Again, the characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I simply thought of this plot line. Please review. It helps to know that people are reading and to know what they think of my work. That said, on with the fic.

Kouga sat cross-legged on one of the rocks outside of the waterfall entrance to his packs' cave. He sighed softly and rested his head in one hand propped on his knee. 'Kagome..' he thought wistfully. The wolf prince let his mind wander the young human female who captured his heart. He sighed again and suddenly flopped himself backwards to look at the stars.

"Kouga?" Ginta approached his leader hesitantly. He knew that Kouga only came out to sigh at the sky over Sister Kagome. The wolf prince flicked his eyes in Ginta's direction, letting him know he heard and was listening. "Kouga, I thought you should know; the elders are talking again. They say you need a mate and an heir for our clan." The beta wolf stopped talking as he heard a soft warning growl come from his pack-leader/brother. It was his turn to sigh. Ginta knew that the elders would soon stop talking amongst themselves and start talking to Kouga.

This always resulted in Kouga arrogantly reminding them about Kagome, the elders declaring he should bring Kagome back or choose another… "A wolf demoness this time for Shards sake!" someone was guaranteed to mutter. Kouga would get angry and start yelling about how Kagome was worth more than any demoness, said elder would ask why such a prize was with a half demon and not with Kouga. Which prompted Kouga to go speeding off to find Kagome and come back empty handed and so angry that even the elders held their tongues for a few weeks.

Many of the wolves simply didn't get it. They couldn't understand why Kouga came back without his intended mate. One particularly brave (or merely foolish) wolf ventured to ask if he'd been turned down. Ginta winced at the memory. Shaking away those thoughts, the beta wolf raised his eyes to scan the forest surrounding them. "It's almost spring." He remarked.

Kouga snorted. "I know."

"Are you going to be going after Sister Kagome then?" Ginta tried to keep a light tone to his voice, but both wolves knew the question wasn't as easy as it sounded.

"I don't know." It hurt, admitting that. Dark brows came down over impossibly blue eyes as Kouga frowned. "I know that I should"

"But…?" Ginta sat down on the rock next to Kouga. This was shaping up to be a long conversation and he might as well get comfortable.

"But she's got her quest. If I take her before the spring mating season, she won't be able to continue hunting for shards. Between my responsibilities as leader of this pack, and trying to find Naraku; I don't have time to go out of my way for shards. I can't help her. I have to leave her with that stinking mutt face!" Kouga started growling, thinking about his women traveling with Inu Yasha.

Kouga used his arms to pillow his head and continued staring at the sky. He stopped growling but still felt a possessive anger towards the hanyou. 'You're just jealous.' A voice in his head whispered. 'Jealous! Of that stinking dog turd? What are you, crazy?' 'Stop calling yourself crazy, it's counter productive. You're jealous that he gets to spend all of his time with OUR women, gets to protect her while you have to stay away to see to our people.' 'I'd leave them for her in an instant if she needed me. Mutt face can't protect her properly! I swear, if something happens to her because of him…' 'Then perhaps it's good Inu Yasha is with her, guarding her. The good of the pack comes before the Alpha Bitch. You know the pack would suffer if you left. Leave her to him for now.' 'It's almost mating season! Dogs are too close to wolves in too many ways! What if he claims her? She couldn't fight him off! I need to be there, even if I can't yet claim her myself. I need to make sure no one else does.' 'Are you worried that she might not want to fight the half breed? You know she has feelings for him.'

Ginta jumped, startled as Kouga started to growl with renewed force. Unaware of his leader's inner turmoil; he had been enjoying the sounds of the night, waiting for Kouga to speak if he wanted to. Kouga didn't notice Ginta at all as he continued arguing with himself.

'She is MINE!' 'She is unmarked' 'I have claim! Mutt face never even answered when I asked if he wanted her more!' 'He does want her though. He tries to hide it, but he reeks of jealousy and rage when you go to her. She has feelings for him as well.' 'So what? You want me to give up?' 'Of course not. Simply play a more active role in her life. Instead of showing up and insulting the hanyou, talk to her.' ' I do!' 'No, you don't. You tell her she's yours and never TALK to her. You argue with Inu Yasha more than you talk to her. Find out more about her, tell her about wolf demon life. Let her know what to expect from wolf demon courtship. Find out about human courtship. Educate, and be educated and above all; LISTEN.'

Kouga growls had died down, and now vanished completely. He was thinking about what he had just told himself. His lips twitched into a smirk when he realized he was getting wiser.

"Kouga?" Ginta softly called.

"Ginta. I've decided: I will go to Kagome."

"But I thought you said…" Ginta was confused and quite aware he was missing a good portion of the conversation that had taken place entirely inside of Kouga's head.

"I won't take her as my mate. I want to teach her about pack life, about wolves and demons. I want her to understand what she's getting into before I claim her. Wolves mate for life and I don't want to spend the rest of mine arguing with her over things she doesn't know."

Ginta looked over at Kouga, shocked. He knew his leader was intelligent, Kouga had proven that with the Harpies. His strategies had helped the wolf pack survive and his decision to take Kagome (and by proxy her power over the jewel shards) as a mate were examples of that intellect. This was the first time, however, that he could remember his leader speak with a trace of wisdom. He looked at Kouga sharply, taking in the determined face of his Alpha. "I think" he began cautiously, "that you are close to your one hundredth year and it agrees with you. You aren't sounding as arrogant and hot tempered lately."

Kouga partially sat up and turned to glare at his pack brother. What he saw in Ginta's eyes pulled his anger in check. He saw, for the first time, not the devotion of a beta to an alpha; but the respect of a pack member to his leader. Kouga suddenly remembered something his grandfather once said. 'You can make 'em follow you boy, or you can make them WANT to follow you. There's a difference between a brother who HAS to come to your aid and a brother who will die to GIVE you aid. That difference could one day save your life.'

Ginta had always been his friend, always followed him whether he wanted to or not. Kouga realized suddenly, that while Ginta was his friend; he always was simply bowing to Kouga's strength. From the word "GO" Kouga displayed unmistakable signs of being Alpha. Ginta and Hakkaku were his friends, but it just dawned on him that the respect they gave him was due to his strength and their fear. He stared into Ginta's eyes for a moment longer before tearing them away to look at the rock he was sitting on. Kouga found he rather liked the idea that he had earned the beginnings of his friend's respect instead of commanding it. 'Maybe he's right. Maybe I am mellowing out and gaining wisdom as I get older.'

"Tell the elders I want to speak with them tomorrow. I want to tell them of my plan."

Ginta nodded, looking as though he wanted to say something. He decided to go for it. "Maybe they can help. Maybe they will have some ideas on how to educate Sister Kagome."

Kouga gave Ginta a considering look before nodding. Ginta gave himself a smile on the inside. Kouga was his friend, his leader but Ginta would've been lying if he said he didn't have some fears and doubts about him. Ginta wasn't the sharpest sword in the armory, but he had been concerned with Kouga's arrogance and temper. Kouga had beaten out another male for the alpha position and no one wanted to be under the rule of another wolf like their previous prince again. Ginta had apprehensions of his friend heading in the same direction if he didn't cool his temper. That apprehension had eased somewhat with the introduction of Sister Kagome. For that reason alone, Ginta was supportive of a human Alpha Female. It seems that the little miko was good for Kouga.

Ginta looked at Kouga who was now preoccupied with the stars again. Ginta settled back to join him in stargazing, feeling for the first time, everything was going to be okay. 'Maybe now I can turn my mind to other matters, like finding my own mate!'

Here's a small guide if you are confused:

"regular text" means talking

'italic text' means thinking, normal thinking or when used with italic bold shows the more rational, intelligent thougts.

'italic bold' means thinking, argueing with oneself. it represents the more primal, animlistic voice.

Got that? I've also started researching wolves and their social interaction as well as their mating habits. I plan to incorporate both into this story. Since Kouga is a wolf demon, I guess I'll just take make stuff up for demon (in general) habits. It'll probably heavily borrow from pagan, or pre-christian, humans. Fasinating stuff.

Did you know that wolves mate right before spring so the cubs will be born in spring when there is ample food for them? Wolves usually only mate once a year. Since humans can mate anytime, I'm going to have the wolve demons mate and produce cubs year round with a mating season where they go into hyperdrive.

Humans have a mating season of sorts too: A lot of marriages take place in June. That's because in the old days, the Gods got married on Beltane, in May. It was considered bad luck to compete with the Gods so humans got married a month later. June's full moon is called a 'Honey Moon' because that's when honey was harvested. For a month after a couple got married, they would eat a lot of dishes with honey in them to promote fertility. Which meant lots of shagging. Hence the tradition of marrying in June and couples going on a 'Honey Moon' to "get aquainted".

See, you are now entertained and educated. Yea you.