"Sesshomaru!" Rin shrieked as she sprinted down the hall and around the corner, nearly running over a maid in the process. "Apologies!" she shouted over her shoulder. The maid didn't have time to register her near-death experience before a blur of white rushed past her, scooping up the running human girl and racing back the opposite direction.

As soon as the bedroom door closed, Rin felt her bottom hit the cushion of the bed, and she felt her body shaking with laughter and pure happiness. "You have to let me win at least once, Sesshomaru."

"I always win, Rin. You will do well to remember that."

Rin rolled her eyes, but allowed the all-powerful dog demon to believe such a lie. A few weeks have passed since Dragon had left the castle, but Rin still felt a small pebble of uncertainty. He knew her, remembered her from all those years ago, and he hated her. Why? He had killed the remnants of her family, destroyed her life in one fell swoop, but why the pure hatred pouring off of him in waves? She had done nothing to deserve such negativity, and if anything she should hate him, which she did, naturally. The whole encounter threw the girl for a loop, but she was easily distracted by her mate, who continued to surprise her by giving her the simplest of things and acting like it was nothing.

Just yesterday, he brought her to the library, introducing her to the staff that worked there so she might discover other worlds within the depths of a book's pages. He knew her desire to read was prominent and hoped to share it with her, even though his face never gave away any emotion.

Still, something gnawed at the edge of her brain. Maybe it was the fact that her mate continually left their bed in the middle of the night, not returning for hours. When she asked him about it, Sesshomaru told Rin not to worry, that it was matters of the estate and trivial things he needed to sort out. Yet, in the middle of night? Rin's stomach was taunt and endlessly flitting about with nerves and fear. Fear for herself, fear for her mate, fear that something was going to happen that would separate them for a long while.

Rin didn't want to think about it. She pushed it to the dark crevices of her mind and decided to focus on the present. After all, she was with the man who made her feel complete and blissfully happy, even with his brooding demeanor.

She smiled at her mate, cupping his face in her hands. He laid beside her and she nuzzled her way into his chest, burrowing her head into the heat of his neck. She sighed, her eyelids falling heavy. She mumbled his name once more before allowing the fingers of darkness and sleep to pull her under its influence.

. . .

"Sesshomaru," Rin gasped out upon awakening. Hands clutched her shoulders, pinning her down to the mattress. She struggled against the crushing weight, but her body soon recognized the touch and the gentle calling of her name. She blinked away the last remnants of sleep and focused on the face looming over her. The sharp angles of her mate's face were noticeably more prominent, which led her to ask, if slightly panicked, "What's happened?"

"Come, Rin," was all he said. He took her by the wrist and practically dragged her from the bed. Rin wanted to protest, she wanted to yank her arm out of his grip, but something made her hold her tongue, allowing him to pull her to the open balcony window across the room. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. "Close your eyes and hold your breath."

"What—"

"Rin," he snapped, a warning growling in the back of his throat. She obediently closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Suddenly, the ground was no longer beneath her and she felt the wind circling around the pair of them, but she didn't dare open her eyes. I'm flying, she realized. Or, what counted as flying for a dog demon.

She felt the ground return beneath her, the soft, squishy feel of long grass. Sesshomaru's hand swept her wild hair from her face, caressing her cheek lovingly. "Open your eyes, Rin."

Rin's eyes fluttered open. Suddenly shock took over her senses as she took in her surroundings, recognizing the trees and small clearing. She glanced behind her, and there it was: the beaten, wooden box that led deep underground and to a whole other world so different from her own—Kagome's world.

"What are we doing here?" Rin asked, her voice shaking from the chill in the air.

Sesshomaru stared at her for a full minute before answering. "You are to visit with InuYasha's mate."

"Kagome?" Rin frowned. "Has she asked for me?"

Sesshomaru didn't answer the question. He pushed her toward the well. Once they were right beside it, he took her in his arms. He crushed the small, fragile, human girl to her chest, thinking the worst, but prepared nonetheless. His lips pressed against the side of her head, a kiss to her temple, and finally her lips. She responded automatically, her body pressing against him, her mouthing opening beneath the taste of his lips. She was the perfect mate—loving, strong, independent, loyal, and gentle to her very core.

And fragile, so fragile, and so very, painfully human. It was a weakness Sesshomaru was well aware of. He knew others would use it to their advantage, hoping to take the one thing in the world he treasure more than his own life in order to gain the most meaningless thing in his entire existence—his land and the title that came with it.

He had known of the rogues for weeks, since that damned demon came to stay in his home and terrorized his mate. He knew Dragon had an ulterior motive, even hoped to discover it before it was too late, but alas, it was too late. Dragon came to confirm he gossip traveling throughout the lands—the Lord of the Western Lands had indeed found a mate, and his mate was a weak, helpless, harmless human.

And those who wished to defy him, to strip him of his title, would surely use the one weakness he had against him—Rin. Sesshomaru could not allow that to happen, would not allow those scum demons to take his mate away from him. Naturally, he would sacrifice himself and more to keep his mate safe, title and land be damned.

But, he had a plan. Before they could even attempt to take her, Sesshomaru found a way to protect his treasure and keep her safe. Found a place no demon could cross, not even himself, the most powerful demon within a hundred miles. He felt the power of the well humming at his calves, the protective barrier all too ready to deflect any attempt for him to try and enter.

Rin stared up at her mate, confusion etched in the way her eyebrows furrowed, her eyes seeking answers in the pale golden orbs of the dog demon. "Tell me what's happened. Why are we here, truly?"

Sesshomaru's ears picked up on something other than the sweet melody of his mate's voice—quick footsteps, approaching from the open field. He didn't have time to explain. He clutched his mate to his chest for one last long moment before roughly slamming his mouth over hers once more. He broke the kiss a second later.

"I will find you, Rin."

Her eyes lit with desperation. "No! What is happening? Don't you dare leave me, Sesshomaru!"

He shoved her toward the well. "Get inside, Rin."

"Not until you tell me what—" Then she saw them, rushing toward them from between the trees, dodging every obstacle, glowing red eyes focused on their target: Rin.

Sesshomaru didn't bother asking—or rather, ordering Rin to get inside the well again. Instead, the great dog demon moved so fluidly, Rin's mind had to replay in slow motion to fully comprehend what happened. With one arm, Sesshomaru swept Rin behind him, shoving her backward more roughly than he had before. She tripped backward and felt herself start to fall into the well. Sesshomaru swiftly turned and faced the approaching demons. As Rin's weight dropped her down into the well, she caught a glimpse of white fur ripple over her mate's body, covering every inch of him, while his face began to reshape, elongating and narrowing into a snout, his ears growing upward and covered in white fur much like the rest of his body.

Rin screamed his name as the first demon collided with his misshapen form. As the darkness wrapped around her, Rin couldn't help but think that that was the first time in a very long time that Rin saw her mate in his true, dog demon form.

Which could only mean that things had gone very, very wrong.

. . .

Author's Note:

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