Title: Light of My Life
Author: kazeko
Series: Inuyasha
Rating: M-15 or so
Archive: Sesshoumaru/Kagome
Characters: Sesshoumaru/Kagome, Inuyasha/Koyama, Sango/Miroku
Summary: A powerful prophecy brings mortal enemies together, but prejudice may well tear them apart and spell the end of all inuyoukai.
Disclaimer: No ownership.


Chapter 4: To Choose an Alpha
Sesshoumaru was awakened by a sound outside the hut and a mass of whimpering fur nuzzling close to his body. He opened his eyes and pushed himself up, scenting his brother and a strange inuyoukai outside. His eyes widened as he caught another scent, the same one that had his pups squirming around in such a frenzy. Milk. Sesshoumaru traced the scent to its source and stared, shocked beyond reason. The little miko, asleep in the corner, was nursing his female pup, a smile on contentment on her features. The pup had finished her meal and was also asleep, curled in her human form, tail dangling from Kagome's arms and twitching with her dreams. The yukata Kagome wore was half-open, revealing her milk-heavy breast, and Sesshoumaru quickly crawled to her side, ears twitching back as Inuyasha and the other inu approached the hut.

"Miko," he hissed, shaking her awake. Kagome jerked, eyes wide as she pulled the baby closer to her breast, relaxing when she identified her companion. "Miko, cover yourself! Inuyasha has returned." Kagome nodded and closed her robe, wondering if the Western Lord was angry at her, a human, nursing his pup. Before she could move or ask, his hanyou brother and a female inuyoukai entered the slumbering hut, their noise waking the other humans. Sesshoumaru pushed himself into a more regal position and adjusted his haori as the female bowed to him.

"Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands, Alpha of Crescent Moon Pack, I, Koyama, Omega of Fire Stripe Pack, am honored to be here, at your service, and I humbly ask permission to join your pack."

Sesshoumaru nodded his head, his voice calm, but not as cold as usual. "Your services to my pups will determine your place in my pack, but you are welcome." Koyama stepped forward and bowed before Sesshoumaru, raising her head as the taiyoukai cut a shallow slice on his leg and used his blood to draw a crescent moon on Koyama's forehead. He nodded as his blood was absorbed and her scent changed, incorporating his as all traces of her former pack vanished. She belonged to Crescent Moon Pack now, and her scent had changed to announce her now position.

Inuyasha watched as his brother accepted the other female, eyes straying to take in the rest of the room as Sango, Miroku, and Shippo closed in on the new member of their group. He had been marked, only a few hours earlier, and he was amazed at the sense of peace it gave him. Then his eyes landed on Kagome, and he froze. She was holding the female pup, dressed in a yukata she rarely wore, and her scent had changed. She had been nursing the pup.

"How?"

Inuyasha's question froze the room, Koyama looking up from her inspection of the pups as she prepared to change into her youkai form. Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome and raised an eyebrow, wondering himself how the human had managed to produce milk for his pup. Kagome watched as realization dawned in Sango and Miroku's eyes, both eager to have an answer to their friend's question. Shippo seemed confused until Sango pulled him away and whispered something in his ear. "Do human females allolactate for other bitches, too? I had not heard that they did."

"No, Koyama-san, they don't. I . . . I used that potion."

Sesshoumaru growled, spotting the empty bottle on the floor at her feet. "Miko, that magic does not work on humans. It cannot have worked for you."

"It did work. I was just sitting here, humming a song to keep her quiet, and she changed while I was holding her. I suddenly wondered if it would work, so I tried it."

"She changed while you held her?" Sesshoumaru leaned forward and settled himself so he could touch his daughter's cheek, staring at the crescent moon she bore. "She has already declared herself Alpha," he whispered, a touch of shock in his voice. "I did not think it would be her."

"What do you mean? I thought you would be Alpha, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"He is Alpha, human," Koyama replied, her voice lacking the superiority that seemed to come standard with most pronouncements by a youkai. "But she is his heir." She nuzzled the five male pups, shifting into her red-furred inu form, modifying her size to keep from destroying the hut as she pulled the pups to her. Five squeals of joy greeted her, and she settled down to feed Sesshoumaru's pups as she had her own sister's for many years. Looking up, she locked her emerald eyes with Kagome's dark blue ones. She spoke again, her voice echoing in the minds of the humans and youkai in the room. "He is the current Alpha, but he must at some point have an heir. In youkai societies, for species that organize in groups, the Alpha is chosen by the Spirit of the Pack that may descend at any time, in any litter, to any pup. It always chooses the most powerful of the Alpha's children and enhances them with the Alpha Spirit. It is hard to explain. For the most part, the Alpha is a male because they tend to be stronger, but sometimes a female pup is chosen. This is one of those times."

"So you weren't chosen because you were the oldest?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "No, miko." He felt her bristle at the title, and he revised his words. "Kagome, I was chosen as Alpha by this Spirit. It knew that my father would have only two pups, uncommon for an inuyoukai, and that I would be the most powerful. I think that it pained him when his first child proved to be the heir, because it meant that he might not have any more pups. But I sensed no great power from her."

"Is this my fault?" Kagome's eyes widened and she tried to hand the baby back to her father. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do anything to hurt your pack. I only wanted to help her . . . I didn't mean for this to happen."

Koyama laughed from her position against the wall. "It is a miracle that it did, Kagome. An Alpha pup is special, bonding with their parents in a very unique way. They have to have a strong pack instinct because the pack will be everything to them, defining them and protecting them, giving them power, the reason for their mark. An Alpha that loses its mother never accepts a surrogate and dies, usually before showing the mark. Our pups are born in their true form, their youkai form, and they cannot change to their other form without their mother's coaxing. How did you get the female to change?"

Kagome shrugged, looking down at the sleeping baby in her arms. "I don't know. I just wanted to comfort her, so I wrapped her in my power, I guess, and she changed."

"She did it because she chose you to be her mother."

Kagome paled at Sesshoumaru's soft words. "What? Me? Her mother?" The female whined and Kagome pulled her closer, cuddling the babe. "How can that be? I'm a human, she can't choose me."

"Nevertheless, something convinced her that you would be a good mother." Inwardly, Sesshoumaru was amazed that the pup had chosen the miko as a surrogate mother, wondering why he was not angrier at the development. He decided that he was not himself due to his injuries and left the matter to be considered later. "You will nurse her for six weeks and we will leave when they are all weaned. That is the only obligation required of you. This pup will not accept any other female." Sesshoumaru returned to the corner beside his male pups and Koyama, protecting his brood and his pack. He stared at the door, refusing to look at the human miko, knowing that her kind heart would force her to help his pup.

Koyama's huge eyes locked with Kagome's, and her words were for the miko alone. "Human, this is a great honor. Never has one of you been a surrogate to a youkai, let alone an Alpha pup. Until she is weaned, her father will have no say in her education or associations. You can teach her whatever you wish. I can assure you that these pups will not hate humans as so many youkai do."

Kagome nodded, brushing Sango's hands away as the tajiya reached out to comfort her. "I will accept this role, Sesshoumaru-sama, on one condition."

He cracked his eye, bored and uninterested. Inwardly, he was berating himself for the way he had acted to the humans earlier, knowing that he had to reestablish his customary distance or they would lose respect for him. "Name it."

"For as long as I live, Inuyasha will be seen as a member of your pack, whether he truly is or not, and you will not try to steal Tetsusaiga or in any way harm him." Sesshoumaru, unwilling to reveal the tentative understanding that he and his brother had come to, made a show of growling, deep in his chest. "That is my condition."

"Agreed." Sesshoumaru looked up at his brother, a strange glint in his eye. "I believe that I can suffer my half-brother for that long."