Chapter Three

THE NEXT DAY

They all woke up and talked then Inuyasha and Rumiko came up with an idea, they would all go to the river; drink and eat. Kagome was a little worried for she knew that other wolf packs would be there but she nodded anyways. They all trotted through the woods and about 15 minutes later they reached a HUGE clearing, a river was on the far side and Kagome could see deer about 4 actually. Inuyasha and the others all crouched so Kagome did too.

Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Rumiko crept one way and the others crept the other way Kagome stayed where she was and watched. Inuyasha sprang first out of the thicket and attacked the smallest deer. He had jumped onto it's back and was biting it all over. Miroku ran out and helped him along with Sango's help while the other's all worked on a big buck. Inuyasha finally bit into its neck and it died, Sesshoumaru had bit 3 out of its four legs and it had fallen and was crying for help but died shortly after. Kagome sniffed the dead deer's scent, to her it actually smelt kind of good, she smiled at how well Inuyasha had taken that deer down, for she could never had done something like that.

Sango ran back to Kagome and said with a bloody muzzle, "Well, now you know how wolves kill deer. Hey you're part of our pack now so come and get your share." "But I didn't do anything. I didn't even help." Protested Kagome"It doesn't matter. When a cub is part of a pack and doesn't help because it's too little or doesn't know how, it still is part of the pack and it gets it's fair share or else it would die." Explained Sango. "Ok. I think I get it, but I never tried deer before." Said Kagome. "Well then, come on and try some, it's really good." Said Sango leading the way to the deer that Inuyasha had killed.

Sango sat down and bit into it and ate more and more, Kagome sat down next to her and sniffed it. It smelt even sweeter than before but she was still nervous. "Come on, try some its really good." Said Sango then digging back in. Inuyasha looked at her and said, "You'll like it, and besides this doesn't come around very often. Wolves only eat dead animals so that's really all you'll get to eat so just try some." Kagome looked at him and smiled then bent down and took a small bite off of its leg. It tasted sweet and sour oh and bloody but nonetheless it still tasted pretty good. Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango waited for her to answer. She swallowed and looked at them and smiled, "Its great! I do like it!" "See we told you!" Said Sango happily. Then they all went back to eating, they couldn't finish either of the deer for it was just too much.

Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha went to the river to drink. Kagome lapped up some water then jumped in, the others watched. She went into the middle then went under water, she came up for breath then she kept dipping her muzzle in and out of the water until her muzzle was spotless. "What are you doing?" Inuyasha asked her. "I'm washing my muzzle. The blood hardens and I don't like the feeling of it. I don't like being really, really clean but kind of clean works for me and now that the blood is off my muzzle feels soft. You guys should try it." Said Kagome waiting over to them.

Sango didn't need to be told twice she loved trying new things so she jumped into the water and did exactly what Kagome had done. The boys nodded at each other and jumped in too. Once Sango was done she smiled, "I feel so alive! My muzzle feels great! Why didn't we think of this before? All those wasted years." Said Sango happily like a pup's first kill. The boys got done a little later and felt the same way. "Kagome you're a genius! I feel like a pup again!" Said Miroku running over to Sango and rubbing his muzzle against her's. Kagome smiled when Inuyasha smiled at her, he walked up to her and opened his mouth to say something but didn't get to say anything because of a growl coming from the other end of the clearing.

Inuyasha turned around and so did the others, they all started growling, "Sick'm." Said Inuyasha in disgust. About 4 male wolves came trotted over near them but not too close. "Well, well, well. If it isn't my good friend Inuyasha. And what do we have here. A dog is it? Tell me, what's a dog doing in these woods?" Said a brownish black wolf the leader no doubt. "Keh, why would I tell you anything? You sick ugly cat!" Spat Inuyasha. Sick'm growled and leapt up to him and growled, "No dog will be in my sight or where I hunt. I'll kill her now if that's what it'll take to get her out of my woods."

"Who said these woods are yours? If you're going to kill her you're going to have to get through me first." Said Inuyasha circling him and nipping at his legs. The two fought and fought, they both were bleeding all over, and one of the wolves had crept away and was now behind Kagome. Kagome was too late when she finally realized she was in danger, she spun around only to get clawed in the shoulder by a huge black and white wolf. Kagome cried out in pain and fell to the ground, the wolf smiled and walked slowly towards her, she looked up and him and right when he lifted up his paw to finish her off, a silver blur flew at him crying, "No! I won't let you or anyone else harm Kagome!" Inuyasha fought him off; the others finally came into help. They finally chased them back into the woods from which they came.

Inuyasha walked back to Kagome's side and said, "Kagome I have to get you back to the cave or else you're an open target for other wolves besides them." Kagome looked up and nodded, and then he pushed her up so she was standing up. He walked her back by walking on the one side of her body where she was injured, so she could lean on him. They got back to the cave and Inuyasha walked her over to his patch and bent down so she could lie on her patch.

She didn't argue about being in the cave, she just breathed deeply and whimpered. Inuyasha sat down next to her and looked at her with sad eyes. She tried to lick her wound but couldn't reach it so Inuyasha lied down on his patch and licked it for her. She smiled at him then said, "Thank You," the best that she could. "For what?" He asked between licks. "For saving me, I could have been killed." She answered. "But I wasn't quick enough, you were still hurt and I blame myself. I brought you here and its my fault your hurt, you could be safe and sound in your house but you were here instead because of me. I'm sorry." He said stopping.

Kagome looked at him for a moment then licked his ear and smiled, "I don't blame you. I didn't want to be here at first but then after awhile I started to like it here, even better then I like my old home. Thank you bringing me here." After she said that she bent her head down and licked his paw, he smiled. After awhile she fell a sleep but Inuyasha stayed awake, it was almost winter and it was getting cold, he could feel Kagome shivering so he scooted closer to her so his body was right up against her's. He sighed for he had wanted to be this close to a female all his life and now he was.

Soon he fell asleep, about a half in hour later…Sesshoumaru and the others had returned. Right when he entered the cave he growled when he saw Kagome in their cave. Inuyasha looked up at him and glared, "She's injured and it's getting cold. She has to be in here and she will. Her fur isn't as long as ours so she gets colder faster, if she's outside she'll freeze." "Fine. But keep her away from me." He growled and went to his patch with Tai right behind him. Sango smiled at him and so did Rumiko, then everyone went to sleep.