Escape

By Bri-C123

Chapter 14

"Young one, you are too early to be here." There is a deep dark chuckle. "I can make you a deal."

Is it safe? Where am I? Who am I?

"You are you, and I can give you life."

I'm dead?

"Yes. But for just ten minutes of your death, I can give you back the life you are meant for."

What is the price?

"As I said, ten minutes of your death."

What does that mean?

"Geez, you wolves are too hard to negotiate with. For ten minutes, you will be dead. Your soul will stay here. But after those ten minutes, I will return your soul to your body, and you will be alive."

Why would you do that for me?

"There is a payment I need to collect. For that, I will use your body for ten minutes. But I will leave no mark on it. You freed me from a contract. My partner and I shall reward you."

Then… I suppose it's okay.

"We have a deal, Kaoru Kamiya."

Kenshin can't feel her anymore. Any trace of her in his mind was gone. His wolf cried out in anger and distress. His mate. His love. The one he was supposed to protect.

He couldn't move anymore. He felt so empty. So lost. What was he to do now that he's lost his mate? How is he supposed to go on?

Unaware of what is going on anymore, he falls to his knees.

Kaoru. Her kisses. Her innocence. Her heartbeat. It's all gone.

"Kenshin!" He can't comprehend the sound of his beta's voice. He is hardly aware of what is around him.

Sano can see that things aren't going too well. His voice won't even reach his alpha's ears. He grits his teeth. Someone needs to take control.

"Aoshi!" Enishi is up and heading towards Kenshin.

"You killed her again, battousai. If it weren't for you, she would still be here. She would still be with me." With a crazed look, he lengthens his claws. "You took her away from me again."

Aoshi is already there to protect his alpha. He pushes back Enishi. "You are made of forbidden magic."

Enishi smiles. "It's a beautiful scent, isn't it? I didn't care that I had to sell my soul. I had to come back. I had to take the battousai down."

"You will do no such thing." And another battle ensues.

Kenshin keeps his eyes trained on the body of his mate. He's willing her to be alive. Willing her to not leave him. Hoping that she will return to him.

He can't sense her, but his eyes widen as he sees her get up. "K-Kaoru…!" Her bangs hide her eyes but he is still trying to convince himself he's not dreaming.

She ignores him and takes the face of the little girl who just killed her. "Shall I free you?" Her voice is not right. It's too deep. That smile she gave… it's not right. Kenshin moves towards her. "Stop right there battousai." He freezes. The body of Kaoru finally turns to him. "I'm not the one you seek."

No, instead there is a demon in her body. Frustrated, he moves closer.

The demon raises her hand and stops him. "do no fear, young battousai. She will be returned to you. I simply borrowed her body." Kenshin is gently pushed back and Kaoru instead turns to Kanryuu. "Ahh, the one who ordered my first contract."

"St-stay back!" He points to the body of the little girl. "I told you to protect me, didn't I? Go!"

"Your words do not affect me, human." The girl smiles, a smile similar to the demon in Kaoru's body. "My master is now here. I follow only him, and no one else."

"I summoned you! You need to obey!" He points to Kaoru. "I summoned you too! You shouldn't be turning on me like this!"

"You bound me to a contract I didn't want in the first place. You think a weak one like you can fully control me? You owe me your soul, human." The little girl appears behind the man to hold him down. "You are mine now." With magic surrounding their bodies, the rest of the room loses sight of Kanryuu and the two bodies of the women.

When the magic disperses, Kanryuu lays dead on the floor. The body of Kaoru turns around. Instead of heading towards Kenshin, instead it heads towards Enishi. "Young magician."

Angry, Kenshin stands and heads towards the two. He is stopped by a wall he can't see. He bounces back but he immediately shifts forms and starts pounding on the barrier. The rest of his pack flank his sides. Trying to stop him, but unable to.

"Silence battousai!" He demon cuts him a glare. "I will finish my business and you can have your wolf back." Angry now, the demon reaches Enishi, who only stares impassively. "Now, young magician, you need to return the life you took."

"My business is not finished. My contract still stands."

"Your contract stood for twenty years. There will be no more. Return the life you took."

"You cannot harm me."

"I will do as I wish!" The two fight, standing still but letting their magic do the fighting. "Come, onryou! It is time for you to depart."

With a final burst of magic that fills the room, Enishi is pushed against the wall. Magic filling the palm of Kaoru's hand, the demon begins reciting a chant that no one could understand. Finally, the hand is pushed through where the heart is supposed to be. The scream echoes as Enishi's spirit departs.

Everything quiets down into a silence that is eerie. Everyone is stuck frozen at the scene they just witnessed.

Time has stilled to a stop. "Come, it is time to go home."

"Yes, master." The demon departs from the body of the girl.

"Kaoru Kamiya, I now return your body. I have given you this second chance, as my colleague's last contract caused you a death that was premature. When the time comes, I will collect your soul." The demon departs from the body, allowing her soul to return.

Time is moving again, and everyone sees the two remaining bodies fall to the ground.

With the barrier no longer there, he quickly goes to her, catching her just before she hits the ground. He nuzzles her face. The wolf whimpers.

"Tch…" Her chest slowly rises as she draws in a breath. "Ugh…" Her face twitches and she opens her eyes. "Where…"

"Kaoru!" Kenshin shifts back and cradles her body close to his. "You came back."

"Kenshin…" She tries to push him away, but she feels too weak at the moment. "Kenshin, what happened?"

"What happened? You stupid girl! You almost died is what happened!" He presses desperate kisses to her face. "You did die! Watching you like that…." He moves down to her neck. "You are never to leave my side again. From now on you will stay with me. Let me do all the work." He nuzzles the juncture between her neck and shoulder. "We are going to find a place and I am marking you as mine again. We lost the connection because you ran away." He sighs. "Oh Kaoru…"

And the rest of the room is at peace watching the couple. Kenshin's pack surrounds the couple and eye the dumbfounded members of Enishi's pack. Kaoru hums but pushes at his chest, indicating that she wants to be let up. He finally lets her and restricts himself to only holding her hand. "We need to go."

"You killed our alpha!" A woman suddenly steps forward, rage in her eyes. "You murderer!"

"He was never alive to begin with" Kenshin growls. "He died a long time ago."

"He was our alpha!"

"He dug up two bodies and forced demons into them" Kaoru adds sharply.

"After all we've done for you…"

"Done for me?" Kaoru's wolf stands at attention. "You kept me locked in a cell. You tortured me. You left me hanging my silver chains." A low growl resonates in her chest. "You worked with these humans for your own wealth. You held two kids against their will when they had nothing to do with this. You killed them for wanting freedom!" Her raw magic pulsates and she cannot be stopped. She moves until she stands in front of the pack. "You killed my pack so that yours could gain more power. You want to talk about murder? I just gave it all to you!" The pack cowers under the threat of her magic. "Calling me a murderer? So far, I have gained revenge for the death of my pack. I can murder all of you if I wanted!" There is a burst of power and all of them fall back, trying to back away from the angry female.

"Calm down, mate." Kenshin's pressing aura comes from behind. "They are not worth it." He takes her fist in his hand and lifts it to kiss. "Let us leave and they can clean up their mess."

Immediately, Kaoru's wolf sits back. Kaoru glares at the pack once more but her magic ceases and she turns to Kenshin. "Then let's leave." She loosens her fist to instead hold Kenshin's hand in hers.

His pack lets their alpha pair leave and follow after them, sparing one last pitying glance to the remnants of the other pack.

Outside, Kenshin lifts Kaoru into his arms. Gripping his shoulders and gasping in surprise, she glares at him. "Kenshin!"

"Look, it's time that I made things clear. You are mine, as I am yours. However, you are never to put yourself in this kind of situation again. You were possessed by a Shinigami so you were basically dead for a good ten minutes. I will not let you do that again."

"Kenshin, it's not like I wanted to."

"You are not to do that again" he growls. He starts running back towards where they had first met. "For now, we are packed to go, but I'm sure everyone would like to rest before we head out and find another place to stay. We'll stay in this forest for a little while, but as soon as everyone is healed, we are heading out." He doesn't turn to see if his pack is following him. "And you and I are going to have a talk about this whole situation."

Rolling her eyes, Kaoru's answer is sarcastic. "Yes, dear."

Kenshin growls and stops for a moment. He waits until the rest of his pack continues on before her presses her against a tree. "You are mine."

"Kenshin…"

"You. Are. Mine." He leans in and kisses her.

They hardly knew each other. They still needed to confirm a lot of things about each other. She still needs to know why he is called Battousai. He will eventually want to know about her past. Still, she returns his kiss. This time, she can't really argue. She can still feel it in her bones and in her heart.

And this time, she could stay.

Aaaand that is the end of this story. For now I'm marking this as complete, but I think there may be an epilogue to add, although I'm not sure when.

You may notice that things are a little cliché at the end, and Kenshin is quite OOC. The end also doesn't allude to an end but I think this is a good point to stop this story. There are other stories to be told, and this chapter has come to an end.

So THANK YOU to everyone who follows this, follows me, or reviews my stories. You really helped me get through this, and thus this is my first completed story- well, that isn't a one shot. Even to those of you just passing by, thank you for reading up to this point.

Here is where I sign off for now, so thank you again~

Bri-c123 OUT.