Yoko's cheek. Already they could tell that the cut was turning a very light shade of blue, and everyone was surprised at how fast acting the poison was. It had to have been very potent to change the color of the flesh around the wound so quickly.

Yukina came forward again and reached out her hands to Yoko's cheek, but Yoko just shook his head.

"No Yukina. You have wasted enough energy already. If you use anymore, you could die." At Yoko's statement, Yukina looked around to Hiei and Genkai. Both were looking at her with sad eyes and shaking their heads as they agreed with Yoko's words.

"Come Yukina. You need to get some rest," Genkai said standing up. Yukina silently nodded and walked to Genkai's side slowly, suddenly feeling how truly exhausted she was. Catching Genkai's eye, Hiei nodded his thanks. She only smirked and nodded back. "After I take Yukina to her room, I will go out and search the forest for herbs that will help to counteract the poison in that wound."

So with Yukina in tow, Genkai left to go find herbs.


Sesshomaru ran through the massive forest that his den resided in. White fur that looked like snow was the only thing visible to any onlookers as he ran at his top speed. The demons that lived in the forest could hear the thundering of his feet and the growls that were breaking free from his muzzle, and knew not to get in this dog demon's way.

As he ran, his eyes were blinking back and forth from amber to red and back again. He kept thinking of the urgency in Kagome's howl and what could be happening to her. And these thoughts were what was spurring him on to run faster.

As he cleared the forest, he then entered Raizens' son's territory. Though he could not place a name, he knew of the young new ruler. Simply because he and Raizen had been fairly good friends for the last 300 years, and that is also why his small territory was next to his vast one. He always did like to keep friends close. And there was a "conveniently" placed portal to the human world in Raizens old territory, and he was heading straight for it.

After about a mile into the territory, Sesshomaru let out a loud, deep bark. This would alert the new ruler that he would be passing through. The bark would also warn the demons in this territory that he was there and he did NOT want to be messed with. If they delayed him, it would be there lives.

As close as he was to a demon rage, he was still level headed enough to realize which territory he was in and he did not want to kill the servants that were loyal to Raizen till the very end. It was the least he could do.

But sadly his warning was not heeded by some of the newer servants of Raizen who came to intercept him for trespassing. There were about twenty of them, and all seemed to be around B class. For Sesshomaru, this would be no problem at all. Especially considering he was above S class. He was a part of the Tai class since he was considered a Taiyoukai. There were only a handful of demons strong enough to reach Tai class.

Even though these servants belonged to Raizens son, that did not mean that he would take mercy on them. Currently they were in his way to getting to his Alpha Female. And NO ONE got in-between him and his pack. They would most certainly die.

His lips drew back in a sinister snarl.

He would enjoy this.


Yoko made a small whimper in the back of his throat as the pain on his face intensified. Kagome, still hanging limply in Yoko's grasp, started to whine to him to let her go. She had finally regained her bearings and remembered where she was and whom she just hurt. She felt absolutely awful for hurting Yoko and she wanted to help him heal the wound, since the antidote to her poison was fused with components that made up her healing saliva.

Hearing the regret for what she did in her whine, Yoko repositioned her so her stomach was on top of his and her head was under his chin. His arms encircled her body and a hand rose to pet the top of her head.

"It's ok. It doesn't hurt that bad." Yoko tried to sooth with a grimace. Damn, his face hurt.

Even though Yoko tried to hide it, Kagome could still hear the pain in his voice. So she reached her head up to Yoko's hurt cheek and started to lick his wound. And she could tell it was working by the sound of Yoko's soft sigh of relief.

"Thank you." Yoko nuzzled the top of her head as thanks. She let out a small purr in gratitude. But it was cut off by a sudden husky gasp as her body started to shudder in pain. Apparently whatever Yukina did to heal her was only a temporary fix for her pain.

Yoko carefully cradled her to his body as she bit down on the fabric of his tunic. Tears were leaking from her eyes as she let out a moan like growl. Before Yoko could do anything for her, she promptly passed out.

Hiei, who was silently watching Yoko, stood up and when he was about to turn to walk back to his place at the windowsill, something caught his eye. It was more of a glimmer than anything really. But it was there. And it made Hiei freeze as a cold chill ran down his back. Because, right in the middle of her forehead lay the symbol of Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands.

'Oh…Shit…'

Everyone in Demon World and Spirit World knew of that particular mark. And what would happen to them if they hurt anyone that bore it. The Great Dog General of the West was very possessive of what was his. He was not one to show mercy either.

The tales and legends that surrounded him were centuries old. They told of his rise to power, how he surpassed his sire in strength, and the loss of his pack's beloved alpha female.

There wasn't much said on how she disappeared from his side. But from what all the legends say, he did not take it well. His already cold heart had frozen over. He turned even more cruel and ruthless. Eventually he retreated to a small section of territory in the Demon World. He became a recluse; not interested in the outside world.

Before Hiei could voice his findings, Genkai stormed back into the room looking panicked. "Boys, a demon has broken through my barrier. And it's headed this way."

Hiei looked back at Kurama and only said, "Fuck."


Yusuke sighed as he walked down the street with Keiko. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. Slowly his eyes fell to the focus of his thoughts. Keiko.

The past year had been crazy for the both of them. While he was away in the Demon World learning how to be a leader to his people, Keiko's heart had strayed. Though he knew she did not cheat on him, her heart no longer belonged to him.

When he first returned, everything seemed normal. But, gradually over time, he noticed a change. At first, he thought it was just his imagination. His beast being too overprotective of what it considered his. But soon his suspicions were confirmed when on a normal outing he caught her looking longingly at someone with affection in her eyes. And it wasn't him.

The past few months had been hard once he learned the truth. Keiko was only with him because of a sense of obligation. He had saved her life countless times, and has been through hell and back for her.

They had a history.

They've been through so much together. It was hard for him to see her look at someone else the way she used to look at him. It hurt even more when she did it while still holding his hand.

He let out another sigh as his thoughts took a rather unpleasant turn. Thus garnering his companion's attention.

"Yusuke? Are you ok? You've been sighing like that for the past five minutes."

"Yeah, it's nothing Keiko. Just thinking."

"Well if you're sure…" She trailed off uncertain. For the past couple of months he has been acting very strange. It's as if he doesn't want to be around her anymore. It started off with a few small things first. He seemed to avoid every opportunity to touch her. The only time they actually touched was when she initiated it. But she just shook it off as stress from Demon World weighing on him. "Do you think we can stop and get some ice cream?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea."

They walked a short distance to an ice cream vendor that was located outside of a local park. After collecting their ice cream cones, they found themselves on a park bench enjoying the nice weather.

As hard as he tried, Yusuke just couldn't stop his dark thoughts from returning. As they were sitting on the bench, he openly stared at his companion.

She was eating her ice cream cone quite happily while watching the kids play on the near by playground.

For some reason, he didn't enjoy this image as much as he thought he would. 'It's time,' he thought.

"Go, Keiko."

"Hmm?" She turned questioning eyes to him. The statement caught her off guard.

"It's time to stop pretending." He stretched his arms above his head as he looked at the clouds.

"What do you mean, Yusuke?"

Slowly he turned his head to look at her. His brown eyes taking in her form once again. This time, however, she looked a little more nervous as she waited for his response. "I mean we need to stop pretending that we love each other. And you need to go to the one you do love."

"Yusuke…" Her eyes started to water. She never meant for this to happen. She didn't mean to fall in love with another person. But during the time Yusuke was away, she felt so alone. And he was the only one there for her. "I'm so sorry! But you don't have to do this. We can make it work. We've already been through so much already. I can learn to love you again!" Tears were rolling down her face now.

"Keiko." Yusuke whispered her name in a soothing tone to calm her. "It's because we've been through so much. This can't continue any longer. I want you to be happy. For that to happen, I must set you free."

Keiko continued to cry as she repeatedly said 'I'm sorry.' The only thing Yusuke could do was to hold her and say everything was okay. Though it would take time, he knew eventually everything was going to be fine.

As her tears slowed he held her at arms length and gently smiled at her. "Now go Keiko. It's okay. Really."

With a watery smile she nodded. She stood from the bench, and walked a few steps away. She suddenly stopped and turned around. She walked back to Yusuke as he stood from his seated position. She reached up for him and pushed her lips against his.

The kiss was short. But it carried with it all the emotions they had for each other. Both past and present. Though she no longer loved him as a lover, she still held deep feelings for him. With this kiss, it was there farewell to their old lives and a beginning to their new ones.

"Goodbye Keiko."

"Goodbye Yusuke."

With one last look, Keiko walked away. Away from him and life they could have lived together. She was starting a new chapter in her life. A life with the one she really loved, Kuwabara.

Yusuke watched her walk away with a sad smile. That hurt a lot more than he thought it was going to. But it had to be done. For both their sakes. Keiko no longer loved him. And for some weird reason, his beast was rejecting the idea of mating her.

Though it was always super possessive whenever they were with her. It never rose to the occasion to push him to mate with her. He always thought that was odd. Especially after hearing from mated demons in his territory about how strongly their beasts urged them to mate.

In this instance he was following his instincts and not dwelling on his feelings. It would take time but he would heal. Turning, he walked away from the park and headed for Demon World. He needed time to think away from all the stress and noise of the Human World weighing down on him.

He traveled to a nearby portal that would place him somewhere in Mukuro's territory. As he approached the portal he could feel a demonic energy coming up behind him. He instantly got into a fighting stance.

"Yusuke!"

His eyebrow's rose to his hairline. 'What on earth is Hokushin doing here?'

As he approached, Yusuke took in his appearance. He was haggard looking. He had bruises and gashes all over his torso. 'Are those acid burns on his arms?'

"Yusuke! There's trouble!" Hokushin was gasping for air as he finally stopped in front of his King.

"Hokushin. What's wrong?"

"Yusuke! You must hurry! There was a beast that came through your territory and killed several of your underlings. He then headed for the portal that resides in your territory."

Yusuke widened his eyes in shock. "But that portal leads to-"

"Your temple."


Yoko and Genkai both turned toward Hiei for his unusual statement.

"Look at her forehead. That's the Dog General's mark."

"But it couldn't possibly be him that just broke through the barrier. It's impossible."

"Now hold on just a second!" Genkai's angry voice broke through their frantic thoughts. She was tired of being left in the dark. "Who the hell is the Dog General?"

Yoko proceeded to tell her about Sesshomaru and his lost Alpha Female. A story that has been around for centuries. Though no one knows of the true reason of what happened to her.

"So with her right here in the flesh, I can only imagine that the Dog General will be on a rampage to get to her."

"But that still doesn't mean that the demon that broke the barrier is the same one that is after her."

Suddenly there was a loud howl that rang through the temple. Kagome, while still unconscious, started to shiver until her head reeled back and she let out a howl of her own.

"Actually Genkai, I think that just cleared up any doubt I, myself, was having."

"Hn. We have to get ready for a fight. He's going to be after blood if he can smell the amount of blood I can." It was true. Though her injuries were bandaged, it was still possible to smell the blood underneath them. He was not going to be happy when he sees the state she is in.

"Quickly Genkai, talk to Koenma and tell him to get Yusuke down here as soon as possible. I think he will be the only one able to take on the Dog General." Genkai nodded and left to go get her communicator. She could tell she was clearly outmatched by the size of the demon energy she was starting to feel.

This was a very dangerous situation.

Yoko stood as he felt an enormous demon signature getting closer to the temple. The only plan he had at the moment was to hopefully show that they did not mean any harm and they were only trying to help.

Though it was not much of a plan, it was the only option they had. Even if he and Hiei took on the Dog General together, it would be over before it even began. So if things turned sour, he just had to play it smart until back up arrived. Hopefully he was not too far gone that he could not listen to reason.


With blood dripping down his muzzle, Sesshomaru set foot onto Genkai's land. He huffed at the pitiful attempts at the barriers set up to keep lower level youkai out. He took a deep breath of the smells around him.

He could smell Kagome's blood in the air and that just enraged his beast even more. His eyes turned an even darker shade of crimson. He was out for blood.

With an enraged snarl, he followed the smell of blood to where he knew Kagome would be. The farther he went, the more potent the smell became to him. The stronger the smell, the more enraged he became. Until the tiny string, keeping him in control and his beast at bay, snapped.

His beast was in complete control now. All logical thinking was gone. He was moving purely by instinct and instinct alone. The only thing he knew at the moment, was someone had his female and he was going to get her back. By whatever means necessary.

Without missing a beat in his strides as he ran, he tossed his head back and let loose a long low howl. This would tell his female that her alpha was on was the way.

After a few moments, he heard the answering howl. She wasn't far. He would be there in a matter of minutes.

That's it for now

Please Read and Review

A/N: I know it's been a long time since I last updated. But I was reading through some of the previous reviews for the story and got re-inspired. So I hope you all enjoy this chapter and review. And hopefully I will find continued inspiration. I have already written a page about Sesshomaru and Kagome's reunion. And it's pretty adorable!