My Happy Ending

Chapter Six: Leaving Love Behind

Ayame watched the scene before her with sad eyes. Kouga, the man she loved, was hanging all over an ookami female named Kira. They had found her unconscious two months ago, and had first thought she was Kagome. The two females could have been twins. The tribe figured that she had somehow been changed into a demon, until they took in her scent. Whereas Kagome smelled of fresh rain and mint, this female smelled of rotting roses. Every time Ayame was within breathing distance she wanted to gag.

At first, Kouga hadn’t seemed all that interested in the new ookami female and their lives had remained relatively the same. But as the weeks had passed, she had seen less and less of her mate. Every time she turned a corner, there they were. She had tried asking about it once, a few days ago and she still had the bruises from it.

“Kouga,” she asked quietly as her mate walked in close to midnight. For the past several days, he had left the den early and come back late. Ayame was worried about him. She had a funny feeling that Kira had something to do with it.

“What Ayame,” he growled out, his temper coming to the fore. He’d been doing that a lot lately, loosing his temper when around her. She didn’t know what she had done to make him so upset, but she was damn well going to find out.

“Are you mad at me? It seems like the last few days you can barely stand the sight of me,” she asked, her voice quavering slightly. She heard him sigh as he massaged the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He looked tired.

“Nothing is wrong Ayame,” he said softly, some of the earlier harshness leaving him.

“Then why is it I hardly ever see you anymore? Hell, Kouga, we haven’t even made love since she came,” she spat angrily. She saw him stiffen before hearing a low growl. Suddenly, she found herself pinned to their den wall by his hands on her upper arms, his body keeping her from wriggly out of his grasp.

“What I do with Kira is none of your damn business,” he said in a quiet voice. Shocked at his violent reaction, and a little scared by his tone of voice, she waited for his what he would do next. She could see the edges of his eyes turning pink. She hadn’t meant to provoke him, but she was tired of being alone.

“Yes it is, Kouga. You are my mate! You should be with me, but ever since we found her, you’ve been running after her like a dog in heat,” she ground out. Like hell she was going to be intimidated into meekly accepting her mate’s actions. Roughly, he slammed her back against the wall again. Her head was flung back and hit the unyielding stone with a painful crack. She could already feel blood seeping from the wound.
“If you remember correctly, I didn’t want to mate with you, I had to. In order to join our two tribes and secure my tribe’s future, I accepted you into the bargain, so don’t think that our being mates gives you leave to run my life,” he spat, his eyes slowly bleeding crimson. Tears welled up into her eyes, but she refused to allow him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She opted to glare at him with disgust.

“Be careful what you wish for, Kouga, because you just might get it,” she warned lowly. Snorting with disgust, the ookami male flung her away from him, causing her to land in an undignified heap on their bed. Silently, he stormed from their den, the rage and frustration still evident in his posture.

He didn’t come home for two days. Finally, yesterday he had come home at dusk, but ever since their fight, he had been even more persistent where Kira was concerned. It was almost like he was throwing it into her face. And she didn’t miss the looks of triumph the bitch kept casting her way. It would seem that the female had her sights set on the alpha, and she was doing a good job of getting what she wanted.

She could feel her eyes becoming filled with tears again, but she allowed them free reign to fall out of sight of the couple. As long as he didn’t see her weakness, she didn’t care if she gave in to it. She couldn’t go on living this way, watching her love chase after another. She had put up with it for four years with Kagome who, thankfully, hadn’t returned the ookami’s affection. She refused to put up with it again. Maybe they just weren’t meant to be together. She would try to talk to him one last time. If he reacted as he did earlier, then she would leave. She would journey around Japan; maybe stop in and visit Kagome.

She watched the disgusting display between the two ookamis before sighing and leaving her observation spot. She never noticed the pair of ice blue eyes watching her retreating back through narrowed eyes as their owner continued to flirt with the female in front of him. He almost couldn’t help snorting in disgust. Was she so jealous that she had resorted to spying on him? He would have a talk with her tonight. Turning his full attention once more to the ookami who resembled his lost love so closely, he pushed thoughts of his mate from his mind.

Ayame paced restlessly at the entrance to their den. She had no doubt that he was off gallivanting with Kira, making her worry. She could hear footsteps approaching the entrance and stopped her pacing to wait for whoever it was. A silhouette appeared the shape of a female taking form. A low growl escaped her throat as the scent of rotting roses reached her sensitive nose.

“What do you want,” she spat out, her eyes blazing with fury. How dare the stupid whore come near her home. She wanted to take a flying leap at her and rip her throat out. Fisting her hands at her side hard enough for her sharp claws to dry blood, she waited for the female to speak.

“Jealous? Poor dear, how can you hope to compete with me,” the silky voice asked, a hint of cruel laughter lacing the words.

“I have no need to compete with you. If you’ve forgotten, Kouga is my mate,” she ground out, the urge to scratch her eyes out rapidly taking control. The female slowly walked farther into the cave, showing no hint of fear at the warning growl Ayame threw her way, her hips swaying seductively side to side. She came to stand next to the ookami princess before leaning over to whisper in her ear.

“You forget, Princess, that the fourth mating bite hasn’t been given to you yet. If he truly wanted you, don’t you think he would have made it permanent? Face it, he wants me and your just too stupid to see that,” she purred, a hint of triumph lighting her eyes at the wave of sadness that his her. Smiling Kira backed away until she was standing in front of the quivering female.

“Why don’t you just take the honorable way out and release him from a vow he never wanted to make,” she said laughingly, enjoying the pain she was causing to the wolf princess. Ayame suddenly lunged, tackling the bitch to the floor and punching her in the nose, the satisfying crunch of broken bone reaching her ears. She heard the female below her shriek in pain before two strong arms encircled her waist and hauled her up.

Struggling against her capture’s hold, she tried to launch herself at the ookami female again, intent on causing as much bodily harm as possible. She heard the angered growls of the male behind her and belatedly realized it was her mate. Slowly, she quieted down until she hung limp in his arms. Just as quickly as he had grabbed her, he dropped her to the hard floor. She watched as he walked over to the whimpering female she had attacked. He turned to her, the rage in his eyes easy for anyone to see.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing, Ayame,” he yelled, cradling the injured wolf demoness to his chest.


“Oh Kouga, it was awful,” the injured female wailed, “I just came to see if she would like to talk. You know I’m not acquainted with that many people yet, and she is your mate. The next thing I know, she’s going after me like she was possessed.”

Kira buried her face into the wolf prince’s chest, her tears soaking his furs. He gently rocked her, soothing her. Every so often he would send glares her way. Ayame had to admit she was impressed. The bitch lied through her teeth, and yet there wasn’t the normal stench that accompanied a lie.

“I can’t believe you,” the male growled out. She felt her temper start to rise once more at her mate’s easy acceptance of the other female’s explanation. He knew better. She had never attacked someone out of anger, why would she start now?

“Are you even interested in my side of the story,” she asked quietly, her voice emotionless. This was too much. She couldn’t take any more. If he said no, she would leave. Let him have his precious Kagome look alike.

“What’s your side of the story,” he spit out sarcastically.

“I was waiting for you to get back to talk to you when she showed up,” she started, her voice strangely devoid of any emotion.

“She walked in and starting taunting me and insulting me. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and tackled her. Hell, I only punched her once,” she finished. Let him make of it what he would. She was done anyway. She may love him, but she wasn’t going to go on like this. If he left with Kira, that was it.

“You expect me to believe that,” he spat.

“You can believe what you want, Kouga. I’m telling you the truth. The only question is, are you going to believe someone you’ve only known for a couple of months, or your mate,” she answered, her voice still cold as ice. She watched impassively as her mate gently picked up the still crying female and cradled her to his chest. So it would appear he was going to choose the bitch. Well, she hoped they had a good life together.

“I don’t know what to think of you anymore, Ayame. We’ll talk about this later,” he ground out, marching from the den to take care of Kira.

“No we won’t. You made your choice love,” she whispered quietly to his retreating back, his sensitive ears unable to pick up what she said. She watched him until he grew too small to discern from the shadows around him. She felt the cool wetness as tears made a silent path down her face. Turning, she retreated farther into the confines of her home. She had grown to love it since they had mated. She hoped he and his new bitch liked it too.

She went over to the desk in the main chamber, taking a piece of parchment from the neat stack on the lower right corner. She gingerly dipped a quill into the ink set out on the surface and began to write. She wrote out all her feelings over the last several months. She decided that she was going to have her last say. Maybe he would understand her actions after he read it. It seemed like she wrote for hours before she was satisfied with the result. She folded it and set it in the middle of the bed so he wouldn’t miss it.

She walked slowly through the chambers of their den, taking in the details to come back to through the years. No matter Kouga’s feelings toward her, she knew that she would only ever love him. She was resigned to spending her life alone, all the hundreds of years stretched out before her in a never ending road. She fingered the comb he’d given her as a present after their mating. Sighing, she took one final look at their bedroom before heading out of the den. She leapt to the edge of the woods and smelled the essence of her tribe. She would always remember. Silently, she wove her way through the trees, reaching the lip of the valley in but a few minutes.

She stood on the rim, looking over the beautiful place she had called home for so long. Gracefully, she turned to survey the land outside the valley. The rolling hills and dense forest stretched as far as she could see. Smiling slightly, she nodded. Yes, she looked forward to her explorations of this land. Hopefully, it would take her many years. She skidded down the mountain with practiced ease, reaching the bottom in record time before heading off into the night, leaving her life, and her love, behind.