5º - In Safe Hands

(*)

Kagome was starting to stir. She was feeling something soft underneath her head. So soft… She wasn't ready to come back to the conscious world. But some kind of odd light was making her eyes hurt.

"Turn… light… off…" Was that her voice? It sounded so different, more raspy and weak. Her eyes hurt, and for now she was enabled to open them. However, she could feel a soft hand petting her head. Someone was trying to wake her up. Couldn´t they see she was tired? That she was not ready to wake up?

"Sweetie, you have to wake up," a female voice said. "You haven´t eaten anything for more than two days now. If you don´t eat anything, you will perish soon. Please, wake up." It was a command as much as it was a plea. Whoever it was, was not quitting soon.

Just by the voice, Kagome couldn´t be certain who it was. However, because she could feel the sharp nails, hear the soothing voice, and above all, feel her aura, Kagome was willing to bet that the female was a demoness. And a rather powerful one at that. In fact, her power was so great that it could only mean that she was a mate of a ruling lord. But that was impossible… There was no way she would be in a palace, being taken care of by a ruling demoness. She was still dreaming, of course.

"Please, little pup. You need to eat." The demoness` voice was reviling so much sadness, that it almost made Kagome cry. "This is wrong… " Kagome could feel that her eyes were trying to open. Gradually, she managed to, but she couldn´t see anything other than darkness. And then, a few white spots appeared in her limited vision. "That´s it, little pup. Here you go!"

Next to Kagome´s mouth was something warm and had a delicious smell. Kagome didn´t have to do anything, really. Someone was kind enough to pull her into a more seated position. The only thing she had to do now was open her mouth and swallow. Easier said than done, because the object was still hovering near her mouth; however, as soon as Kagome opened a little bit, the food slid down her throat.

It was rather easy, really. She just had to open her mouth, and everything else was done for her. The taste of the food was exquisite, even though the consistency of it left much to be desired. It seemed like soup, but far more dense in its composition. Even though she hungered for something more substantial, the smooth soup made its consumption much more easy.

The more Kagome ate, the better she felt. And she was beginning to recover her vision. She saw the spoon, than the hand, the markings, the arm, the... "Wait… What? Markings?" The woman nursing her was, in fact, part of a ruling family just like Kagome had suspected. After the initial shock, Kagome took her time to look upon the demoness in question, and there were no words to describe her. She had beautiful, silver hair, her eyes looked like diamonds, and the structure of her face looked like a work of art from the gods' themselves. Such an enchanting face seemed unreal in its beauty and perfection. But what really caught her attention were her facial markings.

The demoness had, on her forehead, between her eyes, a purple moon and two purple stripes on each of her cheeks. Kagome didn´t know much about the ruling houses, nor their traditions or their makings. By consequence, she didn´t know to which house this beautiful demoness belonged to, but Kagome knew that by law there were four supreme houses that ruled the lands. She also knew that one of the houses didn´t exist anymore, even though the council still defended the idea of four houses to maintain stability. She also knew that only the ones who belonged to a ruling house would have marks on their faces and wrists accordingly to their house symbol.

And that was it. All her knowledge related to the ruling houses could be said in two minutes. ´ So, I know she´s an alpha female, or at the very least, she belongs to a ruling house` . Kagome´s thoughts were interrupted then. She was so deep in her own thoughts, that she was still eating without realizing it.

"That's it, little pup. Just a few more bites." The female was trying to be careful with this one. She looked a bit frightened. But her color was returning, which was always a good sign. Her eyes were now focusing on things and she seemed perceptive enough. " Can you understand me?"

Kagome didn´t trust her voice. The last time she had tried to talk, she sounded like a dying animal. But the demoness was still waiting for an answer, and it didn´t look like she would give up until she got what she was looking for. So Kagome did the only thing she could, she nodded.

"Good, your strength is coming back," the demoness said with a gentle smile. " My name is Aimi Sora. I´m a dog demon. And I am very pleased to meet you. I know you are still too weak to speak clearly, so I will tell you what happened, ok?" Though during her feeding, the demoness had kept her distance, however now Aimi grabbed Kagome´s hand. It was so warm… It almost felt like a mum´s touch, protective and caring. And once again she nodded to show that she had understood, since speech was still beyond her at the moment.

"Well, two days ago during the night, my eldest son decided to go for a walk. Since he is a solitary being, I didn´t think much of it. However, when he came back, he was no longer alone. You, my dear girl, where lying in his arms. His tail was covering you completely, so I only looked upon you after he spread you on the bed. Only then did he tell us what had transpired in the forest." At her words, Kagome´s back shivered involuntarily. She could still feel that man´s breath on her neck. " Apparently you were under attack by a human male, correct?" Kagome didn´t want to remember; it was too painful. The only thing she wanted to do was burying herself under the covers and sleep some more. Instead, she nodded once more. " Well, he saved you and brought you here. You were almost dead, my dear."

Only then did Kagome´s eyes open completely. She almost died? But… How? She was tired for sure, but dying? She wanted to talk, ask questions, and obtain some answers. Her mouth was opening and closing, making an effort to produce some kind of sound. But nothing came. Seeing her distress, the demoness said, " Please let me finish."

Aimi was afraid of the reaction she would get from the pup. It was clear that the pup was nervous and her instincts were kicking in. An uncontrolled pup was a force of nature since they would do anything in order to survive. If this pup´s instinct were activated, she would lose her rational side and my even attack. And being attacked by her would put Kagome in a very delicate situation.

And so Aimi grabbed Kagome´s shoulders, making sure her pup didn´t have enough room to maneuver and added, " Like I said, you were nearly dead. Apparently, you weren´t ingesting enough food nor water. You were under a very critical condition." Her concern was evident. But also her confidence. " Fortunately, I´m a specialist with herbs and cures of almost all kinds. I hope the dish you just had was good, because it will be the only kind of food you will have for the next week. You need nutrition and that plate had everything," t he demoness said, smiling. " Now, I need you to rest. If you need anything, just play this litter bell…" she picked up a small bell that was sitting next to the bed, "… and someone will come here to help you. I don´t want you to move. Not for now anyway. You are still very weak."

Kagome still had questions, a lot of them. But then again, what the demoness named Aimi said was true. She was still feeling very weak. Her eyes were closed again and fighting sleep was becoming an impossible mission until she just couldn't fight it any longer. She was too tired to fight.

"That´s it, little pup, rest." Aimi said, smiling and petting Kagome´s head once more.

Suddenly, a very powerful aura entered the room. Kagome couldn´t see who it was, because her eyes were no longer responsive, and she felt powerless at that moment. Her body and her survival instincts were telling her to run, to hide, to do anything but to stay in that bed. But she couldn´t move. She was defenseless against such power. And so, she did the only thing she could. Just like any defenseless little pup, she started whimpering, asking for help.

"So… This is our newest arrival, hmn?" a male voice said near the door of the room.

Meanwhile, Kagome´s whimpering was getting louder. Whoever it was, was getting closer and closer. She could feel the massive energy of this demon, and it was so powerful that Kagome was feeling suffocated just by being in the same room. Obviously, the demon was not doing it on purpose, but that didn´t mean that it wasn´t happening anyway.

"It´s okay, little pup. It´s ok. You are in safe hands, I promise you!" The demoness said, patting Kagome´s head, her chest producing a subtle purr, all with the sole purpose of soothing Kagome. All those actions were what a mother would do when her pup was showing fear, and that didn´t escape the other demon´s notice. "Could you please back away a little? This girl is felling unprotected. and your energy is not helping the process of soothing her."

The massive energy was further away now, even thought it was still present in the room, however it was distant enough to make Kagome´s cries for help stop.

"Tell me, my loving mate, will she survive?" Both demons were pack demons. Which meant that during their lives they would do anything to mate, raise pup and increase the number of elements inside their pack. As a consequence, seeing the alpha female in his pack taking care of a pup was a very tempting situation. The demon could not avoid showing his mate, through his voice, his desire. His voice came out low and seductive.

However, Aimi was completely unaware of it. Her concern for the pup´s health was big enough to cloud her sense.

"I believe so, yes. She´s strong and, of course, I will do all in my power to make her live another day." Aimi was going to save this pup no matter the cost. "What about our son? Any changes?"

'Mate? Their son? They were a couple? That would explain a lot'. Kagome´s mind was still working, even if her eyes had refused to open. The fact was that the energy Kagome felt coming from this demon was the most powerful she had ever come across, and everything made sense now. This demon had to be a ruling lord, and the markings on the demoness only served to prove her theory.

"He´s a bit more relaxed than before. However, I had to lock him in his room, otherwise, he would just make a scene and demand to come here."

"It´s probably for the best… She will need quiet and peace in order to have a full recovery, and…" Kagome couldn´t hear any longer. She was too tired to stay awake. She would leave her life in the hands of this demoness. After all, if she was to be killed, they would have already done it. Not only that, but she called Kagome "pup".

She may not know much about demon lord´s culture, but she did know that if a demoness adopted a child, then she would defend that child with her life. The demoness had called Kagome "pup", which meant that she was under the demoness protection… At least for the time being.

She was, in fact, in safe hands.

(*)

Meanwhile…

"She is finally asleep. And, yes, I know. We need to be careful. She has almost reached her mating age. But not quite there yet." Aimi rested her eyes on her newest pup. She was a beautiful female, there was no doubt about that. And when she reached her mating age, Aimi was sure that she would kill many hearts with one look. She was so centered in her own thoughts, that she never saw her ´devil` mate approach.

"So you decided to take her as your pup then?" his voice calm and content, even though in his head, a lot of thoughts were running wild, and some of them not so innocent.

"Yes… I think she is alone! And she will need help eventually. You know that." Aimi stood up and looked upon her mate, only noticing at that time, that he was closer to her. But not close enough. He was still beautiful. After so many years, he could still take her breath way. His hair, his eyes and above all, his tail. Oh, his tail…

She could see the challenge in his eyes, and decided to take him. Walking in his direction, she smiled and made him shiver with pleasure. It was an ability that only she could achieve without a sweat. When she finally reached him, she took her mate´s hand and glued her body to his. With her mouth on his ear, the demoness said, "You know… you were such a good boy, a few minutes ago, when I asked you to create some space between you and the girl. I´m thinking that a reward is in order, don´t you think?"

They were a very well mated couple. Even if it had started out as a political mating, they were know life bonded. At that time, it had been a rather unexpected outcome for the both of them and now, after three hundred years of mating, they couldn´t keep living without the other. If one of them died, the other would soon follow. It was cruel, really, but it would be much crueler to separate them.

The suggestion was implicit in her voice and in her body language. The soft purr coming from her chest was irresistible. It was driving him mad. Her newest pup was not going to wake up any time soon, and so the couple took their leave. They had more… pressing matters to attend at the time, and their room was the destination. However, because of the lord´s impatience, they never actually got there. The study would have to serve the same purpose.

(*)

*This chapter had a beta reader BelovedStranger! Thank you so much! :3