AN: Hello minna! Sorry for taking so long. I've been busy. Anyway, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own it. OK?!!!!

SEVEN WEEKS

The Prince of Wolves

-----/---@

"Please, forgive me, Naraku-sama! It will not happen again, I swear it! I will do everything I can! I will not fail you again! Please, forgive me!" Kagura cried in agony as the chains that bound her to one of the garnet tower's highest pillars tightened around her neck and upper body. Her sister Kanna was in the same agony a few feet away as Naraku summoned all the elements he could call on to punish his minions. Failure, to him, was a heinous crime.

Naraku just snorted. "Do you not remember yourself saying the self- same things about a week ago? I gave you another chance, but look! Inuyasha still lives!" he yelled as he struck with a lightning-made whip.

Kagura screamed in pain as the whip lashed at her. Kanna withheld her screams well, but the torrent of tears on her cheeks was testament to the pain she felt.

It had been five days since the last encounter with the knight. Naraku had been angered, but not enough to punish them. This morning however, he emerged from the princess' prison with a scowl on his face and turned on them, claiming that they needed to be punished for their failure. Kagura just guessed that the lady had turned him down again or said something harsh enough to enrage Naraku. But she got the gist of it.

She knew of her master's secret. He had known and wanted the princess since before she was seated on the throne and had done everything he could to please her, but she, of course, could never and would never take notice of him.

Besides, even if she did take notice of him, it would be useless since he could not touch her. No one could, and that could probably be the reason behind why Crystallia's princesses never married.

So, he took off to gain powers strong enough to hold the princess. He trained to control the forbidden powers in the garnet tower, melded with powerful youkai, created her and Kanna and captured the princess in the hopes that she would agree to go with him once he was powerful enough.

Yet the princess remained loyal to her task. He had thought that she would jump at the chance of living a normal life with a man who could love and hold her, but he thought wrong. She had simply struggled and told him that she would not be swayed from her duties. Especially not by a man who was hungry for power.

Now here he was, beating the life out of both of his 'offsprings', taking his frustrations out on their abused bodies. Certainly, both were powerful, but pain would still be pain, youkai or not. Kagura just closed her eyes in pain while she listened to her sister's steady sobs.

She had to think of something, fast. She had to make a foolproof plan of getting rid of Inuyasha, before Naraku got rid of HER.

-----/---@

Inuyasha walked grumpily ahead of Kagome, who was happily untangling her hair with a stolen comb. She seemed a great deal jollier now that she had taken a bath. Inuyasha, however, was feeling as glum as ever.

Inuyasha had nearly given in to the strong male temptation to peep when they were in the springs, but his pride had won and he stopped what he was doing just as he neared the dividing rock and caught a glimpse of her smooth right arm.

All he got that day was a whiff of her now enhanced fragrance and a throbbing headache.

'Gods, I am SO blessed,' he thought sarcastically as the wind blew through her hair and sent more of her scent to waft through his nostrils. He mentally kicked himself for the thoughts that suddenly passed his heat- scent-affected mind.

'Why couldn't the god forsaken moon disappear at a time like this?' he thought angrily. Just when he really needed to lose his more than average senses, here they were, raging at him in full blast. He muttered out a string of colorful curses that would make a gangster blush.

He turned slightly to check on Kagome. He had to make conversation. If he didn't, he would go absolutely nuts.

"So, Kagome. How old are you?" he asked casually, pausing in his strides for Kagome.

"Hm?" Kagome replied absent-mindedly. She caught up to him when he paused so they were now side by side. "I just turned sixteen. Doushite?"

"Nanimo... Nothing. I was just curious." He answered.

'Curious?! How lame could you get?!' Inuyasha berated himself as he thought of his reply.

'Inuyasha is curious? That's new.' Kagome thought in confusion. 'Maybe he's just trying to make conversation,' she thought.

"Well, I'm sixteen. You?" she asked conversationally.

"Sixteen. I should be turning seventeen in a month though. But since time stopped in my time, I guess I should wait till I get back home before I start the countdown," he answered, staring straight ahead. When Kagome didn't say anything, he looked down at her, only to find her solemnly staring at the ground.

"Oi! Nani o? What's wrong?" he asked as she continued to look down.

Kagome took her time before answering carefully. "Nothing. Well... something. But I can't tell you. It's... weird," she replied glumly.

Inuyasha sweatdropped. 'Nani?' His confusion was evident on his face.

"Promise not to laugh?" Kagome asked.

"Keh, sure. Now, what's wrong?"

"Well... when you mentioned your 'home', I just... well, it kinda occurred to me that after this is over you'll have to go home and I'll never see you again..." Kagome trailed off. He could smell her distress, and as he mulled over her words, he started getting depressed too.

"Yeah, well," he started. "We can't really prevent that, can we? It's what's gonna happen. It's what's GOTTA happen. But at least we still have six weeks here! And why are you all upset about that?"

"I dunno... maybe because you're the only person I've ever traveled with and I'm gonna miss you for sure." She replied.

Inuyasha was surprised. "You are?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course I will!" she said. "I dunno why. Maybe it's girl thing. I meet someone and I cry when he has to leave. It really sucks."

"Of course it doesn't suck," he replied. "I'm not a girl but... I'm gonna miss you too, once I get back to my land. I mean, you're the only person I..."

He was cut off when a sudden, shrill shriek pierced his sensitive hanyou ears. The outburst was followed by many other screams of terror that all came from beyond the next hill.

"Inuyasha? Nani? Do you sense something?" Kagome asked when she noticed his sudden agitation. He was staring off into the short distance and was wearing something akin to a scowl on his face.

"Youkai! I knew I smelled something strange in this place..." he hissed before he bent down and turned to Kagome. "Climb on my back, quick!"

"NANI?!"

"Just do it, now!"

Kagome gingerly began to climb on his back. Inuyasha used his hands to grasp her thighs, right behind her knees, to keep her seated securely. Kagome shrieked and grabbed his shoulders for dear life when Inuyasha suddenly took off at high speed, practically making her dizzy with the way he was jumping around to get to his destination.

They were practically flying with the way he took off. Inuyasha grinned to himself when he felt her grip on his shoulders tighten. The wind on his face felt great, but he should slow down a bit for her... Nah! Besides, those screams meant only one thing: he needed to hurry if he was to find anybody left alive.

He was startled when Kagome laughed aloud, craned her neck to look at his face and grinned.

"This is fun! If we weren't on our way to kill youkai I'd tell you to keep running!" she exclaimed gleefully.

"You like it? Then we'll do this more often," he shouted back. He used to run like this back at home, whenever he was dreadfully late of school and was a bid away from detention. He always got in detention anyway, but back home it wasn't remotely as fun as it felt this time, running with a hysterically gleeful Kagome on his back.

But the ride was not to last. When he got around the hill, the chaos was incredible. People whom he guessed to be the entire town lay bloody and dead on the ground all over the town. Kagome gave a shocked, choked gasp.

"This is horrible," she whispered sadly upon finding a dead mother with her child lying in a bloody heap near a hut. "Who could have done this?!"

"Wakaranai. I don't know. But the scent of youkai is clear. Youkai did this," he said angrily when he glanced at a couple who lay dead with their hands still clasped.

"Violent youkai. They... they DEVOURED the people pf the town!" Kagome said as angry tears filled her eyes.

Inuyasha sniffed around as he caught the scent, much sharper this time. "Canine youkai did this, Kagome. I'm positive."

"It can't be fox youkai. Kitsunes are kind by nature. Dogs?" Kagome queried carefully.

"Iie," he replied. "Inu youkai don't usually feed on humans. I think it's wolves."

"Ookami da? But..." Kagome started, but was cut off when they heard growling. They turned to the direction of the growling and their eyes widened when they found a pack of wolves standing a few feet away from them.

"Hai. Ookami," Inuyasha said as he unsheathed Tetsusaiga and pointed it in the direction of the coming creatures. "They ain't ordinary wolves. They're youkai. I can smell it."

The greedy creatures rushed them in the next instant and Inuyasha's eyes flashed furiously. "This is for slaughtering an entire village!" he shouted angrily as he raised Tetsusaiga.

Kagome was apparently thinking along the same lines as she drew an arrow and aimed it at the nearest youkai. She fired her purifying arrow with an angry shout as Inuyasha brought his weapon down on two wolves at the same time.

One of the wolves lunged at him and bit down on his shoulder. He angrily punched it and sliced it in half when it fell to the floor. He glanced at Kagome out of the corner of his eye and noting that she was doing rather well since she was in long range combat, he turned back to the disgusting wolves and decked three with a single swing of his sword.

Kagome was doing fine, but was having a hard time keeping the wolves within shooting range. It was a problem if they were too far, and it was another thing when they came too near. One wolf tried to bite her leg and she avoided it narrowly, its fangs just brushing her ankle enough to leave a stinging bruise. She didn't bother with the bow on that certain wolf. She drew an arrow and stabbed him with the sharp tip.

Inuyasha smirked as he struck another wolf down and was remotely puzzled when they ran off and howled loudly. He and Kagome looked on as a tall youkai appeared in a strong blue torrent of wind.

The youkai was tall, probably taller than Inuyasha. He had queer blue eyes and his long black hair was tied in a thick, high ponytail. He was wearing robes that seemed to have been made of an animal's pelt.

His strange eyes narrowed in fury as he surveyed the scene of dead wolves around him.

His eyes focused on Inuyasha and his sword. "Teme..." he cursed Inuyasha. "You killed my pets, you fucking bastard!"

"Well, duh," Inuyasha retorted. "We wouldn't have done that if the wolves hadn't attacked us and slaughtered these people!"

"Do you expect my pets to go hungry? I had to give them food, you know." The wolf replied cockily. He turned his sharp gaze and regarded Kagome, obviously liking what he saw.

Inuyasha shouted abruptly, sending his glare back at the hanyou. "So you let them eat these people?! You're fucking crazy!"

"Shut up, hanyou," he snapped. Inuyasha looked surprised. "Surprised? I could smell the human in you along with the disgusting dog scent you carry. You make me sick."

Inuyasha fumed. The damn yarou dared to insult him? He'll show him...

"Oh yeah? Well, your scent stinks so badly, it makes me want to puke!" Inuyasha raged.

Kagome looked on as the two dog youkai snarled and insulted each other's scents. 'It must be a dog thing,' she thought absently.

Inuyasha's dirty mouth worked wonders in situations like these. Soon, the wolf youkai was so angry, Kagome could swear she saw smoke coming out of his ears.

"How dare you insult me!" the wolf yelled as he seemed to lose his patience in the name calling. "Do you even know who I am? I am Kouga, the prince of the wolf youkai tribe!"

"Well, I'm Inuyasha, descendant of the youkai lords of the west, owner of seven five star hotels and son of the late business tycoon Inutaisho! Beat that!"

"What the hell was that?" Kouga snarled.

"See!? You ookami are so dumb, you can't even understand common speech!" Inuyasha answered with a carnivorous smirk. "Should I repeat what I said? Slower this time?"

Kouga snarled loudly and jumped down to attack Inuyasha. Inuyasha just jumped back and raised Tetsusaiga to try to strike the wolf. Kouga jumped back, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Inuyasha snarled a curse at the offending wolf and tried again. 'God damn fucking wolf's pretty fast,' he thought as Kouga once again dodged an attack. Kouga was not just good at dodging. He was a pretty quick puncher as well. He nearly got Inuyasha more than twice already.

Out of the corner of his eye, Inuyasha could see that the other wolf youkai were coming near Kagome. He cursed the skies once again as the wolf nearest Kagome started to attack, and his attention lapsed when he spied Kagome out of the corner of his eye.

'I swear, those wolves are going DOWN if they harm her,' he thought insanely.

Kouga noticed his opponent's distraction and stopped attacking to turn to what his own opponent was looking at. What he saw made his heart stop.

The hanyou's companion was aiming an energized arrow at one of his pets. He looked around and noticed for the first time that some of his minions seemed to have been killed by arrows.

He spared a second glance at the girl and noticed for the first time how lovely the archer was. Black hair. Gray/blue eyes. Long, shapely legs. And powerful, needless to say. 'The perfect mate,' he thought amusedly as one of his pets fell by her powerful arrows.

Kouga was so caught up in watching her that he barely registered that Inuyasha had started attacking him. Inuyasha noticed the look that the wolf was giving Kagome, and he did not like it one bit.

Kouga abruptly jumped up and away from Inuyasha, landing a foot behind Kagome. He looked at his pets meaningfully. The wolves stopped attacking Kagome as soon as Kouga landed behind her. Before she could turn to him, Kouga grabbed her around the waist, lifted her from the ground and shouted.

"I'll take your friend, Inu-kuro!"

Kouga took off before Inuyasha could make a move. He was shocked to say the least. The bastard just took HIS companion from him! "Kouga!!!!" he shouted as Kouga and his pets disappeared in a blue hurricane.

Inuyasha hurried to try and catch up with the rapidly retreating wolf pack, but damn, they were quick. He stopped to catch his breath, realizing that he couldn't catch up with them.

"Chikuso!" he swore to the skies. The guy just sent his wolves to a town to have them eat the people, and now he has Kagome! If he dared to touch a single hair on her head, he would kill the wolf slowly.

He sniffed around, trying to find the disgusting scent that the wolves left behind them and the wonderful scent of Kagome that was mixed along with it.

'Well fuck me to oblivion!' he thought as he remembered her scent. The scent of her heat was still strong. What if Kouga tried to rape her!?

'He wouldn't dare!' he thought anxiously as he searched for the trail. 'Besides, Kagome is strong. She wouldn't let him touch her,' he tried to assure himself. But his nagging brain had other plans.

'Oh yeah? Have you forgotten that's she's only good in long-range combat? And what if she runs out of arrows?'

"Urursai!" Inuyasha snapped at his inner voice out loud. He caught the scent and took off in the direction and sprinted as quickly as he could.

-----/---@

"Put me DOWN!" Kagome screeched at Kouga. She HATED being carried like that! She felt like an animal slung over someone's arm. "I said, PUT ME DOWN, YOU BAKAYAROU!"

Kouga put her down so abruptly that she was surprised. She had been yelling at him for quite some time now and he never once budged. It was unnerving. When she looked around, though, she realized why he had set her down.

"Dammit! Where did you bring me, you... you..." Kagome yelled.

"Relax, my queen. You're safe." Kouga replied, and Kagome just seethed.

"NANI?! What do you mean, your QUEEN?! I want you to bring me back to Inuyasha, ima sugu ni!!!" Kagome shouted. Man, all this shouting was making her throat itch!

"I'm afraid, I can't do that. You see, I have chosen YOU to be my mate." Kouga said with a smile. Kagome's veins practically popped. "Nani?! What are you talking about?" she barked.

"You will understand in time. Guards!" Kouga said.

Three wolf youkai with clothes of the same type as Kouga's came up to them. Kouga looked at them squarely and growled an order.

"Watch her with your life. If she gets hurt, I will inflict ten times as much pain on you. Understand?" Kouga said then turned to leave, saying that he had something to take care of.

'Shimatta,' Kagome thought. 'Inuyasha must be worried. I hope he's ok.'

Kagome thought back to the hanyou's reaction when she had been taken, He looked so worried.

"Please be ok, Inuyasha..."

-----/---@

A/N: I am such a baka.

An email reviewer, Donna, just reminded me that I had neglected to write down the English translations of the Japanese words that I included in this fic. *Bangs her head on the computer table.* Baaaaakaaaaa! I'm so stupid. Baka, baka, baka!

Donna said she felt lost in some instances, coz she couldn't figure out what I wrote, so here they are. Gomen nasai, Donna!

Youkai-demon; hanyou-half demon; inu-dog; kitsune-fox; ookami-wolf; hai- yes; iie-no; dame-don't; yamero-stop; oi-hey; arigatou-thank you; douitashimashitte-you're welcome; gomen-sorry; nani-what; doushite-why; nanimo-nothing; daijobu?-are you ok?; daijobu-I'm ok; ima sugu ni-right now; urusai-shut up/noisy; wakaranai-I don't know; chikuso-shit; shimatta- damn; baka-idiot; yarou-bastard/bitch; teme-you (negative); hentai-pervert; houshi-priest; taijiya-demon exterminator; onna-woman; kekai-barrier; yume- dream

Did I get everything? I'm sorry about that, people.

Again, thank you so much for reading and reviewing, all of you. It's funny to think that I get more email reviews than the reviews that register on ff.net. But I'm VERY grateful.

And about the email reviews... would you believe I got 10?! Wow! I'm so happy about that. Most of them weren't registered on ff.net, so they just emailed. And besides, they didn't want people to know what their response is to the last question I left in chap 6. Yup. They want the lemon. So, I guess I'll write one. The lemon won't really come till much later. Maybe chap 12 or something. To those who don't want the lemon, don't worry, I'll still make the improvisation that I spoke of, so you won't have to read the lemon and feel squeamish just to understand the story.

My boyfriend is pretty happy about the outcome of my little 'poll' *Sees boyfriend doing the happy dance, turns to him and shouts* Stop it EJ! We both know that you have two left feet.

Sorry if I can't reply to your emails. I have no damn time! I hope you don't mind! I'll try next chapter.

And to those that said sorry for just reading and not reviewing my earlier chaps, don't sweat it! I'm not mad. Just review from now on, ok?

Review Responses:

liLmissy^^: Yeah, I'm a Philippine citizen. Are you? Just asking. Anyway, I think what you wrote IS a review. I'm glad you like my fic. Thanks for the review!

Cleolette:I promise to reveal more about Kagome and Azalea in the next chap. Azalea is an OC (but you probably know that ^_^). Thanks for the review!

Drow Goddess: Here's the chap! Thanks for the review!

Laura-chan: Yup, specially since so many people emailed me to ask for one.

Email Reviews:

Edwin: EJ, I told you already! NO, dammit! And get over it hun!

Larence: Don't worry, I won't have you arrested. ^_^

Marge: You know, I have a close friend with the same name as you. So... you mean you only emailed me to tell you whether you want a lemon or not? Anyway. Thanks for the review!

Kara: Yeah, I know. We should start a club together. How about 'Kikyo Haters Inc?' Does that sound ok? Viva Inuyasha and Kagome! Thanks for the review!

Feonalee: I think Sesshoumaru is pretty hot as well, but I like Inuyasha better (what I wouldn't give to see him naked *drools*)! I just dig dog ears, I guess. About your question, Fluffy will be appearing here, but sad to say that it would be a minor part, around the end of the fic, I would say. Don't worry, I'll make you drool... Thanks for the review!

Shakira: You hate your real name? So do I! Don't worry, I'll call you Shakira. Ooh... did you know that I love Shakira! And now I love you too! LOL! Thanks for reviewing!

Jarilie: Did you really mean that? Thanks!

Monica: Glad to hear it! I'll send you the link if I ever get around to posting it. If I don't post it, I'll just send it to your email. Is that fair? Thanks for the reviews!

Kaye: Kumusta kababayan! You're from Taguig?! I have a friend there! I'm from Cavite. I go to UP Manila. Wanna EB? Hehe...Thanks for the review!

Donna: Sorry for that!

Sorry for taking so long in updating. I've been busy, and I mean REALLY busy. Our big choir performance is coming up in three weeks. Three weeks! That's such a short time! Anyway, our instructor is so stressed out and he's been making us work doubly hard.

Anyway, thanks again for the reviews. Ja ne, minna!

Scarlet Raven 1001