To answer a few questions I've been asked:

-I never liked how Keade was the only one to speak in an archaic dialect. None of the other older characters do, and neither does Kikyo. It feels like it was only written that way to say "This character is old", as if the audience couldn't already see that. So in this story she speaks just like everyone else.

-I haven't planned on adding Sesshomaru to the story. But you never know.

-I have no idea how many chapters this story will end up being. It has already moved far beyond what I originally intended.

-I update once a week. That gives me enough time to write without feeling rushed.

Chapter 14: Nature of The Beast

When she stopped to think about it, Kagome had led a happy and carefree life. Sure she had lost her father at a young age, but she still had a supportive family. She had friends who worried about her. She had people who cared for her, cared about her. Compared to Sango's loss of her family and entire village, Miroku spending more than half his life knowing death could come at any time, and of course the tragedy that had been Inuyasha's life, she had very little reason to complain.

But things had changed once she had entered the feudal era. Suddenly she was exposed to life at it's most cruel.

She had seen some terrible things. She had seen children torn to pieces by youkai. She had seen her friends suffer and been helpless to do anything about it. She had seen villages wiped out by bandits who did it for no other reason than because they could.

But she had refused to let all of the horror around her harden her heart. She had long ago resolved to do what she could to help, just like Momma had always taught her. And even if she sometimes didn't live up to those ideals, she still held them dear. It was a part of who she was.

But now, as she looked at the figure that leaned on Ayame for support, covered in bandages, she knew that her resolve was about to be tested again.

"Don't everyone stop talking just because of me." Koga spat out bitterly. The bandages covered part of his face, including his left eye. The right, however, seemed to stare right through her.

The group stared for a moment in silence, before Kagome stood and slowly approached him. "Koga, you should be resting. Your body needs time to heal. Here, let me help..."

"Don't touch me!" He snarled, stopping her dead in her tracks. "You've done enough!"

Ayame struggled to hold him still, finally forcing him to sit down on the step. Koga's single exposed eye then went to Inuyasha.

"I suppose this makes you happy, huh dogshit?" He asked.

Inuyasha stood. Kagome reached out her hand to grab him in case he wanted to attack Koga, before pulling it back. No, she had resolved to trust Inuyasha. She wouldn't control him like an animal anymore.

"Don't blame Kagome for your own actions wolf."

Everyone, Ayame included, looked to him. "This isn't his fault!" The wolf princess shouted.

Inuyasha smirked. "You really haven't figured it out? None of you?"

"What are you talking about?" Kagome wasn't sure she was going to like what she was about to hear.

Inuyasha shook his head. "You know, compared to humans youkai are easy to read. Most don't even think to conceal their motives, and those that do are never any good at it." He stared at the wolf prince. "Those vines, how is it that they were growing from inside of you?"

Koga remained silent, even as Kagome gasped after a moment. "He was ambushed and forced to swallow a seed or something by that monster."

"Not quite." Inuyasha replied before turning back to Koga, his eyes filled with anger. "Do you want to tell her or should I?"

Koga spat on the ground, then looked up at him. "He said it would give me power..."

All eyes went to the injured wolf.

"He said it would be even greater than the jewel shards."

Ayame grabbed Koga's hand, squeezing as she forced him to look at her. "Why?"

Koga pulled his hand from her with a hiss, ignoring the hurt in her eyes. "Why do you think?! I was going to kill dogshit! He's turned Kagome against me!"

Kagome stood up, grabbing Inuyasha's hand. She was more concerned than angry at the moment. It was clear to her that Koga was latching onto anger so he didn't have to feel sadness and pain. She had become very familiar with that particular coping mechanism ever since meeting Inuyasha. "Koga, Inuyasha didn't turn me against you. I love him." She closed her eyes. "I'm sorry about what I did. You didn't deserve that. But if you had killed Inuyasha I still wouldn't go with you. I'd hate you."

They all sat in silence for a moment, before Inuyasha began again.

"That's right. He'd have to do something so you'd have no choice but to do whatever he said." Inuyasha looked through the open door to Shippo as the kitsune sat inside the house watching them with Keade.

"Like take a hostage."

Kagome's hand went to her mouth. No, no it couldn't be. He wouldn't... But then again, he was very jealous. He was convinced she was the love of his life. And he had kidnapped both her and Shippo before...

"Koga, you weren't going too..." Ayame began before he slowly stood, leaning against her for support.

The wolf was silent, then laughed humorlessly. He refused to look at Inuyasha as he spoke. "Heh. Maybe you're not as dumb as you look mutt."

Kagome resisted the urge to run and hug Shippo. Instead she stood, her free hand tightly clenched.

"But that's not all you were planning, was it?" Inuyasha looked over to Sango and Miroku. "They'd try to stop you."

"He'd have to get rid of us?" Sango guessed out loud, one hand on her hiraikotsu. Koga flinched, but said nothing.

Miroku nodded. "If he was strong enough to kill Inuyasha...what chance would we have had?"

Inuyasha slowly walked over with Kagome until he was face to face with the wolf prince. He could still smell the stench of blood and burnt flesh clinging to him.

"Threatening Shippo's life to keep Kagome quiet, you could tell your tribe any story you wanted. Probably something that would make you sound like a hero? Something about how you saved Kagome from the worthless half-breed?"

Koga snarled, then hung his head in defeat. He knew when he'd been beaten. "You win this round dogshit. But I'll get you for this one day."

Kagome wanted to smack him, but didn't feel right about attacking someone so injured. Instead she grabbed Inuyasha and kissed the surprised hanyou, right in front of the wolf. A deep, long kiss. Koga tried to walk forwards, intending to pull Inuyasha away from his woman, only to painfully fall to the ground.

"Koga, let me be clear about something." She said after pulling back from the kiss. "You never had a chance with me! I would rather be with that toad servant of Sesshomaru than you!" Her aura briefly flared red with anger, making the wolf crawl backwards. Ayame moved between him and Kagome, helping Koga up.

The wolf looked fearfully at the miko as their previous encounter flashed before his eyes. He swallowed, trying to act tough. "So, what now? Are you going to kill me? Cut my balls off like you threatened?"

Kagome looked to her friends, then shook her head as her red aura receded. "No, I think you've been punished enough by your own actions, and without your jewel shards you're no match for any of us." She walked past him, hand in hand with Inuyasha, pausing once she was on the threshold of Keade's home. "You can stay until you've healed, then I want you gone."

"Kagome wait!" Koga called after her. She did not look back at him.

"Everything I did, everything I was going to do, was for love."

Kagome still refused to look at him. "You don't even know what that word means." Then she continued inside with Inuyasha.

...

SNAP!

"Stupid sticks!"

Kagome groaned as the arrow she had been making snapped in two. This was the fourth one! She had gone out with Keade to make some, hoping the task would get her mind off of everything that had happened.

"Perhaps if you didn't push so hard on the heads?" The old miko offered carefully. The young girl glared at her, then sighed.

"Sorry. I'll try to do better." She picked up another unfinished arrow and went to work on it.

She couldn't believe Koga! She had thought she knew him! To think, she had defended that scumbag!

Kagome picked up an arrowhead and began to attach it to the shaft. She was angry with herself even more than with Koga. She had chosen not to see him for who he was. A smug, bigoted, entitled asshole who thought he deserved whatever he wanted the moment he wanted it.

Was she really so blind? Was flattery and flowers all it took for someone to pull the wool over her eyes?

She thought back to all of those times where she had sat Inuyasha when the two of them were fighting, only for Koga to laugh and put his foot on the hanyou's back like he'd beaten him and saying something about mutts knowing their place. She hadn't even considered how much it must have hurt Inuyasha to hear that and think she agreed.

SNAP!

"ARGH!"

Kagome threw down the broken arrow and ran her fingers through her hair. Nothing was going right this day!

She looked up at Keade as the old woman placed a hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps we should take a break?" She offered. "I need to get back anyway. I promised to give Inuyasha more lessons in reading and writing."

Kagome blinked. "He still wants to learn?"

Keade nodded. "At first I think he wanted to impress you. Now it's become something personal to him. He wants to prove that he isn't an animal."

The younger miko winced at that, then nodded. "He's no animal. Not anymore." She gathered the tools they had brought with them and stood. "I'll help. It's the least I can do for him."

...

Kagome and Keade sat outside along with Inuyasha and Shippo (who Kagome had insisted needed to learn too), practicing writing. They used sticks that had one end burned to charcoal to write words on a plank of wood, allowing it to be erased with a wet cloth for the next word. Kagome made a mental note to get some small chalkboards and chalk the next time she went home.

After having Shippo write a little to see how far along he was Kagome guessed he was about the level of a first grader. He knew most of the characters and could recognize simple words, including his own name. "My father taught me!" The kitsune beamed at her before growing sad. "Before, you know..." Kagome picked him up and sat him on her lap, wrapping her arms around him. Even though he was technically still in trouble for stealing those cherries, she still wanted him to know he was loved.

Inuyasha's reading wasn't much better than Shippo's, but that was to be expected from someone who as she learned had been almost totally illiterate before his lessons with Keade. He told her that his mother had tried too teach him, since no one else would, but he had been more interested in playing outside and chasing down small animals (and boy would she get mad when he left their blood on her sheets). Kagome smiled as he concentrated, trying to use the stick to copy her name underneath where she'd written it for him. His ears suddenly twitched before looking over his shoulder.

"Sis?"

Ginta and Hakkaku were watching them, their heads bent slightly to the side in a way that reminded Kagome of that 'confused dog' look Inuyasha gave when he didn't understand something. "What are you doing?" Hakkaku asked.

Kagome put her hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, letting him know it was okay. "We're teaching the boys to read and write."

The two wolves looked at each other. "What's that?" Ginta finally said.

"It's like talking, but harder and slower." Hakkaku grinned and nodded to himself. "You know, one of those things humans do to make things harder than it has to be, like cooking meat before eating it."

Kagome motioned to the ground. "Come sit with us. I'll show you."

...

Koga lay watching them from within Keade's home, his vigil only interrupted by Ayame changing his bandages or bringing water to his lips or feeding him. He hated this. Not only had he been humiliated and hurt, he had been reduced to the state of an infant, needing someone to care for him.

"Looks like those two are having a good time." Ayame said as she tied off a bandage. Koga growled at that.

"Sure, why not? I've already lost everything else I cared about, why not them too?"

The wolf princess shook her head. "You haven't lost everything. You're hurt, not dead."

Koga rolled over onto his back. "Aren't I? Kagome is gone, my jewel shards are gone, and now my tribe is gone. You think I can stay alpha without those shards? With injuries like these?" He stretched out his arms, ignoring the pain and stiffness. "I'll be overthrow and cast out the first day I get back to the den."

He turned back to look outside, watching as Kagome made some marks on a piece of wood and had Ginta try to copy them. He didn't know what the purpose of the activity was, nor did he care.

"Do you really think your tribe is as savage as that? We are more than animals, we are youkai." Ayame told him. "And you can get better, Keade said so. It will be hard, but you can do it."

Koga shut his single exposed eye. "What's the point? It would be best for the tribe if I never came back. Can't have a cripple leading them. I wish I'd died, I have no reason to live anyway..."

His eye snapped open as a loud clang ran out. Ayame stood before him, her hands tightly clenched.

"Do I count for anything to you? Do I matter at all?"

Her eyes shone with tears as she gritted her teeth. "I stood by you even as you broke your promise to marry me. I said nothing as you pursued Kagome, ignoring my own hurt and the mockery you were making of my tribe. I worried about you when you were gone. I took care of you when you were injured. Does none of that matter too you?"

"Ayame..." Koga tried to sit up, tried to reach for her.

"I ignored my father's warnings, my own good sense, because I thought I knew you. I thought that one day you'd give up this hopeless love for Kagome and finally see me, see how much I love you. But that's never going to happen is it? I might as well be a ghost for all you care." The wolf princess turned and walked around the room, gathering up her few furs she had brought.

"What happened to you isn't right and it isn't fair. But if you're just giving up on yourself then I'm done. The old woman can care for you now, but I'm done. If you don't care, then why should I?"

She strode past him, only to stop as she felt a bandaged hand at her ankle. Koga was looking up at her, a single tear in his visible eye.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered as he began to sob, finally breaking down. "Please, stay..."

Ayame looked out the door for a moment, then knelt, gathering the bandaged figure in her arms as he grabbed onto her with his one good hand.

"I'm sorry! So sorry!" He wailed, cuddling against her like a cub with it's mother. "Please forgive me!"

Ayame smiled softly, and gently stroked his hair.

"It'll all be okay Koga. I promise. I won't leave you, ever."