A/N: So sorry about the long wait, with a job change and all kinds of other crazy stuff it has been hard to get it updated but have no fear I have no abandoned you!
The next morning was dark and cold. The fire was low in our den and the bed beside me was cold, Kouga was already up and gone. I pulled the furs over me in an attempt to keep a little warmer but it was futile, the cold felt bone deep.
I fought off shivering as I heard the curtain to our den ruffle. I heard footsteps, hard and heavy on the stone over to the firepit. I heard wood clanking together, someone must be making a fire. Thank goodness for them. I sat up in the bed, keeping the furs close to me. The dark was deep and thick, and I could make nothing out in it. Time to see who my fire bearer was.
"Hello?" My voice was weak and quiet, my throat still raw from last night.
"Morning sleepyhead." The light way he answered left no doubt in my mind, Kouga was making me a fire. "I thought you were going to sleep all day." The wood kept clanking together, but I could make nothing out in the dark of the den.
"What do you mean sleep all day? What time is it?" I tried clearing my throat but it felt as if I had gargled salt water with how dry my mouth was.
"You have missed the mid-day meal." I heard the clanking stop and a metal grinding noise and before I could ask anything else the fire in the hearth blazed. I sighed with the light bathing the den with a warm feeling as I watched Kouga. He stayed knelt beside the fire staring intently into it.
"Kouga?" He shifted his shoulders and looked back at me.
"Yes?"
"What's the matter?" He still hadn't moved from the fire, and I was worried maybe I had overstepped a boundary with last night. "I mean is everything ok?"
"Yes. Everything is fine." He turned back toward the fire a moment as he threw the last log on the fire. He slowly stood while dusting off his hands. "Once I leave I won't be returning for the night." I gasped. "It is customary for the couple to be wed not share a bed until properly mated but we have in some respects done that." He glanced around the room, almost as if he didn't want to face me. "I will be sleeping out with the visiting alphas for a moon celebration tonight. You must stay here in the den. You may have Ari come stay with you if you like for warmth but-" He trailed off and instead of trying to think of what he was going to say I sat and patiently waited for his return to conversation. He sighed deeply. "She must come alone though. Her mate must stay in his den." I nodded and he smiled at me for the first time this morning. "I will not see you until the mating ceremony-as is the custom."
"I won't see you until tomorrow night?" My voice finally returned.
"Yes."
"But it will be so cold and I have gotten so used to being with you of a night-" He held up a hand to silence me.
"Kagome, this is just as hard for me as it is for you. I will miss having you in my arms as we sleep. I will miss the way you hum slightly when you snuggle into me and I will miss your heavenly scent." I blushed. He finally moved over to me and sat beside me. He pulled me against him and I groaned in satisfaction of being held against his muscled chest. "I do not regret last night."
I blushed bright red as I buried my face in his chest. "Good." I barely mumbled it but Kouga sighed.
"There will be other tribes arriving within the next 24 hours and I can't promise I will be in the den all day so please stay here in our room." I moved my head up to where I could look at him. His eyes are closed and he seems to simply be simply enjoying holding me. "I told you some of the other tribes don't have a no human policy and I can't promise they will behave themselves."
He lowered his head into my hair. We sat there contentedly until I heard soft footsteps at the den entrance.
"Kagome?" Kouga's head shot up and I saw him glare at the curtain in the doorway.
"Sorry, Kouga. I did not mean to offend." Ari's voice was very light and sounded generally startled. It was almost like she could sense his glare-weird.
"Enter." His words were hard, and as she entered with her back to us to avoid brushing her armload of food against the curtain. The first thing I smelled was the scent of smoked meat and my stomach grumbled loudly. Ari kept her head down as she started setting bowls of different foods aside and preparing me a plate. After a few moments I felt Kouga's arms release me from his hold. For some reason he was gripping me really tight but I was so hungry I didn't notice until he released me.
"There is an alpha requesting audience, my lord." Ari said the words very quietly and did not make eye contact. Kouga gently brushed his lips over my forehead and moved me so he could stand.
"Eat, I will be back." His words were short but I heard no anger in them. He stood and left stiffly.
Once the curtain had fallen back in place I looked to Ari. She was looking at me with a huge grin on her face.
"Ari?" Her grin unsettled me, she giggled in response to my question and that was just worse.
"It is funny isn't it?" She glanced over to the curtain again before walking over to me with a plate and sitting next to me.
"What is?" I grabbed the meat from the plate and dug in, in short I was ravenous.
"Seeing his mating instinct kicking in. Marik and I were in separate rooms before we mated so I didn't get to see him like that."
Mating instinct? What in the world is a mating instinct? Ari giggled again, and placed a hand on her swollen belly.
"Your scent is clouded with his and his wolf wants to claim what is his." I murmured an ok as I shoved more food in my mouth. "So him leaving you is going to be harder and harder the closer to night fall it is, the moon will call to him the most. The moon is near full, tomorrow it will be and tomorrow he will be unable to deny himself anymore."
I swallowed.
"unable to deny?"
"His wolf will take what is his. You accepted him as your mate and your scent is clouded with his in a very sexual way. You are practically taunting him."
"Is that why he was-"
"Yes, he was making sure that I wasn't a threat to his claim and then it was just a matter of his wolf sizing me up. Apparently it decided I wasn't a problem."
"hmm." I slowed down eating as I watched Ari gently rubbing circles into her belly.
"Do you wish you knew the-"
"May I enter?" Jiki was on the other side of the curtain peeking around. She stepped inside after we smiled to her and she slowly waddled to us with a package under her arm.
She took multiple steps inside and sniffed the air before she zeroed in her glare on me.
"Kagome." She hurried her steps as she made to sit by me. "I thought I expressed that it is very important you remain pure." I blushed bright red and looked down to my lap where my hands rested, my nails were filthy and the under side was caked with dirt and seasoning from the meat.
I raised my eyes to look at Jiki.
"I am still pure." My voice waivered, and I flinched.
"You must be his rock and place of solace! You cannot give in simply because he cannot control his baser urges." Jiki's tone was stern and I hung my head lightly in shame. "We must hope the gods do not reject the mating." She sighed as she handed over the package. "It s mended and should be plenty long for you now." She stood and left without another word.
When I looked up from the package to Ari she was staring at me with her mouth wide open. Ari
didn't know about last nights activities, or about Rajiru.
"Kagome?" She whispered my name and I felt tears sting my eyes. "You knew how important this is."
"Ari, I-"
"Leave Ari." Kouga's voice echoed through the room, and silenced me. Ari stood immediately and left the room, Kouga's glare following her out.
Once the curtain had fallen back in place Kouga glanced to me before he walked over and placed another log on the fire. The crackling of the fire the only sound in the room.
"You didn't have to rush her out." My earlier shame now transformed to anger.
"Yes, I did." He finally turned to me and his expression was hard and near unreadable. "You cannot let them speak to you that way, not even Jiki."
"But-" I tried to interrupt him but he simply held up a hand to silence me. I felt my anger begin to bubble.
"You are my mate, the mate of an alpha. You will let no one speak down to you."
"They weren't-" I heard my voice getting louder, but there was nothing I could do to lower it.
"Yes, they were." His calm demeanor and unreadable expression fueling my anger with every word. "They were reprimanding you for allowing me to-"
"So?! What's your point?" My anger flowing out of me in waves, as I felt more than heard my voice squeak. "You don't want to talk about what happened last night and I need to know how you feel about it! I feel like I was unfaithful to you and you don't even want to speak to me about it!" There the words threatening to break free ever since last night had finally broken and there was no taking them back. My anger washed away and I felt myself sag against the wall for support after my rant.
Kouga's face was one of shock, his earlier hard expression cracked and he just sat there looking at me like I had grown another head! I stifled a laugh as I tried my best to glare at him, and I am sure I failed.
"About last night?" I saw his eyes roam over my form quickly. "Last night was-" His eyes returned to mine before he answered. "amazing." He smiled sheepishly and while I couldn't help but smile he was talking about the wrong part of the night.
"I meant-"
"Rajiru." His smile vanished as he looked down at the floor. "I cannot say it makes me happy that he touched you." He sighed. "I just have to be thankful that that is all he did." He didn't raise his head but he shuffled his feet over to me and knealt in front of me on the bed. "Kagome, I love you and I will get my revenge for what he did to you. But right now I need to show that you and I are united, can we put this aside until we have our moment?"
"You want me to forget it happened? Pretend it didn't?" His face shot up and his eyes locked onto mine.
"No, gods no. Don't forget but don't let it rule your actions. There are things that happen to us," He raised his hand and cupped my cheek. "That we have to use as an opportunity to get stronger. Use this as fuel to rid the wolf population of those who would use women, who would use humans for nothing more than a body. Do you understand what I am saying?"
"We need to bring the wolves together to agree on not using humans unwillingly." I nuzzled his hand. "We will bring the tribes together under an understanding of not eating or raping humans for their own selfish needs."
"That has been my plan since the moment I met you my sweet Kagome. The day I met you my life changed." He leaned forward and brushed a kiss over my lips. "I knew you would be my princess, the one to help me bring the wolves back where they belong."
"Your princess?" I giggled slightly, "I am not sure you can simply mate a girl and make her a princess."
"Your wedding you told me about is very much like a mating. Only there is no way to reverse it, once we are mated we will not be able to be apart. So when I take you as my mate, you will be the mate of Wolf Prince Kouga, therefore you will be Wolf Princess Kagome."
"But I am not a wolf." I could not wipe the grin off my face, what girl didn't want to hear that not only is she a princess to her husband but she will be to a whole demon tribe! Well maybe not a demon tribe but still a tribe of people.
"The mating will not make you a wolf but it will give you some of my enhanced abilities, or so I am told."
My mouth fell open.
"What?"
He chuckled and I relaxed at the sound.
"Your hearing will increase and so will your smell, some have even said that human mates can get ears or a tail!" I glanced at his tail and saw it wagging in contentment.
"But I am a priestess, no one will take me seriously with a wolf tail." I tried to sound firm but the laugh at the end let on that I was joking. Kouga laughed with me as we both fell back onto the furs together laughing.
After a few minutes of laughter, we lay there content just looking at the ceiling. I felt Kouga's hand roaming over my arms then to my side on down to my belly where he laid his palm flat. His head nuzzled into the side of my neck and I heard him whisper to me.
"I cannot wait for you to be carrying my pups." He fluttered his fingers and I shivered slightly from the touch.
"Do you want them now?" My voice was quiet but I knew he heard me. "I mean, like right away?"
He shifted his head and nuzzled my cheek before looking into my eyes.
"That isn't really up to us." His hand was still laying flat on my stomach, with his natural warmth and the fire Kouga had stoked high, I felt like it was branding me. "Do you not want pups?" His voice was quiet now, and his face was awash with emotion, from fear to hurt, hope and then confusion.
"I do, I suppose, I just never gave it much thought. Having babies in my time is very different from here."
Confusion covered his expression.
"I am sure that things still happen the same way, Kagome."
"yes." I giggled and tried to cover my grin at his obvious confusion. "Yes it is still the same in theory, but in my time there is medicine to dull the pain and clean rooms to prevent infection."
"Jiki knows what she is doing, she has been delivering pups for a long time."
"Yes, I am sure she does but what about me? I am worried Kouga." I lowered my eyes to where his hand rested and placed my hand over his. "What if it is sick, or what if I am sick or the baby isn't turned right and I can't have it normally?"
"Jiki knows how to handle these things." He brushed it off very nonchalant and it almost pissed me off but I reassured myself he was trying to calm me.
"Kouga, what about-"
"There is nothing to be concerned about." He grabbed my hand that was over his and brought it to his lips and kissed it. "I will be there by your side for the whole thing. You are not the only one worried Kagome, but we will find a way to make this work. We will have a family together, gods willing and we will all be fine."
"You shouldn't say things like that when you don't know for sure." I saw a flash of irritation in his eyes before he took a deep breath to answer.
"The pups will be half wolf demon, which means they won't get your human illnesses as easily as you do. They will be inclined to heal faster in case they do get sick or injured. You will be my mate and some of my quick healing will transfer to you in the process, you will be fine. You will be a great mother to our pups." He sat up in bed and stretched. "Supper will be here soon, I should go."
"Kouga, please don't leave." I sat up and grabbed at his fur as he stood. Hooking my fingers in the edge of his fur covering his hips I attempted to pull him down but my fingers slid off as easily as they hooked on. Feeling a bit ashamed for begging him to stay, I hung my head.
Kouga crouched down in front of me, and placed a finger under my chin to make me meet his gaze.
"I have to go because if I lay in bed with you tonight I will claim you, the moon is near full and the need to mate you is strong. I will see you tomorrow night at sundown, when the ceremony begins." He leaned forward and kissed me, slowly running his tongue over my lips and once I opened to him our tongues wrestled. I moaned into his mouth at his scent and his incredible flavor flowing over my tongue. I reached up to grab and pull him to me when he retreated quickly. I opened my eyes and saw his glowing red, fade to a pink and then back to white with stark blue contrast.
"Kou-"
"I told you the pull was strong and having you so close only makes it harder to resist, I have to go." He walked over to the fire as I stood and adjusted my kimono. "Keep the fire going strong until you go to bed so hopefully you will still have one by morning. I will have Ari come in first thing in the morning and stoke the fire so you don't get cold." He finally looked at me and I could still see the want in his eyes, the lust. "Make sure you spend some time outside tomorrow, take a guard and get some fresh air. After tomorrow night we will be at the call of Jiki and the elders as to when we can leave our den." He smiled slightly. "Good night Kagome, I love you."
"I love you Kouga."
His smiled got a bit wider as he turned and left the room. With the fire blazing in the hearth and him only leaving seconds ago I suddenly felt very alone as a bone deep cold set in.
I glanced around the den and noticed the state it was in and sighed. I grabbed a basket as I gathered the dirty clothes and furs, and set them in a basket near the door. I straightened the kitchen area, as nice as Ari was and a great cook as well she could not clean up after herself. I gathered dishes to be cleaned in another basket. After all my rearranging was done I sat down in my chair and stared into the fire.
I tried to imagine what my life was going to be like in the next few months but every image I conjured up I managed to dilute with some worry or another. The next step of my life was going to be anything but easy but Kouga said he would be there for me, and I trust him. I sighed followed by a yawn.
"Lady Kagome I have your supper." The voice was small and I recognized it.
"Enter." Rena entered with a plate of food. The smell of the meat made my mouth water and roused me slightly out of my doze. She walked over and set the plate in front of me on my table.
"Senna did a really good job the meat is really good." She blushed, "Or so my father says."
"Did you not have any Rena?" I asked as I started cutting up my meat.
"No, the children got the pheasants that were caught since they had less meat." She stood there watching me as I cut up the meat. I pressed some to the side toward her.
"Try it, that is for you." She eagerly grabbed for the meat and chewed loudly before gulping it down.
"That was good!" She yawned. "Lord Kouga is sleeping out of the den tonight. You should not sleep in here alone, you will get cold."
"I will make the fire really big before I go to bed and-"
"You will still wake up cold." She smiled. "We could come stay with you tonight."
"We?" my curiosity was piqued, and just then I heard shuffling outside the door. "Who is out there Rena?" As soon as I voiced the question the curtain was pulled aside and the older children of the pack came through.
Doua, Kari, Tekka, and Doran all looked at the ground nervously.
"What's going on guys?"
"The adults are planning on going on a late run as a pack, and we don't know when they will be back. So we were wondering if we could stay in here tonight so as not to be in the way?"
I felt my heart warm that they thought of me when they needed comfort away from their parents.
"Of course you can, get comfy, as soon as I eat I am going to bed I am exhausted."
The other fours heads shot up with grins from ear to ear as they all squealed and laughed as they prepared for bed. Rena stayed near me, making sure the fire was stoked and ready for bed. I quickly ate and shoved my plate in the basket of dirty dishes and shuffled over to the bed. I flopped down and threw the biggest bear fur over me and instantly felt the 5 little bodies burrow in beside me. Doua the youngest of the five curled into my chest since I was on my side, Rena was at my back, Tekka and Doran were on my legs pinning them down and Kari was on top of Rena and therefore on top of me.
"Good night guys."
A soft mumble of "night" greeted me followed by little snores.
Maybe I can do this mom thing after all.
A/N: a little nervous after this one...posted against my better judgement of a rework. Let me know what you think! thanks! I have not quit on this story and I will have the next chapter as soon as I can! Thanks guys I really appreciate all the review and follows!