Author: Sorry about the long stall, I had a nasty time trying to cross back over from the underworld after certain reviewers decided to carry out certain death threats...[glares through computer screen to those who did it] I know about you...[points finger].

To those of you who followed my brother's (who anonymously signed "me"...the first death threat)...following a trend is not always a good thing, I may not be able to beat Satan in the next round of Spades to get out of there ok? Good.

Anyway, yeah, I'm a SENIOR (wooties) and school is started and my teachers are not wasting time in giving LOTS of homework...so it may be a little while before the next update...then again it may not. I'm so sorry...I wish I could just get a damn laptop and be done with it...but those things cost like friggin 1200$ so that's a no-no.

Uhhhhhh...I think that's it.

Chapter 22:

The night was chillier than it had been the past two shifts, the cold air constantly moved by a very faint breeze that made a certain wolf reluctantly wishing for a slightly thicker outfit. He bit back a shiver before tilting his head back up to look to the stars once again, understanding now why Inuyasha had taken the time to destroy even the smallest of youkai around.

He was bored...

Actually, bored was an understatement.

Lilian hadn't spent the shifts with him, partially out of his request and partially because they didn't want her father to get too suspicious about the nature of Lilian's marriage. In all honesty, they weren't sure exactly how he had been reacting to the whole "challenge" thing, he kept to himself a bit more and generally avoided the topic. At least, that's what Lilian fed to Kouga whenever they were together.

They hadn't spent too much time together, though she also didn't spend the time with Kan-ryu, because he was busy making "arrangements" even though the time and place had been set the day the challenge had been made. His suspicions of the man her eagerly overpowered by thoughts and scenarios involving the woman he sought to take as a mate.

He shut his eyes a bit and exhaled the chilled air out of his goose-bumped chest.

A memory of her scent passed through his mind, effectively calming him even more than he had been so far. The thought of her face made the edges of his lips curve into a slight, comfortable smile. The anticipation for the next day was starting to well up in him again, his foot began shaking noiselessly up and down.

He let out a small, long growl in deepest part of his chest. The sound came out more like a baritone hum, but is vibrated his chest and effectively gave him temporary relief from the cold of the night air. He held the growl as long as possible before his body betrayed him for need of air, he ceased the growl and replaced it for a sharp inhale. His body chilled immediately again as the scents of the area filled his being.

One scent took precedence, gathering all his attention and blocking out the other, more common scents.

His slight smirk became a full smile, he opened his eyes and rose to his feet, eagerly awaiting the visitor he expected. He turned his gaze to the sky, locating her approaching presence through scent. He allowed his body to be bathed in the eerily relaxing moonlight as she finally turned the last corner, taking in the sight before her.

Her heart skipped a beat at the image she saw. The wolf youkai she had only recently decided that she didn't hate, the one who had managed to become a friend, the one who had dared to kiss her, the one who would be fighting for her freedom the next day, was standing tall in the bright light of the high moon and many stars. The light breeze still moved his fur, and more visibly his tail and the pony-tailed deep black hair that a few days ago, she had held her face in. It was the first time she had seen him like this since he managed to melt her thoughts with his touch alone, and she had to admit to herself that he looked very handsome.

The splendor induced shock wore off as soon as it came, allowing her free movement of her body once again. In careful, graceful steps, she nearly glided across the ground, swiftness that was hardly heard, even by the youkai who had focused solely on her sound and smell.

It was only a moment before she closed the distance enough, stopping only a few steps to the side of the seemingly entranced creature before her, his hair still obeying the dominant desires of the refreshing breeze.

"Hello Kouga."

Her voice was quiet, not disturbing the odd tranquility of the moment. She found herself still full of joy that the time they had spent had not become awkward and tense. Kouga hadn't held it against her for too long, not telling him about Kann-ryu had become old news, quickly replaced by the challenge made two days prior.

He took in one last breath as he turned his focus and vision back upon the lavender haired woman and warrior who had effectively captured his being.

"Hello Lilian."

He spoke before his eyes fully fell upon her, revealing a very different wardrobe than before.

"You look..."

He couldn't find the right word to say. The only word that came to mind seemed ill appropriate for the present circumstances, but still, it was the only word that seemed to sum it all up.

"...beautiful..."

The last word was said in an exhalation, coming off a bit nervously as Kouga seriously pondered on whether the comment should have been taken back. After all, she did still technically have a "mate"...but then again...he would make sure that didn't last much longer. He studied her face for the reaction, realizing that he could not make a final choice on whether it was right or wrong.

She looked down over the dim pink, silk kimono, tied ceremoniously tightly, fitting to the curvatures of her form like a second skin. The green lily pad designs dotted all the way from the base of the dress end to the shoulders, and out to the sleeves. Each lily pad bordered with a thin thread of white to help them seem to jump off the silk. A lush green sash was tied across her waist, the color falling somewhere between forest green and lime green, though it favored closer to lime.

She spun around, a bit awkwardly in place. Kouga took note of the limited mobility of the outfit, a bit curious to why a warrior as powerful as her would wear such an outfit that allowed no agility and very few space to conceal weapons. Though, he had to admit, it was a bit breath taking on her.

As her back reached him completely, he took full notice of her hair, the lavender locks curled neatly into a bun that was not quite tight, but not quite loose. A few of the ends of her hair left out of the bun on purpose, hiding the point at which the back of her head ended, and the bun began. A small green pin in the shape of a lily flower and pad was tucked neatly into the strands.

She turned fully around, pulling her gaze up from the outfit she wore, and sending it to the slightly awestruck male before her. She hid a smirk and stifled a laugh, yet did not manage to hold back the flush of blood to her face.

"I saw this in the stuff that my family brought with them when they came here, its mine, but this is the first time I've ever worn it."

Kouga stepped forward without hesitation, his eyes locked on hers, walking as if almost in a daze. He reached out with one hand and rested it on her shoulder, softer than normal with the silk layer.

Both were silent as he ran his hand down her arm, feeling the fabric under his fingers. The touch sent a chill down Lilian's spine, she shut her eyes and took in a deep breath of the refreshing breeze.

"It looks nice on you."

She slowly brought her eyes open again to look him over once more.

"Thank you..."

His hand moved up again until it reached the side of her face, resting softly against the cheek. He felt her head shift a bit, leaning into the warm hand pressed against her. He leaned in slowly, catching the breath in his lungs as he moved forward, closer to the pool of the enchanting scent before him.

He brought his head to rest right next to hers, resting his temple against hers, he finally let out the breath. The warm air caressed her cheek and neck, causing her body to relax a bit more.

"Tomorrow..."

His voice slipped into the darkness so quietly that even Lilian hardly heard it.

"Tomorrow, I will set you free..."

She suppressed her shivers as the breaths passed over her ear.

"I know you will..."

With no more words needed, the two slowly parted. Lilian was blushing faintly, yet she held no look of embarrassment of shame. Kouga's expression was a bit distant, sorrow from being so close to his goal yet not being able to truly embrace it clouded his eyes. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he registered that this woman was still "claimed" for now, yet instead of depressing him further, it merely renewed his desire to win her freedom, and hopefully win her heart.

"Will you be there to cheer me on tomorrow?"

A smile inched its way onto Lilian's lips.

"Of course I will."

The contagious smile made its way to Kouga too, catching Lilian's gaze just before she turned and began to awkwardly walk off.

"I believe that you can beat him Kouga, in fact, I know you can."

The smile widened as she rounded the nearest corner and began heading back in the direction of her home.

It wasn't long before she was out of range to even smell, the change of winds deciding to carry her scent away, yet alerting him to another, less familiar presence approaching. The trademark aura of peace and tranquility accompanied the scent, allowing the little tension form anticipation of the coming battle to flow right out of him.

He only had to wait a moment before the elderly man silently came around a different corner. Turning slowly to meet Lilian's father, Kouga suppressed the urge to visibly marvel at the man's stealth, trusting only that he smelt the man to know that he was approaching. He fixed a smile on his face as his mind began to wonder, he had hardly ever spoken a word to this man, and he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to start now.

Taking the initiative in the wolf's pause, the senior ninja began to speak, his tone firm enough to demand respect, yet soft enough to display years of understanding and wisdom.

"Nice night out tonight isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is..."

As much as Kouga wanted to dwell on the past moment spent with the woman who had completely captivated him, he refused to allow himself to dishonor this man by not paying attention.

"So, Kouga...that's your name right?"

Kouga merely nodded his head to show his acknowledgement and agreement.

"You met my daughter while she was out on her last job?"

"Yeah, why do you want to know?"

His tone was curious, simply that, so the man took the question as no sign of disrespect.

"I just wanted to know how you met, and get an idea of how close you were."

A pleasant smile creased his lips before continuing.

"My daughter doesn't have a lot of friends you know..."

"She doesn't?"

"No, she spends most of her time either training or going out on the jobs like the one you met her on."

"Really...how come?"

Folding his arms behind his back, the wiser man took in a sharp inhale, and then exhaled it before speaking again.

"I think it has something to do with her husband."

Kouga tried to hide the fact that his expression changed to one of anger at the name by ducking his head to cast shadows over his face, he knew not whether the man before him caught it or not.

"What about him?"

It took everything in the "young" leader to not growl.

"Well, as you may or may not know, he won her hand in a duel. It seems to me that she loves him and all, but I think she's still a bit bitter about the fact that he beat her. That's why she is always training and taking youkai bounties, at least, that's what I think."

"Hn..."

"But that leads me to the reason I'm here Kouga..."

The wolf managed to wipe the dirty expression off his face to look up at the man, his tone taking on a more serious sound to it without a moment's notice.

"Why exactly are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

It wasn't a matter of curiosity, Kouga already knew what the man was asking, it was simply a matter seeing eye to eye for now. Kouga wasn't sure if Lilian wanted to confront her father about this whole arrangement, since it had been his idea that got her married in the first place. Deciding against it, he began fabricating an excuse, hoping that the elder man was much more gullible than it seemed.

"The challenge to Kan-ryu that you made, why are you going to do it?"

"Lilian told me about her situation with Kan-ryu and the matches that were held over her acceptance of the men's proposals. She told me that..."

His fist scrunched up behind his back.

"...as much as she loved him...she didn't like being bound to him by her word. The feeling of knowing that she was trapped because of an agreement..."

The words just began to flow on their own as Kouga's consciousness stopped analyzing every syllable as they came out.

"...That's why I'm doing this, to free her of that contract. After that, I'm sure that she will be happy..."

As the tale ended, Kouga began to pick at the truths of the reasoning as he waited for the reply.

"Sounds like you two are pretty close."

His tone went back to the more laid-back, relaxed voicing.

"You could say that."

A bit of a smile crossed Kouga's face, shutting his eyes, he missed the beginning of the man's retreat.

"Hm..."

Kouga's eyes opened, a bit wide from shock as he realized just how far Lilian's father had managed to get without making a sound.

Then, just like his daughter, he too disappeared around a corner and out of the upwind breeze.

Kouga found himself alone once again in the comfort of the night air and sounds, the scents being carried steadily on the constant changing winds. His smirk still showing, he brought his arms to his chest and huddled himself together in order to conserve warmth.

It was only a moment longer before he recognized something was wrong, his muscles tensed up by their own will and his vision started to blur as he put his focus to sight and sound. He couldn't smell or hear anything, but he still knew something was definitely out of place, and he reacted by cracking the knuckles on each hand simultaneously by clenching them slowly and tightly.

All at once he felt a cold hand fall upon his shoulder from behind, sending him into instant hunter mode. Without even thinking about it, he turned quickly, drawing his hand back in the process. What he saw nearly made him not want to pull back the attack.

"Calm down Kouga."

His voice was cocky, and still just as irritating as it had always been. Like always, Kouga suppressed the urge to both kill him and shiver, the thought ran idly by of whether he would have killed or injured this man even if he never met Lilian, it was certainly a possibility.

Kouga growled in return, stepping back and dropping his fist and putting necessary distance between the two of them.

"What's the matter, a little edgy about tomorrow's battle?"

He had a sickening smile on his face that made Kouga just want to pound him right then and there. His feelings manifested in only a twitch of the bridge of his nose and the clenching of his hands.

"What do you want?"

"What? Can't a guy come by and wish luck to his opponent before a match?"

"What do you want?"

His tone was a bit firmer, he couldn't help the glare that was finding an outlet in his eyes. He kept his breathing controlled, but he was starting to slouch, and the man's annoying tone of voice and choice of speech was not helping at all.

"Fine then, let's talk business."

It was so sudden that Kouga felt like he had missed something when the tone of Kan-ryu's voice became suddenly clearer and a bit deeper. It managed to help the wolf relax a bit, almost as if he was talking to a decent human being.

"I'm listening..."

"Tomorrow's fight, your going to throw it."

Kouga's right eye twitched once in surprise as he processed the request.

"Your going to throw the match and become my servant, just like you swore you would."

He found his voice again, it came out a bit more frustrated and confused than he had meant at first, though he didn't really mind.

"What do you mean? I'm not going to throw the match."

"Oh yes you are, not only are you going to throw it, but your going to make it look like you tried your hardest and I wound up on top. We're going to make a show of it tomorrow, and everyone is going to be watching it."

"What the hell makes you think that I would do something like that?"

"Because if you don't, I'll kill Lilian."

This time it was his left eye that twitched in surprise, followed by his right in rage. A growl was his response.

"I will have assassins at the fight tomorrow hiding from a short distance. They are ordered to kill her in the crowd if I give a signal. So like I said, throw the match tomorrow...that is unless you want to see your precious Lilian killed in an unfortunate accident..."

A dark smirk crossed his face, Kouga seriously fought back and forth with himself about whether to just beat the man to death simply because he deserved it. A part of his mind was sanctioned away, reserved for making sure whether or not this was truly happening and making sense of the whole ordeal.

At the sight of blood dripping from the wolf's palms from clenching his fists so tightly, Kan-ryu hurriedly added...

"They are already watching her now, if I'm not back in 15 minutes to tell them to stand down, they will kill her tonight."

If possible, the tension in Kouga's body began to rise again as the extra news hit him, the helplessness of the situation threatening to put him in a state of panic, he stopped focusing on the area around him. Through shaking lips, he let out a breathless question.

"Why...she's your own..."

"Why? Well why not? Life is all about making connections and taking opportunities. My marriage to Lilian was for no other reason that the doors it opened for me, that's how I've gotten as far as I have now. If you pass up life's chances to get ahead, then you'll never get anywhere. With this, not only do I get a personal servant and bodyguard that's a powerful youkai, but I also get to show everyone how I will beat the great Kouga of the Youkai Wolves, the one bounty that even the famed huntress Lilian couldn't bring in."

Kouga lifted his head back up to stare at the man in disbelief.

"Yes, I know who you are, and I have reason to believe that you may be attracted to my wife, and in all honesty, I don't care. She, just like you, is just a means for me to get ahead. So, tomorrow, be a good wolf and throw the match, oh, and don't tell Lilian, okay?"

His voice had slipped back to the annoying version that normally made Kouga's blood curdle, but he hadn't noticed. The shock of Kan-ryu's coldness and outlook not feasible to the normally jovial youkai. He didn't care when the ninja turned his back and walked back off into the night, he didn't care that his shrill laughter could be heard even after he disappeared around a corner, he didn't care that he had let down whatever technique masked his scent and the unpleasant aroma seemed to just hang in the suddenly still air. He didn't care about anything at that moment except what exactly he was going to the following day.

Without noticing at all, he was sitting down, mentally strained from his constant thoughts. He pushed back the pressing panic in exchange for the ability to rationally think.

He sat alone in the middle of the road, not even the wind bothering to caress him and keep him company. He spent most of the night in the back of his mind, trying desperately to come up with a solution, but finding none. The time was passed quietly, with the exception of a few long deep howls to help ease the stress until the orange tinted rays of dawn began to peak over the horizon.

The first few rays hit his eyes directly, instantly grabbing his attention. He looked around to realize the time, then swallowed hard once as it dawned upon him that he had not come up with a solution. He cursed his inability to plan in a situation like this before getting to his feet.

One thing he knew for certain, regardless of all that Kan-ryu had said and done, Kouga had come too far to give up now, and he'd certainly be damned first if he gave up now so easily.

With a bit of irritation lining the edge of his thoughts, Kouga slowly climbed to his feet, ignoring the light drag of his body from fatigue before heading off toward the training sight where the challenge had begun, and was soon to end.

Author: Wow, that took forever, normally I do all my writing in one sitting, but I never had time so I had to do this one at three different times. I didn't really revise this, so if it doesn't make sense, lemme know and I'll answer any questions about it in the next chapter.

I don't know when the next update will be, but hopefully soon. The fic is almost at the end now and I'm kinda excited to be so close. Well, until I update again.

Chaoness