Time isn't real. It seriously doesn't feel like it's been eleven months. Or even two years since I started writing this. Absolutely crazy.
No, I'm not posting this because I'm procrastinating working on my Halloween fic, absolutely not, why do you ask?
The silence that rushed through the house was unsettling. She'd never heard the weres this quiet. Even when they were listening, there was movement — shuffling, noises made in response to the person talking, always some kind of life in the space. Not now. Not after the statement made by whoever was at the door. They didn't move, though. No gazes shifted toward her, no one giving away a single hint that anything was wrong.
Except for the silence. But maybe that was planned, too?
The front door shut and even low, Kouga's voice carried through the house.
"What do you mean, executed?" A thread of demand was in his voice, warm and welcoming to her, but she saw other weres react differently. Some relaxed, some tensed, and she didn't know what was going on. "Everyone in this house is a member of my pack and your council can do nothing to override pack laws."
"You're not her sire," came the clear answer, "and she wasn't approved. It wouldn't take long for them to find some loophole buried in old text to find a way around your protection. Or you can let me ask a few questions, clear her name, and then figure out how to deal with everything else."
Kagome looked at Katsu, hoping he had some sort of answer for her. His eyes bore into hers and when she opened her mouth, he tapped a finger over her lips. A small shake of his head said all she needed to know. Whether he had answers or not, this was not the time to ask for them.
"You harm one hair on her head and I'll have your throat in my claws." The threat caught her attention, her eyes widening at the malicious intent thrumming in those words. It sparked something from the pack, the weres shifting as a murmur ran through the house. How odd that they were all in agreement.
"I promise harm only on the vampire who is doing the killings."
That sounded good to Kagome — she definitely didn't kill anyone. Though that didn't answer what this woman was talking about in the first place. Surely if there had been killings, she would have heard about it?
"Kagome," came Kouga's soft voice through the crowd, "go sit at the table."
A strange tingle along her spine pushed her into her first step. The weres around her shifted to let her pass, making a pathway from her spot against the basement door toward the dining room. They were packed tight and she couldn't see anything, but the invisible force at her back kept her moving until she was sliding into one of the chairs.
She could hear a murmur too quiet to understand come from Kouga's direction and tried to stand to see what was going on, but found herself stuck to the chair. Her legs were weights, refusing to move without severe strain.
"Don't force it," one of the weres next to her said, her voice soft and melodic. "That command was strong and you might hurt yourself."
Command? What did that mean?
Kagome was distracted from her questions as movement neared the table and suddenly, she was looking at a sleek, strong woman with hair as dark as Kagome's and eyes hard and alert. Kouga moved around the table to sit next to Kagome, his presence wrapping around her like a warm, protective cloak
"Alright, hunter," Kouga rumbled as the beautiful, poised woman sat, "explain."
She ignored the demand that had shivers running down Kagome's spine, seemingly at ease to assess Kagome instead. Brown eyes touched over her face and hair, down to the hands resting quietly on the table before meeting her gaze. "I was hoping to speak with you privately—"
A chorus of growls filled the house, more than a few weres showing their displeasure at the idea.
"—but it seems that won't be happening."
Her voice was pointed, but soft, missing the demand it held at the door. Kagome wondered why it disappeared; this arrangement didn't seem very welcoming to the woman.
"What were you doing last night?"
Unbidden, Kagome found her gaze pulling toward Kouga, waiting for…something. It was the same feeling that pushed her toward the table and kept her from standing, something else ruling her thoughts. If she really wanted to, she might have been able to fight what was keeping her gaze off the woman, but whatever had her facing Kouga was strong.
"I already know she's not the killer," the woman snapped and Kagome watched Kouga's lips twitch, "so stop throwing your alpha weight around and let her answer the damn question."
Alpha weight? Was it Kouga doing this to her?
His blue eyes were hard as sapphires as he studied the hunter, unspoken thoughts sitting in the air between them. When his head moved and those eyes met Kagome's, her breath froze under the weight of his stare. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to," he said in a low, soothing voice. "When you're done, let us know, okay?"
Kagome swallowed around the lump in her throat and nodded. He held her gaze, an uneasiness lifting the hairs on the back of her neck and finally, she unstuck her tongue from the roof of her mouth. "Okay."
Kouga nodded, his shoulder relaxed, and the tension in her body vanished. Her head cleared, she could breath easier, and turning away from Kouga was suddenly very feasible. The woman was still annoyed, but gave Kagome a small smile when their eyes met.
"Alpha compulsion's a bitch, isn't it?" The question was tossed out easily as if it wasn't sparking a hundred new questions and mysteries in Kagome's head. "I didn't know it could work on vampires."
"She's pack." It was a short blast from Kouga, but rather than capturing her complete attention, Kagome could see that he was provoking the woman. Or trying to, at least.
He was ignored, those brown eyes studying Kagome instead. "If they're a good pack, they'll explain what happened."
"They are a good pack," Kagome said, the words popping out of her mouth before she processed what she was saying. "At least…" The immovable belief was stark in her mind, strong and confident and Kagome didn't know why she believed it so completely. "I don't know anything about packs, but I don't like you implying they aren't a good one."
Multiple weres around her eased, a pleased murmur going through the house. Kouga reached over and gave her hand a warm, solid squeeze. Friendly, she told herself even as her heartbeat increased at the feel of his rough fingertips caressing her skin. He's just being friendly.
"Kouga found me last night," Kagome answered, her mind whirling over everything that happened in the last few days. "Or was that two nights ago?" She tapped her fingers over the wood, counting back the nights. "Is there a specific time you wanted to know? It's all kinda running together."
"Have you fed since you were turned?"
Her throat constricted at the memory, her body still warring with her mind over the act. Slowly, she nodded as she pushed out the answer. "Once."
"When?"
"The night Kouga found me. I didn't want to, but he helped me."
"Did you kill?"
Her horror must have shown on her face because Kouga squeezed her hand again, his thumb rubbing circles over her wrist. "No." She turned to Kouga, the panic starting to crawl up her spine. "Right? He was alive when we left? You stopped me before I took too much, didn't you?"
"Yes," he reassured her, something in his voice cutting through the terror. "He wasn't hurt and was completely fine when we left."
"And you only fed with Kouga present?" the woman asked.
"Yeah," she answered, turning back to this strange woman who was so at ease in a house full of werewolves. "I wasn't going to until Kouga made me."
That caught the woman, surprise breaking through the poised expression she'd had the entire time at the table. "Made you?"
"Yeah. They found the man and lured him off the street and did some sort of magic-trance-thing. I didn't want to, but Kouga said it would be better to do it then than to wait until I was hungry."
"And when were you turned?"
Kagome counted on the hand not under Kouga's deliciously warm palm. "Four nights ago, if Inuyasha was telling the truth."
"Four nights and Kouga made you feed?" The shock in the woman's voice was stark and Kagome got the impression it was an emotion she didn't usually experience. "How did you feel after you finished?"
"Gross." There was a rumble through the pack again, smiles poking through on all the faces she could see. It reminded her of the conversation with Ginta about weres learning to accept their new appetites when they turned. "I mean, my stomach was fine and physically I felt great, but mentally…" She shivered at the memory. "The only reason I didn't throw up was because Kouga threatened I'd have to do it again."
The rumble was louder this time, some laughter breaking out.
"I didn't threaten you," Kouga said even as his own grin was tugging at his lips.
"You might as well have," she grumbled. "I swear I could taste it coming back up and you said I would have to do it all again if I didn't keep it down."
The woman's eyes tracked back and forth between Kouga and Kagome, momentarily dropping down to touch on their hands still resting on the table. Kagome's cheeks heated at the reminder as she fought the urge to pull away.
She didn't want to pull away — Kagome wanted to turn her hand over and entwine her fingers with Kouga's — but surely Kouga would? Unless holding her hand meant something different in the pack which it probably did. He was being protective and helpful and friendly and supportive. It would be inappropriate and unfair to misinterpret his actions for anything else.
But how she basked in that moment where she could almost convince herself that something could grow between them.
"Where have you been since you fed?" came the next question as those eyes left their hands and met Kagome's gaze once again.
"Here. Or at my apartment."
"We were with her the whole time," Kouga added.
Kagome shifted in her chair, a tingle dancing at the base of her neck and spreading over her shoulders. Maybe if she stopped fawning over Kouga, she'd actually be able to pay attention. Ignoring it, she waited for more questions to come. Or information about the killings mentioned earlier. She still didn't know anything more about that.
The silence stretched as the tingle grew to an annoying itch, as distracting as a buzz in her ear. "Why are you here?" she asked in a rush, trying to ignore the compulsion now moving down her arms.
"Do you have enough?" Kouga cut in before the woman could answer, shifting to glance at the clock in the kitchen. "The sun'll be up soon."
The woman's eyes narrowed in curiosity. "You can feel it?"
The itch grew, a demand at the base of her skull and her nails scratched at the table. Adrenaline was running through her veins, her limbs ready to move — but why?
"I can't," he said, "but she can. It's driving me crazy."
"Is it a pack thing?"
"We'll find out some day, but I need to get her downstairs if you're done. We can continue this conversation tomorrow."
Kagome didn't know what was said in response, she just knew that Kouga was moving and then she was standing, hurrying through the parting crowd of weres until she was grasping the basement door.
When the door closed behind her, the adrenaline left in a rush and Kagome sank to the ground at the landing, her head falling back against the wood.
"I think it'll get better over time," Kouga said through the door. "Though we cut it pretty close tonight."
She could think of a million questions she wanted to ask in response to that, but her eyes were growing heavy. If she didn't get downstairs and in her bed, she'd fall asleep right there on the stairs. And she definitely didn't want to risk that.
Pushing to her feet, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief as she fell into bed, not bothering with the covers. It was home, comfortable and warm and so familiar, she didn't remember anything else before drifting off to sleep.