chapter 3:

i do not own anything except what is mine, blah blah, etc. etc.

now! on with the story!

although a word of caution before we continue.

i need at LEAST 3 reviews before i update.

AT LEAST!

PLEASE! IM GETTING DESPERATE HERE!

anyways...

chapter 3

I trudged home from the bus stop, cursing whatever gods were out there that i was only 17, and couldn't drive.

i walked in the door, and took the stairs 2 at a time directly to my bedroom, ignoring whatever else might be going on in the household.

i was barely in the door when my cell rang.

"hello."

"hey! alex! you coming to the beach?"

"when?"

"um...now."

"sure! who else is going?"

"The usual, Kouga, Hojo, beau..."

"Kay! i'll be there in 10!"

"see ya!"

i threw the phoone down on the bed and rushed over to my closet, yanking out a red tanktop made of a floaty material and a white skirt, i put my bikini on underneath, grabbed a towel out of the linen closet and ran downstairs.

Why was i so excited? well, i had the tiniest, itsy bitsiest crush on Kouga.

duh.

"DAD! I NEED A RIDE - oh..."

Apparently i was interrupting something, My dad was laughing loudly at the kitchen table with a White haired Youkai, Chrissica was giggling and whispering to the lady next to him.

"okay," I said, scared slightly at this turn of events. "I think i'll take the bus..."

unfortuanately, My father noticed me trying to back away unnoticed and waved me forwards.

"Ellie! come here! i need you to meet an old friend of mine."

"Hey!" the Youkai growled, a twinkle in his eye. "Who you calling old?"

The 2 of them then fell around laughing again.

"Er...hi dad, i was just heading to the beach to meet some..people..."

immediately his gaze sharpened, and his ears twitched.

"These 'people' wouldn't happen to include Kougo, or whatever his name is, would they?"

"Kouga, daddy, and er...no, i dont think he was going to be there."

"You know i can smell it when you're lying, Elinora."

i hung my head in shame at being caught out and slowly inched towards the door.

"Magon! who is this lovely lady?" the youkai with white hair asked, his golden eyes trailed on me, looking as if he was judging my worth.

"Oops," my father chuckled, "I almost forgot! Inutaisho, this is my daughter Elinora, Elinora, Inutaisho."

My ears had already pricked up at the name of the youkai, and i peered at him curiously, as he peered at me the same way.

The eye contact was broken when he sniffed the air, and i knew he was smelling for something.

finally, he smiled, revealing glistening white fangs, and i smiled hesitantly back.

Truth be told, i was a little intimidated by him, and he knew it.

his smile grew wider.

until a tug on a lock of his long hair caused him to look at the woman beside him.

"Introduce me."

Inutaisho sighed.

"This is my mate Miko."

I smiled, at her and liked her instantly as she held her arms out for a hug.

now, don't get me wrong, i don't normally just go around hugging random strangers, but i just couldn't help but love her.

She hugged me warmly and then pulled back to inspect me. As she did so, i took my chance to survey her aswell.

She had long black hair, and a quiet face, if that makes sense. i liked her instantly.

apparently she felt the same about me. because then i was pulled into another rib breaking hug.

She looked around at her husband before she spoke next.

"I had hoped that Inuyasha and the others would be here to meet you all, but apparently, they got held up."

Inutaisho chuckled, a twinkle in his eye.

"They certainly take after me."

"Not that thats a good thing sometimes." Miko said sharply, causing Chrissica to giggle and my dad to laugh.

"Hush wench!" Inutaisho cried, pulling her against him, "You break my manly spirit with such taunts!"

seeing that they were all occupied, i turned to walk out, but a look from both my parents caused me to sigh.

picking up my cell, i rang Mikella.

"Mikella? don't ask, im gonna have to cancel...yes, i know Kouga is going to be there...yes i know he's not wearing a shirt...you just like rubbing it in my face don't you? ...yeah thats what i thought...kay...bye!"

sighing again at what i was missing out on, i took a seat next to my father.

It was going to be a long night.

9 pm that night

Miko and I had hit it off wonderfully, as had Chrissica and Miko.

It was around nine-ish, and i realised that i hadn't seen Michelle all day.

"Hey, dad, where's Michelle?"

"hmmm? oh, at a friends house."

i looked at him in disbelief. SHE got to leave and i was stuck here? uh-uh, no way was i taking that one quietly.

"What!" i yelled, causing Inutaisho and my father to wince and cover their ears. "MICHELLE GETS TO LEAVE! AND I WAS FORCED TO MISS OUT ON A HALF-NAKED KOUGA!"

"Yes," my father said, his ears still covered."That boy is a bad influence."

Inutaisho chuckled at the look on my face, looking at me keenly.

"dad," i said in a softer, sickly sweet voice. "may i go now?"

Miko and chrissica looked at me in pity, they knew what was coming.

"no."

I gave him a glare that compared to the icy glaciers of the north.

"..And," he continued. "They've probably all gone home now anyway."

i knew it was time to put on the tears.

i sniffed.

and my eyes watered a bit.

Miko and chrissica cracked up laughing again at the look on My father and Inutaisho's face.

"Just let her!" Chrissica called, from between the laughter.

"yes," Miko said, "Where's the harm?"

My father growled.

but gave in, once he realised that it was a hopeless case.

"alright," he sighed, "you can go.But no drinking! Or touching guys of any kind!"

"yes dad!" i cried happily. Picking my stuff up from where it had fallen, i hugged everyone good bye. (With the exception of Inutaisho.)

I ran all the way to the beach from the bus stop. Hoping that everyone would still be there.

i was not disappointed.

"Mikella!" I called happily.

"Alex!" she cried, just as happy.

I ran forward, drawing a laugh from mikella aas i almost tripped over myself in the process.

"Hey ella, you ok?"

"i'm good!" i cried, straightening myself. only to come face to face with Kouga.

Immediately my face went bright red.

"er..hi..um..."

he quirked an eyebrow at me.

dang.

And he had no shirt on either.

dang again.

i floundered for the words.

"...I...that is...you...and...well...hi."

"hey."

I swear i almost swooned.

Mikella just rolled her eyes.

i spotted a bunch of guys walking up behind her and i smirked.

time for some revenge.

"Hey mikella," hojo called out, looking at her in concern.

"..." Mikella was too busy going red as a tomato to notice.

"how's it going?" the poor guy just kept trying at conversation.

"..uh...nuh, i'm good." She said, glaring at me as i hummed a familiar tune.

i began singing under my breath, which just made her turn even redder.

"..love is in the air..."

i wondered how long it would take before she cracked or he realised what was going on.

probably not long.

before i could continue, a hand slammed over my mouth. i looked at the culprit. expecting it to be Mikella, but, lets just say that it was NOT Mikella.

i turned redder than ever before, if that was possible.

Kouga removed his hand from my mouth and i quickly moved towards the bonfire in the middle of the beach, ignoring kouga's strange look and Mikella's laughter.

dang it. and dang them all.

I just don't understand it.

all i had was a drink of coke, supplied by Kouga.

THAT"S ALL! I SWEAR!

but, it can't have been i guess, because next thing i knew, i was sitting in Kouga's lap, acting like one of the girl's i frequently called 'monogamously challenged.'

Not that he appeared to be complaining.

oh no, he was just lapping it up.

jerk.

you'd think he'd have noticed that i was acting a little strangely.

Mikella certainly had.

and that's what caused the next little embarassment in my life.

"Elinora?" she asked cautiously, coming over to where i was...ahem sitting.

"yah?" i slurred.

"i've rung someone who'll come and get you."

"no!" i cried burying my face in Kouga's shirt, who lifted an arm around me protectively.

"yes." she said firmly. "Now come here."

"no." i said stubbornly, like a child refusing to leave a candy store. "I wanna stay here."

"Well you can't." she snapped.

it was then that a pair of arms pulled me away from Kouga and against a white shirt.

"Thankyou." Mikella said gratefully, as i was carried somewhere.

"Don't mention it." a male voice replied from somewhere above my head.

Through blurry eyes i looked at my 'saviour'.

He had white/silver hair, and gold eyes, and...were those fangs? yes, i think they were.

Then i fell asleep.

well, unconscious is more like it...but you get the point.

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and no memory of the previous nights events.

dang.

i moaned and pressed a hand to my forehead.

thinking it best not to avoid the inevitable, i pulled my sorry ass down the stairs.

and into the dining room.

only to be met, once again, with the sight of strange people in my kitchen.

"Elinora..." My father began,

Now was so not the time.

i mumbled something incoherent and moved over to the medicine cabinet.

yanking it open and tipping 3 nurofen into my hand, i walked over to the cupboard and got a drink.

aware that everyone was watching me, but not really caring.

I went to turn around, only to hit a vaguely familiar looking chest.

i studied this chest for a minute, completely zoned out of course, before an all too familiar voice interrupted.

"Wench! are you just going to stare all day!"

i looked up, my mind struggling to remember why he looked so familiar.

but with my head ache...basically, i gave up.

i looked up, past the chest, to see a white haired hanyou, looking at me with a knowing smirk.

dang, he must know something i don't.

dang, it could be about why i'm in this state.

dang! he could tell dad!

i looked at him, in a right state.

"don't worry," he said, leaning close to my ear. "I wont tell on you."

I smiled at him gratefully and he just 'meh'd'

what does 'meh' mean anyway?

surely it's not in the dictionary... unless it's a webster's dictionary... then it's possible.

anyway...

newly refreshed, i looked over at the people sitting in the room.

i recognised Inutaisho and miko, my father, chrissica, and then there were the strange boys...

one of them being mr. 'meh'.

I smiled tentatively, and Miko beamed while chrissica giggled evilly.

"Ellie! i'd like you to meet my 2 boys, Inuyasha" she gestured to the guy who was standing right in front of me. "And Sesshomaru." At this she gestured to the young man sitting by her side.

I smiled at him and recieved a cold glance in reply.

i frowned.

well, that guy was certainly rude.

Oh. My. God.

could those two be anymore obvious?

i looked over at chrissica and miko in mortification.

at first, i had thought it was a little suspicious that Miko moved to place me specifically next to Sesshomaru. a.k.a "fluffy" as i had decided to name him.

but then, when my father had actually AGREED that i should take him out to "look around" or that maybe we she should "study together sometimes."

i began to get downright mortified.

fluffy seemed to be immune, he just sat there reading a history book with a cold apathetic look on his face.

i looked around desperately, hoping for an escape route.

at that precise moment, a familiar jingle began to play as my phone began vibrating and ringing.

i picked it up, promising to be very good from now on if the person on the phone was telling me there was an emergency and i had to go straight away.

"hello?"

"hey,"

i froze.

i knew that voice, that was the ever so sexy voice of kouga.

"umm... hey, i mean, how did you get my number?"

he laughed deeply and i knew i was going red.

"you gave it to me the other night remember?"

i froze again, remembering myself clambering all over him, maybe this wasnt regret i was feeling from being drugged.

"oh..yeah."

he laughed again, and i found myself thinking how i could get used to hearing his laughter.

"so," he continued, "i was wondering whether you'd like to go out...right now."

i smiled dreamily, an ecstatic smile on my face.

"sure... aha...i'd love to..."

he chuckled again,

"see you in an hour at the mall."

then he hung up.

i floated up the stairs, ignoring the questioning gazes of everyone around me, and both my father and inutaisho's suspicious glares.

walking into my room i shut the door and looked at my closet.

then i looked down at what i was wearing.

this would not do.

walking to the cupboard, i pulled out a creamy spaghetti strapped top, and a pair of dark hip hugger jeans.

i sprayed the tiniest bit of perfume, knowing that he would have a sensitive nose, and applied lipgloss. brushing my hair back into a messy ponytail.

next, to get out of the house unnoticed.

i walked slowly and ever so quietly down the stairs, and i nearly reached the front door too.

before...

"and where are you going?"

" he he..." i said sheepishly turning to face dad and inutaisho. "out?"

"i see."

miko popped her head around the door.

"why don't you take sesshomaru elle?"

i froze.

"no, i mean, i cant! how are me and kouga supposed to go on a date with someone else there!"

instantly, all eyes in the room were on me.

"What!" my father roared frighteningly, while inutaisho glared icily at me with a look that said 'you're not going anywhere.'

what was he?

a second dad!

great, thats just what i needed...not.

"er, that is...i mean...tee hee...BYE!"

i ran as fast as i could out the door, and down the street. jumping on a bus, i stuck my tongue out at a furious set of fathers.

The bus pulled away from the kerb, sure, i was going to be grounded, and sure, i now looked messy and my hair was going wild.

but did i care?

nope. not one bit.

excitement ran through me, and i could barely keep still.

through the 30 minute bus ride, all i could think was:

'omigod omigod omigod! im going on a date with him!'

pathetic huh?

being a resourceful person, (a.n. cough this is actually what i have in my pockets currently.) i pulled everything out of my pockets in a ditch attempt to amuse myself.

want to know what i pulled out?

well im going to tell you anyway.

1 die (dice)

3 paperclips

a pen

a scribbled on peice of paper

a candy wrapper

my phone

some 5 cent pieces

a locket

a bookmark

a rubber snake

my bus pass

a necklace with numerous lucky charms on it.

and finally, part of a drawing i had never completed.

choosing the paperclips out of the pile, i began fiddling with them, bending them into wierd shapes.

Absentmindedly, i found myself wondering why that guy sesshomaru was so cold.

Then i found myself thinking about why his hair was so cool, and why his eyes were such a pretty colour.

i stopped myself with a mental slap.

what was i thinking?

i slapped myself again. for real this time. as the bus pulled into my stop.

i waved a cheery goodbye to the bus driver and walked into the mall.

i looked at my watch. seeing as i was early, i figured i'd wait a while.

10 minutes passed

then 20.

...30...

'anytime now.'

...40...

...an hour...

...30 minutes more...

..another hour...

2 and a half hours later, it was getting dark, and the stores were closing. there weren't many people around now.

i stood up, disapointment, anger, humiliation and sadness swamped me, and i trudged to the bus stop. tears in my eyes.

then i stopped, there had to be an explaination.

'he probably just got injured or sick and couldn't come.' i thought desperately.

with renewed strength, i walked forward towards the bus, looking at my bus schedule i saw that the second bus, (i missed the first) should've been coming along any time now.

so i waited.

it got gradually darker, till i couldnt even see the peice of paper in front of me.

i began to get edgy.

'shouldn't the bus be here by now?' i thought, perched on the edge of my seat, ears straining for any kind of noise.

i heard a car of some description rev-ving in the distance but thought nothing of it.

however, the car just kept coming closer.

a pair of headlights blinded me.

then it occured to me.

i was AT LEAST 2 meters away from the road and it was a straight road so how-?

even after the car nudged my side, the only conclusion i could come to was that i was imagining things.

however, as i fell unconscious i realised that the pain in my side couldnt have come from just a "nudge".

i woke up in an overly bright room, with whitewashed walls and the lingering scent of sickness and disinfectant. a steady electronic beeping sound was bugging me, and i fixed blurry eyes on some sort of machine that was connected to my arm and a powerpoint in the wall.

i jerked up in bed, ignoring the pain i felt in my side, i looked around the room, and down at the bleak white sheets.

'where the F- i mean, HELL, was i ?'

the door opened and a woman in a uniform entered, holding a set of bandages, a steel basin and some swabs.

"wa's goin' on?" i asked blearily, rubbing my eyes with a hand with a long tube attached through a needle.

"you're in hospital." she said nicely, a smile on her face. "we couldn't find an emergency contact on you, so we had to wait till you woke up to get a phone number of a person we could contact to come get you."

"Mikella." i croaked, "Call mikella."

she smiled again and wrote down the number i quoted for her.

"before i ring her," she said gently, " i'm going to need to bandage your...er...cut. okay?"

i looked at her in confusion.

"you were hit by a car." she said quietly, "nothing's broken and you wont have any permanent damage, but you're going to have to stay off that leg for quite a while. and you might have a scar once the stitches are removed."

"stitches?" i asked, with eyes as wide as saucers.

"mmmhmmm," she replied absentmindedly, pulling back the sheets and moving my leg, sending a pain through my side again. "you needed quite a few too! 34, thats alot, the average amount needed for a wound is 6."

she was soooooo not making me feel better.

she finished the painfull process of changing my bandages and left with a smile. saying that she'd get back to me once she'd rung the number i'd given her.

once she'd gone, i sighed.

even now, i was not going to cry.

or, maybe i was.

just a little.

but it wasn't from pain, it was because i didn't want to tell my parents, particularly my father about what happened.

i don't know why, but at that moment, i just wanted mikella...and possibly mikella's mum.

i looked down at my watch.

and gave a cry of dismay, it was 3:06 in the morning, and now i was bothering mikella and her family over such a little thing.

what would they think of me!

geez, i can be so selfish sometimes.

10 minutes later, i heard a commotion in the hallway outside.

wincing, i pulled my injured leg out of bed,using my hands to lever myself up, and my other leg to hobble to the door.

i saw an almost frantic mikella and mrs.Mc-E, mikella looked to be in tears, and the woman at the desk was trying to calm them down, saying that they couldn't go through till they had filled out some papers.

with some more wincing and hobbling, i managed to heave myself halfway to the desk, before i collapsed to the ground with a loud clatter.

once again, i found every person in the vacinity had their eyes trained on me.

at once, the nurses and my "emergency contacts" were around me, helping me up to get me back into bed.

mrs. Mc-E wasn't smiling at me for once. it was probably because she was disapointed in me for waking up the family at 3 in the morning.

Mikella was sniffling, but the tears were gone now.

"Mikella? why were you crying? dingbat, geez, i know you like your sleep, but you were the only person i thought of when they asked me who they should call..."

"idiot, as if we cared about being woken up when you were in the HOSPITAL !" she cried, exasperated, hitting me lightly on the head.

"Mikella," i whispered, sadly, "he didn't show up. i waited till it got dark and the shops were all shut, but he didn't come."

"right," she said angrily, "once you're better, im going to have some serious...words... with HIM..."

i wasn't even listening, for some reason i just couldn't stop talking, as if i was going to cry any second. "-but im sure it wasnt his fault, i mean he asked me out so that must mean he likes me right? yeah, he's probably just sick or, maybe something really important came up, i don't know but he wouldn't-"

i was cut off in my rambling by mrs. Mc-E, she entered the room, carrying coffee strong enough that i could smell it from where i sat, Mrs. Mc-E was like a second mother or aunt to me, generally cheerful, worries alot, loves gossip about mikella and myself. the usual.

but i had never seen her look like this.

it was like she was worried, on the verge of tears, exasperated and scared at the same time.

"Darling, do you want me to ring your parents and tell them what happened to you?"

i wanted to say no.

but, what can i say? i have no backbone sometimes.

i nodded meekly and she left the room again.

i yawned and mikella noticed.

"Got to sleep alex, geez." she said in a lame attempt at a joke.

i wanted to reply, but i was too sleepy, in the blink of an eye (so to speak) i was asleep.

when i woke up next, i was no longer in hospital, i was lying stretched out, wrapped in ablanket in the back of a car.

i looked to the front seat, and wished that i was still out of it.

my parents sat there.

and now that i was waking up, i realised that they were argueing about me too.

only thing was, i couldn't hear what they were saying.

i sighed, 'here comes the grounding.'

i dozed for a bit more, before i felt the car draw to a stop in the driveway.

i sat up slowly, ignoring my aching head and leg.

seeing i was awake, my parents yanked open the door.

"wait here ella," dad said briskly, walking towards the house.

i looked up at chrissica and held out my arms, like a child waiting for a hug. She hugged me tightly, and pulled away slowly.

"how was your date then?" she asked jokingly, but even that caused tears to well up.

she was apologising when father re-emerged from the brightly lit doorway, a shadowy figure behind him.

i was still feeling the effects of the painkillers they gave me, so when i was picked up, i thought it was my father.

it wasn't.

nope.

i looked up into the face of the cold one.

by that, i mean fluffy.

alright! sesshomaru.

but at that point, i was too sleepy to care, i leant my head back against his chest and breathed in.

and as my eyes began to close again, (and i'm telling you, i must have been delirious.) i had one last thought.

'he smells like winter...'

i woke up slowly, feeling like my normal self.

i stretched and rolled around in bed for about 5 minutes, before the urge to eat breakfast became too strong to resist.

it was only when i tried to get up, that i remembered my little...er..."escapades".

Experimentally, i put a little weight on my leg.

ow.

I mean, it wasn't that bad, but it felt like my stitches were puliing out.

i debated whether or not to risk it for a further 5 minutes.

finally, after a loud message from my persistent stomach, i walked down the stairs in my silky pink pyjamas. (they were a 2 peice set of a short sleeve shirt and shorts.)

i winced, in quite a lot of pain as i reached the bottom of the stairs, and came upon the now familiar sight of 2 families at the kitchen table.

i groaned.

' i should've just stayed in bed and died of hunger.'

i limped (wincing as i went) over to the cupboard.

self-consciously, i pulled out my favourite cereal and poured it into a bowl.

sighing, i looked out the open window briefly, and a breeze carried a familiar scent to it.

i sniffed, trying to grasp where i'd smelt it before, it was oddly comforting.

but i forgot about it when i realised that the milk wasn't in the fridge.

nope, it was in the middle of the danger zone.

and by that, i mean it was right in the middle of the table where everyone sat.

and the only way to get to it was throught inutaisho and my father.

great, could this day get any better!

mumbling grumpily, i hobbled over to the table.

I collapsed into the ONLY free chair, (conveniently located in between father dearest and inutaisho.) and almost, ALMOST cried in pain.

what? it hurt okay.

i began munching uncomfortably on my cereal.

the silence was getting to me. i mean, they say that it gets so loud you cant hear yourself think, but it seemed to me that it was so silent that my thoughts were deafening.

finally, someone spoke.

"Ella?" i looked at Miko expectantly as she spoke.

after 2 minutes of lip shaking and sniffling, she launched herself across the table, spilling my cereal, several coffees and the milk, to squish me into a hug.

"We were soooooo worried!" she wailed, squeezing me even tighter.

i patted her awkwardly on the back, and she gradually stopped sniffling.

Inutaisho looked at me quirkily with his head tilted to the side, inuyasha was mopping up the milk that had been spilt all over his head, and fluffy had no expression at all.

"Ella," Inutaisho began nicely. "Who was that nice young man you were going to meet yesterday?"

"Kouga!" i replied happily, without thinking.

instantly, my two fathers got up from the table, dad giving inutaisho a congratulatory wolf grin.

"Nooooooooooo!" i howled, as i realised id been duped. "Don't hurt him! he didnt mean it!"

every demon in the room, hanyou or otherwise, clamped their hands over their sensitive ears as i kicked up a fuss.

it was all futile however, as they zoomed out the front door so fast i could practically see their dust trail long after they'd disappeared.

"Ella, they already know where he is," chrissica said calmly, answering my unspoken question. "they rang Mikella earlier and she agreed to lure him out under false pretenses, i wanted to go with them, but your father could use an outlet."

"Its the same for inutaisho." Mika agreed sagely.

inuyasha rolled his eyes and mumbled something like:

"crazy bitches..."

"what was that!" mika growled, holding him up by one of his delicate ears.

he whimpered and growled at his mother.

"awww," i cooed, taking pity on him. "let him go, hes just so cute."

Mika snorted. "he wasn't so cute while i was giving birth to him."

Inuyasha rubbed his released ear, and took his frustration out on an apathetic fluffy.

"so fluffy is Ella heavy?"

"what?" i asked simply, my mind blank as to what he was reffering to.

"no." came the icy voiced reply.

"did you enjoy carrying her fluffy? does wittle fwuffy have a wittle cwush on someone?"

"I changed my mind!" i screeched. "Kill him! kiiiiiilllllll hiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmm!"

i knew i had gone bright red, as sesshomaru got up and left the property without another word.

great. just peachy. now that i remembered what the smell on the breeze reminded me of, i'd never be able to look inutaisho in the eyes again.

dude, that guy KNOWS things.(A.N. hence he would know that she likes his son's scent k?)

i shivered, thinking of the way his eyes looked right through me. it was just so creepy.

i got up slowly, gripping the table for support.

"Ella? where are you going?" asked chrissica mildly.

"er...just up to my room. the doctor gave me painkillers so..."

"don't over do it dear." Mika said distractedly as chrissica waved her hand as a signal i could leave.

i walked painfully to the stairs, making who ever was listening think that i had walked up the stairs, before i limped over to the car keys.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" i screamed, slamming my foot on the brake as i pulled up to the mall.

my leg was killing me, i think i'd pulled a few stitches, i think i hit a few pedestrians, i'd got a couple of...er... scrapes ...on the car, and i'd been driving with out a liscence.

but it was worth it to interfere with inutaisho and dad's insidious plot.

i half limped half dragged my leg over to the food court where i knew mikella would organise the meeting. ignoring all the sideways glances and people saying;

"look at the crazy girl in the pink pyjamas mama!"

once i'd dragged my sorry ass over there, i spotted the trouble spot immediately.

"Let go of me mutt!" kouga called.

"Who you calling mutt whelp!" Inutaisho roared furiously.

my father was just dancing around laughing gleefully in the way of the crazy people.

"kill him! rip him! tear him! die! die! die! tee hee..."

"let him go," i croaked, my throat dry from all the yelling and screaming i had done on the way over.

"Ella!" kouga growled, as inutaisho tightened his hold. "You know these crazy people!"

"er...sort of..." i said dodgily. "Inutaisho! put him down! Daddy, no-ones going to die! so SHUT UP!"

"but," Inutaisho growled.

"he," dad whined

"He hurt you!" they finished simultaneously.

"but i like him." i said quietly. "i like him a lot...i think"

Inutaisho lowered him reluctantly, and i could see that, while this only gave dad an even stronger desire to kill him, he wouldn't do it.

"now," i said even quieter. "would any of you mind if i faint?"

I woke up in the back of the car i had practically mauled to get to my destination.

To my not entirely welcome surprise, i woke to the sight of kouga sitting next to me on the seat.

staring at me.

"Alex?"

"Kouga?" i mumbled sleepily.

he leaned forward and hugged me, and as he moved back, he whispered.

"you are now my woman."

only thing was, all i could think of was the smell of winter.

When i arrived at school a week later, (don't ask what happened during that week. it involved a lot of boredom.) everything was back to normal.

except i was on crutches.

and kouga was now my boyfriend.(i guess...?)

maybe school life was going to get more interesting after all.