Disclaimer: I still don't own them
Chapter 3: Marked By My Enemy, Part 2
Kouga entered his den, taking a deep breath hoping no one would notice the scent that lingered from his body.
"Kouga!" He heard a familiar voice call out his name. He sighed, as he looked up at two figures running towards him, Hakkaku and Ginta. "Did you bring Kagome nee-chan?" they asked in union, as they jumped up and down expecting a happier look from Kouga.
"No..." he mumbled under his breath.
"WHAT?" Hakkaku asked as he stared hard at his leader...
"NO!" Kouga blurted out practically growling at the two men, and they jumped back. Kouga's face was dirty and he looked tired. All he wanted was to do was eat and be left alone.
He walked further into the den but paused when he was approached by his aunt Chiyo. He tried to walk past her, giving her a slight glance but she stopped him.
"Is there anything I can do for you Kouga?" The gray haired female asked, as she searched his deep blue eyes with her own. (Blue eyes run in the family) She knew he was troubled. The older wolf could sense that something terrible happened to him, but decided to wait for him to tell her on his own.
Kouga loved this woman; she was his mother's sister. She was tiny and had a round face, her skin was pale, a very proud and beautiful women indeed. To him she resembled his mother so much that he felt that he never lost her.
Even though he wasn't in the mood to talk, after the day he just had, he knew not to be rude to her.
"No Oba-san (Aunt), I just need some time alone." was all he could say.
He couldn't just walk up to her and say 'I'm mating a male this season'. She knew something had happened and by the smell of him, he had either got into a fight with the hanyou he complained so much about or had been rolling around with him.
"Oi-san (nephew), you know I will do whatever I can for you. I will be here so you may have another to talk to." she smiled sweetly at him.
'How does she always know when something is wrong with me?' he thought, as he looked at her, and his face paled. She knew he didn't want to talk about what was bothering him so she spoke.
"Kouga, what causes the despair I see in your eyes? Did the human turn you away again?" She asked, raising a soft hand to his cheek, with great concern. She hated to see him hurt by the miko, personally she wasn't vary fond of the girl, nor the short dress that exposed so much leg, she wore. He didn't know how to answer and lucky for him Hakkaku and Ginta spoke up saving him.
"Kouga, you smell like Inuyasha," Ginta said. "Did you two fight over Kagome nee-chan again?"
Kouga let out a long sigh, there were too many questions being asked and he did not want to talk, because he knew he would have to lie to them... 'and a true leader never lies to his pack...' so he settled for , "Yeah, we fought over her."
Chiyo raised an eyebrow at the remark he gave, and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him off to one of the smaller rooms in the den. Once inside she turned to him and narrowed her eyes, "Speak now, what happened?" She looked him his face, watching his eyes widen with worry. She knew he would not speak to her and thought her nephew may have a problem only a man could help with.
"Kouga, you are our pack leader and even though I am your aunt, I do not trust your decision concerning the miko." (She rocks...Kagome fans glare) "The council accepted your choice because you said the human child possessed great power from the jewel. And she would provide the pack with strong pups and heirs for you. But she turns you away; she has shown you that she prefers the hanyou to you. Why do you keep pursuing her?" Even though he heard every word she said, his mind was thinking about the problem he had with Inuyasha
"Kouga I am not trying to discourage you if you truly love her, woo her the correct way, and get her. Don't let her make a fool out of you. Mating season is in just three weeks. If you do not have a mate of your choice by then the council will choose for you." She continued to speak to him with a soft voice, "I do not want to see you unhappy for any reason, but you are the only alpha male here and a great leader. You have a duty to the pack to find a suitable mate." she paused not knowing what else to say, "I will go now, please think about what I said" she looked up at him and held his hand in both of hers, what was he supposed to say? He leaned into Chiyo as she hugged him and she left without another word.
He stood there alone with only his thoughts to accompany him… 'Mating season is coming and I can't mate with anyone except Inuyasha, That damn mutt... What am I going to do?'
Since he was the alpha male, and one of the last of the royal family heirs, besides his cousin Shijo, he had dominance over the entire pack. There were no females of age who were not already mated in their pack so the other clans from the lands to the south and east were going to offer their prettiest and strongest females to Kouga.
He knew that his pack wanted him to mate a demon not the human he claimed to love. They pushed him to find a mate and he told them he would bring her by time mating season came. So he went to the village Kagome stay in hoping she would be his mate, and sure enough he got a mate... just not the one he expected. He almost laughed at how unfortunate he was.
He was brought out of his thoughts by an elder from his pack Naoko, one of the council members "Oji-sama (prince) Kouga, we need you at the council meting. Please come with me," he said.
Kouga followed him to the large meeting room and sat at the head of the large wooden table. In no time the members started talking about mating season, the festival, heirs and Kouga finding a mate. They asked question after question and Kouga answered yes or no.
Reizo the oldest member of the pack, ended up joining the feud at the table, " You always end up fighting with that mutt when you go after that human. He is nothing but a half breed, you should have killed him the first time you crossed paths with him, and claimed your woman." he strongly believed in the old ways. 'You take what you want '
Kouga felt angry at him for calling Inuyasha a half-breed but, let it past before it sunk in and he started lashing out at the wolves around him,
"Reizo if I would have killed Inuyasha, Kagome would be upset with me and never want to be my mate" he said as the looked away from the table...nobody but him, could call the mutt a 'Half breed'
"Stupid bond..." he lowly mumbled, but everyone was still arguing about HIS mate so they weren't concerned with anything he had to say at the moment.
"From what I hear she doesn't want to be your mate anyway," Shijo, the son of Chiyo, a black haired member of the council said with a smirk. Shijo was two summers younger than Kouga and the beta male of the pack.
Kouga gave him a hard look but said nothing and turned back to Reizo, he had no time to listen to his cousin brag about how many times he failed at something.
The elder cleared his throat. "Kouga Oji-sama, you have a duty to your pack, you have three weeks to either bring a mate or we will choose one for you." He said to Kouga
Kouga narrowed his eyes and stood, "I will do as I please!" he pounded his fist on the table "Do not try to threaten me. I will bring a mate and do what is required." he was so angry, 'how dare they tell him whom to mate with.' Every one in the room silenced them selves, some looked appalled, Shijo just folded his arms, leaning back in his chair and smirking.
"My prince," Naoko spoke up "We are not trying to threaten you, but..." the male wolf never got to finish his sentence because all of a sudden Kouga eyes widened and he went stiff
"Kouga?" he asked as he watched Kouga turn his hands palm-up and look at them.
"What the..." he felt heat through his whole body but mostly in his hands, then he fell face first to the ground like something heavy had just dropped on his head
All the council members ran to his aid, Shijo stood up but didn't go over to the alpha male... he wasn't that mean or disrespectful to laugh in his cousin's face... so he decided to stay by the table and laugh instead.
"What in the world is going on?" Reizo asked looking up at the ceiling to see if anything fell on Kouga
"Are you ok my Prince?" Naoko asked with concern. They thought he had a curse placed on him, so the all looked around for the caster.
They rolled Kouga over onto his back. Kouga groaned and looked at everyone who was leaning in over him. ,
'SHIT' he thought, as pain raced through his body 'Fucking mutt can't go one damn day without getting sat'. Along with everything else he forgot that the bond would allow him to feel Inuyasha's pain.
Reizo checked Kouga over to make sure he was okay. "Prince Kouga, you have a big knot on your forehead. What caused you to hit the ground with such force?" Kouga was still in pain and felt the blood as it ran from his forehead into his right ear, but answered with a pained voice
"Nothing... I slipped" he hoped they would believe him. They all looked at him and nodded. They helped him stand up and made sure he was steady on his feet
"We will end this meeting for now and get some rest. Prince Kouga, you get your wound healed and take a bath to get the hanyou's smell off you." Reizo said.
Kouga placed his hand over the open cut on his head. It didn't hurt anything but his pride and he would go straight to his aunt to get babied anyway.
"I have heard everything you said I will go back in a few day to go get my mate and bring them back by the time they are needed," Kouga said as he stood and tried to limp away, "I have three weeks to convince them, and if I can't I will accept the one that is chosen by the council." He added hoping they didn't realize that he never said her or she.
"And do not bother me again until the three weeks are over." and he headed for the door. He had a lot of thinking to do and didn't know where to began. As he tried to leave Shijo went to him "Lets get you to mom, you big baby " he said as he helped Kouga to his mother's room.
"WWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT"
Was echoed through the entire village as Inuyasha listened to what Sango said "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN HE MARKED ME AS HIS MATE?" he was hysterical "This is some sick joke, isn't it?"
The demon slayer blinked twice before she tried to say anything, but Inuyasha cut her off.
"There is no fucking way I'm keeping this." He began to scratch the mark and paced at the same time "Tell me how to get rid of it" he gave Sango a hopeful look.
"Inuyasha I don't know of any way to remove it," she told him.
He stopped pacing immediately and gave her a horrified look, "WHAT!" he screeched out.
"There isn't any way to remove it." She said again not wanting to lie. She paused to make sure he was paying attention to her. "He may not even know he marked you." she tried to make the situation better... but the lie she just told him didn't even convince her.
"Trust me Sango" He paused remembering the wolf's reaction as he ran off, "he knows... He looked disgusted, and ran out of here so fast you would think he still had pieces of the shard in his legs." He now ran his hands through his hair pulling him bangs back and letting out a low pitiful puppy whimper. "What's going to happen now?" he asked, as his hair fell back into place, and he huffed.
"Inuyasha you are his mate. He will have no choice but to come for you sooner or later. He has every right to come and claim you if he chooses. Especially during mating season." she blurted and quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. She waited for him to flip out and scream but he never did. In fact he looked like he was in deep thought.
He spoke his thoughts out loud "Wouldn't we have to screw or something for this to be final?"
Sango paused..."eh?" it was unusual for anyone to ask things like this to her.
"Just because I have his mark doesn't mean I'm his... does it ?" he whispered the last part, not really wanting to know the answer.
Sango felt so bad for him, she knew he didn't know much about his demon side and hated that she had to be the one to tell him "He is not human and you are only half... Demons go by instinct alone and his instinct will tell him you are his mate. There is not much you can do about it. You belong to him and he can do as he pleases if he wants you, he will have you."
He started to pace again. "Why the hell does it have to be Kouga? I could have been anyone's mate but his. I would have even accepted a bite from Kaede. But noooooooooo… it had to be him. He... He put his stupid mark on me."
Sango wanted to laugh at his outburst and opened her mouth to say something but he started again. "Why? Why me? I've hated that arrogant bastard for years. The first time I saw him I knew I should have killed him. The first time he took Kagome. But I didn't... Why didn't I? I am supposed to hate him. I want to hate him. I don't even know if I can hate him anymore." he panicked as he paced and scratched at his neck
Sango never got a chance to speak or answer him when Kagome, Miroku, and Shippo returned. Inuyasha kept talking to Sango.
"I'll show you Sango, I don't belong to that mangy wolf. Watch!"
He went to Kagome as soon as she was inside of the hut and grabbed both her shoulders.
Not thinking about the jewel inside of her but not really caring. Her eyes widened as he leaned forward to kiss her. Every part of his body burned, but he'd rather burn kissing Kagome, than live as Kouga's mate.
Before his lips were completely pressed against hers Kagome squeaked "What are you doing Inuyasha?" and she backed up "SIT BOY!" Was automatically yelled and he slammed to the ground face first, making yet another hole in the hut they had just finished.
"What is your problem Inuyasha?" she yelled " You could have gotten hurt!" she was more embarrassed about what Inuyasha did to her, than him getting fried.
Once the spell wore off he picked his head up from the crater, the impact from his body caused in the wooden floor these houses are never going to get rebuilt
"What was that for! All I was trying to do was get close to you." he spat and Kagome turned beet red.
"Sango...what's going on with Inuyasha? He normally isn't as open about his feelings for Kagome?" Miroku asked leaning close to Sango, muffling his words by raising his hand close to his mouth
"I have no idea what goes on inside of his head." She said as she smiled and shook her head in disbelief... 'He refuses to give in'
Kagome stood there with her mouth opening and closing, but couldn't get the words out. She couldn't believe he would embarrass her like that in front of everyone. "You could've done that in private Inuyasha, not like this" she pouted
"I...was just… um… just trying to see if I could...touch you yet." He mumbled.
"Well next time ask me. You don't just go around trying to kiss people." She didn't want to be mad at him and was happy he wanted to kiss her. She thought he really loved her to still try to touch her, knowing that he could get shocked.
He got up making sure he kept his mark hidden from the three people who had just walked in. He decided to go for a walk to think about things. The hanyou started to exit the hut leaving behind Kagome, who was a little shocked that one minute he was trying to kiss her and the next minute he was walking off.
"Inuyasha where do you think you are going? Do you want me to come with you?" Kagome asked.
"No I don't..." he paused, not wanting to give anything away... "I need to think about things for a while... I'll be back." He said without looking at her
"What do you need to think about? I told you to just ask first about kissing me, I'm not even mad at you for doing it" she said.
She turned to Sango eyeing her, "What happened when we were gone?" She asked him before he got too far. "You never use to run off to "think" so much before."
"Nothing's wrong... I'll be back." Were his last words before he left.
Shippo didn't understand what the older people were talking about, and was in his own little world until Inuyasha walked past him. His ears perked up and he looked around the room..."Was Kouga here?" He asked curiosity getting the better of him.
Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks "What?" He asked turning around and sending Shippo an evil glare.
"I can smell Kouga... sniff, sniff... It's like he was here just seconds ago." the young fox said, not noticing Inuyasha ball up his fist.
Sango's eyes grew wide and she answered before the dog-demon could crack a punch across the kitsune's head leaving a knot.
"Um… Kouga was here earlier." She stated and Inuyasha looked at her with wide eyes, then she added. "They fought over you." as she glanced at Kagome. She still didn't forgive the schoolgirl for bringing up Kohaku earlier.
"Sango should I follow him?" Miroku asked concerned as he watched Inuyasha silently turn and walk away from the hut.
"No let him go, he said he needed to think." She answered
Kagome didn't want to talk to Sango, but she wanted to know what was wrong with Inuyasha. So she asked to no one in particular, "What happened to him? Why does he seem so upset? It couldn't be because I sat him... I do it all the time."
Sango just looked at her not wanting to answer, but then she turned to Miroku and said, "Miroku, Inuyasha is upset about some things, just give him time, he will be ok." And she turned back to Kagome and gave her a small smile.
"You two should make up. Why are you fighting anyway?" Miroku asked.
"Who said we were fighting?" Sango replied.
Miroku rolled his eyes and said, "Women", as they began to make their beds. The air was very tense. Sango and Kagome kept giving each other annoyed looks. Miroku kept looking at Sango worryingly and Shippo just lay down with Kirara.
Inuyasha needed time to think, too much had happened and he was confused. He didn't want to stay and talk to his friends. All he kept thinking was that he was Kouga's mate, he didn't want to believe it but he knew it was true. Not only did he have a mark he started to feel less hostile about the wolf.
He and Kouga had been enemies for too long. They always fought over Kagome. Didn't they both love her? He wasn't even sure about that anymore. Every thing was so messed up. Why did he have to be Kouga's mate? He wondered if the wolf would even want him. He always wanted a mate who he could love, and who wanted him for him. Now he was mated by mistake. Kouga probably wouldn't even come for him. Who wanted a worthless hanyou as their mate? He didn't know why he even cared if Kouga wanted him or not.
Everyone he cared for, he ended up losing. He never knew his father, then he lost his mother and his brother never even liked him. His first love, Kikyo died after he thought she betrayed him and now he couldn't even touch Kagome.
Why was his life filled with so much pain? Finally all his feelings got the best of him. He tried to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat and tried to blink away the tears caused by anger and pain. He tried to hold everything in but suddenly burst. That night alone, next to the cold lake Inuyasha cried himself to sleep...
And in a den towards the north, a wolf prince also cried his self to sleep.
Please please please read and review!
TBC:
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Sesshysfavhuman
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