Chapter Two

Kagome's Heart

Kouga settled Kagome down on a bed of straw and fur deep inside the den of his wolves. Her skin was pale and cold to touch as she quivered unconsciously from the venom coursing through her body. A few wolves gathered around Kouga, human and beast alike, and wondered why he would bother saving such a worthless creature.

Kouga turned to the closest one. "You there, bring me herbs to calm her fever and cold water from the river."

"But Kouga, she's just a useless wench—"

Kouga snarled impatiently and grabbed hold of his tunic with a brutal claw. "You do as I say or I will feed you to the Harpies!"

The wolf gulped in terror and broke away from Kouga's strangling hold and ran for the river with many of the other wolves behind him, too afraid that Kouga may bite their heads off if they stood there much longer.

The human wolf feebly handed him a bowl of water as he came back and a few special herbs plucked from the woods outside and scampered off. Kouga took the water and untied a piece of leather from his body and soaked it in the water. He placed it on her burning forehead and turned to the herbs beside him. Stripping the leaves from the stem, he grinded them up into a fine mixture.

He looked to Kagome's bitten leg and took his knife in one hand and ripped the fabric away from her wound. Taking the herb, he pressed it firmly on the gash and tied it down with another strip of cloth. Kagome groaned as it stung at her leg and her eyes fluttered open groggily, half-conscious as she looked at Kouga.

He watched her with intense eyes. "Kagome?"

She gazed at him for a few more moments silently, after that her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell back limply.

Kouga stared at her with a small smile, then gathered a blanket of warm brown fur and draped it over her. He stretched out and set his knife beside him and pulled one knee up, lying down beside her. He let his eyes watch her for a few moments. She breathed so slowly in sleep…

He closed his eyes to her and looked up to the walls of the cave, watching the sun lazily float by and warm his face. A few mischievous young wolves poked their heads over the entrance to his cave and watched their lord. "Look at master Kouga!" One giggled pointing at him, the others laughed along.

Kouga perked his sensitive ears and caught sight of the young batch of children. They swallowed on their laughter as Kouga irked an eyebrow at them. He grinned as they ran off to their mothers and sighed as he lay back down again. "What did that idiot Inuyasha do this time, Kagome…?"

When Kagome finally awoke it was dark outside. She weakly sat up and looked around, blinking her eyes to clear her foggy vision. Her whole body felt as if it were on fire. She could feel her heart beat behind her eyes and her throat felt as if she'd swallowed a pound of mud. She groaned and cradled her upset stomach, but what hurt most of all was her leg, and she couldn't understand why.

She struggled to sit up straight and narrowed her eyes through the dark at her thigh. She ran her fingers across a leather bandage with dried herbs sticking through. It itched like crazy but she dared not to move the bandage, feeling the deep cut in her leg under the leaves.

Kagome looked around but couldn't see anything past her own nose in the darkness. Where was she? She pressed her hands to her head and shut her eyes trying to think of what she remembered last, but nothing came to her. Frustrated, she managed to stand up, while leaning on her good leg, for it the pain in the other leg made her sick just by standing. At least she could figure out where she was, and then maybe the rest would come later. She looked to the mouth of the cave before her and difficultly put one leg before the other, gradually walking to the moonlit world outside.

As she finally came to the edge of the cavern she leaned on a wall to regain her breath, slightly annoyed with herself that such a simple task could make her so weak. Taking in a final breath of air she looked out…and gasped at what she saw. The scenery before her was stunning. She stood at the entrance of a cave on a cliff, which sloped into a steep mountainside of forest below her and stretched as far as she could see into the distance. She was speechless by its beauty.

"I don't think you'll be running far, not with that leg. If that's what your thinking."

She whirled around, not such a good idea, since her head went spinning as she looked behind her. "What?" She defensively put her arms about her. "Who are you?"

He stepped into the moonlight.

Her eyes went wide. "Kouga?" A few moments of silence passed, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks." You!" she whispered, "You saved me…I remember now!"

A ruthless smile crossed his face. "I know your smell from anywhere. It's a good thing I came when I did, or that demon would have torn you to shreds."

She nodded. "Kouga…thank you."

He stuck up his chin with a little annoyance in his eyes. "Yeah, you should thank me. What were you thinking going out on your own with no one to protect you?"

She felt anger surge through her. "I don't need anyone to protect me! I'm just fine on my own!"

"That's not what I saw today." He retorted back, folding his arms and looking at her crossly.

"I don't care. I don't need anyone." She shot back, turning away from him.

Behind her, she heard Kouga sigh and unclench his rigid muscles. He was silent for a long time, before either of them spoke.

"Do you have any idea what I would have done if you'd died?" He said softly after a while. "I don't know how I could live with myself any longer."

She said nothing.

He turned towards the moon. "Ah well, I suppose you'll wanna go back to Inuyasha in the morning…" he said heavily.

She felt her throat clench with bitterness as she heard his name. She fought hard to keep her feelings under control, balling her shaking hands tightly. "I'm not going back." She said hoarsely.

Kouga turned towards her. "What?"

She blinked rapidly, desperately trying not to cry. "I'm not going back." She repeated, turning even farther away from him.

Kouga made a murderous growl, his sharp fangs glittering in the moonlight and balling his fists tightly in rage. "What did that bastard half-breed do to you Kagome? When I find him I'll tear his eyes out of his pathetic body and—"

"Please stop," she said, her voice faltering.

He stepped closer to her. "What happened, Kagome?"

She raised her hand up to her face, unable to stop the tears slipping from her eyes. "I don't want to talk about it…" she said thickly, sorrow clouding her voice.

All the rage disappeared from Kouga as he saw the sparkling tears drip down her face. He lowered his rigid claws and his face relaxed into deep sympathy. "Oh Kagome…"

She vividly shook her head and wiped away her tears. "I'm fine…" she tried to say, but her voice broke as a shutter ran through her.

Kouga closed the space between them and wrapped his lean arms around her. Her eyes went wide as he spread his arms across her back and she was pulled to him. The soft brown fur that decorated his shoulder nuzzled her cheek, and she heard the faint beating of his proud heart through the armor on his chest. "Your freezing, Kagome…" he said kindly, warming her frozen skin with his body. His body was like the flames of fire against her. His long black hair whipped slowly in the midnight wind, their bodies shadowed in silver moonlight.

Kagome was stunned.

"Come back to my cave, you're too sick to be out in the night." He said, helping her with one arm walk back to her bed.

"Uh, how long will I be like this?" she said in a hurry. Anything to get her mind off the feel of being so close to him.

"The spider demon that bit you was very poisonous, you're lucky you only got scratched by it." He stole another look at her bandaged leg, recalling what it looked like. "You wont be walking for a few days. And it will take a while for your energy to come back to you." He helped her lie down and put the quilt of thick fur over her, already her eyes becoming heavy as she cuddled the blanket to her. "Get some sleep, Kagome." He told her, and watched her close her eyes.

She had all these questions in her mind, but as she warmed in the soft bed in his cave she suddenly didn't care. The throbbing in her body dulled as she lulled into a heavy sleep, the furs and straw feeling like the most finely made bed out of silk and cotton pillows. Kouga gazed at her as her body gently rose and fell to the rhythmic beat of her breathing, her dark hair windswept into delicate wisps that framed her face and draped over her back. Her thick lashes shadowed her beautiful brown eyes…and Kouga wondered how Inuyasha could ever think to hurt such an angel. "Goodnight Kagome…" he said quietly, and laid down on his side with his back to her, and closed his eyes.

When Kagome awoke it was well into the afternoon. The blazing sun seared into the mouth of the cave, and she groaned and sat up, pushing the quilts away from her for some fresh air. Her eyes were heavy with many hours of deep sleep, but she smiled as she realized that she felt much better than last night. Yawning and gratefully stretching her arms above her head she struggled up to her feet. She looked around, and saw Kouga nowhere in sight.

Kagome managed her way out of the cave into the afternoon sunlight. She shielded her eyes from the harsh light and looked out before her with a broad grin. "Its so beautiful!" she breathed as she stared at the landscape all around her. No matter how eerily beautiful the forest had seemed in the night, in the day, it was simply gorgeous. She stood there and leaned on the cliff wall gazing at the forest below for some time when sudden howls erupted from behind her. "What the—OOOF!"

Kagome was knocked onto her stomach and hit the rock face hard. A band of young wolves pounced all over her, barking gleefully. She lifted her head from the pile of dirt with her eyebrow twitching in annoyance and came face to face with a young pup. It panted in her face with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. Kagome narrowed her eyes at it. It scooted closer to her. Kagome lowered her eyes dangerously. "Don't even think about—"

The pup licked her whole face before she could even finish her sentence. It backed off and tilted its head at her with a toothy grin. Kagome scrunched her face. "Ewwww…" The pup panted more and barked at her nudging her face with its head. Kagome wriggled out from under all the other baby wolves and looked at them all circle around her lap. "Look, I don't know what your after but can you please leave me alone…" She laughed and scratched the back of her head uneasily. "Don't you have mothers to go back to, or something?" The pup that had licked her jumped up on her lap wagging its tail enthusiastically. Kagome laughed and petted it cautiously, its fur a glossy honey shade with brown spots on its underbelly. "Well, I guess your sort of cute…" she mumbled, scratching its chin. She picked it up and stood, all the other wolves barking playfully around her. "I think you all need a walk to calm down," she chuckled, "Why don't you show me where the river is so I can wash up?"

The wolf pups scampered away and Kagome followed them with the honey colored pup in her arms. They led her down a steep trail of gray rocks down the hill until she stumbled into the forest below. The wolves howled happily and weaved through the trees until they came to a clearing. Kagome let the young wolf out of her arms and it ran off with the others into the river. She looked up with the wind combing through her hair, and saw a waterfall that cascaded down the grassy hill and emptied into the river that entwined with the forest. Following the waterfall with her eyes she spotted a rock on the shore of the pool of water and went and sat on it, enjoying the mist that sprayed from the clear water.

Kagome cautiously unwound the leather bandage around her leg and removed the herbs from her skin. Her face clenched in pain as the air stroked the wound. The skin all around it was swollen and red, and the cut deep in her thigh. She put a hand over it to keep the mist from clinging to it, and looked into the water at her feet, seeing large fish twirl around in the clear water. Her reflection emerged before her. She stared at herself for a long time, scrutinizing her ruffled hair that desperately needed to be trimmed, her pale skin, and dirty clothing. A frown crossed her lips.

The water rippled as the fish swam away, and Kagome saw a vision of Inuyasha replace her reflection. She stared at it for a long time. Anger surged in her as he surveyed her with void eyes. Those amber eyes that pierced her like needles. She furiously slashed the water with her hand. The water spattered under her palm, and Inuyasha disappeared. Kagome found herself in the water once again.

"Are the catfish really so feisty?" A voice called behind her.

Kagome turned, startled.

Kouga approached her with a grin. "Well, they have been known to pull some of the little ones in the water."

Kagome looked away, embarrassed that he had caught her getting angry at her own reflection. "It wasn't the catfish." She said solemnly.

Kouga sat beside her on the rock and took in a deep breath of air with a smile. Kagome noted a strange smell as he sat next to her. "What is that?"

He looked over and took something from his side, something wrapped in a piece of leather. He unwrapped it and gave it to her. "Breakfast."

She eyed the meat critically. "Its not…is it?"

Kouga laughed and took a piece for himself and examined it. "Nah, its not raw. I know how you humans don't like that kinda thing." He sniffed it and took a little bite of the dried strip and made a face. "Can't say I understand why though."

Kagome grinned at him despite her moodiness. "Well I don't know how you can like uncooked meat. Bleh!" She chewed off a large piece. It tasted wonderful, like tender beef jerky with spices that delighted her senses.

"It's all about the thrill of the hunt, Kagome. Devouring the remains of your predator…" Kouga made a sleek smile and motioned for her to be still. She was baffled as he continued to talk. "Its about the lust for blood…for…little wolves!" He turned around in the twist of a foot and landed on all the pups behind him as they tried to pounce on him. He gathered them all in his arms as they wriggled desperately in his grasp. "You little mangy mutts! Trying to sneak up on me like that!"

They howled in protest, and Kagome burst out laughing at the sight. They locked their tiny jaws into Kouga's clothes and he only squeezed them tighter. "You wretched creatures you!" He let them all go and they ran straight for Kagome's lap, cuddling around her for protection. Kagome's cheeks were red with laughter as she hugged them to her.

Kouga looked to her with amazement. "Would you look at that? They take to you like one of their own."

She smiled and petted their heads, finally being able to control her giggles. "They found me this morning and wouldn't leave me alone." One of the pups brushed his face against her leg and bit and the ripped cloth by her gash, pulling on it with all his might. She pulled him away immediately and covered her leg as it began to throb, he face twisting in pain. Kouga came closer to her and shunned all the little wolves away and looked at her wound. He took out another strip of cloth to bandage it with, and carefully wound it around her bare skin. "It itched…" She mumbled, grabbing tufts of grass as it stung all the way up to her hips.

When he was finally done he tied a snug knot and ran his fingers over the cloth to make sure nothing was digging into her skin. She shivered as he traced his fingers along the path of the bandage. She took another bite of meat and adjusted the bandage to her liking, cursing herself for ever getting so close to that spider demon. "Remind me to make as many arrows as possible soon so when I see that demon again I can put one right through his ugly head." She muttered to no one in particular but herself.

"Why don't you have your arrows, Kagome?" Kouga inquired matter-of-factly.

She looked up at him and instantly tried to avoid his powerful eyes. She set her sights to a patch of grass beside her instead. "…I just returned from my world…I guess I just must have forgotten them…" She said quietly. "I didn't want to go back and get them…"

Kouga thought to himself solemnly as he looked to Kagome's saddened figure. He watched her eyes strain with pain.

"I was going to return the Shikon Jewel back to…him." She pulled out the grass and spread it over the pups' head in her lap, the pup sleepy and dozing on her with a twitching paw. She fingered the jewel around her neck and looked out to the river. "I'm never going back again…"

Kouga crawled over and sat beside her, his eyes completely sympathetic to his sad angel. Kagome turned to him. She dared to search his icy eyes for just a moment, and for that brief moment she did not fear him. His primal aura gave way and briefly Kagome felt like she could trust him with all her secrets.

She took a deep breath and tore her eyes from his gaze down to the ground once more. "Something happened a few days ago…and my heart feels as if it might break into a thousand pieces…"