Chapter 3

"Taro?" Jiro asked looking at his brother as they sat looking at the stars. Taro snarled looking at his brother. "Taro, what's wrong?" He asked as he jumped away as Taro turn trying to lash out at him. "Akio, go get help." He said as he turned his attention back to his older brother who only growled looking around with dark green eyes and a tint of red in the whites. Moments later Koga and Inuyasha ran over as Taro punched and was about to strike Jiro. Koga tackled his son who thrashed and snarled trying to get free. It took Koga and Inuyasha to hold him down as he still thrashed about.

"Taro!" Koga called as the man's dark green eyes turned to him. "What the hell is going on?" He asked Inuyasha only to hear Taro as he desperately tried to get free.

"Mate!" He ground out making Koga and Inuyasha look at each other as the others gathered around wondering what was going on. "Mate!" He growled.

"Taro, what's wrong with mate?" Shippo asked as he came to help. The young man looked at the fox demon narrowing his eyes as he snarled before howling out as if in pain. "Taro, focus!" Shippo tried as Koga and Inuyasha took everything they had to hold him still. "What happened? What is wrong with mate? Focus. We can't do anything until you fight your demon back so focus and tell us what happened." He saw Taro closed his eyes tired trying to fight only getting a few words out before thrashing about trying to get free again.

"Mate…."Came a deep voice. "She's in trouble, hurt….." He said in a normal voice before he started to growl taking a deep breath they saw him slam his eyes shut again. "Can't stop… Make it…stop!" He howled.

"Taro we can't let you up until you get control." Koga said as Shippo turned for several to help find Izayoi. "How do we get him to draw back?" He asked Inuyasha.

"Taro, listen, focus on Izzy. Keep your mind focused on her and what you need to do. Push everything else away." Inuyasha said and watched as Taro thrashed several more times before relaxing under them. Both men sat to the side as Taro opened his bright green eyes breathing heavy.

"What the hell just happened?" He asked looking at his father on one side and Inuyasha on the other. Suddenly he got a feeling of dread making him jump to his feet. "Izzy's in trouble." He said as Shippo, Toshiro, Inuyasha, Koga and Akia stood ready to go. Taro led the way as fast as he could arriving well ahead of the group seeing Izayoi unconscious on the ground completely naked and Saburo getting dressed with a bright smile. He tackled Saburo slamming him into a tree before he turned and went to Izayoi seeing she was starting to come too with tears in her eyes. Taro wrapped her in her clothes and held her close moving her away as he went after his brother again just in time for the others to show up. Inuyasha found Izayoi barely conscious to the side looking human as he, Akia and Toshiro ran over to her.

"She doesn't look like she was hurt too bad." Akia said looking her over. "Although she does seem to be human." She said looking at Inuyasha as he looked at Koga and Shippo who pulled Taro away from the badly beaten Saburo.

"Let! Me! Go!" He snarled as he thrashed trying to go back after Saburo. He swung around getting loose only to land on Saburo and start beating on him again. Koga and Shippo grabbed him and pulled him off carrying him over to where Izayoi was starting to wake up a bit.

"Izzy?" Toshiro asked as she opened brown eyes to look at her brother. "Hey, you alright?" He asked only to see tears start falling from her eyes. He quickly pulled her to him and held her as she cried. He had never seen his sister so upset and for her to be hysterical and this beat up, he knew there had to be more. Taro was drug over and sat next to her making him blink at hearing her cry. Slowly his vision cleared and he sat looking around before he pulled Izayoi to him as the others went to tend to Saburo.

"Iz." He said holding her tight as she cried. "I'm so sorry." He said as she shook her head and could only hold him tight. "I'm here now, it's alright." He whispered glancing over to where Toshiro and Shippo lifted the battered Saburo. Akia watched as he tried to calm Izayoi and saw Koga and Inuyasha walking over to them.

"We need to get back. You messed him up pretty bad." Inuyasha said looking at Taro then at Izayoi as she turned to look at everyone. "And you need to get looked at. Your demon blood could have handled most of this but I don't know what went on with you being human." Taro pulled her into his arms and stood up, as she held tight. The group took off arriving back in the village with several waiting. Shippo and Toshiro were first to show up with Saburo then the rest arrived. Ayame went to run to Saburo and was stopped by Koga. Taro didn't even stop he walked over to the hut he and Izayoi shared and laid her on the cot as Hanna ran in to check on her friend.

"Izzy, what happened?" She asked as she started to bandage what she could. Suddenly Izayoi blinked and when she opened her eyes, again they were gold. Her fangs, and claws grew back and the wounds began to heal. Izayoi and Hanna held each other as Taro sat back watching the two.

"I was running and then he tackled me and the next thing I knew I was human and…. And… He… he…" She trailed off and was lost in tears. Hanna looked down at her trying to sooth the young woman who she called her best friend and often her sister. Moments later Sango walked up to see how Izayoi and Taro were and saw Taro sitting against the wall not far from Izayoi looking at his bloody hands as Hanna held Izayoi.

"Hey sweetie." Sango said as she sat down. Izayoi looked at her with tears in her eyes. "I wanted to make sure you were alright. Your mom is trying to save Saburo-"

"She should let the bastard die." They heard from Taro as he looked over angrily. "I warned him last time. And he went way to far this time. If he lives I don't want to see him again." Taro said as Izayoi held Hanna as fresh tears came to her eyes. Sango sighed as she stood walking back to the others as they watched Kagome try to save Saburo.

"How are they?" Rin asked as Sango shook her head.

"Taro saw something before you got there apparently." Sango said to Inuyasha, Toshiro, and Shippo. "Izayoi is a mess. Inuyasha, I've never ever seen her this shaken up." She said worried as he nodded.

"Shippo, get Taro out, I'm going to talk to Izzy." Inuyasha said making Shippo nod. The two walked to the hut and found the group just like Sango had left them. Shippo walked over grabbing Taro by the back of his outfit and shoved him outside making him growl. "Why don't you go help the others?" Hanna nodded and left Izayoi to collapse into Inuyasha's chest.

"Daddy…" She cried as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

"Izzy," He said softly. "I need you to tell me what happened." She shook her head as she cried. "I need to know if I'm gonna help anything." He said as his heart was being crushed seeing his little girl cry so hard into his chest.

"I….I….can't…" She cried.

"Why?"

"No…. he…..he…. I can't….." Taking a deep breath Inuyasha put on hand on her head holding her closer to him. He felt his chest ache as he held his daughter's shaking form.

"Senshi, listen to me. This is really important. You have to tell me everything. I know you're strong and can do it." She nodded crying as she tried to explain what happened.

"He….he attacked me and said that the area was set…so I couldn't use anything…then, he…. He…." She started to cry making him pull her tighter to him as she cried.

"It's alright, you're doing good. What did he do?"

"He… he tried to…to cover the mark…." She cried making his eyes go wide as he held her even tighter.

"It's alright now. I need to go talk to the others now. Do you want me to send Taro back in?" She nodded as he leaned her back and kissed her forehead. "Everything will be alright. I promise." She nodded as he called to Shippo who let Taro back in. He went right to Izayoi's side as Inuyasha stood up. "Take care of her for now, Taro." The young man gave a nod holding his mate tight as Inuyasha and Shippo walked back to the others.

"You find anything out?" Asked Rin, as Inuyasha looked pissed. He pulled Koga off to the side and told him what Izayoi had told him making Koga turn and glare at the unconscious Saburo as Kagome sat back.

"I'll handle things when he wakes up." Koga said looking back at Inuyasha who was clearly beyond pissed off.

"Dad, what did she say?" Toshiro asked standing with the other close friends and family.

"He tried to cover her mark." He said making several of the demons furrow their browns in anger as the ones not knowing too much about the mating mark looked around.

"What's that mean?" Taji asked.

"It means Saburo raped her." Jiro said walking over angrily. "What Taro did to him was too good."

"He's lucky we got there when we did or else he would have been dead for sure." Shippo said making Jiro look at his brother with a nod.

"How is Taro and Izzy doing?"

"Izzy's not doing well and Taro's not far behind." Hanna said. "I don't think I would be doing much better than her if it were me." She said sadly, as Ryuu put his arm around her.

"In any case Koga is in charge of his clan and thus needs to get all of the details and make a decision on what to do with the boy." Sesshomaru said.

"Mom's confused, she only knows that something happened and Saburo was almost killed." Jiro said.

"Your father wanted to keep it away from her for as long as he could but I don't think he can hide it anymore." Miroku added.

Late one night Izayoi took a deep breath. She had stopped crying several days ago and Toshiro would bring them food to eat letting Taro stay with Izayoi.

"Taro?" She asked cuddling into his side more.

"Yeah?" He asked softly.

"This scent…. I can't stand it anymore…make it go away, please." She begged making him look down at her as she looked at him with a pleading look.

"Iz…" He trailed off watching as she could only look up at him begging.

"Please, I don't want to smell this scent. It makes me sick, please I need you, mate." She said making it impossible for him to refuse. He leaned down capturing her lips before they moved taking away any scent Saburo had left and replaced it with their own.

The Next morning Taro smiled opening his eyes as the sun came through a window. He smirked as he felt Izayoi cuddle closer and for the first time in days, he saw a small smile still on her face as she slept next to him. Gently he laid her on the cot and moved the hair out of her face with a soft smile. He remembered being a kid and fighting with the girl, and now here they lay as mates. He kissed her check as he got dressed and walked out to see the others already wandering.

"How's Izzy?" Jiro asked as he walked with his brother who smiled.

"She's better." He grinned at his brother making him smirk. "The village looks like it's almost done."

"Yeah, we've been working pretty hard. I think today will be the last day for rebuilding."

"What's going on with Saburo? Where is he?"

"He's still out. Mom and dad are sitting in there keeping an eye on him. He's in here." Jiro said leading his brother off to a hut to the right. As they walked in Koga and Ayame turned to look at them.

"Taro…." Ayame said as she jumped to her feet and ran to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how he was. He's still my brother after all." He said looking at Saburo still sound asleep.

"What about Izzy? Is she alright?" Koga looked at his son.

"She's fine. She's still sleeping." He said with a smirk making his father continue to watch him as he walked over to look at his brother. "Any idea when he'll wake up?"

"No. Kagome said it could be any time." Ayame said watching as Taro knelt next to his unconscious brother. "What happened? Why is Izzy so upset and why is Saburo so beat up?" Taro looked at his father who looked away leaving Taro to explain to his mother.

"Mom, Saburo's been attacking Izzy over the years and this time he really crossed the line. He wanted Izzy as his mate and he wanted it anyway he could get it, even if that meant holding her down." He said clenching his fists and glaring at Saburo.

"Did he really hold her down and…?" She trailed off afraid of what she would hear.

"Yeah. He set a trap to put out her human form and beat her before holding her down and …. Trying to erase my mark." Ayame looked from him to Saburo then back sadly.

"You did this to your brother then?"

"I don't know." He said looking down making Koga look at him.

"You don't remember?" Taro shook his head looking at his father confused.

"I only remember needing to get to her. I got there as he finished and I… I could only see her in that condition and then I remember running back here with her crying."

"You don't remember dad and Inuyasha having to hold you down before you ran off to find her?" Jiro asked and watched his brother shake his head.

"It sounds like your demon took complete control and blocked you out." Koga explained. "You're mate was in trouble and when you saw Saburo you snapped completely."

"What are we going to do with Saburo? He held her down and tried to make her his mate, what will happen if he wakes up and does it again?" Ayame asked looking at Koga.

"I will kill him if he goes after her again. I don't even know how he survived this last time; I wanted to kill him so bad." He said looking at his mother.

"He's only alive because we had to pull you away from him." Koga told him.

"Well let me know when he wakes up." Taro said leaving the hut with Jiro as they walked back to the hut Taro had left Izayoi sleeping in. "Let me see if she's awake and we'll go talk to Inuyasha and Kagome." He walked into the hut to see Izayoi toss in her sleep with a heavy sigh before she opened her eyes.

"Taro?" She asked sleepily as he moved over to her side with a smile.

"It's about time you woke up." He smirked kissing her forehead making her smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better now that I have my mate." She smiled making him grin.

"Why don't we go talk to your parents? I just came back from talking with my parents and checking on Saburo. Apparently he's still out; my parents are making plans to take care of him so we have nothing to worry about." He smiled giving her a kiss.

"As long as I never have to smell that scent on me again. The only scent I want is yours." She said giving him a kiss only to have it turn passionate and before either of them realized it they were mating.

About an hour had passed before the two emerged from the hut to see Jiro with his arms crossed shaking his head. Izayoi gave a shy smile as Taro smirked at his brother before the three started on their way.

"So what took you an hour to come back out?" Jiro asked making Taro grin glancing at Izayoi as she walked close to him.

"None of your business." Izayoi said glaring at her brother in law making him chuckle. The three walked over to where they found Inuyasha and Kagome standing with the others. As soon as Inuyasha saw her, he smirked making her run to him and hug him tight.

"Senshi." Inuyasha smirked brightly holding his daughter who was smiling brightly. Kagome saw Taro walk over with a smile.

"How are you two?" Kagome asked looking at Taro and Izayoi.

"Much better." Izayoi said before looking at her parents and the others.

"You go talk to your parents yet?" Sango asked Taro who nodded.

"Yeah, I talked to them and checked on Saburo. Figured we would come see you guys. Jiro was telling me about the village being almost done."

"Yeah, only a few more buildings and the slayer's village will be back in order." Hanna said. "Well we have another three months till the celebration. Everyone is supposed to gather at the village so we should probably start heading over and getting ready."

"Alright, take everyone who can help set up the village and head out." Sango said before Hanna turned looking at Izayoi.

"Izzy, you ready?" She smiled making Sango sigh not remembering that her daughter would have asked Izayoi. "Let's get the others and get moving." She smiled as the two young women ran off leaving their mates looking at each other.

"This looks like it's gonna be fun." Ryuu said watching the two walk away.

"We better go after them before those two get into trouble." Taro smirked as the adults smiled watching the two men walk off after the two young women.