Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. But I will one day.

Chapter 11: The Threat

Kita stopped in her tracks; Makoto's hand still in hers caused him to turn. Fear was once again plastered on her face. What her eyes were gazing upon was worse than even her Master. Wolf-youkai. Two of them, one male and one female, sitting side by side next to a roaring fire. The reds and oranges of the fire gave them an even more demonic appearance. As she entered they turned to stare at her. She stepped behind Makoto and grabbed at the back of his haori.

"Kita, wha…"

"Why are they here!" she yelled in a voice cracked with fear. "Please…Makoto…"

It was then when he noticed Ayame and Kouga. He growled with as much force as he could in his human form, pushing Kita back and pinning her between himself and the wall. "Oyaji?" he questioned in a husky voice.

"They're here to see about the girl."

Kita scrunched against his back and shivered. "Get them out, now. They are not going to touch her." Makoto's voice was slow, and had a warning tone.

InuYasha smirked. "Fine with me."

"InuYasha…" Kagome smacked the back of his head. She moved toward her son and the wolf-hanyou. For a few seconds she was unsure of what Makoto would do, but as she got closer he eased up. "What's her name?"

"…Kita."

"Kita, I'm Kagome." She pointed to the wolf-youkai. "That is Kouga and Ayame. They're friends of ours. They will not hurt you." The girl didn't move, Kagome sighed.

"Maybe Kouga and I should leave." Ayame stated. Kouga pulled her to her feet, silently agreeing. Kagome whispered to Ayame that she would get back to her as soon as things settled down. As they took their leave, Makoto rounded the hut keeping Kita out of their sight. When he felt the threat was gone, he turned and wrapped his arms around the poor girl who fell silently to her knees. Being in her hanyou form and running into the wolves would have been bad enough, but being human? Human emotions flooded her, mostly that of fear, and there was no way she could control them. Much like InuYasha as he always became more sensitive on his human nights.

"Its okay, Kita. They're gone now." Makoto sat with Kita's head leaning on his shoulder. Her eyes started to droop closed as she snuggled against him. He glanced up at InuYasha and Kagome who were glaring back at him. "I'll talk to you in the morning, oyaji. She needs sleep." That said, he picked up the girl and made off to his room, shutting the sliding door behind him. Makoto placed Kita on his futon. It wasn't long before the girl was in a deep sleep. He smiled, looking down on her.

When awake, Makoto thought she looked older than she really was. Probably from all the hardships she was put though over her years alone. But now, as she slept, he saw how young she really was, at least two or three years younger than he. That didn't matter. He loved her; not like he 'loved' Akina, not like he loves his mother or father, or Shippou. It was different. She was different. He wanted nothing more than to protect her and stay by her side forever. Makoto's instincts were strong and told him to be possessive of her, keep her close to himself. That was new to him. Something was awakening in him.

When he sensed Kouga as a threat, he was angrier than he had ever been before. Makoto felt willing to rip off Kouga's head if he knew it would make Kita feel better. That scared him. He had never really been as violent as his father, and now these new feelings had him wanting blood of the wolf that scared Kita. He wanted the blood of her so called 'master' as well. He wanted to see the youkai squirm under his claws, beg for mercy; he wanted to fight with anything that threatened his family or the girl. Just thinking about it made his own blood boil and a smirk to cross his face. Makoto shook his head and sat in the corner opposite of the sleeping she-wolf. Maybe I should tell Oyaji about this. He thought. But he already has too much on his mind with Okaa and the pups. I'll have to handle it on my own for now.

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InuYasha and Kagome glared at the closed door a few moments before turning to each other. They silently walked to their own bedroom and snuggled on the bed. Human InuYasha shook his head and turned to Kagome. "Don't look at me like that; he got that stubborn streak from you." She replied with a sigh.

"It's not that." He stated. "That girl…"

Kagome nodded. "She was scared out of her wits when she saw Kouga and Ayame. She's only what? 15, 16? Out on her own like she was… Wolf-youkai rely on packs. For her to be alone her pack was either killed or……"

"Or they threw her out because she's hanyou." Kagome snuggled closer before InuYasha continued. "That's was happens. When you're hanyou, you have three choices. Die, become hard like I did, or become like that she-wolf out there. Afraid of her own shadow. I'll tell you what happened. Her pack kept her alright, right after they killed off her parents. Made her do whatever they wanted, and dumped her off when they were finished." His hands where balled into tight fists.

"She'll just have to stay here, then. I'm not letting her go off on her own, and it's apparent she doesn't want to go with Kouga. There's nothing else we can do."

"Keh. Lets just worry about that in the morning." An evil smirk crossed his face as he nuzzled his mate's neck. He worked his way up, kissing her neck, up her jawbone, stopping to nibble on her ear (receiving giggles from Kagome) and stopping for an even longer time on her lips. :bump, bump: "Oi! What do you two think you're doing!"

Kagome laughed. "I think they're saying its bed time, Oyaji. It's been a long day and the three of us are a bit sleepy." InuYasha grumbled about something under his breath, but laid down next to his mate as she snuggled against his chest with a content sigh. With one hand she reached up, locking her fingers around one of InuYasha's ears, falling asleep to his soft growls.

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"I've never tried anything like it before, but I guess Miroku could do it, if he used enough spirit energy. Taking off a spell like that is hard enough, not knowing who cast it will make it even harder." Kagome explained after her son had filled her in with the details. "But I could do it, it won't take…"

"No. You ain't doing nothing like that wench, you promised." InuYasha growled out from his place at her side.

"It won't take much power, InuYasha. Just this last little twinge?"

"That healer said it could hurt you and the pups, Kagome. I said no." Kagome nodded and leaned against his shoulder.

"You're right. But I just don't think Miroku will be able to remove the spell."

"It won't hurt for him to try, Okaa. She's only got a day left before she has to meet up with that youkai." Makoto flicked an ear to his room to make sure Kita was still asleep. Her soft breathing told him she was.

"I didn't say I wouldn't try, Makoto. I'm just stating the truth. A submission spell like that is not something to be taken lightly. Miroku could get hurt if he does something wrong, or he could end up hurting Kita. Get Miroku and I'll do what I can."

Makoto smiled. "He's supposed to be on his way."

Kagome grinned back. "Spoiled little pup." She reached up as scratched his streaked ears.

"Okaa!" he grumbled, flicking them away. InuYasha snorted. Makoto twitched an ear to his side. "Miroku's here." He frowned. "Hana and Yumi are with him."

"Keh. Go wake the wolf and get her out here. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can figure out what to do with her."

Makoto suppressed a growl at his oyaji's last comment, but silently obeyed him nonetheless. Kita was still sleeping peacefully on his futon. He didn't have the heart to wake her, but fortunately for him she started to stir on her own. "Okaa and Miroku are going to try to remove the spell. Do you think you're ready?" Kita took a deep breath and nodded. He helped her to her feet and started out the door, only to be stopped by the feel of her hands around his waist.

"Thank you, Makoto."

The first thing Kagome noticed when the couple entered the main room was the twin blushes both of them wore across their cheeks. She grinned, InuYasha 'keh'ed, Miroku held his bickering girls apart by the collar of their kimonos. "Sango made me bring them." He replied when Makoto gave him a glare. "Both of you go outside. No more fighting or I'll tell your Okaa-san." The girls gulped and ran outside. Everyone turned to Kagome.

"Kita, Miroku, the first thing you need to know is that this could be a little dangerous. The immensity of this spell could end up harming one or both of you." She looked at each of them. "Do you still want to go through with it?" They both nodded. "Alright then. Miroku, do you have purifying sutras with you?"

"As always." Miroku pulled out thin slips of paper from his robe.

"This is the dangerous part. You'll have to purify the youkai's connection with the spell without purifying Kita as well. And, depending on how powerful this youkai is, he could have set a trap of sorts for anyone who tries to remove the spell."

InuYasha gave her an incriminating glare. "And you were thinking of doing it yourself." He prosecuted.

Kagome ignored the hanyou and continued helping Miroku with the preparations. After a few more tips and warnings for the both of them, Kagome let Miroku take a shot. At first, it seemed he may have been able to pull it off and release the girl, purifying energy crackling about Kita's neck but not burning her or Miroku in anyway; but hours later Kita was still confined to the spell and Miroku was worn. His eyes drooped with the final bit of spiritual energy he could muster.

"I'm sorry, Kagome, Kita, Makoto; it seems I'm not nearly powerful enough to break her enchantment."

"It's alright, Oji. We'll just have to find another way." Makoto looked at Kagome pleadingly.

"The only other way to break the spell is to either kill the youkai that created it or get that youkai to release her. As it is probably true that youkai will not release her, someone will have to hunt it down and kill it." Kagome looked up at InuYasha. He crossed his arms and glared back at her. "Oh come on, InuYasha! How long would it take you? Two? Three days?"

"Keh! I'm not leaving you here to go chase some stupid youkai to break a freakin spell! Makoto's old enough to handle it himself." He snorted.

"I'll go." Makoto spoke up. His Okaa's glare caused him to shift uncomfortably where he sat. "I'm just as good of a fighter as Oyaji. I can do this."

InuYasha 'keh'ed, Kagome gave her son a sad-eyed look and sighed. "Considering my baka of a mate refuses, I guess I have no choice. But Shippou is going with you." She leaped up from where she was sitting (well, as much as a pregnant Kagome could leap) and threw her arms around Makoto. He rolled his eyes but allowed her the moment. He never understood why she would always get clingy when he was going off to fight something, but as long as it made her and InuYasha happy.

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Not too far away, hidden deep within InuYasha's forest, two black clad figures with silver hair stood silently in the shadows. Both their cheeks were tattooed with purple stripes and on their foreheads a pink-tinted scar where a crescent moon once was. The scar looked almost like burn marks, as if the mark had been burned from the inside out. They both pulled back the hoods of their cloaks to reveal pointed ears and even more of the long, flowing silver hair that went half way down their backs. The younger of the two kneeled before his elder and waited for him to speak.

"Taru. Seeing as you have arrived alone, I take it you were unable to persuade your brother."

The younger flinched before he replied. "I apologize, Otou-san. Yukio has betrayed us. He has chosen the human girl over his own dignity as a noble youkai." The older youkai twitched at the news. "But my quest was not without its rewards."

"Then what other news have you for me?" the older youkai was now sounding slightly annoyed.

"The miko and half-breed returned to the castle not two weeks ago. They left a few nights ago, and I followed them to a small village not too far from here. There I also found the human slayer and monk, with their litter of pups; and the half-breed's own son." The older youkai was now smirking at the news. "There is more, Otou-san. It seems your little pet has been keeping their son company while they were away."

"Ah. So that is why she has yet to show. She hopes the miko will be able to rid her of my spell. That does cause a problem, but losing one pet is worth finally finding those humans and that hanyou."

"The miko is unable to use her powers. Her frail human body is pregnant with twins of the half-breed. She was told by the healer not to use her powers in fear for the safety of their unborn pups. Neither she nor the hanyou will risk the lives of the pups." The older youkai was now sporting an ear to ear grin. "What will you have me do to them, Otou-san? Shall I attack?"

"No. I have bigger plans for them. You go back to the western lands and continue with the original plans. After I take care of these small…problems, we will proceed with the attack on Sesshomaru's castle, and with a few new reinforcements."

Taru smirked. "You will place the spell on them as well then?"

"Only the hanyou. Humans are not worth the effort, and the miko is too strong for her own good. Allowing her to live would be like running upon my own sword. No, she will have to die, her and the pups. I'll take care of this task myself. You go on back to the western lands and gather the men. When I return, Sesshomaru will fall."

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A/N:

Gah! I've been a very bad updater as of late. Sorry about that. Don't have time to update the website right now, but the answer to the quiz was 'LOST'. I think only one person got it right.

Don't start thinking Kita is some kind of a wimp because of her reaction to Kouga and Ayame. Her spirit was broken long ago, that added to it being a human night…you do the math. I promise you'll get to see her butt kicking actions soon enough.