I'm using writing as an excuse not to paint again. Gotta love painting motivation, huh? At least I'm getting somewhere with the canon plot here. And it's an excuse to watch Koga's first few episodes like a dozen times.

Someone make me stop writing and start painting, please.

In The Jaws Of The Wolf

Chapter Thirteen

The few of us that were curious about why he bought another human into the den followed Koga through the waterfall. Ginta, Hakkaku and I were unashamedly part of that crowd. He led the poor girl, human as far as I could tell, through the throngs of leering and jeering Wolves that were hanging around inside the cave to keep cool.

"Hey Koga," Joji called out from his usual spot just off the waterfall's entrance. "Who's the woman?" Yet, despite asking Koga, the obnoxious Wolf had his eyes on me, like he was gauging my reaction to the presence of another woman in the den.

Why, I had no idea. I was more than happy with Akari, and this girl looked more like a hostage than a new packmate. I doubted she would be integrated into the pack like I was. Even if she was, there'd be no reason for her to even get close to my man. If she did, then and only then would we have problems. I highly doubted it would come to that though.

The poor girl looked terrified of all of us.

Koga tossed the girl into his furred alcove, staring down at her as she righted herself.

We all gathered around him, Ginta, Hakkaku and I at the forefront of the crowd.

"Nice looking prey, Koga." Ginta leaned around me so he could get a better look at her. "Can I have one of the legs?"

"I claim first dibs on the liver," Hakkaku declared.

I rolled my eyes and nudged Ginta. When he looked down at me, I shook my head. I'd been here a while now, and no one had ever actually bought a human into the den to eat, dead or alive. If they ate human, the Wolves ate out. So bringing a live human into the den wasn't for food. That much I knew for sure. I just didn't know why Koga had bought this girl here. There had to be a reason.

Koga's gaze shifted from the girl to Hakkaku in a sharp glare. "This woman is off-limits. I'll kill anyone who tries to take a bite," he growled in warning.

Around me, all the Wolves flinched back, thoroughly scolded.

"Told you," I chuckled to Ginta, who'd taken to using me as a human shield. I was the only one that wasn't scared of the threat, apparently. Though, I wasn't likely to be breaking Koga's rules. Human meat wasn't something I wanted to indulge in any time soon.

Nao, who'd followed Koga in from wherever he had been, nudged my hip to get my attention then started sniffing at Koga's tail along with handful of other wolves. I tipped my head, leaning back so I could get a look at whatever had caught there's attention. "Huh, cute." A kit, I recognised the fox characteristics from previous brushes with foxes, was clinging to Koga's tail.

"Oh yeah, him," Koga drawled, lifting his tail so he could get a look at the kit clinging to his tail himself. "I forgot he grabbed onto my tail when I captured the girl. I assumed he fell off."

He shook his tail a couple times, trying to dislodge the confused kit. When that didnt work, he grabbed his by the scruff of his kimono. "Guess not." He tossed it towards an empty area of the cave. "Here, have an appetiser."

The wolves were quick and eager to stalk their tiny prey, even as it started to cry and call out for help.

"Hey, wait a minute!" the girl jumped up from the furs, and pushed past me to get to Koga. My brows shot up. Well, she was brave. I wasn't fooling myself into thinking that I was some terrifying creature, but even a few Wolves gave me wary looks as they passed. Apparently anyone that could go toe-to-toe with Koga in a screaming match and come out of it unscathed was something to be wary about. "Do you want my help with the jewel shards or don't you? If anyone lays a hand on Shippo, I refuse to help. I don't care what you do to me."

Jewel shards?

What did she have to do with jewel shards?

Her tirade seemed to impress Koga, though. "Well, you've got more guts than I thought." He strolled towards the stalking wolves, hoisting one up by its middle. "Whoa. You guys have packed on a bunch of weight again, you bunch of gluttons. You're not eating anything more for the next couple of days." He tossed aside the wolf he'd picked up and reached for Nao, who had the kit in his mouth.

Nao growled and snapped at Koga, keeping the kit between his paws.

"Hey," Koga growled back.

"You know, if you don't want them fat, don't feed them a village," I pointed out, nudging the crouched Wolf aside with my knee and reaching out to Nao myself. "Give him here."

Nao grumbled, but he was a lot less aggressive with me than Koga when I grabbed hold of the poor crying kit's kimono and played a very short-lived game of tug of war with the dark wolf.

The kit clung to the front of my kimono, burying his face against my chest.

Koga grumbled, casting the grumpy wolf a glare. "I don't know how you can get away with that without being attacked," he muttered, taking the kit from my hands and tossing him towards the girl. "Here you go." He turned his attention back down to me. "I ought to make Nao your responsibility. Keep him in his place."

"Upset that he likes me and doesn't like you?" I teased, nudging him as I passed by him, intent on getting to some repair work now my morning in teh sun had been disturbed. "It's not that uncommon, Koga."

He sneered back at me. "Shut up."

My laughter was cut off when a handful of Wolves burst into the den, carrying injured men.

I recognised the fiery red hair of one of the injured right away. "Akari!" I didn't think even Koga could keep up with me as I raced through the cave to get to him. The stone ground scraped mercilessly at my knees as I dropped to the floor beside him and helped him sit up. "Akari, what happened?"

His eyes flickered open and he gave me a weak smile. "Keep out of trouble while I was gone?"

"Clearly better than you did," I shot back, brushing the damp curl he could never tame from his forehead. "What happened?"

He sipped at a bowl of water another Wolf held up to him before answering. "The Birds got too close to the pass again. It was more than three this time."

We were losing too much to the Birds. Far too much. I held Akari closer, pressing my lips to his temple. "I'm glad you got out of there alive."

"I had to. Got a woman to come home to now." He nuzzled against me. "I'll always come home to you."

I smiled against his temple. "You damned well better. What am I supposed to do without you, huh?" I gave him another squeeze, then turned my attention to Joji, who was stood above us with his arms crossed. "Can you help me get him to the nest? He'll be a little more comfortable there." I'd rather him recover in comfort than on the wood he was currently laying on.

"Move, then." His demand wasn't aggressive as it usually was. He dropped to one knee and slid his arms under his older brother. Akari grunted in pain when he was lifted, but stayed pretty still as Joji carried him across the cave. I kept at Joji's elbow. "So, should I start calling you sister or should I spare both of us?"

Was Joji teasing me? "Spare me, please. Dan is fine, little brother."

He cringed and sneered. "Spare me. You're my sister now, but I still don't like you."

Good. I thought the world had turned upside down for a moment there. Joji calling me sister was far too strange for my liking. Far too strange. "I wouldn't expect any different." I dropped to my knees in our nest and began to shift around some of the furs to make the bed more comfortable for Akari.

Joji was quick to disregard my attempts and put him down on the furs before I deemed them perfect. "Better look after my brother, woman. If you don't, I'll eat you. I don't care what Koga says."

"Yeah, yeah." I was already fussing over my Wolf, making sure he was comfortable. "Thanks, Joji."

"Whatever."

I was working to make sure Akari was comfortable for a while before I noticed the smile on his lips. "What are you smiling at?"

"It's good to see my brother and mate getting along, is all."

My brows shot up. That was Joji and I getting along? Akari clearly had low expectations. "Shut up and focus on getting better, idiot."

"He'll be fine when he wakes up."

I looked up from my sleeping mate to Koga, who was leaning against one of the stalagmites that made up the 'walls' of our little nest. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and he was looking down at the injured Akari. "I don't smell any blood," he continued. "So he was just banged up. He'll be back to normal before you know it."

"Good." I turned my gaze back down to Akari. "I'm just worried."

"Feh, of course you are. Women always worry too much."

I tossed the closest thing I could grab at him. One of Akari's pauldrons.

He barely managed to dodge it and grab it just before it hit the floor, keeping it from clattering loudly against the stone. Then he yelled, just to render his attempts at keeping quiet for Akari's sake totally useless. "What was that for?!"

The red-haired Wolf groaned and shifted in place, but didn't wake.

"Someday, Koga, you're going to be desperate to know a woman that loves you is worried about you, so just shut up, okay?" I didn't want to be teased for feeling worried about my man. If that was all he wanted right now, he could turn tail and piss off. I had better things to do than listen to his shit.

His response was a grumble.

Idiot.

He hovered, though. Clearly he wasn't done with whatever he'd come here for.

"What is it?" I asked after a long silence.

"We're going hunting. Are you coming? You're one of our best hunters." Oh now that must have rankled to admit. That sort of compliment was music to my ears, though. Hearing Koga admit that I was better than some of his packmates at something that they were made to do was sweet. I could stand to hear the compliments more often.

Still, I shook my head. "You'll have to manage without me today." I wasn't going to be much help focussing on hunting while I was worrying about my idiot Wolf. "Take Nao with you. He knows how I hunt, and he's pretty good by himself."

"I can hunt better than Nao."

Sure. "Then don't take him."

"Fine." He took half a step back and began to turn away. "I'll be back later. I'll check in then. Keep an eye on the human for me."

The human?

That was... strange. I felt strangely disconnected then. The human he said to me, as if I wasn't one myself. I suppose in his mind I was one of his now, another one of the Wolves. I'd sort of started feeling like that myself, though it was weird becoming so aware of that thought process now.

Reviews

buzzk97 - I had to add it in! I think Ginta's dimples were my favourite part of episode 99. I couldn't wait that long to mention them. It would be a true crime. You will have to wait and see. I can't give away all my secrets at once, can I? I'm sure it won't play out exactly how you imagine it will, at any rate. Plans have been made, are in the process of being written, and you'll just have to be patient! That scene will be appearing in the next chapter anyhow, so you won't have to wait too much longer.

I will go down with the Dakari ship. You're all going to have to fight me.

And I'm starting to like Joji, which is going to be a big problem in the future.