Three more days have passed and Koga sighed as he watched as Shiori once again dozed as she tried to stay up and look through the scrolls. They had been there another week since she had the dream where she met her half bat demon ancestor. They found a lot, but both wanted to go through every single scroll just to make sure they had them all. Problem is that without going through the entire scroll, they wouldn't know if it was one they needed to keep or if it was one that they could just throw out.

Turning back to his own scroll, Koga sighed. He went to get her to get over the fascination of her, and get back to the way it has been for hundreds of years. He took care of his pack, kept them fed and safe. And pined away over Kagome day in and day out. And yet, going and getting Shiori to teach her how to live and survive for the years to come, he did because he knew that Kagome would have wanted him to do it.

And yet the more time he spent with her, the more he knew that really wasn't true. The first night that he left her when she went towards where Shippo lived, she broke through his thoughts of Kagome. And the more he thought about turning her out the more it angered him that he would even think about it.

Looking down as he was pulled from his thoughts, Koga sighed with a smile to see Shiori sound asleep with a scroll in her hand, and her head in his lap as she fell sideways. "What am I going to do with you?"

Reaching over he lifted her with a yawn for himself as he carried her to the futon she had been using and laid her down. As he started to stand up he gasped as she reached out and grabbed his hand with a sigh as she slept. Rolling his eyes with a smile, Koga repositioned them so that he was laying half on and half off the futon, and she was laying next to him, with her head on his chest.

As sleep claimed him, he sighed as he let an arm drape down around her waist. A strange feeling of contentment coming over him as she sighed and seemed to move even closer to him.

X

It didn't seem like he had been sleeping that long when he jerked his eyes open. But instead of on the futon with Shiori, he was somewhere that he hadn't been since he was tiny. He was back at the den he was born in! "What in the hell am I doing back here?"

"I brought you here Koga. As a request for Koumori."

Flinching at the voice he would never forget, Koga slowly turned around and gasped as his eyes went extra wide. He was looking at his father! Someone he hasn't seen for thousands of years! "Fa…..fa….father…"

Stopping just a few feet from his only pup, Kou nodded as he smiled, letting one hand fall on the hilt of his sword and the other on his hip. "That's right Koga. I am here as a favor for Koumori, the hanyoukai that she talked to a week ago." With a smile, Kou looked down as he took a deep breath. "First and foremost Koga let me tell you this. While you have taken a vastly different life than the one I would have hoped you would of. Your mother and I have seen the great man that you have come and we are both damn proud of you for it." Looking up into shocked blue eyes that mirrored his own, Kou smiled. "Yes we come to see how you are doing from time to time."

Finally breathing a little more normal, Koga crossed his arms as he looked down then back up at his father. He was so little, not even to his knees when the two of them were murdered along with the rest of their pack by the birds of paradise. The only survivor the elder wolf took him in and raised him. But he did often wonder if he made them proud of who he has become. "Thank you. I have wondered about that for a long time now."

With a laugh, Kou reached over and laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "We always have been son. Even when you were fighting for the feelings of a human girl." But then he sighed as Koga's eyes went down to the ground and half closed. "But you have to admit it. That human woman doesn't cross your mind as much since you brought Shiori into your den does she son?"

Dropping down to sit, Koga groaned as he fell back. "No. It irritates me because I don't know why. I only went and got her because I couldn't stop thinking about her and how mad Kagome would have been….."

"Don't give me none of that crap pup. You went and got her because you were thinking about her more than the miko." Kou stood over his son's head as he glared down at him. "Tell me this. Do you really think, even a hundred years from now think that you can just send her out on her own and chance Ichiro getting ahold of her?"

Leaping to his feet, Koga growled as he felt a pull on something primal. "That bastard touches her and I will rip his damn head off."

"Well then you better start realizing what in the hell is going on with you pup!" Kou sighed as he crossed his arms and looked up toward the mouth of the den. "Just implying that Ichiro might get ahold of her had your eyes bleeding. You fly into a rage the thought of anyone hurting her. He threatened her the day you walked her in your den and your rage flew off the handle. You know what is going on here, you just have to let it or send her out."

"I won't send her out until she can fend on her…."

"She will never be a match for Ichiro and you know it. She is too kind hearted for that and doesn't have the desire to kill anyone or anything Koga and you damn well know it." Turning to his son, Kou narrowed his eyes. "And the fate he has in store for her is a fate worse than death Koga. Right now he is relying on the fact that once you train her a little you are going to send her off and he can get her. And that blind rage you will have to get to her side to trap you." Stepping closer as he watched his son's eyes bleed even more. "You know you are bonding with her now stop being such a ninny over the miko and let her in. She is bonding to you also and if you don't either send her out or do something about it, it will be too late for the both of you Koga. Or do you really think you can watch him rape…."

"Shut the hell up!" Koga then shocked himself as he transformed, even though in a dream state and came a hair from biting his own father. "He won't touch her like that! I won't let it!"

"Then admit that you want to make her your mate and see how she feels about it. When she wakes up and you are sleeping she sits and watches you sleep. You can see the love and pain in her eyes. She thinks you care nothing for her but to do a favor for Kagome you damned fool." Kou watched as his son went back into his human form. "You know that is going on Koga. Now whether or not she stays safe and out of Ichiro's hands is totally up to you and what you do next."

"Father….." But Koga gasped as he jerked awake and was once again in a sea of scrolls with a peacefully sleeping bat in his arms. Breathing hard he looked down at the top of her head and sighed. He knew his father was right. He was starting to realize that he was feeling something more for her than just something he had to do for Kagome. But mating with her? Was he really finally ready to let Kagome like that?

X

"The hell is wrong with the two of you! Kou! Koumori!" Tsukuyomaru glared with clenched teeth and fists at the medaling wolf and half bat. "I told you that I knew what I was doing and they would have figured it out before they left there! Koumori you rushed it and Kou what the hell did you tell your son?!"

With his arms crossed as he stood toe to toe with the angry bat, Kou knew what was going on with them. He was alright with it. He never had a problem with bats, and while he never had any interactions with half demons, he really didn't have a problem with them either. But he wasn't about to let his son go through what he would if he didn't kick him in the ass. "It's simple Tsukuyomaru. It's because of Ichiro. You have been so focused on the two of them and watching as they do bond, that you haven't checked on that bastard at all have you?" When all he did was look at him odd, Kou growled. "Damnit! You are smart but stupid all at the same time you know that Tsukuyomaru."

Standing and pulling Tsukuyomaru's eyes to him, Koumori nodded with a stern look. "By sending Koga to Shiori, while it the right thing to do to get them to bond and mate. It also triggered events with Ichiro, the wolf Koga sent out of his pack. He is so furious about what happened, because of Shiori, that he is planning and constructing. He wants Koga to send her away, even if it is for a couple of days, so he can get her and use her as bait to trap Koga. Then do you really want me to tell you what he wants to do to her to get even with Koga?"

His eyes going wide, Tsukuyomaru just stood there. He didn't know what to think. Dropping his head he sighed. "I hadn't thought about that. But I did know that once they bonded over looking for the scrolls and training, they would have mated and she would have been alright anyway."

Laughing as he sat back down Kou shook his head. "That damned pup of mine has turned away female after female after female because of the human woman. He was still fighting it, even though I know he was feeling things for her more than he thought. He was gonna fight it till the bitter end. It will all work out in the end don't worry so much."

Glaring at the wolf, Tsukuyomaru finally relaxed. "You try having a daughter."

Holding his hand up Koumori smiled. "I did actually."

Glaring at the two of them again, Tsukuyomaru then sighed. "So long as she mates with Koga I don't care anymore. Just don't screw that up for me." He then turned and stormed away from them.

With a sigh as he went serious, Kou leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "I understand where he is coming from. But I also know that a wolf will fight to the death for someone he cares about. But it will be a hundred fold for a mate. Ichiro is growing in strength each and every day. He could be as strong as Naraku was soon."

"I agree. Which is why, we should give them more of a push soon."

"Right."