Chapter 31

Kagome had never been around any other Pack outside of Kouga's. She was surrounded by Demons everywhere she looked, everywhere she went. From the youngest in her arms to the oldest of the Elders. It left her mildly uncomfortable, and she had to tamper down the unease and fluency of spiritual power. She'd be damned before she let who she was struggle with who she was meant to be.

There was always a middle ground.

She knew there were instances of humans and Demons coming together. A half Demons life was proof enough. Inuyasha was proof of that. Inuyasha and Kikyou had Mated, though history would never know of that Mating. Inuyasha's Father had loved his human mother. The cases were few and far in between, but they were there.

But a Priestess and a Demon—a child born from that? Kouga was right. Their child was special.

Kouga still wouldn't tell her much else about Mating. He had told her that her lifespan would double to match his. She knew it involved sex after what he had said. They'd only had sex twice, no, three times, she corrected herself. She only remembered the two, the third was still a blur. What was more than sex? What's it like Mating with someone?

He'd once told her that he wouldn't tell her. But he would show her. He still stood by those words.

She stopped her gentle hum and the sway of her body when she realized that the light weight in her arms was finally asleep, those beautiful blue eyes closed. Being a mother was everything she could have dreamed it would be. Two weeks had passed, and she knew the time was small in comparison to what parenthood was, but he was so perfect. Kouga was so perfect in his role of parenthood. More than once, she had woken in the middle of the night to find Kouga with a bottle in his hand, or his body swaying as he rocked their son.

She leaned down and gently placed him on the tiny bed of furs, her fingers caressing his beautiful curls as she kissed his forehead. She straightened and turned—right into Kouga. Her "Oh" was muffled, silenced by the sudden kiss, his fingers spearing into her hair to hold her steady. She sank against him without fighting, her fingers twisting in the folds of his shirt.

He was doing that a lot lately, kissing her. Taking her hand. A gentle caress here, a slide of fingers against her neck when he walked by. Just small things that had her attention every time he did them. Lord help her, but his kisses. Her hands smoothed upward until they were sliding over his shoulders. Her lips opened against the pressure of his tongue, and she took him in greedily—he made her feel weak in all the right ways.

"They wouldn't shut up." Kouga muttered against her lips, one hand sliding from her hair to the small of her back to tug her fully up against him.

"Who wouldn't shut up?" She pulled back an inch, freeing her lips from his. He nipped her bottom lip in retaliation.

"Wolves." He backed her up a step and then another. "Pack." He corned her against the wall and then kissed her again, his hands moving over her sides. "I missed you."

"You haven't—" Kagome said but he cut her off in between kisses. "Been gone—" Another stinging bite against her lips. "That long."

"Long enough." Kouga muttered, one of his hands sliding around to grip her ass and bring her up further against him so that she was on her tip toes, pinned between him and the wall. It was driving him insane half the time, knowing he could have her, but knowing he couldn't have her. It wasn't even about the sex this time. He wanted to claim her. His Demon wanted to claim her. She was out of reach but so fucking close to him. He didn't care if the others said he was whipped. He'd whip their fucking asses if they said it—and then he'd tell them that they were right.

He lifted an eyebrow when a dainty hand forced itself between their lips, her palm pressing against his mouth. He nipped her palm playfully.

Kagome gave a small start at the bite, laughter in her eyes at the sudden sting, but she jerked her hand down reflexively. "You like biting, do you know that?" She said the first thing that popped into her mind.

"Just wait." He murmured and Kagome could feel desire unfold in her belly. Kagome knew exactly what that meant by the way he cupped the side of her neck, and his thumb smoothed over the place between neck and shoulder. He pressed against the tendon there.

Just wait. You'll see. Kouga pressed the tip of his claw against the smooth skin. He was going to hurt her when the time came, but he was going to make up for that pain in so many ways. He pressed just a little harder, heard her breath hitch. A drop of blood pooled beneath the tip of his claw. He leaned down slowly, but she didn't stop him from pressing his lips against the slope of her neck. He followed the line of her beating pulse. He paused inches from that tiny drop of red that beckoned him.

His tongue slid over the pinprick of a wound.

"Is that what it will feel like?" Kagome whispered breathlessly.

"Haven't we already had this discussion?" Kouga murmured. She tasted sweet and unbelievably human. But he could taste the power that ran through those veins in that miniscule drop of blood. Her skin was warm and clean. His lips twitched. He sometimes wondered if she forgot that he was Demon. She was the only reason he'd stopped eating humans. He still took his food raw from time to time—blood was still a delicate balance of raw flavor for some Demons.

She didn't answer him. He opened his mouth, lips and tongue playing against the skin and the nearly invisible wound there. They'd had this conversation twice before. She thought the dangerous prick of a claw was like the stinging bite of Mating?

Her fingers curled against his upper arms when she felt the sudden teasing graze of his teeth against her skin. He nipped her, a stinging pinch of sharp canines against her tender skin. She couldn't answer him. She really couldn't. Her heart was pounding too loudly in her ears for her to hear anything she might have said.

He moved his mouth slowly, knowing he was leaving a darkened bruise against her skin, knowing that his canines were leaving thin lines over the area he was laving with his tongue. He gave a small hum against her skin.

The press of a dangerous claw against her delicate skin.

A teasing graze of fanglike teeth against her pulse.

A stinging nick when he barely bit her. Teasing. Playing.

Warning.

Her nails dug into his forearms at the sudden bite. Quick. Sharp. The sweet burn of sharp canines breaking skin. She felt the pain of his teeth breaking delicacy and sinking inward. Her lips trembled when he pulled back and she felt the slow trickle of warm, wet blood slope downward.

Kouga's eyes followed the twin lines of red and he leaned down again. He caught them on his tongue before they reached the slope of her breast. His tongue swept upward, following the lines until he was sucking at the small wound he'd made.

Kagome was vaguely aware of his hands tilting her face up and when she opened her eyes he was staring down at her. Her chest moved up and down as she suddenly found it hard to breathe. Had his eyes always been so blue? They were like twin blue flames staring down at her. She stared up at him questioningly…

Kouga shook his head. "That was nothing, Kagome." He gently smoothed his thumb over the pinpricks of marks left by his teeth. The blood still gathered there against the skin—it was a wound. It bled as proof. He wasn't sure why he'd done it. He hadn't planned to.

Kagome placed her hand over it. Her throat dried. Nothing? That dull, throbbing pain was nothing? There was pain enough in that teasing bite. And that was nothing?

He gave a small laugh at her expression. The bite he wanted to give her was going to sink deep. As deep as both his body and canines could go. Sharp enough, deep enough, hard enough to where her blood would fill his mouth while he took her, pounding into her body—

He felt a warning throb down low.

Not yet. They couldn't. Not yet.

He groaned and dropped his forehead against hers. "Distract me." He muttered.

"What did they want?" Kagome whispered. He kissed her cheek.

"Hmmm?" He hummed the question as his lips moved over a familiar trail. They moved over her cheek, moving near her ear.

Oh my goodness. "You left. What did they want?" Warm breath filtered over her ear and then his tongue followed the line of her ear.

She pinched him.

Kouga gave a soft laugh and pulled back finally, reluctantly, releasing her. Not yet. Physically, they couldn't. Mentally he'd already laid his claim on her. "To talk shit most likely."

Kagome punched him lightly in the chest. Typical Kouga words. "I heard another Pack made it in last night."

Kouga grunted when she hit him, refraining from rolling his eyes. "I wouldn't call them a Pack. There's no organization whatsoever. They have no Alpha. They're probably here for the Run. You. To see him." Who knew. He really didn't care. No one was seeing his pup until the Elders finally called on them. Only a few of his selected prior Pack members were privy to his pup. He knew Kagome was tired of waiting—she was anxious.

"Why are we still waiting? They're the ones that wanted me here. Well, I'm here." Kagome lifted a hand in time with her words—showing her frustration of that topic in particular.

"They're not doing it on purpose, Kagome. They know you're not well." That wasn't entirely true, but hell, he didn't exactly know why the Elders did what they did half the time himself. They were giving her albeit time to rest and spend time with her child, that much was true.

"Hello." Kagome said and turned around, leaning down to pick up the furs that were strewn across the bed. She shook them out twice and then straightened them over the bed. She restacked the row of cloth diapers that were in the corner. "I've been up and walking around." She straightened his chest armor that sat in one corner.

She'd done all that this morning.

She was doing it again.

He frowned. Why was his armor so shiny? He scrubbed his hand down his face. She had polished his armor. Yes, she was anxious. He watched as she switched the pillows around, stared at them and then placed them back in the exact same position they'd been in. He honestly didn't see how that helped her calm down, as she'd once put it.

Her shoulders slumped. "I want to go home, Kouga." She said softly, staring down at the bed in front of her.

Kouga closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "I know." He said just as softly. It really wasn't fair that they'd called on her, but he understood that reasoning, even if Kagome didn't. She honestly still had a lot to learn where the Pack was concerned, but Kouga couldn't bring himself to tell her that.

Kagome took comfort in the way his arms surrounded her. "They'd better not be here to see me because I'm not here to see them."

Kouga smiled against the back of her head. "They're a bunch of pups pretending to be grown Wolves." Not all of them, but a few were. He'd said as much.

"What did the Elders say?"

"I don't know. I walked out."

"You walked out on the Elders?"

He nodded and Kagome turned in his arms. "Kouga, you can't do that."

His lips kicked up at one end. "So says the human who said they could suck their own dicks."

Her mouth dropped open. "That's not what I meant."

"That is what you meant." He leered at her denial. Kagome wasn't scared of retribution concerning herself—she was afraid of what they might do to him. They'd already taken his title. They honestly couldn't do worse to him at this point.

He was right. She had meant every disgusting, foul word she'd spoken on them. She planned on repeating everything she had ever said to their faces.

"Fucking leeches."

Kagome paused when she heard the words. She had somehow managed to talk Kouga into letting her outside. She needed fresh air. They'd left the sleeping baby with one of the Healers. He wasn't ready to let her out of his sight yet.

As if she needed a babysitter.

She didn't mind his company, at least. It wasn't entirely bad.

They were still in a large section of the Wolf settlement. Forest surrounded them on every side. She could smell the nearby fire burning and when she turned the bend of trees she saw why. Reiko and Ayame. What was obvious bandages had been unwound and were in a small pile at his feet. There was a healer at his feet, cautiously placing leeches around the bruise that had formed up his ankle. She could just make out the shadow of veins that had crawled upward along the bruise. Dark veins. Black. It was small and miniscule, but it was there none the less.

It was like a disease.

Leeches were a common medical practice against pain. Bloodletting, as she'd learned it was called in the Feudal Era, was used for various 'cures'. It wasn't one she had taken up as a Healer. Those things were disgusting and she honestly didn't see how they helped.

Reiko looked up at them when he sensed their presence. His expression was one of disgust. "I hate leeches."

"Is it working?" Kagome asked.

"It's manageable." Ayame said the same thing that Reiko once said to her. "It's progressed a little. There's no sign of contagion, but… "

The black veins that protruded around his ankle said as much. They hadn't been there before.

Reiko caught Ayame's chin in his hand. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, my lerisha."

Kagome felt awkward watching the tender moment between the two. She wasn't sure what he'd called Ayame, but she was sure it was a nickname of sorts. It was weird seeing Ayame so invested in another man after so long of chasing Kouga. But looking up at Kouga, Kagome had the feeling that the two men saw nothing awkward about it. They saw it as natural. It was a Wolfs way of life.

She rang her hands nervously. "Can I try something?"

Reiko tilted his head. "May as well. Can't be any worse than these tiny fuckers."

If not for her, he wouldn't be in the position he was in now. This was her fault. Like it or not, it was her fault. Kagome sank to her knees beside him and motioned towards the leeches latched onto his skin. "Can you take those off, please?" She asked the Healer.

The Healer looked her nose down at her with old eyes. "I don't think—"

"You're not here to think." Reiko said and Ayame gave a small choke that she hid behind her hand. "Take them off." He continued. The Healer wasn't under his Pack but she picked up a small metal tool and grudgingly began picking them off one by one.

Kagome grimaced at the blood that was left behind each leech, a thin line of raw skin where each had punctured his skin.

"You can leave." Reiko said, ignoring the Healer completely at this point.

"She's not a Healer. I don't think—" The Healer started but Reiko lifted his head. "You're not needed. Now leave."

Kagome waited in terse silence as the Healer looked at them all before slowly gathering her tools and left. She let out the breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Kagome was a healer in her own right, she told herself. She knew herbs. She knew medicine. She had knowledge of medicinal herbs and medicinal recipes that were only known 500 years in the future.

This was a gist of the moment thought. It honestly hadn't crossed her mind until a couple of seconds ago. "I don't know if it will work, but…" She reached out and pressed her hands against his ankle. She wasn't touching him; her palms were inches from his skin but Kouga latched onto a wrist regardless. Kagome looked up at him. "He's not contagious. He said so himself, Kouga."

She knew Reiko wouldn't let her touch him if he was. Neither man would. She hadn't planned on touching him, though. She didn't even know if this was going to work. Kouga released her wrist reluctantly.

Kagome took a deep breath. Ok. "You remember when I purified the jewel, Kouga? This shouldn't be that different." Right?

Kouga stared at her. He hadn't even thought of that. If she could cure Rot…

Reiko leaned forward, his expression was terse, but thoughtful. Hopeful.

Kagome bit her bottom lip and focused a minimal amount of spiritual energy into her hands. She watched as the palms of her hands gave a soft pink glow. She kept still, channeling her thoughts and what she wanted with her energy. She was vaguely aware of Reiko tensing and then he gave a low hiss through his teeth. Ayame gave a low growl and Kagome's head jerked up. "I'm sorry." The spiritual energy was hurting Reiko, she realized. It was butting up against his Demonic energy. She could see a slow spiral of spoke rising from where her hands nearly pressed against his skin.

She let the flow of power die out immediately, her hands moving back quickly. She hadn't intended to hurt him.

"No. Look." Reiko muttered, leaning over his leg.

Kagome and Kouga followed his gaze. There were faint scorch marks against his ankle—from her energy, she knew. But she could see the black veins of disease writhing beneath his skin. It was scarce seconds before they grew still beneath his skin again.

Kouga inhaled roughly. "Kagome."

She nodded, her expression just as stunned. "I saw it."

"God damn. She can cure it." Reiko breathed out, just as shocked. The disease was still there—that much was obvious. But the proof was in how the shadowy darkness had fought against her energy. She'd cured a miniscule portion of the disease. They could all see it. She couldn't do it all at once—but she could do it before the disease took his mind and body.

A throat clearing had them all turning. A Wolf Demon she didn't recognize stood there. "The Elders are ready."