PLEASE NOTE! I have changed the rating because of what is to come later in this chapter.

Chapter 13: Time

The hair monster rolled down the cliff and easily found Ayame, Koga, and Kagome. Kagome gasped and Koga and Ayame jumped from each other as they were in the path of the huge monster. Ayame quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and threw some sharp leaves at the monster, cutting some hair from its body, shortly after Aria and the others ran up to join them. The monster was grinning at Kagome and sent some hair flying at her to entrap her, but Aria got to Kagome first and pulled out her sword and sliced the demon's hair which set the hair ablaze a dark blue flame. The monster screamed and charged after them but Ayame got in the way and was entangled in the hair from head to toe and couldn't move. Koga being the protective wolf he was instinctively jumped in to save her.

"Be careful Koga, you could easily choke her!" Aria warned him, looking concerned even though she despised the girl, unfortunately for them both Koga was entangled just as his wolf companion was and they were both dragged into the beast's mouth, and Aria just stood there in shock in light of what happened.

"I've had enough of this!" InuYasha growled pulling out his Tessaiga. "I'm going to take care of this guy right now." It quickly grew four times its size into the impressive blade.

"InuYasha, you can't! You could hurt Koga and Ayame." Kagome frowned looking Aria, putting her hand on InuYasha's arm holding the blade.

"I'm sure Koga's fine Aria." Sango patted her on the back. There really was nothing any of them could do without a chance of hurting Koga and Ayame. Suddenly the monster let out a gut wrenching scream as a beam of light came from the head of the monster shooting out into the sky and before they all knew it the monster was obliterated into a million pieces, well rather…hair. After the light disappeared Koga's leg was sticking almost straight up and Ayame was holding him cowering in fear. Aria closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of relief.

"Thank you for saving me Koga." Ayame still had a steel grip on him and was grinning like a fool. "But I've got to get going, gramps is going to wonder what's happened to me." She saluted at Koga smiling, and gave Aria a very dark look then took off in a tornado towards her tribe with her snow white wolves following close behind. Koga watched her leave and sighed, then walked over to Aria and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so sorry." He mumbled into her head and she hugged him close in return.

"It's okay really." She closed her eyes. It seemed she never got enough time to be close to him, and that's all she really wanted.

"I assume you're not coming back with me?" He pulled back from her, looking at her with a serious look. She shook her head and smiled sadly.

"I cannot, I'm sorry. I need to be with them." She gestured at the group behind her and he nodded, kissing her on the forehead.

"Listen mutt, you better not let anything happen to her. She is going to be the future leader of the wolf tribe. If anything happens, it's on you." He smiled at Aria again, did his usual salute and took off and Ginta and Hakakku took off as well. Aria watched him leave sadly and eventually he was gone.

"Well let's get going, Aria we should train you with your sword, your movements are pathetic. A few days training with me and Sango and you'll be an expert in no time!" InuYasha waved his sword around grinning.

"Hey watch it! You could hit someone with that thing!" Shippo complained. Kagome was watching her friend who didn't reply. You could tell that her heart left with Koga.

"Go after him Aria, we need to rest up after the last few days anyways." Kagome smiled at her friend, Aria turned to her with wide eyes.

"Kagome what're you talking about!? We need to start seriously training to beat Naraku. That's the most important thing." InuYasha yelled, now pissed about Kagome's idea.

"Don't listen to him Aria. Who knows how this battle with Naraku will go… you need to spend as much time together as possible, and I know your heart is aching to be with him." Kagome smiled putting a hand on her friends shoulder. Then she swiftly turned to look at InuYasha. "And YOU, how could you be so selfish? We're lucky Koga brought her back at all, she could have just left and went with him to his cave!" Then she turned back to Aria. "Go, you can either meet us back in Kaede's village in five days or we can come get you from the wolf den, whatever you prefer." Kagome smiled one last time. She looked at the others, Sango and Miroku who both nodded and smiled, InuYasha had his head turned away, and his face was covered with pure annoyance.

"He better not hurt you again Aria, I don't want you to leave us again." Shippo jumped on her hugging her, and Aria hugged the little fox back, smiling. She set him down and walked over to InuYasha.

"I promise I won't be long, and when I come back we can all train extra hard. I promise InuYasha." She put a hand on the half demons shoulder and then took off after Koga. She was running faster than she ever had, maybe it was the excitement and love that pushed her to run faster, who knows, but she felt ecstatic. The sun began to set and she felt her muscles grow stronger; the change was happening which gave her even more energy, and Koga's smell became closer and closer. She saw Ginta and Hakakku up ahead, which made her smile and she jumped, landed on both their heads, bounced off, but she was practically weightless at this moment so it didn't do much harm to them; just rattled their cages a bit.

"Aria!" They yelled, and she turned and waved at them smiling and then she ran ahead. 'Geez why is he so damn fast.' She sighed and continued running. By now she had covered at least 100 miles trying to catch up to him, his smell a piney and foresty smell kept becoming closer and closer. It was teasing her not to be in his arms already. Finally she saw him on a mountain cliff ahead and smiled to herself. She ran around the mountain so he wouldn't see her and made her way up the mountain.

Koga had run ahead of Ginta and Hakakku faster than usual, he wanted to be able to think and he knew that once he got back to the tribe he would have no time for that. His mother would be hounding him with questions of why he hadn't already proposed mateship with Aria, although in a way he had…but it wasn't proper. Of course he knew that Aria wouldn't agree to anything until Naraku was gone, who knows how far off that was. Though, the sooner the better because many wolf demons died every day as a result to Naraku which troubled him greatly. It was his sole responsibility of the tribe to take Naraku down and get revenge for what he had done to his brothers. Koga took in a deep breath to calm his thoughts, and for a second thought his nose was deceiving him. He smelled that familiar jasmine and mint scent that he was drawn to so much, and turned around seeing Aria standing on a cliff above and behind him smiling. For a second he thought his eyes were deceiving him as well, but he realized that she actually was there when she jumped down and landed in front of him. "I thought you were stayin' with the mutt!" Koga was sincerely surprised, and full of complete joy. He had a big goofy smile on his face.

"I couldn't stay away from you. We've been apart for too long… Kagome told me she thought I should go after you and stay with you for a few days, if you don't mind." Aria grabbed him in a hug holding him close. 'This is where I'm meant to be… with him. I've never been happier..'

"Well of course I don't mind. C'mon let's get back to the den. My mother will be more than ecstatic to see you." Koga took her hand and began to run, and she pulled back.

"I know a faster way.." She closed her eyes and they were teleported outside of his den and Koga looked kind of dazed. He had never experienced that before.

"Well that works too I guess." Koga laughed scratching the back of his head. Aria widened her eyes and put up a finger insinuating she'd be back in a minute. She teleported out of his sight and landed in front of Ginta and Hakakku. She crossed her arms and leaned on a tree. They both screamed, being frightened by her random appearance.

"Do you all really want to run all the way to the den?" She asked them with a grin on their face.

"We don't care as long as you don't do that again." Hakakku wiped his brow. She laughed and grabbed both of their hands and teleported them to where she left Koga.

"Koga!" They yelled happily.

"Why can't you learn to do that?!" Ginta asked him.

"You still wouldn't be able to keep up with me." Koga rolled his eyes and started to make his way up to the den and the others followed closely behind.

"Oh Aria!" Kame was the first wolf demon that she saw. The woman's long hair was put up in a bun atop her head. "To what do we owe this visit?" Kame grabbed her in a hug smiling.

"I've come to stay with you all for a few days, is that alright?" Aria bowed while asking the woman the question. Kame shook her head.

"You do not need to bow for us, you are practically family! Come on inside, we are to have a celebration tonight. We shall feast as though there's no tomorrow!" She grabbed Aria by the hand while Koga and the others watched. Kei watched his wife, leaning against the stone wall of the den, laughing.

"Why haven't you done it yet son?" The old demon turned his head to look at Koga.

"Huh?" Koga looked at him; he knew what he was talking about but decided to act dumb. In all honesty he was scared of what she would say.

"To be your mate, we all know it's inevitable, Koga. Your mother and I also know you want that as well." Kei looked his son in his deep blue eyes

"She wouldn't agree to such a thing in the first place… I already asked her once, and I messed that up." Koga sighed looking away.

"Your mother and I want you to take Aria to where I asked her to be my mate." Kei told his son who had a shocked look on his face.

"But you said-" Koga was abruptly interrupted.

"I know what I said, but that was different. This is important to the whole wolf tribe, with her you will become alpha of all of the wolf demons. I would just warn her while you're there of the trials she is to face to become a part of this tribe so it is not a shock to her." Kei walked to his son and patted him on the shoulder. "There is no doubt in any of our minds that she will say yes. Do not worry yourself too hard." They both headed into the main hall where everyone was partying. Koga searched the hall and finally found Aria, she was decked out in full wolf demon tribe gear. She had blood red markings on her cheeks and her forehead. He had to admit, it fit her. She looked more at home here than any demon he had attempted to court before. She was dancing with some of the other wolf demons in a circle, and she seemed to not even see Koga. He went deep into thought once again.

'She really does seem like she fits in here… like she belongs here with us. Why am I such a coward to just ask her to be mine? And asking her in the spot where dad proposed to mom… girls like that mushy stuff don't they?' He sighed out loud and didn't even notice Aria walk over to him.

"What's wrong? You've been so deep in thought today I'm worried your head may explode." He looked at her and laughed. She had this secret sense of humor about her that he loved. She smiled back at him, and looked at him with those beautiful yellow eyes of hers. He had never seen anything like them; they were bright and full of life, but different from InuYasha's. Her eyes had a mix of green to them that most other demon's did not. Koga felt watched and saw his parents looking at them, talking to themselves. He guessed they were probably scheming a way to embarrass him in front of Aria. He sighed and turned his head back to Aria.

"I have somewhere I want to show you tomorrow. It's a bit of a family secret…" He said quietly to her so no one else would hear or be able to spy on them.

"Oh, that would be lovely. Who all is coming?" She asked him with wide eyes.

"Just us two. I figured you wouldn't mind getting away from everyone for a few days.." She put her hands behind her back and shook her head.

"Of course not. I'd been hoping we'd be having some alone time soon anyways." Aria whispered to him winking. Kame took that as a sign to intervene, she had some things she needed to say to Aria before they left and she didn't know if she'd get another chance later tonight.

"I'm going to be stealing Aria for a while Koga. Enjoy the celebration." Kame smiled basically dragging Aria away from Koga, and they headed outside to a cliff with a nice view and a chilly breeze. "Tell me young one, what do you know about demons mating?"

"Ummm not much really…" Aria admitted, realizing she actually didn't know anything about it. Kagome had been meaning to tell her, but they never got around to the conversation.

"First and foremost, the most important question. You haven't been intimate with a man before, correct?" Kame looked at her with hard eyes; Aria shook her head with a bright blush on her face.

"Good, if two beings are intimate with anyone before their mating the bond will be impure and it will be impossible for the mating to continue. How is this all done in the world you are from?" Kame asked her seemingly interested in the differences.

"Well, instead of mating, it's called marriage. I'm sure they have a similar thing here for humans… but it does not matter if either party has had….intimate practices as long as they both can accept it. Some do choose to wait until marriage is complete to be intimate though. What happens here if one cheats on their partner?" Aria asked her.

"Well, basically what happens… it's not pretty. This has only happened a few times in the history that we know of. The heart is literally broken and both parties will die. Sometimes, the one who cheated will be forced to live forever with their heart broken and live miserably. You see little one, when two beings mate, their souls are given to each other completely, and they belong to each other body, mind, and soul." Aria breathed in deep taking all the information in. "It is an eternal bond that can never be taken back or be broken." Kame saw Aria's expression change as she was deep in thought. "But it is also the most rewarding thing possible. It's nothing to fear I promise. But we should go back inside so Koga doesn't start to worry." The two walked back inside to where everyone else was partying away and the feast started. Kei, Kame, Koga, Aria, Hakakku, Ginta, and then everyone else sat in a huge circle around a big fire and they all began to feast, wild boar, fish, deer, some fruits, and veggies and sake. Aria's eyes were wide as the food was brought out; she hadn't eaten like this in months.

"I hope this meal is up to your standards." Kei said to Aria watching her face shine, and she nodded quickly.

"It all looks so amazing, thank you all so much for having me here." She looked around at all the wolf demons, charming them all with her personality. Of course, in nature of being a princess, such a thing would be easy for her. She began to eat and drink once everyone else started and got her first taste of sake. It burned her throat but tasted very fruity, after a few sips it went down easily and she couldn't stop drinking.

Koga was watching her drink all the sake and grinned, "You know you're going to get drunk if you keep drinking at that rate.." She turned her attention toward him giggling and had a slight blush on her face. "Or maybe you're already drunk."

"Just make sure you don't take advantage of me tonight." She winked and started eating some fish and very red berries. Her comment made his face burn a little red and he sighed. It would be very hard indeed to not ravage her there, but it was important to him to make her his so he would to the best of his abilities fight his urges.

After the feast was finished it was very late and most of the wolf demons had gone to bed. Koga saw Aria swaying next to him humming a song staring into the fire.

"You ready to go to bed?" He asked her she nodded, and tried to stand up but fell. Koga caught her with ease and smiled. "Careful there." She giggled and nodded.

"Remember Koga, not until after mating." He ignored his parents comments and walked into his room setting her lightly on his bed. He knew they smelled the hormones growing and his urges building. It embarrassed him a little that they could tell these things, but it didn't bother him too much. He put out the fire that was lit in the corner of his room and took off his armored plate top and stretched his back before climbing into bed. He knew that Aria was watching him and grinned only imagining what could be going through her mind.

"I.. forgot how well defined your muscles are…"She said with a husky voice tracing the muscles on his abdomen. The touch of her finger to his skin sent chills down his spine. They really hadn't spent any close time together in almost a month; it was a shock to him that it had been so long since they got to be together.

"Well I'm glad my body is to your standards." He chuckled to himself, when he didn't hear her laughing in return he looked to her face and saw that her eyes were full of hunger, but not hunger in a hunting way. No, a different type of hunger filled her eyes, more of lust. She wasted no more time and wrapped her arms around him, pulling her body to his. He didn't care though; he liked this side of her. Even though it may only be the sake clouding her judgment, he hadn't kissed her like this in a while, since the first time in the lake. He closed his eyes and pulled her on top of him, which she seemed to like and it made her get into the kiss even more. She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled it out of the ponytail making it fall. She bit his lip roughly, which he liked. He grunted at her, and he felt her smile knowing she was trying to manipulate him into giving in. He flipped her over so he was on top of her and she wrapped her legs around him. He sighed, he hated to be the stronger one, and he pulled at one of her legs to put it down. "Aria we can't… not now anyways."

"But… I want you." She whined pulling a pouty face. He sighed and shook his head.

"So do I, more than you can imagine, but I'm sorry…" He got from on top of her and lay next to her wrapping his arms around her, feeling her mood change. He was glad he didn't drink the sake, they both would have regretted what could have happened, and soon they were both fast asleep.

When Aria woke in the morning she had a headache, not as bad as it would have been had she been a normal human being, she moved her hand to feel for Koga but he had already left. She worried, what had happened the night before? She had a foggy remembrance but after the dinner she couldn't really recall anything. She pulled her hair into a low ponytail and walked out to where she heard a bustling noise. Much to her surprise all the wolf demons were already awake and she saw Koga among all of them, and she walked up to him.

"So.. when are we leaving to this 'place'?" She asked him.

"Now, I was just waiting for you to wake. You pretty much drank yourself into a coma, and I didn't want to bother you." He laughed as he watched her face turn red. "C'mon let's go." He grabbed her hand and they were on their way.

"So where is it exactly that we're going?" She asked him.

"It's a place sacred to my parents." He told her, not looking her in the eyes. She gasped.

"Should we be going there then? I don't want to dishonor your family."

"Don't worry, they have given me permission. Plus they already think of you as family." She still had nerves eating at her stomach, but his hand squeezed hers reassuring her. It took them a good hour or two to get where they were going but when she saw where he had taken her, she gasped. It was breathtaking. A mountain surrounded what was a hot spring surrounded by snow and a lake nearby, with a waterfall from the mountain flowing into the lake. Food was easily accessible nearby, and there was a good-sized hut near the hot spring. Some flowers that seemed to glow grew in the area that she had never seen before, and the sky was a brilliant blue up above them. How the snow didn't melt was a mystery to her. "So… what do you think?" Koga asked nervously behind her and she turned to smile at him.

"It's amazing. Thank you so much for bringing me here. It really means so much." Aria's eyes began to fill up with tears and he wiped them away. "Let's go jump in the hot spring, I could really use a dip."

He grinned and began to take off his plated armor once more. He would get revenge for her teasing him last night; especially now that he knew how much she secretly lusted for him. Aria saw him start to undress and widened her eyes, her face beginning to blush, and then she saw him take off his bottoms which really made her face turn red and she turned away taking in a deep breath.

'Why is he doing this? He knows nothing like this can happen until after mating… unless…' She was lost in her thoughts after she heard him sink into the hot spring. She got an idea and set a barrier around the area they would be inhibiting to keep any spying eyes and nosey ears out. She felt his eyes on her and grinned undoing her hair and running her hand through it, then she made her way into the hot spring, stepped over Koga and sat on the opposite side. She had a very seductive look to her face and sat back in a way that made her breasts stick out more than usual, and his eyes widened and he swam over to her not being able to resist any further. He pulled her into a heated kiss hungry for her and she closed her eyes accepting it, he switched their positions sitting on the ledge she was on, and she wrapped herself around him straddling her. She felt something hard hitting her leg and she opened her eyes in alarm and gasped, and Koga just grinned and took this as a chance to invade her mouth with his tongue. She got used to the feeling and took it as a good thing, at least he was excited. She reached behind her and led his hands up to her top, and he wasted no time taking it off. Feeling the contact of skin to skin was a whole new feeling for her, and she enjoyed it greatly. His hands were running all over her body, this was as new of an experience to her as it was to him. She gasped when he squeezed her breast, and he pulled back.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked her, worried. She shook her head and grinned.

"Not at all." She whispered and pulled him into another deep kiss which burned the urge more inside of him. An idea popped into his head and he reached below him to inside her skirt and heard her gasp, he inserted a finger inside her and felt a little knot which he began to rub and he heard her start to moan aloud, which he liked. He liked it a lot. He decided to insert two fingers and he watched her face, it went from pain to pleasure in seconds, oh how he longed to be inside her! But this would have to do for now. She grabbed his face and pulled him into another kiss being completely controlled by her body, her mind had nothing to do with anything. Deep down inside she was begging for him to be inside of her, but she kept that part quiet. She suddenly felt the urge to push him up on the snow covered ground and did so; he was kind of taken aback by her actions but went with it. She held his shoulders down, and he took a look at her body, the sun was glowing down on her skin which made her even more of a radiating beauty. She moved down his body planting kisses on his tender skin and made her way down to his privates. She opened her mouth and took it all in as far as she could and he gasped. He had never felt something so amazing before, sure he had to please himself sometimes, but it felt nothing like this. He gripped the ground beneath his and let out a small deep toned moan, different from hers to let her know she was doing a good job. She began to bob her head up and down creating a motion, and then she changed it up and licked the tip just to see what would happen and it sent a jolt of electricity up his body.

"Do that again." He commanded almost forcefully, and she smiled doing it again, not just once but a few times causing him to moan. She bit her lip and then took the whole thing in, taking it as deep as she possibly could and held it there for a few seconds then she brought her mouth back out and started to jerk him off. It didn't take him much longer to release and she luckily caught it and stuck her mouth back on his length and swallowed. Koga sat there taking deep breaths as she washed her mouth out and then crawled back over to him and lie next to him, then they both got back in the hot spring and she sat between his legs and he had his arms around her. He felt even more connected to her than he did before, he could hardly imagine what it would be like after they were bonded together, but he was more than excited. Which reminded him… Aria was watching the sunset, and felt her body change yet again, and he also felt her muscles and body expand and change. She suddenly felt Koga grow tense and turned to look at him.

"What is wrong?" She could smell apprehension in the air and traced the line of his jaw. "You can tell me anything."

"Well, it's more of a question then anything." He said slowly, looking deep into her eyes, almost enchantingly. She searched inside for what his question might be, and then out if nowhere he took her hands and entangled his fingers around hers.

"The first time I asked you this…everything went wrong and Naraku tricked us, but this time I will make sure nothing comes between us again." Aria's face was still full of curiosity as to what the question might be. He took a deep breath and continued. "Aria, as cheesy as it sounds I can't imagine what my life would be like without you. I don't care about anything else except keeping you safe and making you mine and only mine. You're a true princess and I promise I will treat you as nothing less. I have a whole family of wolves who want you to be a part of us so badly. I know first and foremost comes to defeating Naraku, but once he's dead…" Koga cleared his throat and squeezed her hands. "will you do me the honor of being my mate?" Aria's eyes widened, she had honestly not expected this today and had not expected to hear these words from him. The silence was putting Koga on edge and he saw tears start to form at her eyes.

"Koga…. Nothing would ever make me happier than to be your mate. You have no idea. My heart is only whole when I'm around you, and my body aches when you're gone. You are the one I'm meant to be with, I'm certain of it. And no one, especially not Naraku will ever be able to take that away from us." She smiled as tears poured down her face. Last time he asked her this question, there was so much doubt in her mind whether she was ready, but as of the recent events she didn't have to think about it at all, her heart and her mind were set and her soul was ready. He smiled and brought her lips to his in a deep kiss that made her head spin.

"There is one thing that needs to be done though." He told her as he pulled away.

"Anything, I'm ready for whatever it is." He nodded turned her to face the other way putting her hair off to one side and kissed her left shoulder.

"This may sting a little." He whispered into her ear. She nodded and closed her eyes ready for the pain. He bit deep into her skin and tasted her sweet blood; it pleased his animal instincts and made him want her even more. But he licked the mark dry and what were left were two canine bite marks which almost as if by magic turned black. He turned her back around. "This will let any oncoming demon know that you are spoken for, and you will be able to call onto me if need be. This sort of binds us together but not as strongly as will when we complete the mating ritual. Though, these can be removed at any time if you do change your mind."

"Now why on Earth would I ever think to change my mind?" Aria smiled and touched her back, feeling the scar of the bite mark. It was almost like wearing an engagement ring and made her happy that she was 'some body's.' She looked Koga in the eyes and grabbed him in a kiss one last time.

"I love you." He whispered and Aria's heart fluttered hearing the words.

"I love you so much more…"

Okay I know I know, Koga seems possibly quite out of character. But he is with the one he loves and that always brings out a different personality in people. I also wanted to bring out another side to Koga, I really hope you all liked it. Please review! :)