Koga stared at the aligning planks in suspicion and hesitation. Thinking back to the video tutorial he had watched, he tried to retrace his steps. Which way was the plank supposed to go again? Aligning planks parallel to the longest wall. Right? Thinking back to all steps outlined in the instructions, he observed the project before him.
Prepare the area. Check.
Countersink the nails. Done.
Fit and lock the boards. Currently in progress.
How was it that the project supposed to make everyone feel productive was now causing him more irritation than he had in the last century? Home projects usually calmed him down. Now, it was doing the opposite. Initially, the plan had been to have the entire pack to help with this. Everyone would rip up the carpet in the home together. Then move on with setting down the flooring. Instead, over twenty pack members decided they would all try to take on different home projects with no rhyme or reason. The once synchronized and efficient pack was now the opposite. Some were painting. A few were pulling up the carpet in the guest bedrooms as intended initially, while others were helping him put down the new flooring on the bare floors.
It shouldn't have been a problem.
Except, all were conversing at once, and none had any regard for other speakers. Between that and their youki pulsing in different shades of emotions, Koga officially announced it for what it really was.
A shit-show.
They were a pack.
They were supposed to be in sync.
They were supposed to follow his lead.
But the display of chaos he currently was witnessing assured him that no such thing was happening.
One group was whining about the weather. Another was grumbling about the situation at hand and all the house projects. Hell, even the pups were running amuck. Although, for the children, they at least had their youth and ignorance to fall back on. Even still, he swore to himself that if one of them bumped him again, then he would surely snap. The entire point of this had been to get the house more comfortable for everyone. It had been bought right before the pandemic, and truth be told, he had thought he would have a year or two to work on getting it up to speed.
But then the world had come to a halt.
He had figured why the hell not do the projects now instead of later? He had all the bodies needed, and it would provide them with something to do. Why shouldn't he make good use of all hands—or paws on deck?
"You okay, boss?" The cautious voice caught him off guard, and he turned to Ginta in surprise. Everyone had been checking in him more often in the last 24 hours. Strangely enough, he had not told anyone about the chat. But somehow, they had known that a change had occurred.
Now, they all took turns checking in on him.
Perhaps, the irritation in his scent gave him away.
Or maybe his uneasiness.
"Just cooped up."
Vaguely he wondered if he was lying to him or himself. Was that truly the reason for his irritability and restlessness?
Ginta nodded knowingly.
Wolves weren't meant for this.
To be stuck indoors for several months at a time.
When the pandemic had first occurred, they had scoffed at such ridiculousness. After all, the last time something had managed to harm their kind as a whole had been so long ago—the times of the disgusting atomic weapons that the humans had created. Yet, the feeling of superiority didn't last long as they quickly realized that both humans and Youkai alike were not immune to the dangers of this pandemic.
With such knowledge came self-preservation.
Within days, the rumors of the dangers caused many of the pack to return. Once there, Koga made the order to remain until the situation resolved itself. Luckily for him, not all came. If they had, he wondered if they would have been able to house everyone comfortably. They did always have the cabin settlement in the mountains to fall back on. But that would have required moving the entire pack far further than he desired.
That had been 6 months ago.
To everyone's displeasure, the pandemic still raged, and no end was in sight. Of course, the universe would try to find a way to eliminate or put their kind in danger once more.
The sound of the doorbell brought everyone's actions to a halt and shook him out of his thoughts. Standing up with confusion written all over his face, he glanced out the window in curiosity.
Delivery.
Delivery meant food. Food meant morale. Morale meant less chaos.
His eyes lit up in anticipation and relief.
Trying not to stare at the driver from the window, he allowed his sensitive hearing to focus on the human dropping off the groceries. Allowing a few minutes to pass and for the driver to put everything on his doorstep, he nodded to himself once he heard the engine start and the vehicle backed up in his driveway. Maintaining a safe distance, he stepped outside as soon as he saw the car departing from the neighborhood.
There, in front of him, must have been at least fifty full bags of food.
Apparently, there was, indeed, a god—or gods. Putting his nose in the air, he allowed the scent of various foods to sink in. How the times had changed. In the Feudal Era, he wouldn't have thought to eat human food. Now? He had a preference for it. More importantly, if the yelps of happiness from the pups upstairs were any indication, so did his pack.
Koga knew that everyone had grown tired and irritable as the food storage had gotten worst over the last few days. When the food continued to diminish and no restock occurred, panic had began to set in within the pack like wildfire. Even without enhanced youkai hearing, he would have heard the hushed whispers of fear.
Now, to see the food here and available was nothing short of a miracle for his entire pack. He could see it in the eyes of his pack. The relief and smiles at the knowledge that they would be okay.
Could they have survived? Sure, but it would have required them to go outside and put everyone at risk from possible exposure. That alone made his hair stand on edge. Then there had come the thoughts of if they would even be able to hunt enough food in the city of Tokyo. Perhaps, if they were lucky. But it wasn't a chance he desired to take.
With a nod of his head, he gave the approval for everyone to assist with the retrieval of groceries. Fresh air would do them some good. One by one, each pack member grabbed a few bags, relished in the nice weather, and then began to head inside. With a grin that showed off his feeling of accomplishment and proud Alpha status, he silently gave thanks to the agent on the chat.
The woman had probably not known her significance. Or the importance of her name. Flickers of the priestess from long ago once more began to surface in his mind.
"Don't worry, Koga. Of course, I'll help!"
"No worries, what do you need, Koga?"
"Inu Yasha, you have to help them. Now!"
She really had been an angel.
Helping those in need and without so much as a second thought. How many times had she assisted with healing his pack members? Or the time she had forced Inu Yasha to help in mid-battle with Naraku to protect some of his wolves. Even though it had resulted in the half-breed injuring himself.
A sad grin surfaced as he let the memories flood him, and the pain began to emerge.
But, his pack never let him hold on to such emotions for long. Almost instantly, one of the pup's youki spiked with shock and then excitement.
"Koga, you ordered chocolate cake?!" The happiness in the pup's question was not lost on him as he eyed the youngling skip inside with protective hands around the dessert. In fact, he was sure he heard the pup growl lowly when another youngling tried to see what was being guarded so fiercely. Chuckling, he wondered what else had been added without his knowledge.
Had she done all this?
"Hey, boss?"
Turning his gaze to Hakkaku, he lifted a brow in inquiry as his best friend handed him a bag with wide eyes. Unsure of what to expect, he looked at the bag with confusion.
There, on the bag, was the receipt. Yet, that wasn't what got his attention.
No, it was the sticker that was on the receipt.
Smack dab in the middle of the receipt, was a sticker of a wolf howling at the moon and a tiny scribbled note that said, 'They're lucky to have you. Stay Safe. — Kagome .'
Next to the words was a smiley face.
All color draining from his face, the wolf prince tried to shut down the thoughts of a possibility of her.
After all, it wasn't possible.
Right?
But it was too late.
Instead, his heart longed for there to be such a chance. A chance of her survival. How he wanted nothing more than the woman he had loved to be alive. Still, he knew such a request was nothing short of irrational. But, as he looked back at the sticker, his hope grew.
Hope that came from a sticker of a wolf.
