OtherWorld 01
Chapter 9: Kouga
InuYasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippo were about a day from Kaede's Village, traveling to the western border of Otherworld when they were suddenly surrounded by wolves. A small whirlwind approached them that subsided, revealing a slender young man dressed in wolf fur. He was Kouga, leader of the Wolf Clan. He used three shard fragments to augment his strength and speed, with the blessing of the Princess since he and his wolves were an integral part of the protection of Otherworld.
"Hey, Puppy! What are you doing here?" he called out to InuYasha.
Kouga and InuYasha had known each other for many years and they enjoyed a friendly rivalry, mostly verbal name-calling. Kouga never let InuYasha forget that the Princess had considered him for one of her males before she even met InuYasha and that he had turned her down. "Wolves mate for life. I could not be with someone who had other mates." And InuYasha did not appreciate the reminder at all.
"Puppy!!!" InuYasha growled, "You dare call me that!!! You flea bitten wolf!!!"
"Ah! I don't have time to play fetch with you today, Puppy!"
Kagome had sensed the shards when the wolf arrived and now she called out a warning. "InuYasha, he has shards. In his right arm and on both legs." Kouga looked at her with interest and walked toward her, "Ah, you must be the human I've been hearing about. You can sense the shard fragments." Then he stated, proudly, "I am Kouga. Leader of the Wolf Clan."
"Hi. My name is Kagome." She said, blushing at his attention. He smiled at her, then he and his wolves raced away.
But in the following days, he kept reappearing. It seemed that whenever she was in danger, Kouga would appear. A Demon would make a threatening move towards her and suddenly she would be whisked away, finding herself far from danger, held in Kouga's strong arms. He would put her down and then race off again.
After about two weeks of appearing daily, Kouga suddenly showed up bearing a handful of flowers. He handed them to Kagome, "They tell me that human women like this sort of thing."
Miroku and Sango dragged InuYasha away before he could say anything. It was obvious that Kouga had developed feelings for Kagome and they didn't want InuYasha spoiling things.
Left alone with Kagome, Kouga came right to the point. "I want you to be my woman."
Kagome stammered, "What??"
"I've fallen in love with you and would like you to be my life mate." he said, trying to explain. He was not that good with words. "You are a fine woman. Intelligent, courageous, and pretty. I think we would be good together." He looked at her earnestly.
Kagome wasn't quite sure what to say. She had never even thought of getting married -- or "mating" to use his words. She was only 16 and still in high school. She looked into his strange oval eyes -- eyes as blue as the sky above them. "I am too young and I still have school." she began.
"How old are you? You look old enough to me."
"I'm 16." she answered.
"That is plenty old enough! Most Otherworld humans are already mated by the time they are 16." he exclaimed.
Well, that didn't help! she thought. She looked at the wolf. He looked like he was about 18. "How old are you?" she ventured.
"Ummm…126."
"126! You are 126 years old!" Now she wondered how old InuYasha was since he looked about the same age as Kouga.
"Yes. Are you wondering why I haven't mated yet?" he asked, suddenly worried, "I was bringing the clans together when I was younger, and then I wanted to find just the right female. Wolves mate for life -- and we know the moment we meet our lifemates. You are mine."
There didn't seem to be a way to deter him. She begged for more time to get to know him better and he quickly agreed. He decided that he simply would join the group until she realized that she loved him.
Miroku, Sango and Shippo were getting a big kick out of the love-sick wolf. He hovered around Kagome constantly, bringing her small gifts that he found on the way: more flowers, a bird nest, a pretty rock, a plump juicy rat (which he quickly realized was not a good gift!), and other small items. He was so determined to win Kagome's heart. InuYasha on the other hand, did not think it was endearing. He teased and tormented the wolf constantly.
Kagome began to take Kouga's side against InuYasha, she felt so badly for him. Kouga was wearing his heart on his sleeve. He was also wearing her down. Kagome began to rely on him -- he was always there to give her a hand, to protect her from danger, or just to talk to. At night the group usually slept on the ground wrapped in blankets, except for InuYasha who preferred to sleep in a tree. Kouga didn't use a blanket, but he made sure he was next to Kagome. After a few nights, Kagome began to look forward to sleeping next to his warm body. After a week, she curled in his arms, using his shoulder as her pillow.
Occasionally, one of his clan would arrive to inform him about something. His best friends and lieutenants, Ginta and Hakkaku, soon were traveling with the group, along with several wolves. They began to call Kagome "Mother." She asked Kouga why they were doing that. In his usual straightforward way, he answered, "When we mate, you will become our Clan Mother."
"Oh." she said. How was she ever going to stop him? And a part of her wondered if she really wanted to. She liked the attention he was showering on her. She never had a boyfriend before and Kouga was literally sweeping her off her feet.
One afternoon, about three weeks after he joined the group, she was sitting with him overlooking a small pond. It was so beautiful, the grass waving in the soft breeze, flowers all around her, the pond sparkling blue -- as blue as Kouga's eyes. He sat as close as he could to her, her hand in his. Very gently, he lifted her face to his and kissed her. She didn't stop him and after a few seconds, she began to kiss him back.
He felt like his heart would burst with joy! She was kissing him! He let go of her hand and slipped his arms around her, kissing her deeply. When they parted, he looked into her deep brown eyes. "I love you, Kagome," he said softly, "I don't know how humans in your world go about this, but I want you to be with me forever."
Kagome's thoughts and emotions were in turmoil. She liked him very much, but did she love him? She didn't know. And did he expect her to live here in Otherworld? To give up her life, her family? Kouga could see the uncertainty in her eyes and didn't press her further. He could only hope that she would learn to love him just a little.
The next day, he received word from his clan that he was needed by the Northern Clan. He would be gone for about a week. He hugged Kagome tightly, but could find no words to say to her. So he left, his wolves trailing behind him. During that long week, Kagome suddenly felt like an empty hole had been carved into her life. At night, she did not have his warm body to sleep against. She missed his strong arms and his constant attention. She missed that he always listened to her. She missed his blue eyes and his wide smile which showed just the tips of his fangs. She missed him more than she ever thought possible!
A week passed and Kouga didn't return. Kagome was getting very anxious, worried that something had happened to him. She kept looking around, prompting InuYasha to comment, "Stop looking for him. I'll sense him before he even gets near! Why don't you just mate him! It obviously that you love him!" For once, the usually clueless InuYasha hit the nail on the head. Kagome looked into his golden eyes and suddenly hugged him, causing the Dog Demon to stumble backward in alarm.
"Thank you!" she cried happily, "You're right - I do love him!" Now she just needed Kouga to return to her.
It was four days later when Kouga finally returned. The meeting with the Northern Clan had taken longer than he had expected. True to his word, InuYasha sensed him coming and touched Kagome arm, nodding to the west. In the distance, she could see his telltale whirlwind. She stood there waiting for him and he didn't even slow down, just picked her up and took her to a nearby bluff. When he stopped, he was holding her in his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and kissed him.
"I missed you so much!" she said to her wolf, "And I realized that I love you!"
"You love me? You will be my mate?" he asked, surprised and elated at the same time.
"Yes, Kouga, I will marry you. I mean, I will mate with you."
A few days later, Kagome took Kouga back to her world to meet her mother, grandfather and younger brother. They had already met InuYasha so fangs and claws didn't bother them. They were disappointed that he didn't have furry ears like InuYasha - his ears looked human but were pointed like a wolf's. Her mother trusted her daughter and if Kagome felt that this was right, she would support her. And she could see how much Kouga loved her daughter ever time he looked at her. It was written all over his face. Just before they were going to return to Otherworld, Kagome's mother gave them her grandmother's wedding rings. Kouga looked at the slender gold bands with curiosity. Kagome explained what they meant here in the Human World and she placed the larger one on his ring finger. It fit perfectly! She gave him the smaller ring and he placed it on her finger, copying what she had done. She hugged her mother tightly. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"When will you two marry? I mean mate?" her mother asked.
"Just as soon as we return. We will go to the Clan's main home." Kouga replied, still looking at the gold ring on his hand. He had never had a ring before and what this ring symbolized meant a lot to him.
Once they were back in Otherworld, Kouga took Kagome to the wolf clan's home. It was a large cave hidden behind a beautiful waterfall which you went through to get into the cave. Kouga walked with Kagome to the back of the cave, moving through his men and wolves. They moved aside, giving passage to their leader and his soon-to-be mate. Kagome trembled. Were they going to make love with all these men here? "Kouga…" she began softly. He gave her a small curt shake of his head. She fell silent.
At the far back of the cave, a small portion had been walled off with branches entwined with flowers. Inside was a soft bower of grasses. "Well," she thought miserably, "at least they tried to make it nice." Kouga sat down on the bower and pulled her down to his side. He began nuzzling her face and neck. She could hear the men and wolves milling around outside the bower, only a few feet from them. Kouga lay down, pulling her down next to him, nuzzling, kissing and licking her. He made little growling noises as he moved against her. He began to undress her, nuzzling each part that he uncovered. She was very aware of his clan right behind the screen wall. This was not the wedding night that she had dreamed about! He quickly undressed and then turned her over on her stomach in one easy motion. He then lifted her hips, fitting his body against hers, separating her legs with his own, his hard length pressed tightly against her. He adjusted his body and she felt him begin to slowly enter her. She had never been so unhappy! Tears began to fill her eyes. Where was the loving wolf that had promised to protect her?
She looked down and noticed his hands on either side of her, the gold wedding ring shining brightly on the left one. Then she noticed that his claws were digging into the grasses around her, his knuckles white with strain. Suddenly she realized that it was taking all of his will power to go so slowly; he didn't want to hurt her! She put her hands over his and he nuzzled her cheek from behind. He was so gentle and slow, giving her body time to adjust to every thrust, that it didn't hurt at all. Soon she was used to the feel of him inside her and began moving with him. He began to thrust deeper and harder, faster and faster, until she felt a rush of warmth. At that same moment, he threw back his head and howled exactly like a wolf. A chorus of howls joined his -- the wolf Demons and wolves both. The cave echoed with their howls.
Kagome blushed deep red when she heard him howl, and even redder when the rest joined in. They had heard everything; they had probably been following every sound. Kouga was still pressed tightly against her, his lips next to her ear, "Forgive me, Kagome. I had to do it this way the first time," he whispered, "It is part of the ritual. I am the leader and my mating is very important to the clan. You are now the Clan Mother and they have to know that you and I are truly mated."
She turned slightly so that she could see his face, "We won't live here in this den?"
"No!" he said as he moved so that they were facing each other, "We will live in Kaede's Village; part of the clan is already building a house on the outskirts where we can live. I wouldn't make you live in a den."
She threw her arms around him, grateful that he was still the person she had fallen in love with, "Why didn't you tell me about this."
"If I did, would you have done it?" he asked. She shook her head. "I had no choice if I am to be their leader. They had to unconditionally accept you as my mate. Especially since you're a human. There could be no doubt that you are my mate."
"Do you always howl?" she said, smiling at her new lifemate.
Now he blushed with embarrassment, "I don't know. This was my first time also. Remember, wolves mate for life."
She turned around and wrapped her arms around him, burying herself in his warmth. "I love you, Kouga." she whispered.
"And I will always love you," he replied, softly, "You are my life mate."
Of course, Kagome told a very abbreviated version of their first mating to the group, leaving out almost everything personal except for the howling.
"Does he still howl?" asked Sanosuke. "I ask only because my room is next to yours."
"Fortunately, that was the only time he ever howled." Kagome said with a laugh.