Forever Yours

Chapter Three: Misunderstandings

Kagome awoke from one of the deepest and most refreshing slumber she had ever experienced to something warm nuzzling into her neck. Not quite willing to leave the comfortable haze sleep created, she shoved the unwanted touch away with a threatening growl and rolled onto her stomach.

The offender, not at all put off by the growl, chuckled richly at her antics only to resume its previous actions.

Kagome was not, and never had been, a morning person. Her family—especially her younger brother—had long since learned not to disturb her until she herself, emerged from her room, fully awake, and in decent spirits.

The offender, apparently, didn't know this about her.

Totally not amused and still clouded by sleep, Kagome reacted harshly when the sleep depriving touches returned. She physically shoved the offender away from her, growling threateningly and harshly—a not so silent demand for the offender to back off. Immediately.

Though momentarily startled, InuYasha bounced back rather quickly, not at all liking the rough treatment.

Her denial of his advances stirred something primal inside of the half demon, and instead of being put off by it, he was angered. His instincts forced him to let the female know such behavior was unacceptable and punishable.

In mere seconds, Kagome found herself on her back and pinned to the bed. She was definitely awake now, and snarled threateningly at what she believed to be unwarranted domination of her.

Not to be outdone, InuYasha returned her growl with one of this own at an octave that easily overpowered Kagome's. Realizing she had been outplayed, Kagome quickly quieted.

"Damn, Bitch! What's your problem?" InuYasha demanded, pinning both her wrists over her head with one of his clawed hands.

Kagome wined remorsefully. "I'm not a morning person," she whispered.

"That gives you the excuse to shove me away?" InuYasha sent her an accusatory glare, his face inches from hers. Kagome could feel his warm breath fanning her face.

She whined again, this time more drawn out and apologetic—asking for his forgiveness. As a peace-offering, she turned her head to the side, bearing her throat to him. It was the same form of submission she gave him during their first meeting—though the message was obvious: I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

InuYasha was especially receptive to the offering—even more so than before.

Kagome growled in pleasure when he accepted her gift by lapping and nipping at her neck.

You're forgiven.

Kagome's chest rumbled contentedly as she returned his caresses by nuzzling her nose against his cheek.

A new scent wafted up to InuYasha's nose, and he knew Kagome more than appreciated the attention he bestowed upon her.

InuYasha smirked against her flesh, as his nips became more passionate and left small marks against her tender skin. He used his tongue to sooth the abused flesh as he continued to shower her with affection.

Kagome gasped beneath him, trying to free her hands from his grasp. Her aroused scent had grown even more prominent as the seconds passed, only serving to encourage the hanyou's actions even further.

He released her hands to allow them to entangle in his silver tresses, as she opened her body up to him, drawing him closer.

With his lips still attending to her neck, InuYasha's hand trailed up Kagome's side, and through the opening of her kimono.

Kagome moaned huskily into his ear, fueling InuYasha's actions. His mind was hazy, clouded by the way her body enticed him. Being near her like this was so right… InuYasha felt so complete—and they hadn't even really done anything yet!

When his clawed hand grazed over her bare breast, Kagome stiffened and halted him with a hand to his chest.

"Stop…," She whispered. "We can't…"

InuYasha froze, sensing her discomfort and feeling like she had just slapped him across the face.

Kagome only made the situation worse when she pushed him further away from her and sat up, putting a few inches of distance between them.

If she didn't stop him now, Kagome knew she'd never be able to stop. That indescribable magic between them—she'd felt it too. And when his hand had come in contact with her breast, the shivers of pleasure it sent through her body were so strong, and so unexpected that it broke through the fogginess he had created with that gifted mouth of his.

She looked to InuYasha and realized how badly her actions had hurt him.

To her lover, those few inches of distance between them felt like several hundred miles. Was this it? Did she finally come to her senses and realize what a disgusting hanyou he really was?

Kagome watched as he shrugged back even further from her, his ears plastered to his skull, waiting for the words he never wanted to hear.

Kagome didn't know how to begin to explain why she had stopped him.

In the back of her mind, the situation at home still lingered. Kagome feared that rushing into things would only have InuYasha regretting it later. The pain that would cause her was not something she wanted to even think about. He didn't even know who she was, would he still want her if he knew?

These sudden insecurities erupted out of Kagome, fashioning an almost tangible wall of stone around her. She had created a sense distance between her and InuYasha that wasn't there before.

But InuYasha was unaware of all these things as his own mind replayed her actions towards him over and over in his head. He took her denial as her rejecting him and her continued silence all but confirmed what he thought he already knew.

Instantly InuYasha stood up on his feet, as if he had been physically burned. The hanyou felt he needed to distance himself from her, in order to deflect the hurt. He refused to even look her in the eyes.

Everything had been going so well—maybe too well. It was bound to happen sooner or later he supposed. He knew it. It was too perfect. It was a mistake to get his hopes up.

Kagome felt the tension in the air. It was almost suffocating and guilt flooded her.

"I'm sorry… I didn't… It's just… " She began fumbling for the right words. How should she explain this?

"Right. It's fine." InuYasha said, obviously troubled. He couldn't be here anymore. He had to get away, before he embarrassed himself even further.

She didn't want him! No one wants a dirty hanyou!

"I need to go." InuYasha desperately needed to clear his head and then maybe come back and figure whatever this was out. If she was even still here when he got back.

If she didn't want to mate him, then he'd give her an out. He'd make it easier on her.

InuYasha needed to breathe and he couldn't do that here, not with her here—forcing him to replay her delicate hand pushing him away again and again. He felt like he was being strangled, and his ears wouldn't stop their incessant ringing.

The same phrase kept repeating in his mind.

She didn't want him! She didn't want him! She didn't want him!

"Oh." Kagome said quietly, finding her hands suddenly very interesting.

"Yeah, um, I'll be back…"

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked, unable to let him leave like that. For some reason, she needed clarification that he was desperate to get away from her.

"No!" The word burst from InuYasha's throat before he could stop it.

Kagome frowned deeply, refusing to meet his eyes, afraid of what she might see there.

"Listen… I gotta go, okay? I'll be back soon."

Kagome nodded, watching InuYasha walk away from her, her heart clenching at the sick feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

The young inu youkai female couldn't help feeling like she'd just made the biggest mistake of her life.

"What do you mean you lost her?!" The thundering voice of the Eastern Youkai lord screeched. "The ceremony is in two days!"

Beside him, his mate clung to his arm, trying to calm him by drawing soothing circles on his back.

Her efforts did little to ease his growing nerves.

The guards cowered under his intense scrutiny.

"Just that, My Lord." The captain spoke, his voice shaking with obvious fear. "She got away. She was with someone, and he protected her. We were unable to retrieve her."

"A Male? Who?!" The Lord's mate asked, she stilled, momentarily forgetting her frazzled husband beside her.

"We don't know, My Lady. We think they had just met. His scent wasn't imprinted too strongly upon her."

"What did he look like?" The Lord demanded while his wife looked on with avid interest.

"We think he was a hanyou, My Lord. He had golden eyes, and silver hair."

"You will inform the rest of the team of this new development and head back out immediately! If you do not bring my daughter home in less than two days your livelihoods will be at stake!" With that, he spun on his heel, taking his mate with him, and leaving his guards to scatter and quickly attend to his wishes.

Outside the great hall chamber doors a lone wolf demon clenched his fist in rage. There was only one person who fit that description. And when the wolf demon found him there would be hell to pay…

Kouga knew exactly who his woman was with… He'd had the unfortunate chance of meeting him several times. This time it wouldn't end well for the hanyou mutt.

Luckily for Kouga, he knew roughly where the hanyou lived. The young wolf lord didn't have an exact location, but he knew if he hung around in that area long enough he was sure to run into the stinking mutt and teach him a lesson for even daring to touch what was rightfully his.

InuYasha had been gone for hours and Kagome had begun to worry. She knew she should have explained her hesitation, but it wasn't like he had given her a chance to anyway! He just bolted! He left her behind with no indication as to where he was going or even if he was coming back.

Maybe he wasn't coming back. Restless and deciding she would do some exploring rather than dwell alone in the tree and have her own little pity party, Kagome had long since left the safety of InuYasha's home.

Still, she couldn't help the terrible direction her thoughts had turned.

In an effort to protect herself from being hurt, Kagome had unintentionally hurt InuYasha. She felt so stupid and couldn't imagine (or maybe didn't want to imagine) the inner turmoil she must have stirred within the hanyou.

Kagome promised to herself, that if he came back, she'd do anything in her power to make it up to him.

Sighing, the young inu youkai continued along until she came to a clearing. Deciding to rest here, she found herself comforted, if only marginally, with the peacefulness the secluded meadow exuded.

Kagome had never been so far away from home on her own, and now that she didn't have InuYasha occupying her every waking sense, Kagome realized how homesick she was.

She missed her little brother terribly, even though he often drove her up a wall. With a chuckle, she recalled how often times their spats had even drawn blood. Oh how her parents punished her for picking on her younger brother. As eldest, they had scolded, it was her duty to protect him, not hurt him! She had always returned that she was helping him to toughen up—he was such a baby anyway.

And even though they were the ones that drove her away, she still missed her parents just as much—if not more. Kagome had always been a daddy's girl, and her mother was someone Kagome never hesitated to confide in. It was surreal being so far away from them for more than a day. In all her years of life, Kagome hadn't recalled being parted from them for more than 24 hours.

Even when her parents were called away to visit distant lands, Kagome and her brother had always gone along.

As a family, they had always been very close.

Perhaps that was why this forced betrothal had hurt Kagome so deeply. Her parents knew how she felt about such things. Why would they betray her trust and force such a thing upon her anyway?

It wasn't like they were at war, and needed a union to enforce peace between the two kingdoms. As far as Kagome knew there was nothing of the sort going on. Relative piece ran rampant throughout the land.

From her place seated in a secluded meadow, Kagome pulled at the grass, shredding it to bits with her sharp claws.

'InuYasha… where are you?' she wondered, her thoughts once again returning to the half demon. She must really have hurt him for him to be gone this long.

Suddenly, the echo of a twig snapping behind her sent Kagome into high alert. She trained her senses to try to locate the source of the sound, but everything had gone quiet… too quiet.

Hunkering down, and trying to hide beneath the tall grass, Kagome tried her best not to make a sound. If the castle guards had found her, there was little she could do to stop them from taking her home. They were trained in the art of tracking by the best—none other than her father.

Several minutes went by without a sound when the wind blew, carrying with it a scent that caused the young woman to stiffen.

Oh shit. She was fucked. Kagome had been caught all right, and not by the palace guards like she had originally feared. Nope, she had been discovered by someone far worse—the last person she ever wanted to see right now.

How could she have been so careless? The last two days she had let her guard down, and look where that got her? Sitting around in the forest, just waiting for someone to find her! She should have been halfway across the world right now!

Realizing that bolting may be her only shot, Kagome was on her feet in seconds, going as fast as her feet could carry her. The passing trees were a blur as she tired to dodge fallen logs and underbrush. Kagome needed to get as far away as possible and hoped she could find a good place to hide.

If only InuYasha were here…

Kagome could hear from not far behind her the sounds that only meant she was being pursued. She knew this was a long shot, but no way was she going down without a fight. If he was here to take her home, he better not be expecting her to go quietly.

'Stupid!' She cursed herself. She should have never gone this far away from the hidden alcove of InuYasha's home. Kagome was scared, hoping and praying not to be caught.

"Gotcha." A deep masculine voice whispered in her ear as hands encased her from around her waist. "You know you could never outrun me, Kagome."

Coming to a complete and thorough halt, Kagome found herself face-to-face with a smug Kouga.

"Kouga, what are you doing here? How did you find me?" Kagome demanded with a growl while she tried to disengage herself from his embrace. She made no effort to hide her annoyance at his presence.

"What? Aren't you happy to see me? I came to save you from Mutt-Face and bring you back home." He stated as if it were obvious.

"InuYasha? How do you know about him?" If Kouga knew… then her parents had to know as well. Were they the ones that sent Kouga here? Did they know where she was?

"Those lackeys your dad sent after you reported you had been with a silver-haired hanyou. There was only one person I knew by that description." Kouga answered with deliberate disgust.

His contempt for the hanyou rubbed Kagome the wrong way and she felt herself getting increasingly angry the longer Kouga continued to talk down towards him. Perhaps it was the guilt she felt over her actions this morning… or perhaps it was something deeper.

"You shouldn't have run away, Kagome—especially to someone like the Mutt. He's hardly a suitable mate…"

"Kouga, you don't know anything!" Kagome snapped, her fangs peaking over her lips as her rage got the best of her. Where was this anger coming from? Her claws latched onto Kouga's forearms, digging deep into his flesh.

He was going to take her away before she and InuYasha…

"Ouch! Damn, Bitch! Calm down!" Kouga pulled shoved her away from him. "You should be thanking me for coming to your rescue, not clawing the hell out of me!"

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Kouga!" Her body was shaking as she fought the urge to jump Kouga for daring to think she'd willingly go with him.

The wolf demon advanced towards her again, like a predator to his prey. "I see you let that mutt brainwash you, Sweet Kagome. I'll have to kill him for it."

That's all it took before Kagome saw red, and charged.

In actuality, InuYasha hadn't gone far when he had left Kagome. The hanyou had only gone a few miles south of his home, and into a relatively isolated part of the forest. It wasn't a place he came often, as he tended to avoid this side of his domain. The memories here were sometimes too painful to endure.

"Maybe it was too good to be true, Mother." InuYasha whispered to himself. "You always said... and I thought she was the one. I was almost certain this time… but then… Why did she push me away?"

He hated being so weak sometimes. Weakness got you killed, and that was not something InuYasha could afford.

He jumped down from the tree, allowing his clawed hand to craze against an aged tombstone at his feet.

The wind pulled at his hair, and InuYasha imagined it was his mother's gentle caress.

He thought back to Kagome and how for the most part everything had been going well. InuYasha hated to think she didn't feel the same way towards him that he felt about her. Had he been reading all the signs wrong this whole time?

But the half demon wasn't quite ready to give up just yet. They had only been together for about two days. Maybe he was overreacting. Some prospective mates spent weeks together before anything was made official, after all.

"I guess I should be heading back and stop being a coward." He said to himself.

He had been gone for quite some time, he realized with shame.

With one last glance at his mother's final resting place, the hanyou was off. He was a few minutes shy of his destination when the wind changed direction and carried an unwelcome scent to his nose.

Kagome's blood.

I think that's a good place to end it, wouldn't you agree? The angst is back! Did you miss it? Of course you did!

I must point out that I'm not pleased with some parts of this chapter, especially the beginning...

You guys seemed to like the last update, I can only hope this one meets your standards as well! Since the last one was so short, I hope this one was long enough to make up for it. My chapters tend to fall on the short side, but that allows for me to update quicker. That, and I just hate to put too much angst in one chapter… Don't want to overload you guys too much! Hehe.

Please Review!