THREE MONTHS LATER
It was definitely colder than when she'd left. Patches of snow mottled the ground and clung to the trees, and foliage that was green and lush before was now shriveled and brown. It had only been a few days, but Kouga was right. Winter hit hard and fast in these regions.
Several of the tribe's females, and their children were on the perimeters of the den, fashioning warmer attire out of a wide assortment of lynx and rabbit pelts. Others seemed to have taken Kagura's idea and were sewing together long sheets of the soft stuff, for bedding.
Kagura inhaled deeply and looked in mild annoyance at her twitching hands - a left over side effect from her brutal sacrifices. The shaking had gotten better over the past couple months, but it was still there. And after spending several nights away, without Kouga's warm and comforting body curled around her, she'd had a slight lapse. Slipping them inside of her kimono to hide them, she dismounted her feather.
Several faces looked up as she descended. She felt their stare as clearly as the chill, but at least it wasn't as awkward as it once was. Generally, they tried to ignore her, which was something she preferred.
Padded feet dropped down on cold stone. Most of the females had quieted, and gone back to their skins, but a few of the bolder ones held her gaze. And naturally, those were the ones she addressed.
"Were there any incidents in my absence?" she asked calmly.
A mild shaking of heads. The violet-eyed female - the one Kagura had acknowledged as the unnamed matriarch of the tribe, voiced the negative.
"None. Though Kouga won't be too thrilled that you've returned. He was hoping you were gone for good."
It took her a moment to process the fact that the female was giving her more than a one-word answer. Almost like she was initiating conversation. "Is..." she cleared her throat, "Is that right?"
"Mmm."
Unable to resist, Kagura's lip curled up in a trademark sneer, and she held up her wrist to pointedly admire the iron bracelet of hers and Kouga's sealing. "Maybe I should go remind him where his affections lie."
A handful of the females grinned in amusement before they hurriedly looked back down. Had she not heard a chuckle or two, she would have thought she'd imagined it. Are they finally relaxing around me? It seemed they liked the idea of their leader being put through the tortures of a 'forced' matrimony with someone that he 'hated'. Especially since Kouga put on such a great show when he was protesting. No doubt a wonderful source of entertainment for the tribe.
Hn... Keeping her thoughts to herself, she left them and made her way up the mountain path…only to nearly stumble over a bundle of moreno limbs and black fur that was pushed out in front of her. The tumble squeaked, and dove back at the tree from whence he emerged, landing himself in a scuffle with his brother.
She smiled internally. The twins... They always seemed to be flanking Kouga's sides, smitten with the most obvious case of leader worship she'd ever seen. Maybe it was because they were in the den so often, or perhaps it was that they all shared an affection for the wolf prince in common, but the two pups had gotten accustomed to her presence more quickly than the others. One might even say that the little tykes liked her.
Kagura quirked a brow at them as they fell all over each other, making the one all the more embarrassed. He turned and bopped his brother on the head.
"Bink! You monkey turd!"
Giggle giggle, punch, kick. "Hey, Kagura! Bonk missed you!"
"SHUTUP!"
"He...he thinks you're real pretty!"
"AGH!! I'll kill you!"
Kagura felt the blood rush to her face with an odd sensation she later recognized as flattery. Well, this is a first… She tried her hardest to keep a straight face, and opened her mouth to respond with her usual witty flippancy. But no words would come out. She had no practiced comeback for this. None at all.
"Look! You embarrassed her, you idiot!" Bonk cried, and lunged after his brother with both fists swinging. Bink dodged, and high tailed it down the hill with an angry twin on his heels. As their giggles and shouts faded, Kagura finally letting a surprised laugh trickle off her lips. Such a warm welcome, already, and all without even seeing her husband yet.
Contented, she moved on into the den. Kouga was sitting there with Hakkaku, Ginta, and a handful of others, going over some parchments. His head shot up when she entered, barely tempering a smile in time to make it a scowl.
"Bah! I smelled your stink on the wind minutes ago, wench. And here I got my hopes up, thinking you'd never return!"
She smirked. "I missed you, too."
He visibly sulked, and she noticed the crinkled eyes and repressed chuckles of his buddies as they watched the display.
"Well, get your ass outside," Kouga barked. "We're in the middle of an important meeting-"
"It's just food storage," Ginta commented, a moment later nursing a Kouga-inflicted bump on his head.
"We'll see how unimportant you think it is when two months from now, YOU DON'T HAVE IT!"
"Kouga," Kagura interrupted.
"WHAT!?"
She made her way up towards his sleeping quarters, which were now hidden securely behind a thick, soundproof door. "I haven't seen my husband for days. I'd like to have a word with him."
"Keh! If you think I'm just going to let you strut in here and yank me around-"
With a deliberate flick of her fan, a dust devil materialized in the den directly under the pack leader. He yelped as it twisted his body up in the air, all his limbs stretching out in a spastic manner. She sauntered on into his quarters and didn't miss the laughter of his friends as he was hurled in half a second later, sputtering loud curses all the way.
But his boisterous protesting stopped the second the door closed. He dropped the façade, and crossed the distance between them in two giant steps, nearly winding her with his embrace. Big arms wrapped around her little frame, lifting her off the floor. She quickly clasped her shaky hands behind his neck to keep him from seeing the state her post-trauma nerves had digressed to. It's not like they weren't going to get better, now that she was back home. So why worry him?
"You were gone forever…" he muffled against her neck as he nuzzled it vigorously. "Two weeks, at least."
She smiled, tilting her head to the side. "It was only a few days."
He moved his kisses to her jaw…her ear… "Better've finished… M'not letting you leave, again."
"The…" her speech slurred. The fact was, she had missed him too, but it was especially difficult to stay coherent when he was smothering her like this. "The barrier is in place. Villagers…are safe. Shyouga is now their guardian…"
He paused. "Shyouga?"
"Mm…"
His deep, chuckling exhale blew hotly down her collar, penetrating the silk of her kimono. Her breath caught. There was something unbelievably arousing about being laughed - not at, not with - but laughed on. She couldn't explain it, and didn't even try.
"As long as it frees you up," he purred, pulled back and rubbed her nose. He leaned in to kiss her lips, and she pulled back teasingly.
"I'll still visit them, you know."
He snorted good-naturedly. "The hell you will. If it weren't for my good graces, then you wouldn't have been able to leave to begin with."
She quirked a brow. "Oh? You might consider being nicer to me, Prince Kouga. Another male in your tribe has already expressed interest in me, so I'd watch if it I were you."
His smile straightened. "What?"
"Mm-hmm."
His grip loosened as he reeled back, a green hue tinting his skin while red pinpricks flashed in his eyes. "Who!?"
She shrugged nonchalantly, and turned her back to him, suddenly finding her fingernails very, very interesting. "And he's cute, too."
"WHO!? I swear, I'll rip his eyes out for even-"
"Bonk."
"looking at…" Pause. "Bonk?"
Her shoulders started to shake with mirth. "Bonk."
Another pause. She looked back to see his face flushed with embarrassment. Kouga rubbed his brow in exasperation, shaking his head. "You trying to start an inter-tribal war?"
She turned back around and grabbed his waist in a placating gesture. "Well, that's not all. Some of the tribe's females made eye contact with me, today."
His face opened in honest surprise. "Oh?"
She nodded. "I think I even made some of them laugh. At your expense, of course."
His arms dropped, and he slid his hands behind her, clasping them low against her back. "They're getting accustomed to you," he said, and she didn't miss the pleased tone in his voice. "Good. The sooner they grow to accept you, the sooner I can stop pretending to hate you in public."
She smirked. "I don't mind the fights."
A half second later, Kouga found himself caged against the wall. He blinked down at her in brief surprise, and then laughed, hoisting her up against him. Conversation over, he caught her lips and immediately slipped his tongue between her teeth, impatient hands moving to caress all the places they weren't allowed to before… And well…
…there was only one way to end a kiss like that.
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