Disclaimer- It's not mine. Never was. All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Dodo- Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like the story so much. As for writing more Kagome/Kouga fics……I might. I'm not sure as of yet.

Leucothea- Hot in L.A., huh? I believe you. The weather where I'm at is fluctuating like crazy! One minute it's hot, and the next it's cold. I don't know what's going on. Anyway, hope you like the chapter, and thanks for the review.

PrettyGirl18- The fluff is coming in the next chapter. I had to get rid of Kikyou first. So, don't worry, it will be there.

Airen2- I think they were referring to this chapter when they mentioned the gory stuff. Personally, I don't think it's that bad, but obviously they do. Anyhow, thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Tiger- Here you go. The next chapter just for you.

A/N- Okay, here's the next chapter. I hope everyone enjoys it. And we get to see exactly what happens to Kikyou in here. Hehehehe. Enjoy. (Oh, and this chapter is full of blood and fighting, so uh, sorry if no one likes that kind of stuff.)

Later,

A.A.

Chapter 34

As the snakes continued to circle the three wolf demons, Kagome began to get more agitated and scared. The first snake demon lashed out, swiping at Mika and hissing loudly. The rest of the demons, taking this as a signal to start their barrage, began to bore down on the wolves and the human girl. Kagome, stuck between the enormous half-dead, poisonous oak tree, and her three friends, only cringed as the wolf demons fought and fended off the monster snakes. Her blood was pumping and the adrenaline in her body told her to do something to help, anything at all. She watched as Kouga ripped apart one demon after another who was bent on bringing her to Kikyou. She could not see the wolf prince's face, but she had no doubt that his eyes were bleeding the crimson red color that preceded a full demon transformation she had seen in Inuyasha so many times during their battles in the search for the Shikon shards.

Mika and Raidon were battling as best they could against the intruders. Apparently, the snakes had thought to take the wolf demons on one at a time, but that quickly proved futile as Mika and her prince attacked the slithering snakes with barely controlled rage. As it so happened, one of the demon snakes Mika had ripped to shreds, and consequently now lay bleeding to death at her feet, had been carrying a bow and arrows. Kagome, in her adrenaline fueled fear, yanked the familiar weapons from the steaming, hissing corpse, and quickly knocked an arrow, shooting it over her friend's heads and right into an advancing wave of snakes. The arrow was true, and hit its mark, bringing one of the snakes to its knees in pain. Kagome grabbed another arrow right as the decapitated form of another snake flew into the tree right above her, smashing the bark and causing the tree to crack violently down the middle. Kagome stared in horror as the headless body slid down the tree, coating the bark with the steaming red blood of the snake. When it landed near her feet, Kagome backed away as the corpse began to shake from the nerves still in the body. But what caught her attention was the charred spots where the poison in the tree had come into contact with the flesh of the body.

'Of course!' she thought frantically, grabbing another arrow and coating the tip in the poison held within the tree. 'Poison tipped arrows!' She quickly knocked the arrow and sent it flying past Kouga's head and into the snakes perched in the trees. Once again, the arrow hit its mark, and the targeted snake demon fell to the ground with a blood curdling hiss as the skin around the embedded arrowhead began to char and peel off. The other archers, taking this as an insult, began firing their arrows relentlessly. Thankfully, since the snakes had bad eyesight, always relying on their hearing and dense of taste, they hardly hit their intended marks. Kagome continued to shoot the poisoned arrows, taking down as many as she could, and hoping this would be over with soon.

Meanwhile, Kouga was ripping through the snakes in front of him, using his brute force to keep then away from Kagome. To his immediate left, he could hear the snakes of his pack members, and the soft 'twang' of Kagome's bowstring as it sent the arrows flying past him, mixed in with the angry hisses of the snakes. At his feet lay at least twenty bodies of the foolish youkai that had tried to get past him and to Kagome. He grimaces as the momentary lapse in his concentration allowed one of the snakes to graze his shoulder with a sharp pike. He growled and quickly gripped the pike and immobilized the snake by cutting his head off. He had already received a number of superficial cuts and scratches, but nothing too serious, although the blood of snakes covered his entire body.

Raidon growled and snapped as another wave of youkai came forward, swords drawn. 'And obviously ready to die!!' he though angrily. As the snakes charged forth underneath the waves of ill aimed arrows fired by their comrades, he watched as Mika was cut badly by one of the swords being wielded by the snakes. The demoness' eyes flashed blood red as she grabbed the sword and violently impaled its owner on the blade. She'd had enough of this ridiculous fight, and Raidon could tell something was about to break inside the proud demoness. '

These bastards have desecrated my home, killed one of my brothers, and now scheme to kill my Lady and her pup!' Mika thought as her eyes turned completely crimson and stayed that way. 'They will pay for such insolence!!' The advancing wave of snake demons stopped to stare as the white haired demoness began to shift forms. Her face elongated, and her body grew. Her skin was being replaced by white fur that had been bloodstained during the scramble. In less than ten seconds, where there had once stood the fighting demoness, now stood an infuriated white wolf twice the size of a normal human.

Mika, almost completely out of control of her wolfish instincts, leapt into the crowd of snakes in front of her, breaking the protective barrier they had formed around Kagome. She was in a blood rage, and intended to kill the intruders who dared to trespass on her home lands and threaten her Lady.

Unfortunately, the distraction of the changing demoness was all that was needed for Matsuma. He broke rank and quickly positioned himself behind the tree Kagome was in front of. The fight between the wolves and his men had distracted Kouga enough for him to move unnoticed. He quickly capitalized off of this advantage, and reached around the tree, grabbing Kagome and jerking her to him.

"AHHHH! KOUGA!!" she yelled, dropping her bow and beginning to struggle as the snake demon slithered away. Her plaintive cry was enough to draw the wolf's attention away from the battle in front of him. When he turned to see what was wrong with Kagome, he saw her struggling to get out of Matsuma's iron grip.

"KAGOME!!" he cried. The demons he had been battling used this distraction to their advantage once again, and quickly jumped the angered wolf prince, pinning him to the ground. Kagome watches as her friends were quickly being overrun by the snakes. She cried out and struggled harder against her captor, using the arrow she still clutched as a knife, she drove it into Matsuma's leg.

"Bitch!!" he hissed over the din of the battle. "You'll pay for that with your life!"

"Let me go!!" Kagome screamed, thrashing about and driving the arrow deeper into the scaly leg. "Let me go!!! Leave me alone, you snake!!!!" the snake demon hissed in pain and pulled the arrow out of his leg, allowing Kagome to break his grip on her.

"Lady Kikyou will just have to wait." he hissed. "I will kill you first!" The snake threw her to the ground and raised his sword. He had pinned her arms to her side, and she could do nothing but look up into the murderous green slit eyes of her soon to be executioner. She clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the death blow that would kill her and her child.

But it never came.

Kagome felt the swish as the youkai's sword came towards her, but a feral growl split the air and Kagome felt the weight of the demon fall off of her, and the 'thunk' as the snake's body hit the tree and fell to the ground. Kagome opened her eyes and found herself looking up to the crouched form of Lord Jiro standing in front of her, his auburn hair waving and his claws flexed in front of him. She shook her head to make sure she was not seeing things, but when she felt a pair of hands grip her shoulder and pull her to her feet, she knew she was not imagining things. Kagome quickly spun around, only to find Laniko's grim face.

"Kagome? Are you okay?" she asked quickly, watching as Jiro and Matsuma began to battle.

"I'm fine, but Kouga and the others are going to die if you don't do something to help them!" Kagome said vehemently.

"They'll be fine. But we've got to get you out of here before anything else happens to you! Let's go!!" she growled, slashing at a youkai that had tried to get to Kagome. Laniko pulled Kagome along the path to get her out of the middle of the fray. The demoness kept a sharp eye out for any more intruders, and stopped a few hundred feet into the woods where they could not be seen. Before she could catch her breath, Kagome heard the soft twang of a bowstring letting an arrow loose. She glanced up and saw the arrow flying straight for Laniko. Without thinking, Kagome grabbed the demoness and pushed her to the ground as the arrow flew right where her head would have been, embedding itself in a tree. The demoness picked herself up from the ground and turned to face the intruder.

"Who goes there?" she growled out, flexing her claws. Kikyou came out of the shadows of the trees, perched on a branch above them, an eerily calm countenance on her face.

"It is best for you to leave, she-wolf." Kikyou said calmly, eyeing the demoness with nothing but disgust on her face. "You have no concern here."

"What do you want, Kikyou?" Kagome yelled, her hand automatically going to her rounded belly as an unconscious effort to protect her child. "What's the point of this? Why are you doing this??!"

"I want your life." she stated calmly. "I want you to pay for what you've done to me."

"You won't touch her!" Laniko barked, baring her fangs as the priestess. "Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged." Kikyou said calmly, knocking an arrow and pulling the string taunt. "I have no qualms in killing you in order to get to her."

"My son had chosen this girl as his mate. As such, she is under my family's protection." Laniko growled, stepping in front of Kagome.

"Very well, then. You've made you're choice." Kikyou said calmly. Kagome watched as the next few seconds seemed to go by in slow motion. The arrow flew from Kikyou's bow, glowing faintly with the stolen power of the Shikon jewel. Laniko had not been quick enough to dodge the arrow, and it lodged in the demoness' stomach, causing her to drop to her knees as the purification energy shot through her body, effectively purifying the demon blood that was present. Blood immediately began to stain the fur wrappings Laniko wore, and Kagome dropped to her knees, holding the demoness' head in her lap.

"Kikyou! You witch!!" Kagome bit out. "How could you do this? She's innocent!"

"The purifying power won't kill her, just disable her enough for Matsuma's soldiers to finish her off. You're the only one I want." Kikyou said, her voice eerily calm and emotionless as she jumped down from the branch of the tee and walked over to the squirming demoness in Kagome's lap.

Laniko clutched her stomach and snarled at the older miko. She caught the faint rustle of the trees above her, and blinked as she thought she saw a flash of red pass overhead.

"What are you doing?" she questioned icily. "I can understand your anger towards Kagome, but why get my family involved in this? It makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense." Kikyou answered. "I knew once Inuyasha had chosen me so many weeks ago, that Kouga would try to help my reincarnation because of his blind devotion to her. Unfortunately, when she came up pregnant, I had to alter my original plans for revenge. Originally, I only wanted her death as payment for the problems she'd caused by coming to this era in the first place. But when I found out she was with child, and with Inuyasha as the father, I knew I would not be able to rest until every trace of her was gone."

"What of Inuyasha?" Kagome growled, her anger rising by leaps and bounds. "Did you ever release him from that ridiculous spell you had put him under? Does he even know what you are doing?!"

"He was never really under any type of spell." Kikyou clarified, a maniacal grin on her face. "The seeds of doubt were already in his pathetic little mind. I just nourished then until he had convinced himself that his fears were in actuality real, and that no matter what he did to rectify his mistakes with me, you would never forgive him and take him back into your life." Kagome frowned and shook her head, not wanting to believe the girl that was supposed to be her incarnate. "I never had to use a spell on the simpleton. It was easy enough to manipulate him without it."

"Fine, but why poison our lands?" Laniko barked. "Even you should realize that seventy or so snake demons are not enough to take the lands back. Why bring them into this?"

"The poisoning of the land was only bait to drag my reincarnation here." Kikyou answered. "I planned my visits to the Yoshido couple to coincide with the visits your son had been taking up here. I heard him tell one of his followers that he was going to bring Kagome up here the next time, so I planned accordingly. Getting the snake youkai angry enough to want revenge was simple enough, considering their obvious resentment to the wolf demon family."

"You used them?" Kagome sneered. "Just like you used Inuyasha." Laniko grimaced and fell still, barely breathing. Kagome looked down at the demoness and tried to wake her. It was true that Kikyou's arrow had not been charged enough to kill Laniko instantly, but it was doing a considerable amount of damage.

"What is your point?" Kikyou asked, pulling an arrow from her quiver. "I got what I wanted, and now you will die." She raised the arrow up and pulled the string taunt, aiming it straight at Kagome's stomach. "See you in Hell!"

"I don't think so!" yelled Laniko, suddenly coming up from her hunched over position and swiping at the older miko, effectively catching her forearm and forcing the priestess to drop the arrow. "RUN KAGOME!!" she yelled. "GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!" Kagome, now seeing that Laniko was indeed alive, got to her feet, running as fast as she could -considering she was five months pregnant- away from the angry Kikyou.

Laniko watched as the girl ran as fast as she possibly could out of the forest. The demoness turned back to Kikyou and smirked painfully. The priestess' forearm had been cut deeply by her claws, but it obviously was not enough to deter her. Kikyou picked her bow up and swung it at a still injured Laniko, knocking her on her back.

"I've had enough of you, wolf." Kikyou said icily. "You die now." Laniko looked up at the priestess and growled as she pulled another arrow and knocked it. "Defiant to the end, are you not?" she questioned. Kikyou pulled the bowstring taunt and released it, watching in morbid satisfaction as the sliver of wood buried itself in the demoness' chest. Kikyou watch, an evilly amused smile on her face as the she-wolf fell back and did not move again, her blood soaking through the already saturated fur wraps and pooling on the forest floor. "Stupid wolf." Kikyou kicked the unresponsive demoness and looked into the trees, trying to sense where Kagome had ran to. She quickly picked up the girl's trail and took off into the forest. 'She's nearly five months pregnant, and completely defenseless.' Kikyou thought cynically. 'She will not get far before I get to her.'

Meanwhile, Kouga was fighting his way up form under the dog pile of snake youkai that had pinned him down. When he finally got up, he took off after the track Matsuma had taken into the woods, leaving Raidon and Mika to finish up the remaining snake demons. Before he got far, six snake demons dropped out of the forest canopy, blocking his way into the trees. Kouga snarled as his eyes burned crimson. He pulled the sword from the scabbard at his waist and slashed at the demons with a cut throat precision that could only have been matched by Sesshomauro. The demons fell to the ground in a pool of spurting blood, half their bodies in one direction, and the other half in the opposite direction. Once again, he took off in the direction Matsuma had taken, dead set on getting to Kagome.

He quickly found his father, dead bodies surrounding the proud wolf Lord.

"Father!"

"Kouga!" Jiro said quickly, dead serious as he looked upon the angry, anguished face of his oldest son. "Laniko took Kagome into the forest to get her away from the battle. And Laniko has not returned yet. Moments ago, I caught the scent of Laniko's blood on the wind, and the smell of another female."

"Where did they go?" Kouga asked quickly. Jiro pointed west, into the forest, and shook his head.

"We will both go. I need to find out what has caused Laniko to bleed so profusely. Her blood scent is saturated in the air." Kouga nodded, and took off beside his father. It was no time before the two male demons came across Laniko's battered, beaten, and bloodied body lying on the ground.

"Laniko!" Jiro cried, going down to cradle his mate's pale face in his lap. "Laniko, wake up!" Kouga knelt down and quickly broke the arrows in her chest, pulling them out as carefully as possible.

"Are you okay, Lady?" Kouga asked, full of concern about his step-mother. Laniko, having regained some strength, frowned at the two of them, reverting to her sense of humor to try and lighten the mood around her mate and step-son

"You just pulled two arrows out of my chest, one of which was charged with miko purifying energy." she stated dryly, trying to sit up. "Do you think I feel alright?" Jiro picked her up and frowned.

"I'm taking her to Cali's hut. It is not far from here." he said calmly. "Where did Kagome go, love?" Jiro asked, looking down at his mate.

"She took off into the woods." Laniko grimaced. "That witch Kikyou's after her. She's going to try to kill Kagome and the baby." Kouga growled, and Laniko put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Go get her, Kouga. Kikyou means to kill your mate and the child she carries. Stop her before two more lives are lost in this battle."

"When you get her," Jiro said seriously, "bring her to Cali's hut. I'm afraid she might have hurt the child by witnessing the fight." Kouga nodded and took off towards the direction Laniko had pointed to, leaving his father to take care of Laniko.

"Where are Raidon and Mika?" Laniko asked wearily, resting her head on her mate's shoulder.

"They should be finished taking care of the rest of the snake demons." he said quickly, taking to the air. "I'm taking you to Cali." Laniko only nodded, letting him carry her to the hanyou's hut. 'Kouga, you better get to her in time to save her.' she thought tiredly. 'Because if I took these holes in me for no reason, Jiro's going to have to pull me off of your sorry hide…'

Kagome ran as fast as she could into the forest, her adrenaline keeping her moving from the fear of her child getting hurt. She stumbled into a small clearing and looked around, taking a few moments to catch her breath. She could hear Kikyou behind her, swiftly catching up with her. She was completely exhausted and totally defenseless in her current state. Her legs gave out from pure exhaustion and she fell to the ground.

'Kouga and the others are still fighting, and Laniko isn't here, either.' she thought frantically, getting up from the ground. 'Oh, Kami, what am I going to do? I can't fight Kikyou like this!' It was only a few seconds later that Kikyou appeared at the edge of the clearing, her emotionless mask in place.

"Tired of running?" Kikyou asked, a cynical smile on her face as she walked into the clearing and closer towards the exhausted Kagome.

"What are you doing here, Kikyou?" she cried out. "What has my child done to you for you to want to kill it? It's completely innocent!!"

"Are you begging for your life?" Kikyou asked coldly. "I find that quite amusing."

"I'm begging you to leave my child alone." Kagome said simply. "He has done nothing to you."

"I can not allow that." Kikyou said. "In order for the child to live, so must you. Any ties you have ever had to that hanyou must be broken, and the child is one."

"This child is part of Inuyasha. You wouldn't take that away form him, would you?" Kagome asked, trying to find a way out of the precarious situation she was in. "Would you kill the child of the man you love?"

"I could not care less about that soft hearted hanyou." the older miko said as she pulled an arrow out and knocked it in her bow, then pulling the string taunt. "As far as I'm concerned, he has no part in this." Kagome backed up against a tree and shook her head.

"Kikyou……please….."

"It's too late for that." she said emotionlessly, taking aim at Kagome. "Your time in this world has expired. See you in Hell!!!" Kagome bowed her head as the tears began to fall again. She knew she was going to die now. Her energy gone, her friends being beaten, and her child's life forfeited all because she had given up her power form the Shikon jewel in order to bare the child she loved so much.

"KAGOME!!!" came a panicked voice from her left. Kagome's eyes flew open and darted to the treetops where quick flashes of white and red caught her attention. 'Inuyasha!' Kikyou growled and turned her bow and arrow to the flashes, quickly releasing thee arrows in succession at the blurs. None of the arrows connected, mainly due to her fear at being caught by Inuyasha while trying to kill Kagome. She pulled another arrow and searched for the flashes that had stopped.

"What are you doing here, Inuyasha?!" Kikyou screamed. "This has nothing to do with you!" The white and red blur of Inuyasha was too quick for the priestess, and he knocked into as he jumped down from his hidden vantage point on a tree branch, causing her to drop the bow and send it flying away from the angered priestess.

"You…" he growled, grabbing her arm and pulling her up to him Kikyou noticed that his words seemed a little slurred, and she grinned. "You're the reason all this happened!" The anger in his eyes was terrifying, and Kagome seriously wondered if he was going to turn full demon and destroy both her and the child.

"Inuyasha…I didn't…..I never…" she stuttered, pulling herself out of his grasp.

"Shut up, Kikyou!" he growled. "I know the truth now. I heard everything."

"But, Inu…I didn't mean it…." Kikyou said, trying to convince him of her innocence. He frowned as his head began to swim, making everything around him seem like it was moving. He turned to Kagome, his eyes softening into genuine concern as he watched her shake like a leaf in autumn.

"Kagome, you okay?" he asked gently.

"I'm fine, Inuyasha." the girl answered shakily, noticing the difference in his voice as he slurred the simple question. Inuyasha nodded, and turned back to Kikyou.

"How could you, Kikyou?" he asked more clearly, advancing on the girl. "How could you do this? You're a miko. You're not supposed to take life."

Kikyou glared up at him ad reached for the dagger she had hidden in her sleeve. She pulled it out and infused her weakening miko powers into the blade, slashing at Inuyasha. Inuyasha, still in a daze, dodged as best as he could, but Kagome noticed that his movements seemed sluggish.

'He should be passed out by now, wherever he is.' Kikyou's words flitted through her mind as the hanyou contined to dodge the woman's attacks.

"She's drugged him." Kagome whispered, realizing why his movements were so slow. Inuyasha finally managed to get a single hit in, and sent Kikyou to the ground in an ungraceful heap.

"This has got to stop." Inuyasha said. "You've got to stop this, Kikyou."

"I won't stop until I'm dead, or she's dead." Kikyou said, pointing to Kagome as she stood up and faced him once more. "Who is it going to be, Inuyasha? Me or her?"

"Her." he said seriously.

"What?" she screeched. "How could you turn your back on me? How could you betray me with my reincarnation?" Fortunately, Inuyasha was saved from having to answer due to the arrival of Kouga, and a still transformed Mika.

"Kagome!" Kouga cried, going to her side immediately. "Are you hurt? What's dog-turd doing here? Did he do this to you? I swear to Kami, I'll kill him if he laid one finger on you!"

"He saved me, Kouga." Kagome said, leaning on the wolf demon. "He stopped Kikyou from killing me and our baby. But something's wrong with him. He's acting strange and his words are slurring together!" Kouga glared at the hanyou, not picking up on the fact that Kagome had just referred to the child she carried as 'their' child, and not Inuyasha's. His attention was quickly drawn to the still transformed Mika, who stood growling and snarling not far from Kikyou and Inuyasha. 'Oh dear Kami, she's gonna tear that miko bitch to pieces.' Kouga thought as he watched Mika stalk towards the angry Kikyou, the wolf's eyes in a fury of revenge at having found the creature responsible for desecrating her homelands and trying to kill her Lady.

"Mika!" Kouga yelled, "Don't…." But it was too later for the miko. The raging wolf demoness had pounced on Kikyou, and thrown Inuyasha to the other side of the clearing with one swipe of her huge paw. The angry she-wolf knew that the inu-hanyou was not the one responsible for this mess, it was the woman in front of her. Kikyou struggled under the demoness' paws, screeching to be let go. Before the miko could charge up her remaining purifying powers, Mika growled and latched her jaws around the priestess' neck. The wolf demon jerked her head up, and everyone in the clearing heard a sickening 'crack' as Mika broke Kikyou's neck, killing the conniving woman once and for all.

As the blood continued to flow and coat the white fur of the demoness, Kouga pulled Kagome into his chest, shielding her eyes from the bloody mess Mika was creating. He could hear her strangled sobs as she finally let her fear overwhelm her, safe in Kouga's reassuring arms.

Inuyasha, finally recovering from the trip across the clearing, staggered closer to where Kagome was before finally hitting the ground.

"Kikyou…." he said slowly, the drug finally taking a hold of him fully as he watched Kikyou's body being thrown around like a rag doll by the angered demoness. "Kagome...I'm sorry…." And with that final apology, Inuyasha crumpled to the ground, his energy completely spent.

Kouga held onto Kagome tightly as he watched the color drain from her face as she heard the sounds of the fight behind her. Mika on the other hand, seemed to calm down after literally draining Kikyou of the life giving blood. The wolf let go of the once dead (and now dead again) miko, and the air around her began to shimmer a silvery gray as she reverted back to her humanoid form. She too, collapsed to the ground as the adrenaline left her body and exhaustion set in. The blue eyed demoness took one look at Kikyou's mangled body and bowed her head, whispering only,

"Kami, forgive me..." as she passed out not far from Inuyasha. Kagome, sensing that the battle was over, quickly turned around and knelt down between the two fallen warriors, checking for pulses as a way to assure herself that they were indeed still alive. It was then that she once again broke down into uncontrollable sobs as Kouga pulled her away form the blood covered, unconscious warriors.

The wind whirled around them and Kouga looked up to see his younger brother in the clearing, blood running down his body and dripping into the saturated clearing ground.

"Kouga?" he said, running to his brother's side. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yes. Kikyou's dead, but everyone else is fine." Kouga answered seriously.
"Where's father?"

"Gone to take Laniko to Cali's hut to have her checked out." Kouga answered, shifting Kagome in his arms. "I'm taking Kagome and Mika there as well." Kouga said, letting go of Kagome for only a split second in order to grip Mika and haul her up to his shoulder. He grabbed Kagome once again and was about to take off when Kagome stopped him.

"Kouga…" she asked, sniffling and looking down to the fallen Inuyasha. "Bring Inuyasha as well, please?"

"Are you crazy!" Raidon squawked. "After what we just went through, and you want to help that bastard dog?!"

"He stopped her from killing me." Kagome said tiredly. "There's something wrong with him, or he wouldn't be passed out right now."

"Fine." Kouga relented unhappily. "Raidon, grab the hanyou and come on. Cali can check him over, and then he's got some explaining to do." Raidon grumbled, but grabbed the unconscious form of Inuyasha and threw him on his shoulder, taking off after his older brother, and leaving Kikyou's beaten and bloodied body in the clearing.

They arrived at Cali's hut not too long after Jiro had arrived with Laniko. Kouga heard the dragon hanyou bustling around the inside of the hut long before he ever got there. His father met him at the doorway, motioning for Kouga to put the two women on cots that Cali had already set up. Kouga released Mika and placed her on a cot, but refused to let Kagome go. Cali, hearing the cries from Kagome, looked up from her bandaging of Laniko's body and frowned, her reptilian eyes cloudy with emotions, mostly anger.

"Kagome was in the fray also?" she asked quickly. Kouga nodded at the hanyou and frowned.

"She was the one they were after, but I don't think she' s injured physically." he said. Cali nodded and quickly finished bandaging Laniko. She grabbed a small kettle of water and placed it on the hearth to be warmed, while Kouga finally got Kagome calmed down.

"What are you doing?" Raidon asked. "This is no time to be cooking!"

"Silence, you insolent little whelp!" Cali barked, glaring at the younger brother. "I know what I'm doing. The best thing you can do is get something and clean yourself up so I can see what damage has been done." Raidon flinched at the coldness and disrespect in the hanyou's voice. The tension was running high in the hut, and it seemed as though it was hitting Raidon the hardest.

"How dare you speak to me like that, you half-breed!" Raidon growled, his adrenaline beginning to flow again at the insult. Cali looked over at him, her fangs bared and her wings beginning to unfurl around her.

"If you don't want to be purified, I suggest you back down, wolf prince." she growled. "You forget what I am capable of." Raidon backed down as Jiro shot him a warning glare from the other side of the room. Raidon backed down and continued to watch the hanyou as she went about her business. "If the girl was privy to the fight," Cali explained simply, "she could very well loosed her child due to the shock. She needs to calm down before she injures herself or her child any further." Cali poured the now steaming water over a combination of different herbs, making a form of hot tea. She walked over to where Kagome was curled up on Kouga's lap and gently touched the girl's shoulder.

"Lady?" she asked gently, her tone less severe and more coaxing, but just as insistent. Kagome turned her bleary eyes to the dragon hanyou and hiccupped.

"Cali?" Kagome asked, recognizing the demoness' face almost instantly.

"Yes, Lady, it is I." she said.

"How is everyone?" Kagome asked quickly. "Where is Laniko? What about Inuyasha? Is Mika okay?"

"Kagome, listen to me carefully." Cali said, catching the girl's head and forcing her still. "Laniko is fine, as I'm sure the others will be. You on the other hand, need to drink this and calm down before your body goes crazy from shock and tries to abort the baby." Kagome nodded and took the tea, quickly gulping it down in one mouthful, effectively burning her tongue and scalding her throat.

"How long before it takes effect?" Kouga asked, taking the cup from Kagome's hands and putting it on the floor next to him.

"It will work quicker if she were asleep." Cali said, looking straight at Kouga and nodding towards Kagome. Kouga nodded in understanding.

"I couldn't sleep if I tried." Kagome said absently, looking over at Inuyasha's unconscious body. Kouga placed his hands on Kagome's shoulders, massaging the muscles to try and make her relax. Kagome took the contact unthreatening, so when Kouga's hand rest on her neck, she thought nothing of it, lost in her own thoughts.

Kouga quickly pressed the pressure point on her neck, holding it till Kagome's body went limp and fell into him, the only visible motion coming as her chest fell and rose steadily in even breaths.

"I'm sorry, love." he muttered, placing her on the pallet next to Inuyasha and Mika.

"She's only going to stay out for a few hours." Raidon muttered as Cali turned her attention to his own wounds.

"That'll be long enough for her system to relax." Cali said, wiping the demon blood off of the younger prince, their momentary quarrel earlier completely forgotten. Jiro nodded and grabbed another skin to clean himself up. His and his son's wounds were already beginning to heal, but they still needed to be leaned to prevent infection.

The entire group fell into silence as Cali checked over the wolf royalty, the turned her attention to Inuyasha and Mika. After checking them over, she concluded that Mika was just exhausted, and Inuyasha had indeed been drugged, causing him to fall into a deep slumber.

"There's nothing we can do until they all wake up." Cali sighed, taking a skin and wiping the grime off of her hands when she finished her ministrations.

"How long?" Jiro and Kouga asked simultaneously, referring to the unconscious women.

"A few hours at the latest, and all four of them should be back up." she said, taking the bowls of dirty water to go dump out. She stepped out of the hut, leaving Jiro and his sons with the still forms of Laniko, Mika, Inuyasha, and Kagome.

"We need to report back to the dens." Kouga said absently. "They are going to be wondering where we are."

"They can wait." Jiro said forcefully, looking down at his fallen mate's ashen face and clutching her hand in desperation. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I'll go." Raidon said. "There's nothing I can do here." Jiro nodded, turning his attention back to Laniko. Raidon excused himself and took off as soon as he was outside. He knew his brother and father would not move until Laniko and Kagome woke up. It was the way things worked with most demon males. If something had happened to their partners, the males would stay by their side until they either got better or died, usually forgoing food for days at a time in their silent watch over their mates. The females were the same, if their mate was injured. It was a sort of bond that grew when the males finally marked their mates. But what confused him was Kouga and Kagome. He knew his brother had not marked the human girl, and would not even try until the child she carried was born. 'Then why is he acting like her mate?' he wondered. 'I don't understand it, but as far as I'm concerned, after today, Kagome will always be the only one for Kouga, even with the hanyou back in the picture.'

Kouga only shook his head and sat next to Kagome as his mind whiled out of control with the events of the day.

'Why?' he though angrily. 'Why did all this have to happen? But more importantly, why did god-breath come to help her? I figured the bastard dog would side with Kikyou. What changed his mind? Does he still love Kagome, even after all the Hell he's put her through? Kami, please don't do this to me. Please don't take Kagome away from me again……'

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A/N - Okay how'd it go? I hope you guys enjoyed this little chapter.

Well, now that Inuyasha's back in the picture, and knows why Kikyou done what she done, what do you think is going to happen? Is he going to continue avoiding Kagome and only spying on her at the den until the child is born. Or, is he going to try and reconcile with Kagome?

Hmmmm…well, you'll find out soon. So don't worry too much.

Later,

A.A.

Oh, and remember to review. I want to know what ya'll think.