A/N

I wasn't going to update so soon, but I found out one of my readers had a truly shitty day, and I wanted to help make it a little better.

1... I hope tomorrow is better for you!

Much Love
~Kouga's Eternal

*X*

Ripped out of a decently peaceful sleep, Kagome's lingering scent still on his bed from earlier giving him very pleasant dreams, Kouga growled low, and without opening his eyes, batted the cold nose away from him before he rolled over, his voice muffled from shoving his face into his blanket. "Fuck off, Shun. Go piss if ya gotta take a piss." It took a moment for his sleep fogged brain to catch up with his mouth, but when it did, he shot up and whipped back around, his spine popping from neck to tail with the action. Eyes wide and lips parted, he stared at his wolf for a moment before he found his voice. "What the fuck, Shun? You're supposed to be..."

Hearing a muffled whimper, Kouga threw the fur covering off his legs and lunged to his feet. Unlike with Kagome when she made her way through the smaller chamber within the cave, the shine over his eyes, as well as his hyper awareness of what was around him, made his steps sure as he made his way to where Kagome was placed for the night. There wasn't even a passing worry about stepping on someone as he weaved through the sleeping bodies, not making a sound as he did so.

There was a slight moment of shock when he realized where Shun was leading him, but when his eyes landed on the little Miko, it was pushed to the side as Kouga slowed, a sigh of her name slipping past his lips. She was now sitting up, her face buried in the fur over her legs to help try and muffle her whines and whimpers in the hopes she didn't disturb the sleeping wolves.

Reaching down and scratching behind Shun's ear, giving him silent praise, Kouga then made his way over to the platform Kagome was on, taking a seat, and with a slight frown on his lips, set a hand on her shoulder. Unlike in the forest, he was ready for the sudden lunge, and braced himself for it to avoid getting knocked onto the floor. His did readjust himself slightly, more for her comfort than his, and just held her close as she continued to cry.

Though he winced when he felt Kagome's nails dig into the skin of his bare back, he did swallow the noise of discomfort that came with it, and instead redirected his thoughts as he waited for her to once again either run out of steam enough for him to talk to her, or cry herself back to sleep, the same soft growl in his chest he discovered did actually help calm her down.

He allowed his eyes to roam the chamber of sleeping bodies, in his own mind curious why the females of the tribe made the collective decision to make up Kagome's bed in the place reserved exclusively for the pack's alpha female. While it made sense from a protection standpoint to put a human at the back the cave where literally no one would ever get to her before they were killed, there was more than enough space to make up the same bed on the ground level instead of putting her on the raised rock.

The reason the pack's alpha female was placed higher than everyone else was so she could see the entrance of the cavern, and whoever it was that thought to enter. She was placed at the back of the cavern because, of everyone in the tribe, she was to be the most protected. Unlike the rest of the women in the tribe who anyone could mate with, she was only allowed to mate with the alpha male, because it would be her offspring that would one day take over the pack, and those cubs had to be the offspring of the reigning alpha.

Truthfully, the alpha female of a wolf demon tribe lived a very cushy life in comparison to the other females within her ranks. While yes, it was true she was tasked with some level of responsibility when it came to the other women and cubs, there was zero responsibility on her shoulders when it came to protecting them. The only thing she was responsible for when it came to protection was protecting her own cubs.

Absentmindedly, his eyes moved from the sleeping bodies to the alcove at the back of the rock, his own time spent there flashing through his mind. It wasn't huge, but it was large enough for both mother and cub to lay comfortably during nighttime feedings. It also couldn't be seen from the entrance, keeping the alpha's cubs hidden. At the back of the alcove, he knew there was a covered over tunnel that would allow the mother to remove her cubs from the den unnoticed if necessary, and the exit to the tunnel was closed off at the other end, making it impossible to find if you didn't know where to look.

It was the alpha male's responsibility to protect the entire pack, but it was the entire pack's responsibility to protect the alpha female. There would never be a shortage of pack members, but without her, should something happen to the pack's alpha, there wouldn't be a next in line, which would then throw the pack into chaos, and they would be left to scramble and slaughter to name a new alpha. The Beta wolf was chosen by the alpha, and just like anyone else, would have to prove themselves worthy of taking over for their dead leader. Kouga had never personally seen a restructuring of a pack, but his father told him stories when he was cub, and to him and his more bloodthirsty side, it honestly sounded like fun. It was literally nothing less than a dogfight until, basically, the alpha female decided someone proved himself worthy to mate with.

The status of alpha was only lost with death, so as long as there was an alpha female, there would always, eventually, be an alpha male. If something happened to the alpha male and the alpha female didn't already birth his cubs, or wasn't pregnant with his cubs, she would be expected to mate with her chosen winner of the battle until a cub was produced. It would not, in any way, elevate the winner to status of alpha, but it would be his cub that took over the pack when that cub reached maturity. Until that point, the pack continued to follow the rules set in place by the dead alpha.

When the cub became sexually mature, he would then choose his own female to mate with to prevent inbreeding, but she wouldn't take over the position of alpha female until the cub's mother died, beit by fair means or foul. The alpha female would be allowed to take another mate should she desire the company, but only her offspring would receive a title or place in line for one, not whoever she chose to spend her time with; unless, of course, he thought he could beat her cub in a fight when he was old enough to receive his birthright.

That was how the line of succession of wolf demons differed from that of their animal counterparts. In an animal wolf pack, while there was always a female the alpha male favored, all the of the cubs in the pack belonged to him. If something happened to him, it wasn't one of his offspring that took over, it was whoever proved to the be strongest adult wolf in the pack, usually the beta. While he wouldn't kill the living cubs when he took over the pack, it would only be his own cubs he concerned himself with, leaving it up to nature over whether or not the previous alpha's cubs lived or died, and they would be run off when they were no longer in need of their mother, and that was only if their mother wasn't impregnated or had a new cub to care for that belonged to the leader of the pack. It was pretty fucked up, but it was the best way to ensure the new alpha's lineage if there was none of the previous alpha's cubs taking up precious resources.

Unlike with cats, wolves don't kill cubs in order to move up within the ranks of the pack. They only kill other mature wolves in order to become more important. Packs with an alpha female, should something happen to the male, the pack will rally behind the alpha female, all but ensuring her cubs survive to take over to avoid that bloody fucking war, for lack of a better term. Should something happen to the alpha female before her cubs were able to survive without her, the other females in the pack would band together, even abandoning their own cubs if necessary, to ensure the alpha's cubs survived.

There weren't many differences between wolf demons and the animals they came from, but the hierarchy and cubs were what set them apart. Currently, there were 27 immature cubs in Kouga's pack. He wasn't the sire of any of them, but he was responsible for the survival of all of them. That also wouldn't change when he started to have cubs of his own. While his cubs would certainly have his attention and favor, they wouldn't lessen his responsibility to the other cubs. The goal was to have all cubs reach maturity, not just his, and that took the entire pack to accomplish.

Wolf demon cubs needed their mother for nearly the first 60 years of their lives, mostly because of how small they are until then, and there was a lot to teach them about the world if they chose to leave the pack when they reached maturity. That was a lot of time, and generally speaking, unless they make the choice to leave, they aren't forced out unless they fuck up in a big way. Usually, that's challenging the alpha, and losing, or making the attempt to touch his mate. That wouldn't get them kicked out of their ass so much as it would get him killed, though.

As far as cub went, however, there was a very simple truth; if it came down to the survival of his cubs or someone else's, it would be his cubs that survived. Should he have more than one, and faced with the same decision, the focus would go to the eldest male.

Being a Regional Demon Lord, though, hardly made most of that worth worrying about. There was always some level of threat to his life by those that wanted his territory, but you don't hold the title of Cardinal Lord without having the ability to defend said title. He wasn't even slightly concerned about his living status, or that of any hypothetical future cubs. The only person's living status he was currently concerned about was that of the woman in his arms if she didn't stop continuing to try and deplete herself of every last ounce of hydration.

And that was what put him in his current bind.

Her backpack had been left toward the mouth of the cave, and that was where her water bottles were. The sheer strength of her hold on him meant he wasn't going to be able to go get it, Shun would likely destroy it, and Shippo was a child, so he would be stopped before he got anywhere near it because cubs were not allowed out of their sleeping chamber without their mother after dark. For Shippo, that would be Kagome, and as for Kagome herself, she cried so hard and for so long, she had almost exhausted herself nearly back to sleep. However, he could tell from her scent she needed to drink something, or she was going to end up in a much worse state than she was already in.

Looking down at the top of her head, Kouga hummed in his throat, debating with himself on what his best course of action was. Kagome was clearly seeking comfort, something to ground herself after having her world turned upside down. Because of that, he figured she didn't want to be alone. With that thought in mind, he moved his arms from around her, sliding the tips of his fingers down her arms to her wrist. Taking a light hold, he cast her a small smile as he changed how she was holding onto him, and moved her arms from around his torso to around his neck.

Once he felt her tighten her grip, he pulled her first to sit in his lap, before he then slipped one arm under her knees and the other wrapped around her back. Once he stood and as he adjusted his hold on Kagome after she tucked her head into his neck, he looked down at Shun, telling him to stay with Shippo, and to bring the kit to Kagome if he woke up. He watched his wolf hop up on the furs and wrap himself around the sleeping kit, and once his pet was settled, he turned and made his way from the smaller cavern into the main part of the cave.

Stopping by his bed, he gently sat Kagome down and, after a promise he would be right back, he was able to pull her arms free of his neck. He watched her for a moment as she grabbed his fur blanket, but turned away so he could go get what was needed from her pack as she got settled. Leaving the bag itself where it sat, he flipped open the top as he had seen her do plenty of times, moved things around without pulling anything out, and grabbed the first bottle he found that held water in it. Flipping the top back over the bag, he stood and headed back to his bed.

Taking a seat himself, between her and the wolves that surrounded his bed, he held out the bottle. When she tried to set it down next to her after she took it, Kouga shook his head. "You're dehydrated. Drink it, Kagome."

Running the back of one hand under her nose, Kagome looked at Kouga before she dropped her eyes to the bottle of water he handed her. With a shuddering breath, she unscrewed the lid, only intending to take a small sip to pacify the wolf, but she ended up drinking almost half the bottle in one go once the liquid touched her parched throat. Panting slight for her breath when she was done, she nodded slightly when she heard Kouga ask if it helped at all. Screwing the cap back in place, Kagome sniffled again. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."

Kouga just waved off the apology as he shifted, laying down on his side and propping his head in his palm. "You didn't. Shun did. He got concerned when you didn't calm back down." When he saw the look of slight confusion, he just shrugged slightly. "The animals know when something isn't right. They might not be able to grasp certain concepts, but they can decipher emotional climates as well as us demons can. Shun might only be a couple of years old, but he's seen enough upset females to know when something's going on. When he realizes something isn't right, he's trained to come get me to deal with it."

Kagome just nodded, saying nothing for a moment as she wrapped her arms around her shins and set her chin on her knees.

Kouga just waited for her to speak, but when she remained silent, he clicked his tongue. "Do you wanna tell me about it?" In response to her shaking her head, he nodded and lifted his arm. "Come here."

Lifting her eyes, she looked at him, debating with herself over the invitation. It was one thing to cry on him in an upright position, but what he was suggesting was a whole different level of intimacy, and something she hadn't done before. She's never laid in the arms of a man, much less one that was half naked and that, buried under the heartbreak and bullshit, she did hold some level of attraction to, and certainly never one she knew for point positive was attracted to her. She knew how he felt about her, and she didn't want him to think she was trying to take advantage of that fact.

Biting into her bottom lip, her need for comfort in the end outweighing anything else, she let out a breath and moved from her place. Shifting closer, even knowing in the back of her over emotionally exhausted mind it would continue to blur already unfocusing lines in their relationship, she slowly laid down with her chest facing his. She did leave a couple of inches between them for the sake of modesty because of his state of undress, but was close enough to feel the warmth from his body.

Reaching over her, Kouga grabbed the fur blanket from where Kagome left it, and pulled it over them. It was a slightly chilly night, so he wasn't that surprised when he felt the miko shiver, and in response, pulled her against him. Once the fur was in place, Kouga readjusted how he was laying, letting Kagome use his arm for a pillow, and wrapped his other arm around her back. He waited until she settled against him before he situated himself, closing his eyes and burying his nose in her hair after she made a few small adjustments to her position.

Hearing her take a hiccuping breath, Kouga tightened his hold, his fingers on the hand of the arm over her slipping into Kagome's hair as she pressed her face against his throat, the arm under her head wrapping around her shoulders. Kouga once again kicked up that quiet growl in his chest, at this point the action almost becoming habit when he had her in his arms.

For the fact she wasn't a canine demon, there was a certain level of amusement on Kouga's part that something meant to calm canine women and their cubs worked so well when it came to her, but not five minutes later, her body stopped shaking with her silent sobs, her heart and breathing leveling out as she fell back to sleep.

Kouga only lasted another few minutes before he too fell back to sleep after lending an momentary ear to the rhythmic heartbeats and breathing of the rest of his tribe, ensuring all was as it should be for the late hour before he allowed himself to relax. With his very fragile human in his arms, though, it wasn't a deep sleep, but it was restful one, even with as often as he moved around in necessity for her comfort. He kept her held against him for the rest of the night, quickly discovering anytime his grip loosened she would let out a quiet whine, and an hour before daybreak when he woke up, it was with a smile on his face for the first time in his life.

He was not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, his normally oh so charming demeanor on pair with that of a serial killer before breakfast. However, sleeping with his woman in his arms, even for as little as he got, Kouga got the best night's sleep he could ever remember having, and though detangling himself from her was less than desired, he left the cave in an exceptionally good mood.