Chapter Ten

Inuyasha led Kagome out of the forest, holding her hand gently as they made their way towards the village they hadn't seen in four months. Kagome's blood had finally settled and there was no fear of her attacking anyone. She had finally mastered her new abilities, as well, and Inuyasha had declared that it was time to return home. So now they were heading back into their village to meet their friends once more.

The first person to notice the couple's return was Shippou, who quickly alerted all the villagers. By the time Inuyasha and Kagome reached the village, every villager had gathered together to welcome them and congratulate them. They didn't care that they weren't technically married, but rather mated. They didn't care that Kagome was now a hanyou or that both their appearances had changed dramatically. They still respected and adored the young priestess and the strong hanyou that had defeated Naraku and helped their village countless times. They were proud that Kagome and Inuyasha called their village home.

"Welcome home!" Sango rushed out of the crowd of villagers to embrace Kagome. Kagome returned the hug happily and they stayed that way for several minutes. Then Sango stepped back to look Kagome over. "You've changed so much! You look like Inuyasha!"

"Of course she does." Inuyasha frowned at Sango. "She's got my blood in her now, so of course she looks like me."

"You've changed, too!" Sango gasped in surprise. "You look so… so mature!"

"That comes with finding your mate." Inuyasha merely said before turning to see Kagome about to hug Miroku. He growled in warning to Miroku and pulled her away from him. "Don't take this offensively, but don't touch my mate." He glared at Miroku, who laughed nervously.

"Sorry. I forgot how territorial inu yokai can be, especially when recently mated." Miroku apologized, practically hiding behind his wife from the much stronger and more intimidating Inuyasha.

"Just don't touch Kagome until my instincts settle down. It should only be another month or two." Inuyasha sighed as he wrapped his arms around Kagome's shoulders possessively. "Sorry, Miroku, but right now I'll probably attack any male that gets his scent on my mate." Just as he said this Shippou ran out of the crowd and jumped into Kagome's arms.

"Kagome! I missed you!" Shippou cried as he hugged Kagome. The little kit had grown from a boy that looked like he was only five to a young lad looking like he was almost twelve, but he still clung to Kagome as if she was his mother. Unfortunately for him.

"Brat…" a loud threatening growl escaped Inuyasha's throat as he glared down at the fox kit that was getting his scent all over his mate. Shippou looked up at him in surprise and his eyes quickly filled with fear as he realized what he just did. He quickly jumped back from Kagome as Inuyasha's growl grew louder, frightening all the villagers into retreating to their huts. They feared that he was about to lose control, but they were surprised when he actually managed to keep his sanity.

"That is your only warning, brat…" Inuyasha growled at the kit. "Do not touch my mate again until my blood settles down or I will kill you. I'm trying my hardest not to rip you apart right now." Getting the message, Shippou quickly hid behind Sango with Miroku. Kagome turned to her mate, her ears lowered as she stared at him with concern.

"Inuyasha… please don't be mad." She pleaded quietly as she looked up at him. When he directed his angry glare at her she realized that he was partially upset with her for allowing Shippou to hug her without pushing him away. "I-I'm sorry." She whimpered quietly.

"Kagome…?" Sango stared at her adopted sister in shock. "Why are you apologizing? You would normally yell at him for scaring Shippou."

"Ye forget she is newly mated." Kaede stepped forward now, motioning to the slightly frightened Kagome that was looking up at her mate apologetically with tears in her eyes. "To an inu hanyou, at that. Her new instincts are telling her to submit to her mate while he is still extremely possessive of her. She shall return to normal when his blood settles, but she shall always submit to him when he desires."

Sango, Miroku, and Shippou were too focused on Kaede that they didn't even notice when Inuyasha suddenly leaned down and sank his fangs into Kagome's neck, earning a loud whimper from his mate. At Kagome's whimper, their friends quickly turned to stare at them in surprise and horror, shocked beyond belief that Inuyasha would actually hurt Kagome. Shippou started to cry as he smelled Kagome's blood. He didn't like that Kagome had to be bitten, but he knew why Inuyasha was doing it, unlike the others. So, when they started to run toward them in an attempt to save Kagome, he stopped them.

"Don't! He's not hurting her!" Shippou stopped his friends, who turned to look at him as if he had two heads. "He's not hurting her; she only feels a small pinch. But he's angry that she didn't push me away like she should have. He's only reminding her that he is her alpha." He explained to them, even as he cried about having to smell his adopted mother's blood. "He'll let go of her once she submits." As he said this they watched as Kagome slowly tilted her head to one side to give Inuyasha better access to her neck. She whimpered and let her tears fall, not from pain, but out of apology. She didn't like him being mad with her to the point of biting her; he'd only done it three times in the four months they'd been mated, and he only bit her when he was pissed off because she had defied his dominance.

Inuyasha's anger faded the moment his mate submitted to him by turning her neck to him. To him that was a worthy apology, especially because he could smell her tears. He knew she hated it when he was mad enough to bite her. She didn't hate being bitten, as he bit her often during mating. She hated that he was mad at her, and he knew that was punishment enough for her. So he retracted his fangs and licked the blood away from her neck, watching as the wound healed instantly.

"We will be back in three days." Inuyasha suddenly announced, standing up and picking up his quietly crying mate.

"W-where are you going?" Sango asked, worrying that Kagome had actually been hurt, despite what Shippou said.

"We're going back to the spring so I can scrub the stench of another male off my mate." He growled, glaring at Shippou, who was the cause of all this trouble. After glaring for a moment his eyes softened slightly. "Don't take it personally, Shippou."

"I-I understand." Shippou whimpered as he peeked out from behind Sango. "I'm sorry for touching your mate. Don't punish her too much."

"She's already been punished." Inuyasha told him. "Her worst fear right now, while we are still new mates, is that I will be angry with her. That is why she is crying." Hearing this, Sango visibly relaxed, as did Miroku and Kaede who also thought that Kagome had been in pain. "This is your only warning, Shippou. Miroku, too. Don't touch my mate until my blood settles down, and make sure no other male in the village touches her, either. If I catch another male's scent on her there will be hell to pay." With that said Inuyasha disappeared in a flash with his mate, leaving an afterimage behind to give one last warning glare to the frightened Miroku and Shippou.

-break-

"I'm sorry." Kagome whimpered quietly for the hundredth time that night as Inuyasha growled and scrubbed another area of her body that had Shippou's scent on her. Then he returned to sniffing all over his mate's body for any missed spots. Finally having scrubbed Kagome's entire body until Shippou's scent was gone, Inuyasha let Kagome relax in the hot spring. He was sure she would avoid him, thinking that he was still mad at her, so he got up to leave. He was surprised when Kagome suddenly threw herself into his arms. "Please don't leave. I don't want my mate to leave… please…" she looked up at him with her ears flat against her skull as she begged her mate to stay.

"Alright." Inuyasha smiled lightly. He sat down in the hot spring again and relaxed in the hot water with his mate. He wrapped his arms around Kagome and held her close to his chest. She seemed to be relieved that he wasn't mad at her anymore, and she rested her head on his shoulder to relax with him. "I'm sorry I bit you." Inuyasha apologized quietly after a while, surprising Kagome into looking up at him. "I know you were caught off guard when Shippou hugged you, and I shouldn't have been so angry about the fact that you didn't push him away. But my instincts and emotions are still running wild. Maybe we should have waited another month to go back to the village."

"I… I won't let another male touch me." Kagome promised. "I-I won't even hold Sango and Miroku's baby…"

"No, the baby is fine." Inuyasha smiled lightly at her. "And children up to about age ten are fine, too. But any boy that's even starting puberty, like Shippou, is not fine."

"S-so I can hold baby Yuusuke?" Kagome smiled happily. She hadn't seen the little boy in four months and she really wanted to hold him! She was so happy that she quickly threw her arms around Inuyasha's neck and kissed him. "Thank you." she smiled happily at her mate, who merely grinned and returned the kiss with a much deeper one that made Kagome moan.

"It seems I scrubbed even my scent off of you." Inuyasha smirked before kissing Kagome again. Then he picked her up and carried her out of the hot spring. In a flash they were in their mating den near the hot spring and Inuyasha was leaning over his naked mate on the bed of furs. Kagome blushed lightly but smiled happily through the next kiss as Inuyasha's hands began to roam over her body. "I'll have to fix that."

-Hi! Aozora12 here! this is my very first fanfic ever, even though I do a lot of writing as a hobby. I would really appreciate reviews, and maybe some constructive criticism, but don't be too harsh on me. Still new to this ;) Anyways, thanks for reading and enjoy!