Ivanna knelt by the small stream she had found and groaned as she felt very familiar cramping in her abdomen. She had stepped away from camp as Sesshomaru had gone off to hunt for them and found her cycle beginning. She cleaned herself up and did her best to make sure there was no evidence, but knew that she could not completely get rid of the smell that a Youkai with a sensitive nose would smell.

In the last week, Sesshomaru and her returned to a more relaxed routine. Each morning before those of the pack woke, they would go to a clearing nearby and practice tai chi. She would then sit nearby while he trained then they would go to the hot spring and wash up. There she worked with him to be able to find easier ways to manipulate his armor so that he would not have to always rely on someone for help. Then they would eat and start traveling to wherever Sesshomaru led them. Ivanna and Rin would eat lunch from Ah-Un's back, only stopping to relieve themselves.

Before the sun would set, they would set up camp for the night and after Rin and Jaken fell asleep, Ivanna would curl up in Sesshomaru's lap. He started removing his armor so she could be more comfortable and some nights they would talk and others, they would be a little more physical. She would explore his skin more often then the other way around, mostly due to the layers she wore just to keep warm but on occasion he'd loosen her clothing to nuzzle her neck and upper chest.

She quickly returned to camp and noticed Jaken quickly move to the other side of the camp near Ah-Un with his sleeve over his nose. She muttered a quiet apology to him and saw him acknowledge her as she sat down on her fur bedding and pulled a couple pelts over her legs, hoping it would dull what her Youkai pack mates could smell. Rin came over and laid down beside her with her coloring book and hummed quietly as she drew.

"Vann, why is Jaken like that?" Rin asked as she finally looked over at the imp as he sat besides Ah-Un, sleeve still over his nose.

"That is a topic for when you are older, Rin," Ivanna spoke calmly and ran her hand through the child's hair. "Just know that he may be like that for a few days but there is nothing wrong."

"Okay," she smiled before going back to her book.

Soon Sesshomaru returned with two rabbits that had been cleaned and skinned already and placed them over the fire to cook. Ivanna watched with caution as she saw him lift his head slightly, most likely sniffing the air before his eyes locked on to her immediately. She smiled apologetically as she saw a hint of pink enter the whites of his eyes.

Watching him closely, she saw his lips part slightly as he breathed through his mouth before he walked toward her. She tensed as he reached her and kept her eyes on him as he sat down on the pelt beside her, his right knee bent to prop his arm up while his left leg was straight. He had been doing this the past few days and Rin hadn't even batted an eye even if she would hear Jaken's quiet complaining.

She could hear his steady breaths and glanced at him but she could see his physical discomfort as he focused on the fire, his eyes fluctuating back and forth between white and pink. She winced as her heart pulsed in mild discomfort and inconspicuously brought her hand up into her clothing to rub her chest so she wouldn't worry Rin. She noticed his hand move slightly and frowned as he signed the letters for 'sorry,' meaning he had done something to cause her heart pain.

As the pulsing discomfort stopped, she heard Jaken sigh and glanced over as he stopped covering his nose and walked over to the fire to rotate the rabbits so they would not burn. Realizing that he had flared his Youkai several times, she made a note in her mind to ask about it later as Jaken no longer showed any signs of discomfort. Looking back at him, she realized he was watching her and she could see the a hint of his fangs from his slightly parted lips.

"Vann, Vann, look," Rin drew her attention away from the struggling Youkai around her and looked down as Rin put her coloring book in her lap to show her the picture of multiple fish in water that she had finished coloring.

"Very good, Rin," Ivanna smiled as she studied the drawing.

"The meat is finished," Jaken spoke and Rin jumped up to her feet and handed Ivanna hers before sitting down by the fire with hers and started eating.

"Thank you for the meat," Ivanna thanked Sesshomaru softly before carefully picking at her food so she didn't accidentally drop a piece onto the bedding.

"Thank you Lord Sesshomaru," Rin cheered and Ivanna chuckled as she seemed to dance in place as she ate her food.

"Are you okay?" Ivanna whispered to the inuyoukai beside her as she kept her eyes on the rabbit in her lap.

"This one will manage," he replied quietly.

"What did you do with your Youkai?"

"Overpower the scent of your cycle with the scent of this one to ward off any that lurk nearby and to ease the discomfort of this one's pack. It seems that this one will need to feed you more of our Youkai."

"You are already struggling with one scent, is it the best idea to add more to that?" Ivanna frowned.

"It is needed either way. We do not know how you would react if we waited for your cycle to finish and this one needed to scent mark the area."

"That makes sense."

They fell silent as Rin finished and gave the half she hadn't eaten to Jaken and he gratefully accepted the meat. Once Ivanna ate her fill, she whistled to get Ah-Un's attention and tossed the rest of her rabbit to the dragon and he easily caught it and between both heads, broke the rabbit in half and ate it quickly. When Jaken finished his full, Ah-Un finished that morsel off as well as Rin cleaned up her crayons and coloring book since the sun had fallen below the horizon.

Jaken went with Rin as she wandered off to relieve herself and wash up for bed. Sighing, Ivanna pushed the pelts off her lap and got to her feet, needing to stretch her legs and heard a low growl behind her. Glancing behind her, she frowned seeing a reddish hue around his eyes, but he did not move from his seat.

"'Maru?" She whispered but did not show any signs of moving closer or retreating from the growling inuyoukai.

"This one is still in control," he replied but she could hear the strain.

"I'm sorry..."

"It is not something in your control," he closed his eyes and she watched fascinated as he worked to keep his control.

"Is this something that in moderation you could become tolerant to?" She asked, taking a step towards him. "I mean, I feel like that could be one of the reasons you are fighting so hard..."

"Hn."

She moved closer before falling to her knees in between his legs and his eyes snapped open, growling at her in a way that made one of his fangs peak out. She couldn't help but smile despite the danger she was dancing with at how adorable the fanged snarl made him look. She brought her hands to his face, every movement slow and ran a thumb over his exposed fang before bringing her head closer and pressed a kiss to the mark on his brow.

Despite his steady low growls, his touch was soft as he brought his hand to her lower back and buried his nose against her throat and breathed deeply. Feeling him trying to nuzzle his way further into her clothes, she giggled before using a hand to loosen her layers and undo several toggles of her armor so the top half of her chest was accessible to him. She closed her eyes as she slid her hands into his hair as she felt him move lower until he reached her breasts. His hand gripped her long locks and pulled, and she groaned quietly feeling him searching for the right spot before he bit into her right breast, her left still healing from when he accidentally mauled her skin. She whimpered, trying to keep her voice quiet incase Rin was nearby before the high hit and sighed as her body relaxed against him.

She felt herself being moved before she found herself lying on her back on the fur bedding. Keeping his jaw locked around the top of her breast, she felt him shift so the weight of his lower body was not on her as his arm slid up her back, holding her close. Soon he unlocked his jaw and she felt him lick her wound before nuzzling her chest for a few more minutes then finally pulled away, quickly fixing her clothing for her and covered her with a pelt as she rode out the high when she could hear Rin's singing getting closer. She felt Sesshomaru move to sit beside her and she shifted her hand slight and felt his leg beside her and gripped his hamakas as she tried to ground herself while the world started to spin.

"Vann sleeping already...?" She heard Rin ask quietly and before she could respond, Sesshomaru hummed in answer.

It probably was the best answer since she was still struggling to think properly. She felt Rin quietly crawl under her pelt on the bedding, humming quietly to herself as she got comfortable before quietly falling quiet. Before long she could hear Rin's steady breaths as she fell asleep and opened her eyes as her body finally started to feel normal again. She looked up at Sesshomaru and his fingers brushed along her cheek as he looked down at her, his eyes still flicking between white and pink. She brought her hand up and wrapped her fingers around his, smiling up at him before closing her eyes again and let herself drift off.