A Woman!

Two rotations of the moon had passed since Kagome had separated from him, from the Western army as one of its own, more then sixty days she had been alone save for her steed, but as of a while ago that too was no longer a comfort. Her beautiful black and white Kaze was dead. They had been high in the mountains, she had been hunting goats that had the ability to scale the rigid cliffs of the Western mountain range, she had been night hunting, and had not thought that a mortal wolf would dare attack her steed.



Kaze had slipped and fallen far, too far for the beautiful animal to live through until the morning. She had come down to him, clutching her rather rounded belly, and noticing that her horse could not move its long legs. She had looked and found that Kaze had broken his back just below his neck and right before his shoulder blades, to let him live at all would be torture, and so with a heavy heart and tear filled eyes, Kagome placed her brow to that of the horse and slipped her claws into his neck, slicing through life flowing veins. She held him as his breathing slowed and the blood flowed freely out from him, and Kaze died.



She had brought her knees up to her chest as much as she could then, and cried for the first time in a very long time before the night she had been laid with pup. She smiled ruefully at the whole situation, she was alone in the world, though he had been a silent beast of burden, Kaze had been the only reminder of home that she had other then her sword, and he was gone. She could not hunt for the goats with his body near by, and she needed to eat, the growing being within her needed meat, the emotional side of her, her beast fought her not to do it.



Though considering she was so far from the male that did this to her, and she was not listening to her beast as of the moment considering it was her fault that they were so far from him in the first place, Kagome had eaten the remains of Kaze. Her logical side could not fault her from this, if she did not eat the meat, then the pup within would go without, or take what it needed from her, making her weak, making them weak, and easier to kill. The beast, the emotional counterpart mourned Kaze, the logical side honored his memory with the thought that his death had saved her unborn pups life.



The days that had been before this were not that great, she hadn’t honestly figured it out until she had really taken stock in her body. Until her hardened stomach, and slight bulge had turned into a stiff definable bump. She had thought of all the things that she knew of that could cause this, and had spent days upon days trying to think of what she could have done to have her body change so, it was in sleep that her beast had finally let her see what had happened. The logical side was intelligent, but she could only guess so much without full knowledge of the events that had transpired.



They had mentally fought for hours over it, the beast though couldn’t see what was so wrong, they had a mate, they were pupped, according to the beast, they should go back to their tall silver headed male. This was until the logical angrily explained their situation to the beast, that they were not wanted, that the pup would be taken, and possibly killed, that there was probably some other female that was to have been his mate that would want them dead. Not only that, but considering their own family secrets, this pup was more then just the Western heir. The beast had been silent for a while now, knowing that logical though cold and calculating was very right and as much as she wanted their mate, she wanted their pup more.



Kagome couldn’t understand herself, she knew she was an intelligent being and yet she had not once thought she could be pregnant, it was just not something she would have thought the Captain of all demons, to do to her, she figured he’d kill her first. And yet, as she used her free hand to hold onto a large tree root as she climbed down a steep ridge towards the river, towards fish, she hadn’t even thought of this situation. Thinking of her growing belly, some part of her, the childish side that wanted nothing more then for this to be some horrible dream told her it was just that. That she was not alone in the wilderness with only her sword, a bag full of her personal effects, without her steed, without her mate, without her family, and with pup. It was over whelming to say the least.



She thought of him constantly now, wondering what he was doing, wondering if he had known when she had walked away, but he couldn’t have, and yet that too made her wonder if he would have stopped her from leaving. She thought of many things as she subconsciously checked the area for danger when she got towards the water. She was very much like a deer waiting for some larger predator to step out from the shadows and attempt to take her, and why shouldn’t she. A mated female with pup, far from her protector, carrying the heir to the thrown and more, hell beyond that she just didn’t want to end up as someone’s dinner or play thing, for she knew she was strong but she didn’t want to even attempt anything knowing that another life depended on her own.



She was grateful that spring was coming and that she had made it through the winter months, she felt pride knowing that she could and that she was strong enough to live this life that the kami’s had given her. When she had reached the river that day, she had made herself a little shelter not far from its bank, it was cold yes, but it was easy for her to get away if she needed to, and there was a constant supply of food. She also had a shelter farther away, deep in a cave that she had found and made very much like a home, for now she would use the river shelter, but when her pup came the cave would be much better. She’d cleaned the area there, scented it as hers, and placed barriers to keep things out from the area. She’d spent days there by the river with no other sounds then the rush of water, and the sounds of nature around her.



The peace of her river home though was lost one afternoon, by her count about seventy or more days after she had left the army, with a scream of a young boy’s voice. She had walked out of her shelter, and come just in time to see a human boy wash from a water fall, and just passed her. She was moving before she even realized it, her body even heavy with pup moved with a grace and agility that few could ever hope for even as an inu she had always had such abilities. Before the war she had never applied them as the Captain and his rigid training had asked for, she had always used her head to fight, her mind was a tacticians dream. Her body had been less then a warriors, but now she had the best of both.



She’d plucked the young human from the water, like an angel of mercy, and yet when she saw him she knew right away many things. That he was a taijiya, sworn enemy of youkai of all kinds, her beast fought the logical to throw the boy back from wince he came, but the beast was lonely, and the company could prove interesting, her logical side was starting to think that pregnancy addled her emotional side thoughts, but conceded, having had far too many days alone to fight it. She watched as the boy’s eyes hazed over, he had been awake when she plucked him from the water but he had passed out. She sighed, taking the boy first to her river shelter, before gathering her things and heading for her cave.



The boy was light in weight, feeling much like nothing at all in her grasp even sodden with water, her agile yet round body moved with calculated steps as she readied her ‘home’ for the early addition. She wondered what could have brought the boy down the water, what had happened to him, she was not really accustomed to humans, though she bore no hatred for them as many of her kind did, she was still taught to be wary of them. Their emotions were much like the youkai’s beast, fickle and unpredictable, leaving them to act out irrationally, and often times ending in their early deaths. This was a reason why youkai and humans hardly mixed, though many youkai had much patience, often it was not enough to indulge ones time with the ever wreck that humans presented.



She sighed as she got him back to her ‘home,’ though she was not sure if she was correct she thought the boy would not do well if he remained in such a wet state. She started a fire, and reluctantly she removed the wet husked unknown blacked youkai skin that the boy seemed to use as armor. There had been turtle shells of sea youkai that had been on his knees, shoulders, and elbows, all tied with bright yet demur teal youkai worm silks. And against his abdomen and guarding his lower body were thin sheets of hardened bone, his weapon, had been pulled out with him, an odd shaped sickle, again made of hardened youkai bone.



As she looked upon his face, he looked so young and innocent, but with all the weapons and armor made from youkai who had died at his or someone else’s hand she thought perhaps he was a killer. Again her logical side screamed that this was insane that she should have this boy here, and her beast was beginning to agree taking into account for everything that they had seen. Both were finally agreed on something for the first time when the boy whined out, the sound was much like a pup, and curiously as if the boy was in pain.



That emotionally heavy pregnant mind of her beast whined at her to ease the boy’s pain, without killing him, the logical side sneered, but curiosity got the better of her, and thus she found herself looking over the boy’s body. She had looked from his front over, and then slowly she turned him over, and nearly shuddered when she saw his back, their carved into him was a deep gash between his shoulder blade, and broken off arrow heads, taking a tentative sniff of the wounds she wretched back smelling the poisons commonly used by the North.



It was then that the logical side decided to heal the boy, if he was hurt, or hunted by the North then he was not her enemy, in fact, he was in a way her friend. She cleaned his wounds and finally saw by the glow of the fire the true damage, he would not live if she didn’t take drastic measures, there was a way to save him but the other result was that it would kill him, though considering that the boy would die if she did not, Kagome set to work. Cutting her palm she let her rich blood flow but only a few drops into the wound, licking her own palm to seal the cut, she rubbed the wet saliva slick palm against the wound.



Waiting was not something she enjoyed, but soon it paid off, as the cut began to slowly seal shut, she was happy for that, as she watched his breath slowly came, and went, listening for his heart beat to become regular again. The rest of the day and night she waited out as the body hit and broke a fever, no doubt caused by the mixing of her blood with his own. She scented his change in scent as it became laced a bit with her own, forming a bond of pack with the boy. She hoped that her assessment had been correct, she did not like the idea of killing a child, but if it came to her pup or this boy, she would decimate him if need be. She sat by his side only leaving when she needed to feed, or gather more fire wood or water.



She had waited three days when the boy finally opened, his eyes, he was grateful that wherever he was, was dark, his eyes were sore as was his body, he had been unconscious before, and had been aware of similar effects in his body. But he questioned what was going on, the last thing he remembered it was night time when they had been attacked, their village, the last of the taijiya was sacked and burned by the vile spider youkai of the North. He and his sister along with his father and a few other men had been gone from the village, they were the strongest.



When they had begun to near home the sight that greeted them was that the ancient village nested upon the boarder of North and West was on fire, their village men and woman being hunted and killed by the dozens. They had fought for what seemed like days, when he had been attacked from behind, he had not remembered what had happened, only that teeth and claws had struck out at him, and then suddenly he had been so wet and cold, lastly he remembered beautiful pale blue eyes. He was thankful for his armored suit, it was not impervious, but it could take a great deal if stress before it was breached.



Kohaku hadn’t even looked around his surroundings when he heard a feminine voice speaking to him, “I see you are awake young one. Rest now. When you wake again I will have something for you to eat, and you can tell me why you were in a river.” Kagome had come back from the river to find the boy awake, she could tell he was tired, and sore, and did not want him to move and stress his wounds. She watched as he nodded, and went back to sleep, she smiled to herself, having gotten some things that she thought the boy would like from a village not far away, she was never sure but rice had been something she thought humans ate.



The next morning Kohaku woke again, this time fully rested and alimented to the slight change in his strength, the slight speed to his own abilities, Kagome had observed him from the dark space of the cavern. When he began to rise she made her presence known, she watched in veiled amusement as the boy tensed, and reached for weapons that she had removed days ago. “Where are my weapons?” he asked her in a voice that both brokered on manhood and slight terror, her amusement grew, but she did not want him to react, and do something that would get himself killed by her.



“It would not be wise for me to have left them with you. Would you leave an unconscious bandit with his weapons for when he woke?” she asked him watching as the boy thought of his answer, and understanding in his eyes. “What is your name boy?” he bristled a bit being called a boy, but seeing as how he had bandages on his being, and that his slayers amour was folded neatly next to his armored shells, and mask he answered her figuring that she had saved his life. It would make no since for her to kill him if she went through the trouble of saving him.



“Kohaku.” he answered quietly, while looking at the female fully for the first time. Her hair was longer then his sisters but not the longest he had ever seen before. It was a glossy onyx mess of length and shown deep crimson in the light of the fire, her eyes were peculiar to him, in the dim light it was hard to tell the color, but he could see bits of cool blue, under the heated amber from the light, but there was a warmth there that not many youkai had. As a student in the destruction of youkai kind he had always been one to take notice of all things, he and his sister were of the same mind that not all youkai were evil, and though he wanted to kill them relentlessly for the slaughter of his village, he knew the blame lay with the leader of the Northern army and lord, Onigumo and his son, Naraku.



She smiled so him, “I’m pleased to meet you Kohaku, my name is Kagome. Just how did you come to be in the river?” she asked, not knowing the emotion she dredged with the question. She watched as his face and eyes hardened at the thought, and followed quickly with, “You do not have to answer if you do not want to. When you are ready you can tell me if you like. I’m afraid though you will have to take it easy for a bit, you were very injured when I found you, as a result to save your life I had to mix our bloods. There is not much but it will be enough seeing as you lived through it, that you functions are bound to be much more …acute then before, faster. Do you have any questions?” she asked kindly.



Kohaku was shocked to hear this, this meant that he was indebted to her for a life-boon, beyond that that he was bonded to her, he knew all too well that youkai did not share blood lightly, he had to ask himself why she did this, he needed to know from her as well. “Why did you save me?” he asked quietly while looking away from her. There was silence for a moment before she answered and he had all but thought she wouldn’t when she did.



“I don’t know honestly. When I saw you, you were drowning much like a cat.” she spat the last word a bit, causing him to wonder what type of youkai she was, but he listened as she finished. “I pulled you from the river without thought, I saw that you were a taijiya, and thought to throw you back.” she smiled sharply at him then but laughed a bit. “In all truthfulness I was lonely. I don’t expect you to stay forever or anything, but I was once a social being, to be alone is not without its drawbacks. I had a horse that was companion enough but the stubborn thing died. Enough time alone can make one go insane from boredom. “ she smiled winningly at him, and he knew then that he would stay with her, perhaps he would find out what happened to his family, his sister, his village maybe, but he would stay with her.



“May I ask?” he said noticing her swollen stomach. She followed his sight and sighed a bit, but figured the boy was smart to think of such things, a pregnant female was never left alone, and never would any male allow another male, youth or not near his bitch, though she doubted he knew what type of youkai she was, she gave him credit for wanting to make sure he was safe.



“I am not aware if the father even knows, there will be no one to swoop down upon you in the middle of the night, you have nothing to fear from this Kagome.” she said with a sad smile on her face, he nodded, it seemed they both had their secrets, he would not press her, human or youkai it was not good to bother a pregnant female.



“May I ask, where are we?” Kagome thought for a moment. When she left she was far in the northern parts of the western lands. Now she was in the eastern most parts of the lands.



“We are close to the South-Eastern border of the Western Lands, are you far from home?” she asked as she leaned against the cavern walls. She watched as his shoulder slumped a bit, knowing the answer already.



“Yes, very far. My village is far to the Northern border of the West.” he answered.



“I see. Then we shall have to get you there as soon as we can. I’m afraid I cannot travel that far as of the moment.” she said holding her swollen belly with another sad smile. He nodded thinking as much. “As soon as I can though I will get you back to your family, your going to have to promise they won’t kill us though.” she laughed happily then. He smiled at her as well, he had never met a youkai as she, Kirara and Shippo were the only youkai he kept company with, and often times most youkai they were sent to kill, or were out to kill them, and here he sat laughing with one.



It was strange and yet somewhat comforting. She smiled brightly at him then, “Please rest, I will show you to the river and the area so that you may know the surrounding area if you need to have use of it. I know you may not want to talk of it, but the wounds you had were inflicted upon you from the Northern army, you have nothing to fear from me, for the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and I now call you friend with the greatest of ease.” he nodded to her, and laid down tired from speaking, and moving around a bit, it was obvious to him that he had been out for a while, now that he was healed he was just simply tired.



.



Far North of them…



.



A vanilla and black colored two tailed fire neko carried two humans and a small kitsune on her back as they searched down the river, two male and one female looked frantically for a body or any sign that the boy hunter had either ended or lived through what was going on. Sango, the female wore her warriors garb stained with the blood of her family, her enemy and her own. The male, a monk dressed in rich deep violets, held on to the rider for dear life as he too searched out the brother of the woman he loved. The small kit looking for his friend. They made an odd motley crew the lot of them, but they were all that was left of the once proud taijiya.



The groups had been slaughter by those that were said to have honor, had found out that the North had feared that the taijya would give aid to the West in this war, and had decided to take them out before they became a problem. Though there were only about ten actual Northern soldiers, it was undeniable that the bastards had called out to all the lower youkai in the area telling them that the villages strongest were not there, leaving them open for attack. Sango had seen him then, the heir to the North, clad in both bone armor and a white baboon pelt, as he called out to them. His red eyes were not crimson or scarlet as though a beast were present but dull and evil, simply red.



She had felt a whole new level of hatred engulf her being as she flung her heavy bone weapon at them taking on as many as she could, it had been a hard fight. But when it was over, the heir and his men were gone, their village destroyed, and on fire, and she didn’t know where her brother was. Shippo and Kirara had tracked his scent to the cliff near by, that they dumped used body parts from youkai kills. There was nothing for her there, and the only family she had now was lost in the West down river, in a land full of youkai, and though she was a friend of the second son of the InuTaisho, she didn’t think that this would help protect her brother if he was still alive at all.



She knew that she would need to stop her search for her brother soon, it had been a week with no news of him yet, if he were alive they would have found him by now. Also, she would need to get in touch with either Inuyasha, or InuTaisho to make the West aware of the lack in positioning for where their village had once been. Ironically it was afternoon the day she made her mind up about her search for her brother when they ran into Myoga, the old vassal of the Western Lord.



Miroku relayed most of the information to the old flea, who bid Sango his condolences for her loss before he went off to the great and terrible dog demon. He would not like his search held up but he would need the information more. Her small group settled for the night, in the morning the would begin traveling back to her village, the search had gone on long enough, now it was time to take care of the dead. If her brother was alive then he would go home, or to whatever was left of it. For the night they slept dreamless, restlessly, before returning to the broken village.



.



With the Northern army…



.



Naraku laid out on furs in his father’s tent, females, naked as the day they were born and chained to posts around the tent addressed his needs as he listened to the reports given by his father’s generals. They were not what one would call a close family, they were both power hungry and greedy, his father fought this war because he wanted lands that were not his own, Naraku did it because he loved to kill, he loved to watch with sadistic glee as the life of a being left them, and the light in their eyes died out. He was a bastard in all meanings of the word, his parents were not mated, nor were they married, his mother had been the human look a like of some maiden from long ago, making him a loathed half-demon.



Peculiar though it was, he was just as strong as his father, and far more tactitious. Onigumo was everything his son was, but his son was better, nether trusted the other more then they could throw him, but neither were willing to make the other an enemy either. It had been the son and heir that had thought it wise to take out the slayers, it had been the son that knew the passages to get there, and it had been the son that had them all killed. Onigumo would be proud if his son was not such a war monger, though he himself wanted land and power, his son wanted none of that, his son wanted the destruction of life itself, and would be happy ruling over ruins if he himself had put them in such a state.



Onigumo knew that he would have to watch his offspring, the boy was cruel for no reason what so ever, and though Onigumo often found no complaint with this he knew that by letting it go on as he had, he had allowed the boy to grow far more evil then even he himself was. Onigumo watched as one of his son’s toys came in, he was not aware of the magics the boy used but he was rather skilled in them, he had captured a wind nymph, a being of nature and forced her powers into the body of a demoness, whatever the process had been he held the girls heart like it were a jewel, tangible to the touch. She was his slave, and he’d seen once more then needed the power his heir held over the girl. He and the boy both used her body for their whims, and the loathing he saw in her eyes made him wary to have her as anything more then a bed partner. His son though, used her as his personal slave, toy, errand girl, spy and weapon.



He tuned out his generals who were complimenting him far too much for his likings, to listen to the sultry voice of the wind witch, “The village was destroyed, but at least one survived. I watched as you instructed, master. I do not think the slayers will be a problem at this point.”



“Good. You may leave Kagura, oh and Kagura do not go too far, it seems my father has interest in you this night.” Naraku loved to see the hatred in her crimson eyes, they were far brighter then his own or his fathers, and sparked so vividly with her loathing of them both. He loved the power he held over her, knowing that at any moment he could kill her by clutching his palm, he loved when he raped her. She always fought at first before crying into her submission, mostly he loved breaking her, as the wind she was in fact unbreakable, but in a body, a demoness’ body she had emotions, and feelings that as the wind she did not have. She was not in control of them at all times, and though she in essence was ancient in spirit, her body was too young for her to fight him properly. He smirked evilly as he watched her sink to her knees near his father, the old spider was soft on the wind witch, he never took her with such venom as Naraku did, but he took her against her will nonetheless.



One day he would kill them both by absorbing them into him, then he would rule all. He hated his father for bedding his mother, hated her for being human, and making him half demon, hated the world for the way they looked at him, thinking themselves better then he. He would show them all they would all fear him, and he would be ruler of them all. They had started with the West, the strongest, when it fell the South, and East would follow, and he would rule them all. He would let the old man do the hard part and then he would take over, he smirked even more evilly at his thoughts for the West, he would personally rape, pillage, and plunder everything for all it was worth, the West would be a wasteland when he was done, and it would be beautiful, befitting place for him and his new kingdom. He cackled mentally, as he slapped a naked serving wench on her ass, and grabbing her to force his erect member into her mouth.



.



Back at the Western Palace …



.



The InuTaisho had not taken the news of the fallen slayers village well, it was well known that the old dog had both an alliance and friendship with the village headsmen for many hundreds of years. There was an understanding, a truce, and as such the West was one of the safest provinces’ there were, and now that flank of defiance along with his people, and allies were gone, only one remained, and the other missing. Knowing this would be hard on the boy did not stop him from calling his youngest son to deal with this situation. Sesshomaru would be no good at all. For more then two months his eldest was far more moody then anything he could ever hope to deal with had he had a female pup instead, and now that they were at home for a short rest from battles, he could clearly see that something was horribly wrong with his heir.



Sending Inuyasha was not wise, but sending Sesshomaru would be worse, at least he knew Sango and Inuyasha were friends, and though his youngest was brash and sometimes acted unintelligent, he knew Sango as the headmen’s eldest was sensible enough to deal with him. The old dog general planned to offer any help he could, even a home for her if she wished, but considering the details in which Myoga had told him he knew that she had grown from the pup he had seen last. This war had gone on long enough, if it didn’t end soon, Taishou would loose everything important to him and his lands, his eldest son to some seeming madness that he himself could not understand, the lands themselves, the peoples trust. He wondered when it would end.



-



Days later Inuyasha traveled to the place that had once been the Demon Slayer village, he’d only been there twice in his life but he’d met the slayers while they were out and about in the lands more then a few times. He respected the headmen’s daughter, Sango was a warrior in every sense of the word, even if she was a female, she was fierce and defiant, if she were willing he’d think to court her, but he wasn’t really ready for such things, and by the time he was Sango would probably be an old maid or dead already, such was the life of a half demon. He was going on nearly one hundred and fifty years of age, it’d probably be another twenty before he was ready for such commitments.



The journey was solemn, thinking of all that was going on in the world, he was not in battles like his elder brother and father, it was not that his father thought him weak but, he was just not meant for war. He could kill if there was a reason but he himself did not find reasons to fight in such ways, he could not detach his human emotions from the onslaught of war, and his father did not wish to make him so. He thanked his father for that much, allowing him to be regent while they were away, it was a steady growing maturity that he was expected to uphold while the old man was away, and he tried his best to make his father proud.



His hatori was bright as he leapt from tree to tree, the red seeping out into the color light of the near spring day, still snow stubbornly clung to the land, and made the hanyou an easy target. Luck was on his side though as he traveled, no one taking notice of the Western prince as he moved, though he himself was lost in his own thought, just over a mile back he thought he’d scented Sango’s younger brother, but thought it to be impossible. He was just a babe the last time he saw the boy, there was no way he was this far away from the village.



When Inuyasha got to the village the sight that greeted him was heartbreaking, these people, oddly enough the ones sent to destroy his kind, had always been friends. Sango and another male were burying the dead, many graves were lined up in double rows, a small kitsune placing flowers atop the mounds. He sighed as he leapt from his perch and made his way over, the neko mewed out catching her mistress’ attention, “Oh, hello, Inuyasha-san.” said the slayer sadly. “What brings you here?” she questioned, as the monk clutched his staff ready for a fight having never met the half-demon before.



“My father spoke with Myoga. What happened?” he asked taking in everything that was around him. Sango relayed the story of that horrible night and that her brother was missing, how they had searched for him and had yet to find him. By the time the story was finished, it was dark out and they would not be able to travel. The hanyou had listened to everything, taking it all in and seeing the battles in his minds eye, again he found reason to call Sango strong, many other females would be heart broken to the point that they would not be functional at such losses, she was different.



“I see. In the morning we will leave, on my way here a few days back I thought I caught scent of your brother, I dismissed it thinking he would not be so far from here. I was not aware he was missing, or I would have searched further then.” he said acting far more mature then he really felt. Sango beamed with joy at the thought but quickly displaced the feeling, not wanting to get her hopes up if it wasn’t him, or worse if he was dead. She walked out of the hut they were all in then, to look up at the night sky, wondering if her only family was okay.



.



South West of them…



.



Kohaku tossed and turned while he attempted to sleep, it had been nearly two almost three weeks that he’d been with Kagome, they had come to a comfortable understanding of one another. Kagome had come in to see and feel the stress the boy was in, she came over and calmed him in his sleep which he rose from panting a bit, he was glad there was someone there to chase away his nightmares, usually Sango did such things, but again this demon had proven she was like family.



“Why did you do that?” he couldn’t help but ask, as she sat against the wall of the cave looking out at the night sky. Before turning to fix him with a stare, as if to say, ‘silly!’



“We are pack mates. You were distressed.” it was simply, and it made perfect sense for more reasons then Kohaku could ever hope for. He nodded to her assessment and laid back down to get rest, he had a feeling soon they’d need it. Kagome returned her gaze to the sky above knowing soon that her body would force her into labor, she had maybe a month more and she’d bring this little one into the world, she absently rubbed her belly and wondered what her pup would look like. Both its sire and dam had strong features, and both were complete opposites, but she couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like. She couldn’t scent the sex of the pup, her own concealment along with the fact that she simply smelled herself and nothing more, did not help her in guessing the sex of her pup. Her mate would be able to tell.



The thought brought back mixed emotions, her beast had been riled up the whole time they had not been together, and even after she, the logical side, had figured out what the beast had hidden, the creature still wanted to go back to him. She couldn’t lie to herself, least she be forced to listen to a grumbling beast for days on end, but she missed him too. As Kengomo, she had come to respect the Captain, he was dashing, and strong, intense, and wonderful. As Kagome, she had only seen the rougher passionate side of him, the naked underbelly that was the killing perfection. The mere thoughts of his brought a fire to her belly, she still wanted him, craved him, but she was not sure of herself around him, he was possibly her greatest weakness, at least until her pup was born, which would be before the next full moon cycle.



She would need to eat, and stock up for the birthing, she was scared out of her mind really. She did not have a younger sibling so she was not sure what was going to happen. There was only so much she had ascertained from other females that had birthed before, as a pup she’d heard many conversations from the elders around her about the subject but she only knew so much. She didn’t know if she’d need her mate, or if she could do this without him, she didn’t know how long it would take, or how much it might hurt, she did wish for comfort though, but the one who should give it was seemingly lost to her. Looking to the night sky she wished only to be with him, her pearly blues were lost just staring out into the night.



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With her mate…



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He was furious, so much so that no being, not his sire, nor or dam, or even his vassal Jaken attempted to come to him. He was still not aware of all things, though he knew his beast was rattled into such a vexed state he was not sure why. When questioning the beast he was answered with set of snarls and growls that equated to nonsense. The only thing he knew was that his beast had been fine before he’d bedded that female, and now it was not, it didn’t take him long to figure out that the beast had taken a liking to the onna, but when he’d tried explaining that she was not theirs, his beast had gone nearly mad.



The beast could understand the logical side’s thoughts, but it did not make them any less hurtful to think or feel, the logical side had still not figured it out completely, he could not feel the loneliness that he felt, the void of not being with her now. Their bitch was out there somewhere, alone, and unprotected, with their pup and heir, it was beside itself being upset, and the logical side had said such cruel things, 'she was not theirs', the beast scoffed. Logical side would find out soon enough that she was in fact theirs, and how much so, the beast had its own agendas. The link that was shared between their female and himself was solely between her and the beast, if his beast did not wish him to feel it, then his logical would not.



But great pains, such as the birth of their pup into the world, the beast would not be able to block out from the logical, only being there with their mate would allow them to not feel such pains. He allowed his logical side to understand his growls, saying, ‘mate,’ to gage his reaction to the idea of the female as his mate. The beast was not deterred when the logical side stopped mid-step at the thought. The beast sending small flashes of their shared night of passion with their female, her moans and growls of pleasure foremost in his mind as he shared them with his logical side. The beast chuckled as he felt their shared body’s reaction to this, it was good, his logical side seemed less of a threat to their mate now, he would share with him soon what had happened that night, and then hope that the logical side would find their mate soon. The birth of their pup and heir would be soon, and he neither wanted to feel such great pains or be away from their mate.

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An: well that was chapter 3, different i'm sure, but i liked it, tell me what you think. As always i'd like to thank my beta, she puts up with my marshmallows better then anyone out there, i want to thank the bunches of folks that have reviewed this work and have asked that i add on to it, thus making it a 3 part out of 6 thus far. either way, thanks so much for the support. - r0o