XIX

Illa Cantat

By the time Kouga returns, his arms full of fur clothes, Kagome is fast asleep; her brow is crinkled with worries, but her eyes move dreaming beneath her lids. He stares down at her for a long minute, contemplates what he has learned about the mystery that first brought him to her...contemplates what he has not learned, the questions that still need answering and the further questions that have sprung up out of nowhere.

Kouga leaves the clothes by her side and turns to leave. He doesn't have time yet to sit and indulge himself with just the sight of her, with being close to her – that he wants to do this, he can neither deny nor understand. Her presence sings to him - even in silence; even in sleep.

"Kagome, all woman...all mystery, all madness...all mine."

He turns back to her despite himself, brushes a lock of hair away from her face and then bends to rub his cheek against her cheek.

"Mmm...mrrrr..."

Her faint noises amuse him, but he forces himself away from her and back out into the den. The elders are waiting for him, and Ginta and Hakkaku too; Kouga might be Alpha, but that is not to say that he is without council or other considerations beyond his own will. There is the safety of the pack to be considered, a safety that seems to be already at risk. There are strong warriors among them, but the last fifty years has seen an explosion of their numbers. This is a wonderful thing but also a source of worry; the dozens of pups are only wolves, will be only wolves until they reach their hundredth year...and without the power to fight, without anything but wolfish instinct to guide them, they are always in danger, always at risk...

Still, he is Alpha. The final say is his – always. Pack Law says so; the Law that rules even the Alpha, the Law that brings wolves into accord with each other, the law that speaks of more than blood and death and violence as the price of such a will as Kouga's. He is ready to defend his choices, his decision, his curiosity, especially in the face of what Kagome has done for Sho.

Hakkaku is waiting for him outside the council chamber, one hand ruffling the white height of his hair nervously, the other tossing a pair of little bags up and down. In the same moment he appears, Kouga snatches the bags out of the air in the middle of Hakkaku's toss.

"Hey! – oh, Kouga-sama, Ginta gave me the ones he had and -"

"Thanks, Hakkaku. Where is he?"

"Inside already; the Council's got their hackles up about waiting."

"Oh do they?"

Kouga wore an expression of sudden smugness; his tail lashed back and forth, but lazily; his shoulders set themselves and a prickle of youki grew around him, blue, icy, intense. He attaches the two little bags full of shards to his belt; Hakkaku grins, and then wheels around and takes up his usual spot on Kouga's right-hand side.

"Ready?"

"Might as well get it over with; open the door, Hakkaku."

It is the only door in the whole den; old, dark wood with a gleaming handle of gold. It creaks open under Hakkaku's hand, and Kouga steps forward into the center of the room. Eyes, gleaming eyes – that is the first thing he sees, amber eyes, brown eyes, blue eyes and green – wolf eyes, and wolf eyes. The whole pack has come, each one comfortable on one of the thousand little ledges that jut out from the raw stone of the walls.

Ginta approaches from where he has been delaying the inevitable, and takes up his own spot on Kouga's left. He trades glances with Hakkaku and then turns his attention forward.

Before them, four great, grey-furred wolves lie with their eyes on Kouga. A fifth beside them appears to be sleeping, but Kouga knows better than that. His greeting is short and to the point; his presence swells among his wolves and scores of greetings, welcome, welcome, echo back at him from the walls.

"Daisuke, Fumio, Eiji, Izumi – and you too, Kameko, I know you aren't asleep – I've brought wonderful things back from my little journey."

Daisuke shakes out his great ruff, stretches his forepaws forward. His voice is a rumble, woven with a hundred layers of growl: the voice of the Wolf.

"Wonderful things, Alpha? Do you know what you have done?"

Kouga stands defiant and smiles. He takes one bag from his belt and upends the shining shards into his palm. A billion shards of light and power go sparkling outward. Even Daisuke stares at them with desire in his eyes until Kouga closes his fist.

"I know exactly what I've done; that's why I'm here. To tell you. I brought the shards of the shikon no tama; not all of them, when it shattered many went...elsewhere...but enough. When I found them, I also found Kagome. A miko. And she's mine."

Eiji stirs.

"A miko. This woman – the one who saved Sho, Shiori's son."

Kouga grins.

"The very same. Not the usual type of miko, this one; but the details...don't concern yourself with the details. She's mine, like I said – not to be touched."

The blue of his eyes intensifies, and a low shudder passes through the lower ranks of those assembled.

Fumio rumbles, but says nothing; Izumi only continues to stare at Kouga, and then turns her gaze away in indifference. Daisuke nods slowly, and Eiji follows him; they have no choice, Kouga's word is his will, and that will is Law.

Only Kameko speaks up, blinking slowly, her voice a rumble lower even than Daisuke's.

"Kouga, do you really know what you are doing? Do you really trust this miko, based on one act of kindness?"

Kameko's eyes are great and gold; she is the eldest of their kind, had been the mate of an alpha so many generations ago that the name of her mate is no longer remembered, except by her. Kouga respects her, but he has no intention of changing his mind, of doubting his own decision. And Kameko's question...it's the wrong question anyway. He says as much.

"I already said, I know what I've done – I know what I'm doing. And her healing Sho isn't why I trust her; that's...just a bonus. I trust her because she's Kagome – because she's mine – because she has been since the moment I saw her."

"And the shards of the shikon no tama? You are prepared for the fight that will soon come to you? The fight that has already arrived, the fight to defend what you have claimed as your own?"

Kouga grins and pours the shards back into their bag, reattaches the bag to his waist.

"Of course. They're shards of the shikon no tama, after all...but they're mine now, and their power will help me protect them. If there's nothing else, I've got work to do."

Kouga leaves, and with him come Ginta and Hakkaku and a slow stream of most of the other wolves in the chamber. Even the elders leave, seeking out their own rooms and softer furs to lay on.

Kameko remains, rumbling discontently to herself.

"Kouga...Kouga...you pup. It wasn't...just the shards I was talking about..."

She blinks great golden eyes and then lays her head down on her forepaws.

The woman.

"That woman...Kouga..."

A/N: And at the last minute...the chapter appears! This chapter title "Illa Cantat" translates to "she sings"! I'm going to keep on writing so I have tomorrow's all ready...so...thank you, dear reviewers, and onward we go!

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