And we are back. I've fallen in love with Dan, and I had to carry on writing her story. I'm excited to push her story onwards and actually getting her to meet Koga.

I'm still not sure whether I'd rather follow the anime, the manga, or a mixture of both in the future. I think I'm leaning more towards the anime because I think it does Koga's plot a little more justice, and of course, we have Koga fillers. Which one would you rather see?

We won't really need it for a while, because the pre-canon plot is pretty extensive, but it's good to know going into it which story I'm going to follow. The anime and manga are different enough that it would change little bits about how I would write.

In The Jaws Of The Wolf

Chapter Two

"Lazy?!"

This was not an uncommon argument.

"I'll give you fucking lazy, Ando." I threw the basket of clothes I was just on my way out to wash - all his clothes, I might add - at his lounging form. The bastard had gotten in from working the fields and sat right at the hearth with a bottle of sake, demanding I wait on him and calling me lazy when I refused in favour of cleaning the pile of clothing that had built up in the doma, courtesy of himself.

Every night. Every fucking night, this asshole would come in from the fields, kick his feet up and do nothing else, until he left again the next morning. I worked all day, cleaning, making and mending clothes, cooking his damned meals, and now, when I decided to do more to keep him clean and orderly, I was the lazy fucking one.

Not today. I didn't have the patience for it today.

Ignoring his spluttering, I span on my heel, hopped down into the doma, and out of the hut entirely.

"Where do you think you're going?!" he yelled out after me. "See if I follow you, bitch!"

See if I cared.

Despite not having the basket with me, I found myself naturally moving towards the stream. Storming, would be a better descriptor, perhaps. I was angry, and the world could see it. Rin, the little orphan girl, had been strolling through the village, probably in search of someone to give her scraps tonight, but she skittered to the side when I stalked past, giving a shaky gasp.

I paid her no mind.

The stream was, as expected, empty when I got there. No villager was around, and no animal was there attempting to drink or fish from it. Good. I wasn't looking to deal with anyone right now.

I stalked up and down the bank of the stream, grunting to myself, cursing out my husband and his awful arrogant ass. I swear, if anyone else in the village would have me, I'd have left his stupid ass years ago. Maybe I should leave. Take whatever money we had saved, whatever I could carry on my back, and the old bow and arrows, and just leave.

Even angry as I was, I knew that idea was beyond stupid. If I could even make it out of the village without someone catching wise and telling Ando, I probably wouldn't get far with how restless the wolves had been.

Someone had even claimed to see one of those harpy demons swooping far too low down the mountains last week.

It was a dangerous game, being out in the open alone right now. I probably wouldn't survive to the next village, let alone to a city. I was stuck here, with him and his attitude.

Shit.

My shoulder glanced off of something as I stalked back down the stream. What the-?

The face that I gazed up into was not human. It looked human enough, for the most part. Tanned skin; thick angled brows; a thin, sharp nose. But there were things about it that one would never find on a human. The grin the face sported had long sharp canines - fangs - and those eyes, bright as the summer sky, were devoid of pupils. What eyes didn't have pupils?

It was only then did I realise that my hair was sticking up on end all over my body.

I had been so caught up in my own anger, I hadn't noticed that there was a demon around.

Stupid. Stupid!

"Well," the demon rasped. His voice was husky, just a touch off gravelly, and far too amused. "Look what we have here. A snack delivered itself to me." He grabbed my upper arm tight.

"I'm done with men and their shit! Got to hell!" I was in no mood to be dealing with anyone, human or demon alike, so I did the only thing I could think to do right now.

My fist met his cheek in a punch I threw all of my frustration and anger into. I couldn't tell you whether it was the actual strength behind the blow, or the shock of being hit by his prey like that, but the demon reeled back a step, letting go of my arm.

That gave me the chance to stumble back a couple of steps myself, panting heavily as what I'd just done caught up with me.

Fuck.

I was dead.

I couldn't even make a break for it back to the village. He was standing between me and my one path there. If I ran into the forest, I was a gonner. The forest was wolf domain. I'd never be able to outrun a wolf demon in the forest.

I was dead.

The demon was staring at me, totally still beside the slow rise and fall of his chest.

His hand lifted from his side to rub at his red cheek, eyes looking down contemplatively. "You're brave, for a human. I'll give you that."

I was so dead.

His eyes lifted up to me eventually. "You've got a mean swing. Whoever pissed you off did it good."

Well... If I was dead anyway, might as well carry on, right? And maybe... just maybe... I could bluff my way out of this. That wasn't a likely possibility. I could practically already feel my bones crunching between this demon's teeth, but if there was any chance of surviving, I was going to take it. Begging would do nothing to save me. I had to act.

So, with all the arrogant bluster I could manage, I squared my shoulders.

I was this demon's equal and I would survive this.

It became a mantra in the back of my head as I strolled forwards, with the intent of just passing right by him.

"If you don't envy him, don't get in the way and you'll be fine." Where did that come from? There was no way I could win a fight against a demon. My measly strength couldn't even compare. The demon had to know this, too. He regularly ate humans, probably far stronger than me.

He didn't attack me, though. No, he laughed. "Well, far be it from me to take a woman away from her fight." His hands came up in the most theatrical shrug I'd ever seen, and he stepped aside. His expression dropped into a snarl, though, as I started to pass. "Next time you won't be so lucky, you hear?"

"Then next time you'll be the one that pisses me off." I forced myself to walk slowly. If I hurried away, he'd know just how scared I was. My bluster was the only thing that had saved my life. Losing it now could be fatal.

He laughed again. Was that a good laugh or a bad one? 'I think she's funny' or 'dinner and a show, how nice'? I didn't stop to find out.

I didn't stop until I was back in my hut, listening to Ando's grating snoring.

My hands didn't stop shaking until far later.

How did I survive that?

I stayed with the other village woman when I wanted to head down to the stream for a while after that. I made sure to keep my bow and arrows on hand, too. It wasn't uncommon to keep some form of weapon on you when you left the safety of the final ring of houses. I hadn't bothered when there were no wolves around. The bow and arrow had always just been something I used for hunting. I stood among the best shots in the village. When things were tight, I was usually dragged along in the hunting parties, in hopes of snagging a nice fat boar.

Now, though, with the wolves, and even worse, the wolf demons, coming in so close to the village, this would be my best line of defence. I didn't plan on getting close enough to another wolf or demon that the bow would be rendered useless.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to bluff my way out of being eaten again. I wasn't that lucky of a person.

A part of me felt like I was courting death when I and a handful of other villagers ventured out into the forest during a late afternoon, wielding bows, spears and knives. Being out in the forest was becoming really dangerous with how active the wolves were and I didn't like it. Was meat really worth the risk of being attacked by these increasingly dangerous canines?

The answer was clearly yes.

The headman's dog weaved between us as we shuffled through the trees together. The headman, of course, was safe at home, but his son had joined us, fresh-faced and excited for his first hunt.

Poor boy didn't know how tedious hunting really was.

It was almost dark by the time the dog perked up. So far in our hunt we hadn't found anything living of interest. We'd foraged a few roots and wild vegetables that the headman's boy, Sho, was carrying. Better put the boy to use, we decided. He'd be no help with the actual hunting, and we were all hankering for some real meat in our bellies.

When the dog started whining, I drew an arrow from my quiver and nocked it, keeping it loose, but ready.

The group of us stayed quiet, listening for the rustle of the leaves on the ground, or the snuffling of an animal.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

There wasn't anything-

There!

My arrow loosed through the air. An animal cry sounded a moment later. Success. We would have venison in our bowls soon.

Congratulations followed behind me as I strode forward to put the deer out of its misery, drawing a knife from its sheath attached to my sash. I always enjoyed these hunting trips for this moment alone.

Back in the village, I was just the seamstress, another woman in the village with a job to do to keep her busy and out of the way while the men did the real work. I was regularly dismissed and brushed aside. Yet, during these hunting trips, that notion, the notion that I was useless, seemed to lift. I was treated as an equal, another person that could pull their weight. I was part of the celebration when we succeeded, like on days like today. I was part of the group that consoled each other on days we didn't succeed.

I was included.

I couldn't quite word how much I liked the feeling if I tried.

"Well, shit. We've got wolves, boys," I warned.

A handful of them by the looks of it. A hunting party, maybe. A cheating hunting party. They were already circling my deer as it cried and thrashed on the ground.

"Fucking wolves," Gin, my neighbour, grunted right at my shoulder. His spear appeared in my line of sight.

"There's only a couple. We can chase them off fine." There wasn't a demon around, either, so it'd be pretty easy for the men to chase them away.

As a group, we all moved forwards, knowing our jobs well, beside Sho, who hung back and followed me, nervous and unsure. Clearly the other men had decided that Sho could help me dress the deer. Usually it was Gin that joined me for that task. The men began to chase off the wolves, making a real racket as they did, while I took the knife to the deer. I muttered my thanks and apologies to it as it stilled. Then I went about dressing it, giving quick orders to Sho when I needed him. The poor boy almost puked when I unloaded the organs onto the ground.

I remembered my early days learning how to hunt. I'd had the very same reaction. Being wrist-deep in organs is as disgusting as it sounds every time, but eventually you get desensitised to it and just carry on. Sho would learn that himself eventually.

Deer dressed, I shuffled back, shaking the blood from my hands. "All right, someone tie him up."

"Little busy here."

"What's keeping you?"

The wolves was my answer. They were still hanging around. Clearly we weren't so scary to them now. Was that arrogance or desperation?

I reached for the pile of organs and dug through them. "Just leave them. We've already won this." We would be the ones going home with the majority of the meat. The wolves would just have to suck it up and find their own damned deer. Maybe they'd be luckier than us and get themselves a nice fat pig.

Still, as a consolation prize, I tossed the liver and heart to them.

Proving that they were part of a demon pack, at least to me, they didn't immediately jump on the offered meat. Instead, they stared, looking every bit untrusting and indignant. That was far too smart of them to just be animals. I don't know what compelled me to speak to them. Maybe it was the intelligence they showed. Maybe it was because I'd met one of the demons that controlled them, and knew that they probably understood some of our language, if the demons that controlled them did. Whatever the justification I made to myself, I did speak to them. "You can have what you want of the offal. We're not interested. But the meat's ours."

I waited to see what they would do as the rest of the villagers took care of the deer.

One wolf huffed indignantly again, but he stepped forwards and took the heart between his teeth. Acceptance of my strange deal.

These wolves were really smart.

I ushered our hunting party away, and as we left, I hear the wolves digging through the pile of organs.

"How did you do that?" Sho asked, awe in his voice as we walked.

I had no fucking clue. It was sheer luck. I told him as such.

Gin, however, had different thoughts. He laughed, loud and boisterous, and slapped my back firmly. "Our Dan is a wolf whisperer!"

Try as I might after that, I couldn't escape the nickname Dan the Wolf Whisperer.

Information Corner

Doma - A doma is the ground-level dirt part of an archaic Japanese home. From what I can tell, the doma evolved over time into the modern genkan, the lowered part of the entrance to a Japanese home, where you take off your shoes before going into the main part of the house.

Let me know what you think of this story so far. I appreciate hearing what people think, and how I can improve