For the first night they never went further than holding each other. Inuyasha was exhausted and his wounds were still healing. The next morning was a different story.

Sesshomaru awoke to Inuyasha kissing and licking the mark. The action sent a jolt of electricity through him. Moans escaped from him and Inuyasha made quick work of their clothes. However he was slower work of doing much else as hands wandered.

"Inuyasha..." Sesshomaru breathed out.

His insistence earned a smirk against the mark. Realizing what he was doing the daiyokai released a desperate whine.

"So needy already?" Inuyasha chuckled.

"Just get on with it!" Sesshomaru snapped, this time earning a laugh.

He opened his eyes to glare. Inuyasha wasn't phased at all. Instead it only made him slow his hands even more. Sesshomaru tried to snarl. Inuyasha nipped hard on the mark and the daiyokai yelped more in surprise than pain.

"You're not much of a morning person are you? Is this why you don't like sleeping?" Inuyasha chuckled as he made the connection.

"I don't like my sleep interrupted." Sesshomaru glared. That damn smirk was irritating him.

"I'll make it up to you." Inuyasha promised.

"Then get on with it." The daiyokai snarled.

"So demanding for an omega." Even with this comment the hanyou continued where he left off.

Soon enough Sesshomaru was panting and moaning as their bodies became one. Inuyasha was a little on the rougher side. But the daiyokai didn't mind. He enjoyed the sense of being powerless. And it was only for Inuyasha who had the right.

Sesshomaru came with a near howl. He found he couldn't fully come down from the high as Inuyasha continued with no signs of stopping. At first Sesshomaru was breathless as he enjoyed the over stimulation.

When it became too much, Sesshomaru leaned to lick Inuyasha's mark. The hanyou gasped. This was the first time the daiyokai gave it any attention. And Inuyasha was reduced to a howling mess not long after.

"You've been knotting a lot lately." Sesshomaru winced, but otherwise wasn't displeased.

"Can't help it, it just happens?" Inuyasha was embarrassed.

"I don't mind it." Sesshomaru nuzzled against his mate. He sensed apprehension from Inuyasha.

"What's wrong?" He asked, pulling away to stare into his mate's eyes.

"I'm still getting used to you being so...affectionate. It's nothing bad, I love it. Just something to get used to." Inuyasha explained as he relaxed.

Sesshomaru leaned closer again. Normally he hated the idea of being affectionate towards anyone. Strangely Rin was the closest to ever achieve something close to affection. And yet with his mate, the feeling came naturally and for once Sesshomaru wasn't fighting.

Whenever Inuyasha embraced him he felt safe. And safety meant everything to an omega. It reminded him that he didn't always have to be strong. And for the first time in many years Sesshomaru dropped the whole alpha attitude he carried for far too long.

"Why did you act like an alpha? For so long I thought you were one." Inuyasha wondered one evening while they enjoyed the private hot spring.

Sesshomaru didn't immediately answer.

"When it was discovered I would be omega, it tore at me. I hated the idea. It meant I wasn't going to take over as Lord of the West. Omegas never held such a high position. Even when their mates passed suddenly, the power is given to someone else and not their respective mate."

"That didn't stop you though." Inuyasha tilted his head.

"That was more of father's doing. He named me heir, despite my status. Some argued, but father insisted. And everyone went quiet. That changed after he died. Some tried to go against his wishes. I put them in their place. It was after that many tried another route for power."

"Proposing to you." Inuyasha guessed, earning a nod.

"Everything they offered was meant to tempt me. But I saw their true intentions. They simply wanted to claim me to take my title. I threw the offers back at their faces. Any who dared to argue, I put them out of their misery."

"That's a bit extreme."

"I had to show that I intended to keep my title, even when I finally accepted a mate. During these times, Lord Asahi visited to show respect for father's passing as well as the first to accept me as Lord of the West. Because of him, I gained an ally. A strong one not many would dare try to fight due to the terrain Asahi had to his advantage."

"He really did that? Accepted you as the Lord of the West?" Inuyasha was surprised.

"Immediately the rest followed his example. Lord Asahi remained for a short time to ensure no one revealed they had darker intentions and simply try to set a trap for me."

"How did this not impress your inner demon?" The hanyou wondered.

"I saw everyone as a threat, even my only true ally. As things calmed down Asahi left. And I thought that would be the end of him. A month later he returned. Instead of approaching me with the proposal, he approached my mother. It surprised us both, for no one outright acknowledged the power she still held as my mother."

"I bet it left an impression on her." Inuyasha could imagine it.

"I thought so to, when she told me that she will accept the proposal. And because he brought it to her instead of me, I held no power to deny it. When we argued over the matter she presented the proposal Asahi had written by hand."

"What did it say?" Inuyasha moved closer, very curious.

"That he will give up his title of Lord of the North. And instead will move into my castle, and proceed as if he was the mate of the lord. And I will now be the Lord of both the West and North."

"...That's a pretty big deal." As Inuyasha thought about it, he came to a conclusion. "He never wanted to be Lord. And because of how unruly Kenji was he couldn't turn it down and put the responsibility on him. So he found the next best option, handing it to someone who needed a mate who will accept that you wanted to keep your title."

"At the time I didn't believe he would so willingly go through with it. I saw it as a farce, and decided then to name my mother to act in my stead and left. I can imagine the backlash Asahi had, that his own betrothed walked away. I suppose he only kept trying to convince me simply because no one would see him as worthy if I walked away."

"What would have happened if you didn't see it as a farce? If you two had an actual chance to talk, and you saw that he really meant every word of stepping down..." Inuyasha looked away, his ears lowered.

"I would have taken advantage of the proposal. And I suppose he would have become my mate. Not that I would have allowed him to touch me. The idea of giving into another disgusts me."

"Yet you have no problem when it comes down to me." The hanyou snickered.

"You are an exception for many things, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru almost rolled his eyes.

Inuyasha felt proud to be Sesshomaru's mate. Then one evening it was the new moon. He grew withdrawn, distancing himself from the daiyokai. For some reason the bond was weak, although Inuyasha was also relieved the mark wasn't trying to kill him. Even so he felt quite insecure about this night.

Sesshomaru reached around Inuyasha's middle to embrace him from behind. In the same instance he nuzzled into a bony shoulder. He felt Inuyasha tense.

"You can't really feel that way when I'm like this. You despise weakness. I can't even use the Tessaiga." Inuyasha frowned.

With a frustrated sigh Sesshomaru twirled his mate around. Inuyasha's cry of surprise was interrupted when lips claimed his own.

While yes, Inuyasha's scent changed. His hair was black, and the ears Sesshomaru secretly found adorable were gone. The golden yellow was now dark brown. But that mouth was still the same. He still tasted the same. And it was enough to incite enough desire for Sesshomaru.

And strangely Inuyasha didn't take initiative. Maybe he was still in doubt, or shock about this whole thing. Sesshomaru moved to the mark while his hands explored. Inuyasha definitely felt the bond strengthen then.

He felt Sesshomaru's desires. And finally Inuyasha gave in. He reached up and pulled the long white hair just the way his mate liked. The daiyokai gasped, but Inuyasha didn't stop there. He pulled until Sesshomaru knelt before him.

The sight of the daiyokai on his knees and actually submitting burned into Inuyasha's memory. Not long after he soon had Sesshomaru writhing and gasping as Inuyasha claimed him. Although he didn't last as long this time around, he still drove Sesshomaru over the edge before his own release.

After that night there was a change in their bond. It was difficult to describe for them to identify what exactly changed. But in a lot of ways the bond was stronger than ever before. It really felt that nothing will come between them.

"I love you." Inuyasha proclaimed on the last evening of their honeymoon. Almost two months had passed in a blink of an eye. Although they both never wanted it to end, they were both starting to get anxious of staying within one room for so long.

Sesshomaru looked at him with surprise. He knew that his mate meant them. And he reflected their whole relationship. He supposed the daiyokai was doomed from the start when young Inuyasha protected him from being claimed.

And if that interest hadn't taken place then Sesshomaru would be stuck in a loveless bond with Lord Asahi. For he understood that if he had known the other youkai was serious with stepping down as Lord, then he would have taken that proposal as a means to protect himself from further harassment of marriage proposals.

He supposed there might be an interest later down the road. But Sesshomaru knew that a bond out of necessity usually brought despair all around. With Inuyasha, this was different. While the bond might might initially been forced to act on, they both had mutual interests in the other.

And maybe they both secretly did care for more than a brotherly bond. Sesshomaru suspected it the first time they mated and Inuyasha called him beautiful. After Sesshomaru snuck away the word stuck with him, although he wouldn't admit it to anyone let alone himself.

He thought of Hinata. Sesshomaru wished he hadn't kept the pregnancy secret. He had actually been terrified Inuyasha would reject them because of his friends influence. Now he knew that it wouldn't have been the case. However it still would have sparked drama between Inuyasha and Kagome where Sesshomaru was caught in the middle with a child.

In some ways Sesshomaru was grateful for Kenji. Although losing a child would always leave an ache in his chest, Sesshomaru knew he wasn't ready to be a parent. And neither was Inuyasha. With Naraku around that complicated matters even more.

However now they had a chance to actually end Naraku. They were so close.

But then after?

Sesshomaru wasn't sure. But he knew he couldn't see a future without Inuyasha. Maybe it was time the daiyokai stopped running from his lordly duties.

"I..." Sesshomaru tried to return the words, but found he couldn't say. It dawned on him that he hadn't told anyone he loved them since a year before father's passing, the same time he named Sesshomaru heir despite his status.

"I know." Inuyasha kissed his mate's forehead. "You don't have to say it until you're ready."