Chapter 9:

Kaito left the den to find Sesshomaru, Akira and Akito.

His chest burned with agony after what he said to Katsume.

'Why did you do that?!' His beast roared, 'She is meant to be our...'

'Shut it! Don't even say it! Sesshomaru was clear, she can't be like hat to us.' Kaito snapped at his beast.

With that, he transformed.

His beast let out an angry roar, but went to find Sesshomaru.

He found them, standing at different edges of the territory.

'So. Did you find them?' Kaito asked.

'No. They must have left. You have to be more careful, make sure you have Akira and Akito close to you so if something goes wrong, you have backup.' Sesshomaru said, 'You should be resting anyway.'

'I am fine.' Kaito said quickly.

Sesshomaru reluctantly nodded.

Snow began falling in a slow manner.

'A blizzard is coming through. You are welcome to sleep in the den tonight.' Sesshomaru said before leaving him.

Kaito considered it, but if he wanted Sesshomaru to believe nothing was going on between him and Kat, he had to keep his distance.

He made it to the den, stopping at the entrance.

Katsume smiled at him.

Kaito turned from her and laid down, keeping guard of the den.

Katsume watched him, starting to become irritated at him ignoring her. They had been friends, since longer than she can remember.

She would have visions back to the time she and Kaito were having a small snowball fight, and when Kaito knocked her down, finding him pressed against her. When his lips barely touched hers, something sparked.

Suddenly, she felt closer to him than just friends. She had never felt this way before, and now he was suddenly pushing her away.

It all left her clueless as to what went wrong.

As Sesshomaru set down his mokomoko, Rin and Katsume curled into it together, the blizzard roaring from outside.

Katsume looked past the fire, seeing Kaito out there, snow quickly covering his white fur. She felt bad that he was sitting out there, cold and alone.

That was the last thing she thought, before going to sleep.

Katsume awoke early the next morning. Sesshomaru and Rin still asleep, curled securely into the fluff.

She sat up, noticing that Kaito wasn't at his post.

Katsume soon remembered how Kaito had been attacked.

Why would he go off on his own again?

She slowly stood, quietly leaving the den.

It was cold, and the freshly fallen snow glew in the dark.

Katsume found his scent and soon found him, standing out at the edge of the territory.

Sighing, she approached him, "How are your wounds?"

"Fine." He said without moving.

"Are you still mad at me?" Katsume asked.

Kaito frowned, turning to her, "What?"

"Are you still mad at me?" Katsume repeated.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Kaito asked.

"I don't know." Katsume's voice cracked, "One minute we're throwing snowballs, the next you push me away like I'm your enemy or something."

Kaito slowly approached her with pain in his eyes, "Kat, I'm sorry. It just got a little out of hand."

"What did? Me?" Katsume asked as he gently caressed her cheek.

"No. Kat, you did nothing wrong." He said.

"Kaito... I lo-" She was cut off by the sound of crunching snow behind them.

They broke apart, noticing two dog demons circling them.

'Some clan. Leave a half-breed to protect you.' One of them sneered.

"Kaito. Were these the two that attacked you?" Katsume said shakily.

Kaito didn't answer, simply putting her behind him, "Why did you come back?"

'We are starving, and you seem to be the only prey lurking around.' One said.

Kaito's eyes flared crimson, "I'll give you one chance to stand. Down."

The two dog demon rogues seemed to snicker before lunging.

They were soon met with Akira and Akito, both lunging at a seperate one, then connecteed in a brutal combat.

"Kat. Get out of here." Kaito whispered to her.

"No. I won't let them hurt you again!" Katsume said, which surprised him.

Then, heart piercing yelps were sounded.

Kaito and Katsume turned, notcing Akira and Akito both bloodied and battered, laying against the snow.

The two rogues snickered at them before turning to Kaito.

'One more for the road, the half-breed looks promising.' One of them said.

Kaito let out a growl, before phasing in less than a second, lunging at the two.

Katsume watched as Kaito attempted to take on the two rogues. He was losing quickly.

She just stared at Kaito's soon bloodied body in shock.

The rogues had him pinned, one of them having a deadly bite to his throat, the other one holding him down.

Then, Katsume began to see red.

Her body was burning with rage! The rage consumed her, and she felt her form growing, fur began to cover her, claws growing extra sharp, and then she had all four limbs on the ground. Her front paws crushing into the snow, her hind legs spread in a defense stance.

The rogues stared at her, shock clear in their eyes.

Katsume's red vision focused on Kaito, he was shocked as well, but couldn't be seen through the blood.

Then, her eyes locked on the rogues.

With the rage growing by the second, she lunged at them.

They were taken off guard, as Katsume took one of them, making a violent bite to the throat, before turning to the other, easily taking that one down too, her fangs locking around the rogue's neck.

It wasn't until Sesshomaru and Rin came, that she finally released the, now dead, dog demon.

"Oh my god... Katsume?" Rin's voice echoed through Katsume's ears.

Katsume glanced at her, before staring at Sesshomaru, who was in his true form.

'Katsume. Calm down.' Sesshomaru told her gently.

Katsume still felt that horrible sense of rage. She let out a deep growl.

"Katsume. Please stop." Rin spoke next, taking a few steps towards her.

Katsume glanced at her, then to the dead rogues, and suddenly, she started to see and think clearly.

She once again began to feel the bitter cold.

She looked down at the dead rogues and over at the battered dog demons.

Everyone around her seemed to be shocked, surprised and a little scared.

"Katsume." Sesshomaru sounded, pulling her to him, and she buried her face into his chest, her own fear beginning to kick in.

Sesshomaru comforted her as he took a glance at the rogues.

His daughter fcould transform, but why now?

"Rin. Take Katsume to the den, I will get rid of the rogues, and make sure everyone else is ok." Sesshomaru said, turning to let Katsume walk to Rin.

She wound an arm around her, and they returned to the den.

Despite her fear of what had just happened, she still had one thing on her mind.

Was Kaito ok?

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving guys!