Disclaimer- I don't not own Inuyasha nor Kouga... or any of the other Inuyasha cast, they all belong to their creator Rumiko Takahashi.

Bitten: Chapter 10 (part 1 of 3)

Mating Season

Kagome walked through the hidden castle she occupied with Naraku and a few lower demons they used as spies. She made her way into the room where Naraku stayed in and looked around. She made a disgusted face at the smell and the sight that greeted her.

Surrounding Naraku were several remains of other demons. Naraku had been devouring the demons bodies to sustain his own. Just like a spider, he also had corpses wrapped in a silk like substance, for later consumption.

Naraku looked up at her and smirked, knowing the sight of his meals sickened her. "What is wrong my love?"

Kagome gazed into his eyes and noticed how much stronger he looked. He had also taken his 'gifts' back from her, but she didn't care one bit. With the power of the jewel inside of her, she no longer needed his powers anyway.

"I saw one of your spies returning." She stepped closer to him. "What news do they bring?"

Naraku slowly stood up and walked right in front of her, He cupped her face with one of his hands and smiled at her. He was no longer weak looking, for all the demons she had brought him to devour seemed to help him regain his strength and body back.

"You need not worry any more, Kagome. It seems Lord Sesshomaru has brought Inuyasha back from the dead." He smiled and leaned close to her face. "We now have a new problem."

Kagome rolled her eyes looking as if she could care less about what he was saying. "What sort of new problems? If he is alive then we can still use his body, and kill Kouga."

"We cannot kill Kouga. He and Inuyasha have a blood bond, if you kill Kouga then Inuyasha will also die." Naraku wrapped his other hand around her waist, "Inuyasha is also carrying his pups." He pulled her close to his body.

Her eyes grew, now he had her interest. "What? How can that be? He's a man . . . isn't he?" She tried to push away from him but he held on tightly to her.

"Yes, he is male. He is also a hanyou, and bonded by blood to Kouga. We must wait till the pups are born then we can try and break their bond." He then continued to tell her everything that his spy told him about the bond and the ceremony. Once he finished, he let her go, and sneered, "Then you can have the pleasure of killing Kouga."

Underneath the hate and anger Kagome felt, she was also aware of a sharp sting of grief. Inuyasha was her first love and now he was bonded to Kouga for life and pregnant with the wolf's pups. She also thought about how Inuyasha turned into a full demon and Kouga was the only one that was able to calm him enough. At that very moment her hate and anger grew tenfold at Kouga. She was supposed to have children with Inuyasha. She was the only one who Inuyasha was suppose to love enough not to turn into a full demon. Not that mangy, flea-ridden wolf. Kagome didn't think she could hate Kouga more than she had before, but now she did. She would stop at nothing to get even with the wolf-demon who took her first love away from her.

Naraku watched the emotion play across her face and smiled. He loved the darkness that he felt coming from inside her at the moment.

"There is also one more thing I need to tell you." He paused watching her as her hands balled into a fist. "There is another like you. A young one named Rin."

Kagome stared at him, then started to laugh, "That is the child that follows Sesshomaru around."

"Don't underestimate her because of her age. She can still present a problem for us," Naraku frowned.

"I will take care of her, if she gets in my way." Kagome turned her back to him, began walking away, and said over her shoulder, "Right now I think its time I pay my friends a visit."

She paused for a moment. "As soon as Miroku's wind tunnel comes back, they'll know that you weren't destroyed."

"I guess you will just have to make sure it never has a chance to come back then won't you?" Naraku said as he sat back down."Remember you may have an ally in the wolf called Tanjiro."

Kagome resumed walking again, "Yes, I will have to make sure it doesn't come back. I am going to the Northern Lands. My friends had a bonding ceremony and they didn't even invite me." She spoke in an uncaring and cold voice, as she left the room that Naraku stayed in. The dark hanyou smiled, knowing things were going just as he wanted them to.

Sesshomaru kept a close eye on Rin, wondering if she would show any more of her miko powers. They would be leaving in a few days in search of Kagome, and he knew if Kagome was as strong as he thought she was, Rin would need to develop her powers as soon as possible. So far, the young girl had not shown any more signs of being anything more than a normal and energetic human child.

The northern den and valley were full of wolves courting, singing, dancing and eating. The other packs would be staying for an entire week, enjoying the celebration and giving the unclaimed wolves a chance to find a mate.

Courting was done when a male wolf would take a big blanket and stand beside the female of his choice. He would then open the blanket and ask her to join him. If she did, he would wrap her inside of the blanket along with himself, and try to find a place together away from prying eyes. If no place was available then they would cuddle together, talk and sometimes if they were brave enough they would stroke each other. Only the bold and daring ones would go as far as to couple in public underneath the blanket.

Kouga and Inuyasha agreed that they were too loud for their public display of affections and tried to find any secluded place in the den to mate. When Inuyasha wasn't stuffing his face full of food, he and Kouga would spend every moment they could show each other how much they loved one another. For some reason their passion and desire for each other seem to grow with the bond instead of lessening. Usually they would make love in their own den-room but when that got to be too much of a routine they decided to explore other places inside the den. Today they thought the council chamber robe closet was a good place to start.

Inuyasha clutched onto the covering that closed off the small robe closet inside the council chambers, as Kouga gripped one of his hands on Inuyasha's waist and his other covered the half-demon's mouth. It was the third day of mating season, and so far they hadn't managed to keep their hands off of each other.

They had almost made it out of the den for the evening meal with the rest of the other demons but when they saw that the council room was empty they took full advantage of the small closet that held the robes. Kouga stood with Inuyasha's back to him and wasted no time removing their robes. The wolf lord shoved himself inside his prince, who in turn let out a muffled scream of desire and pleasure.

Kouga continued to thrust in and out of his inu-prince, both of them panting and grasping on the covering in front of them. Kouga made sure Inuyasha came first, and he began to pump harder and faster inside Inuyasha's tight hole. He was almost at his climax when Shinjo walked into the council chamber holding onto Sango's hand. Kouga stopped moving and pulled Inuyasha against his chest.

"Don't move," he whispered against the hanyou's ear.

Inuyasha froze. He could hear Kouga panting into his ear and he tried to move his hips against Kouga. The wolf lord grabbed his hips and held him still,

"Wait," Kouga whispered again then licked Inuyasha along his ear. "We don't want them to hear us."

A shiver ran through the half-demon's body and he moaned out loud, Kouga's hand shot up to cover his mouth. They stayed still for a few moments and watched Shinjo and Sango through the small slit of the covering that was over the opening of the robe closet.

Hisa had been chasing Shinjo for the past three days, and no matter what he told her she refused to believe that he and Sango were mates. Shinjo would run and claim the arm of the exterminator as soon as he saw the ugly she-wolf coming for him, and begged, "You're a slayer, do something! Help me! Slay her or something. Please!"

Sango would laugh and ask him, "Why don't you just give her a chance, she may be really nice."

Shinjo gave her a nauseated look and told her, "There is nothing nice about her. I would rather choke on my own vomit before I ever take her as a mate." Sango looked at him again and laughed, she could tell that he was very serious so she took pity on him and agreed to keep playing their 'pretend' game of being mates.

The night was cool and Shinjo came prepared, knowing Hisa would be after him again. He unfolded a blanket and held it up, waiting for Sango to join him. Almost without conscious thought, she moved toward him, her heart pounding wildly as he enveloped them in the folds of the blanket.

Sango could feel Miroku's eyes watching her and thought 'I shouldn't be doing this.' Yet, even as that thought crossed her mind, she was taking pleasure in his nearness, the press of his body against hers, the scent of fresh rain and pine that clung to him. She turned her head slightly to see if Miroku was watching her but he seemed to be talking to the lady of the East.

Miroku would watch Shinjo grab and hold onto Sango, and every time she would look his way, the monk would be sure to have some beautiful demon beside him. He would even go so far as to kiss the female's cheek, to show Sango he wasn't paying any attention to her. Sango would see him flirt and think he would never change so she was happy about the attention that Shinjo gave her. It helped her to keep her mind off of Miroku.

Hisa had been watching the two so-called love birds for long enough and she knew that Shinjo was lying to her about having the human as a mate. The human didn't smell like him and she didn't have his mark.

Shinjo had excused himself from Sango to go and talk to his mother inside the den. When Hisa spotted him, she watched as he entered his mother's den-room. Hisa hid in the shadows waiting for him to return.

While Sango waited for Shinjo to come back, she watched as Miroku flirted with and felt up the demoness' who weren't already claimed. Every part of her wanted to go up to him and slam her hiraikotsu against his head about a dozen times, but then she noticed that Hisa was following Shinjo into the den. She was walking very slowly and looking around. It seemed that she was trying to creep up on him. It appeared to Sango like there was some kind of stone in her hand. Sango took one more glance at Miroku, who was still flirting and not paying any attention to her, and she headed after the grisly looking she -wolf.

By the time Sango made it to the den she couldn't find Shinjo or Hisa. She headed toward Chiyo's den-room thinking that he would be there. As she turned the corner, a sharp pain ran through her shoulder, causing her to fall down on one knee. She jumped up quickly while holding her shoulder and turned around. Hisa stood ready to strike again and Sango quickly dodged her second attack.

"Deceitful wench!" Hisa hissed, her eyes burned with fury as she lunged at Sango head first, knocking the slayer to the cold dirty ground.

Sango landed a good solid punch to the she-wolf's mouth, causing Hisa to bite down on her lip and bleed down her chin. Then Sango kneed her in the stomach, leaving Hisa gasping for air. Hisa swung her clawed hand and scratched Sango's cheek, leaving horizontal trails of blood.

They began rolling on the ground punching, kneeing, kicking, pulling hair, scratching and even biting occasionally. Finally Sango was able to jump on top of Hisa and pin her down. She raised her fist, and punched Hisa in the jaw, causing something inside the she-demon's mouth to make a cracking sound. Sango raised her fist again ready to pound Hisa into the ground, but two strong hands pulled her up and to her feet by her fist.

Sango turned around to see Shinjo looking at her and Hisa who was still on the ground bleeding. "You have no right attacking my mate." He wrapped his arm around Sango's waist. "You will get your things and leave now."

"She is not your mate! She has no mark on her neck," Hisa growled, her voice so full of hate, and her eyes, if possible, grew colder. "You deserve someone better than that filthy human."

Shinjo gave her a lasting glare. "It is none of your business where I mark my mate," His hand ran down Sango's back resting just above her rear. "You are no longer welcome here, you will leave the northern lands by yourself quietly, or I will pick you up and throw you out of out lands."

Hisa stood up and stared at Sango with nothing but hate on her face, blood started to leek out the corner of her mouth and she stepped close to them.

"I will make you pay human."

She turned her hateful glare to Shinjo. Without another word she turned on her heals and limped quickly out of the den.

Shinjo turned to Sango and looked at her shaking his head. He was use to female demons fighting over male demons but he had never seen a human female beat the hell out of a female demon. He smiled at Sango.

"Are you all right?" Sango nodded. "I'm sorry she attacked you." He reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand and wiped the small lines of blood away with his thumb.

Sango watched him smile and started to blush. "She was coming after you. I had to show her that she can't mess with 'my mate'." Sango started to smile with him.

"I bet she'll think first before she tries that again. You beat the shit out of her." He sounded more than impressed as his smile grew wider. He grabbed her hand. "Come on we can get you cleaned up in the council room"

Shinjo and Sango walked into the council room, talking about what had happened. Shinjo cleaned up Sango's minor wounds with a cloth. She raised her head and looked into his face and had to catch her breath. They stood there staring at each other for a few moments as he continued to wipe the wet cloth across her face. Sango smiled.

"Thank you." She backed away a little. "I think I should go." Her voice came out breathy.

Shinjo moved, very slowly, as if afraid Sango would bolt, staring down, and still caressing her face. His face was neutral, and he raised his other hand upward, from her collar to her neck. His fingers glided underneath her hair until he cupped the back of her neck, his thumb resting on top of the pulse in her neck. Sango's body tightened and her breath stopped in her throat.

Sango gazed at him. He was as beautiful as Hisa was ugly. He was tall, with a medium build, from his well-toned arms that emerged from the short sleeves of his heron. It appeared that he was constructed of a mass of strong firm muscles.

"Are you done inspecting me?" he asked after a time.

Sango looked back up at him and smirked, "Maybe."

He surprised her by laughing. "Well then, don't let me stop you." He moved back a little and held out his arms to show her all of himself.

She looked down turning red and suddenly feeling embarrassed. "Why did you pick me to pretend to be your mate?" She looked back up at him, her expression now serious.

Shinjo stepped close to her again. "Because I didn't know how else to get your interest." He ran his hand up her arm and rested it on her shoulder.

She stood there, her mouth hanging open. She couldn't be sure if he was telling her this because he meant it or if he was telling her this because he still needed her to keep the female demons away. She frowned, "You don't have to say things like to me, Shinjo. Hisa is gone now. You don't need to act like you still want me around."

His brow furrowed in confusion. "Why wouldn't I want you around?" he inquired.

She kept her frown on her face.

"I helped you because I felt sorry for you. Now that Hisa's gone, you can go find yourself a beautiful demon to be with."

"What if I didn't want a demon to be with? What if I wanted to be with a beautiful human." Shinjo stared seductively into her eyes.

"I'm not a fool. I know I'm not beautiful. I have scars, and there is nothing feminine about me. I'm a demon slayer. I can defeat most men and demons without any effort." She averted her gaze. "No man wants a woman like me."

He looked at her and turned her face back to his with his hand.

"You're beautiful to me," he murmured as he moved his face closer to hers.

Sango backed her head up a little and looked into his blue eyes, "There is a word for a man like you, a man who just plays with women." She said still not believing that he could really be interested in her.

He chuckled and ran his other hand up her arm. "And what word would that be?"

"Tease," Sango stated with narrow eyes.

Shinjo chuckled again, "Well, I can't be called that. Teases never intend to follow through." He leaned his head close to her ear. "I do." He slowly trailed his tongue along the top of her ear causing her to freeze. "You are so beautiful Sango." His voice was very low.

Sango thought he was beautiful too, but couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. He moved his head slowly till he was looking at her. Then his lips brushed against Sango's before she drew back from the kiss and looked him in the eyes.

"Did you see that?" Inuyasha asked from inside the robe closet. His mouth hung open as he watched Shinjo kiss Sango.

Kouga held onto his hips, frustrated that he hadn't cum yet and started to move again. "Who cares about what they are doing?" he groaned. "They seem to like each other." He picked up the pace of his thrusts.

Inuyasha moaned when Kouga hit his prostate hard. Kouga put a hand around Inuyasha's mouth again hoping that his cousin and Sango didn't hear them. He then pushed Inuyasha forward a little at the waist, and forced himself into the half-demon as far as he could, causing Inuyasha to cry out into his hand.

Shinjo froze. He looked toward the robe closet, smelling exactly who was in there, and then back down at Sango, her face was so close, her lips half-parted. Forgetting about his cousin and his new prince, Shinjo leaned down again and kissed those half-parted lips, and, thankfully, this time she didn't pull away. She raised her hands and tightened them around his back.

Without breaking the kiss, he bent and wrapped his arms around her upper things, lifted her, and carried her effortlessly to the council table. He didn't lay her on top of it, which was what she half expected. He turned and sat down on the table, sliding her legs to either side, so that he was suddenly pressed between her legs with only their thin layers of cloths between them.

"I'm almost there." Kouga tried to whisper but it came out loud between his grunts, as he pumped himself vigorously into Inuyasha body, almost pushing the hanyou out of the closet. Inuyasha held onto the hanging cloth that closed them off from the rest of the council room.

"You feel so good," Kouga hissed. Inuyasha bit down into the wolf lords hand to keep from screaming out his pleasure and caused blood to seep out of it into his mouth and down Kouga's arm.

Shinjo laid back on the table, and Sango straddled him. He moved her hips so that their bodies were rubbing together. His hands rubbed up her leg, and she pressed herself into him hard enough for his body to arch up. And then there was a loud scream.

"Inuyasha." Kouga came, shoving hard into his lover and the silver haired inu-prince screamed "Kouga." Through the wolf lord's bloody fingers.

Sango and Shinjo froze, then Shinjo said, "I forgot about them being in here." He closed his eyes and cursed softly under his breath.

Sango slid off of Shinjo, leaving him lying on the table with his legs dangling over the end. She checked her clothing to make sure she was presentable and watched as Kouga and Inuyasha stumbled out of the small closet, sweaty, bloody, and half dressed.

"You guys didn't have to stop on our account. We were just leaving," Kouga said with a satisfied smile on his face.

Inuyasha looked at Sango, shocked that she was with Shinjo and embarrassed he was caught by her again while having sex with Kouga. Sango looked at him and then turned to look at Shinjo "Um . . . I think I will go now." She ran her hands over her clothes again, trying her best to hide her embarrassment and shame. She gave Shinjo a half smile, then turned and left the council chambers.

Shinjo turned to look at his cousin and Inuyasha. "I think I'll go too." He bowed to show his respect, his face was slightly blushing. He quickly turned before they could question him, and left the wolf- lord and the inu-prince alone. Inuyasha grabbed Kouga by the hand.

"Lets go find something to eat." And they too left the council room.

Word spread fast about the fight between Hisa and Sango, and everyone believed that the slayer and Shinjo were intended to soon be mated. Sango stayed away from Shinjo, and when he did get close enough to talk to her she would tell him that she needed some space and some time to think.

Miroku was angry and confused when he had heard all the gossip about Sango. He tried to stay away from her and when she tried to talk to him he would tell her in a voice that could only be described as heart broken that he didn't want to get in the way of her mate. Sango was at a loss of words. She knew that she loved Miroku, but he had never stopped his lecherous ways, even though he had promised her he would. Shinjo on the other hand gave her all the attention she wished she had from Miroku and then some. She always remembered the kiss they shared and deep inside she wanted it to happen again, but she didn't know if she was ready to hurt or give up on Miroku just yet.

The next day Sango sat silently with Inuyasha feeling guilty and unsettled. She looked over at him and noticed the small bump on his stomach that seemed to had appeared out of now where.

"You're finally showing." She said smiling as she placed a gentle hand on his stomach.

He smiled at her and put his hands over hers "Yup. Kouga thinks it took so long because I'm not that big to begin with."

"That could be the reason, you are sort of on the skinny side," she nodded

"I'm not skinny," he pouted then smiled at her. They sat in silence once more until she asked him about Kouga.

"Are you really in love with him?" Sango looked troubled.

"Yes. I love him with everything I am. Why?" Inuyasha watched the confusion run across her face.

"I just don't know what to do about Miroku and Shinjo. Did you feel that way about Kagome and Kouga at first?" She could believe she was asking Inuyasha of all people about love and feelings. Even though he acted like a child at times, it seemed that he had matured with his bond and pregnancy.

"No. I didn't love Kouga at first. I couldn't help going to him because of the mark, but then he told me something no one ever told me before." He looked at her with a big smile. "He told me he loved me. Even though I was dying in his arms, I heard him. I've never told him that."

Sango nodded, "Miroku told me he cared for me, but then he keeps flirting with every female that comes his way. If he really loved me, he would stop his lecherous ways and tell me straight forward."

"What about Shinjo? Did he tell you he loves you?"

"No, he hasn't told me that. He just tells me how beautiful I am and that he cares for me. You already know we kissed . . . which is more than Miroku and I have ever done."

"Miroku's my friend. He's a letch and has always been that way. If you can't accept him then find someone you can accept. I'm not telling you what to do. Only you can decide what's best for you. Only you know what makes you happy."

"I know. I just don't want to do something that I can't take back later."

Just then Kouga sat down behind Inuyasha. Without a word, he pulled the half-demon's head to the side to meet his so that he could plunder Inuyasha's mouth with his tongue. Inuyasha moaned into his mouth and hesitantly broke the kiss. Kouga gave him a lecherous look and smiled at Sango.

"Don't you have enough man problems without trying to sit here and take mine?" he teased

"Oh shut-up. You know that I wasn't trying to take Inuyasha from you," she shot back, smiling.

Kouga wrapped his arms around Inuyasha and buried his nose into his neck. His hands moved slowly over his pregnant mate's belly. When the wolf lord started to suck on his neck, and Inuyasha moaned out. "Kouga."

Sango nudged Kouga in the ribs. "Can you two stop that? You're turning me on."

Kouga looked up at her. "You could join us if you like." And he reached out to stroke her thigh with his hand.

Inuyasha started to laugh as she turned bright red, "I don't think she wants to add us to her men problems."

"You guys are horrible. Do you two ever think of anything besides sex?" She smacked Kouga's hand and playfully and he moved it from her thigh.

"I do." Inuyasha replied. "I think about food just as much."

They all began to laugh. both Kouga and Inuyasha told Sango not to worry about those guys because they loved her. Then they wrapped their arms around Sango, pulling her so that she sat in-between them. She wrapped one of her arms around each of their waist. The three of them sat there in silence once again. This time she didn't feel guilty or unsettled.

Sango began to talk to Shinjo again, and he kept trying to convince her that he wanted to be with her. She finally told him about her and Miroku's so-called relationship and he promised to give her time to decide what she wanted.

Miroku had yet to talk to her so she took it upon her self to go and talk to him. Sango walked down to the valley and watched as Miroku talked with one of the female demons. They were laughing and touching each other. When she got closer to him, she noticed that he had his right hand balled into a fist protectively at his side.

She walked up to him and called out to him, "Miroku?" He and the demoness turned to look at her. "I need to talk to you for a moment."

Miroku nodded and told the lady demon he would return after he spoke with his friend.

At hearing him call her a friend Sango's face saddened but she quickly covered it. They silently walked into one of the unoccupied rooms of the den.

"We haven't spoken much since the gathering started," Sango started. "I've missed your company."

Miroku half smiled at her, "Well, you have been busy helping Kouga's cousin." Inuyasha had told him that Sango was helping Shinjo get away from Hisa.

"He doesn't need my help anymore. Hisa is gone." She looked down at his hand which he still had balled into a fist. "Is something wrong with your hand?"

"No,"he said quickly. "It's nothing to worry about."

Sango tried to grab his hand. "Let me see. . ." But he pulled it away from her.

"I said it's nothing. What did you need to talk about?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

Sango watched him and decided not to push him away before she even got a chance to see how he felt. "I want us to spend more time together, I still care about you . . . a lot."

She knew she was taking a big chance letting him know how she felt but she didn't feel she had any other choice at the moment. She needed to know how he felt about her too.

Miroku looked into her brown eyes. "What took you so long to come and tell me this?"

"I didn't know if you still felt the same way," Sango said, her voice breaking.

Hearing her frustration, and her sadness, Miroku quickly moved to Sango's side. Without even considering being rejected, he wrapped his arms, around the slayer and brought her close to him. Sango melted in his arms. She nestled close.

"I am sorry that I didn't come and tell you that I care about you. I was afraid to admit it, to you and to myself," he murmured

She leaned in closer to him, "This feels so wonderful. I didn't think you wanted to be with me any more."

"Don't ever think that. I would like it very much if we spent more time together. I have missed you," Miroku said, but it was more like he breathed the word than spoke it.

He turned Sango in his arms to look into her eyes, they stared at each other for a long time before he took one of her hands into his, then he moved his head toward hers. Sango's eyes never left his, as he brushed a soft kiss across her lips. Miroku didn't get a chance to deepen the kiss, because Shinjo chose that moment to walk through the door with Kouga and Inuyasha.

TBC:

I had to do this chapter in three parts because it was so long.

I would like to think Miyu-chan and American Rose for all their help with this story :)

I would also like to think everyone who read the last chapter I love making people laugh. Happy reading.

Sesshysfavhuman :P