Figured I'd put ya'll out of your misery (if any of ya'll still waiting for this update and didn't decide to move on….)
Kagome gently stepped behind Lita and Ami, they had taken it upon themselves to haul the fawn and buck back themselves. Wiping her arrows in the snow, she gave a sigh and considered staying put while
Ami and Lita went back to the pack. Hearing a growl, she grinned and caught up the Lita, giving her a pat on the head.
Easy Lita, she said, rubbing her ear, I won't abandon you alone. Lita gave another growl before they entered the grounds where the pack was waiting.
Kagome!
Kagome turned toward the sharp voice and whimpered when she saw Kouga, Kouga.
What were you thinking, he asked stopping at her feet. Turning to glare at Ami and Lita, he gave them a sharp growl before shoving them lightly in the direction of camp.
Four healthy pups Kouga. Congratulations on being a father, Kagome whimpered as she lowered her head, a customary sign of respect.
Kouga growled. Kagome! You mean to tell me that you think just because I now have four pups of my own, I'd abandon my first pup?
Kagome raised her head and gave a soft growl. The elder betas can't take much more. Half the pack is starving and now there are four pups that need rearing, she tugged on her threadbare bindings, wishing she
had a nice warm fur pelt to keep out the bitter cold.
Go finish eating your rabbit. Make use of their small pelts, we shall be here for two weeks, and then we shall move day by day to the safe house… The pups'll enjoy the weather there, then we may not move more then a
few thousand paces from there. And the others want you to skin the fawn and buck, Kouga said before turning around and going toward his mate and new pups. Kagome smiled and headed back for her fire,
surprised to see the metal bowl had been pushed closer to the fire and the rabbit pelt had been torn down. Taking up the pelt, she stretched it out again using her arrows and stuck them in the ground, this
time away from the fire. Picking up the warmed bowl, she took out a pair of chopsticks from a pouch. It was the one nice human thing she had, supposedly from her parents before they abandoned her.
Carefully eating the stewed rabbit, she surveyed the grounds. Why was Kouga going to move the pack weeks before the normal time for pups? Suddenly a howl came from her left and Kagome saw it was
Souta. Quickly finishing her bowl, she washed them out with snow and set them beside her large bag made from deer hide that the pack had stolen from a village to the east. Sticking her arrows into the snow
to naturally clean them, she took out the knife she used to skin animals, another stolen item from a village. Walking over to the buck, she kneeled down and began to skin it. As she did, the blood spilled out,
drenching the snow. Kagome smiled through her work as the pack members, excluding Souta, began to lap at the blood. Halfway through her skinning it, the stomach split open and the previously digested
meal spewed from it. Kagome wrinkled her nose and continued skinning, now at the back of the buck. With a shiver she finished by cutting around the growing antlers and gently bringing it over the stumps. As
soon as she pulled away, the wolves jumped, Kouga viscously ripping the neck apart and carrying it closer to his den. The rest of the pack went for the internal organs and muscles surrounding the neck and
fattening stomach. Kagome quickly laid out the pelt and threw snow on it to purge it of most of the blood. Then, turning on her heel, she went back to the buck and sliced through the tender meat of it's
hindquarters. Quickly cutting out a large and thick piece, she grabbed it with her teeth and stalked back toward the pelt. Using her knife again, she cut a portion of the pelt off and wrapped it around the chunk
of meat. Noticing how they strayed away from the doe, Kagome smiled knowing they were full. Kouga and Ayame were happily chewing on the meat of the neck and brain, cracking small bones with their teeth.
The pups were laying close to thier mother, most likely nursing. Tugging her bag back over to her, she carefully placed the chopsticks back where thay had originally been. Cleaning out her bowl, she packed
some snow in it and set it close to the fire to boil. Kagome pushed the snow into a circle around the fire in case it started to spread and removed her bowl of now hot water. Taking her arrows out of the snow,
she carefullt dipped the arrowheads in the hot water before drying them and placing them in the holder which she then put on her back and gripped the bow in her hands. Moving closer to Kouga and Ayame,
she moved past them and into the cave, choosing to lay down toward the back of the cave. With a sigh she put her bow and arrows on a dry shelf that stuck out of the cave, not very high above her head.
Lying down, Kagome snuggled into the ground and her pelt. After a few moments Souta came into the cave and curled up beside her, deciding it was a good time to sleep.