“…K-Kouga?” I called, feeling my hurt arm held in someone’s grasp.

“Nope, young lady. I’m afraid your man had to take care of something,” a shaky voice said to me while frail fingers applied a sticky medicine to my arm.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the healer of these caves, young lady,” he started to apply a bandage over the medicine.

“Healer? Is my arm that bad?”

“No, young lady. Kouga just feared infection and brought you here to have it cleaned,” I finally focused on the healer and found that he was a wrinkly old wolf with a charming smile plastered to his face.

“Where’s Kotone?”

“With Kouga, talking to the father of her child,” his smile twitched at the word ‘father’.

“Oh… nobody else was with them when they arrived, right?” I asked, worried that one of the others had followed Kouga. I just couldn’t stand to see them right now.

Especially THAT DOG.

“Nope, young lady. No one followed from the hanyou’s group.”

“How’d you know-”

“An old wolf’s nose knows all, young lady.”

What’s with the ‘young lady’ thing? “Oh. Well, thanks for treating me… I should go,” I said and tried to get up, but was held in place with a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Stay down, young lady. You’re in Kouga’s room, I came to you,” the old man stood up slowly and I heard various bones crack throughout his body. “Rest and you’ll be fine, young lady.”

Right before he left the entrance to the room I asked him, “Why do you call me ‘young lady’?”

The healer turned his smiling face to me and said, “Because that’s what you are. You’re not the wolf tribe’s princess yet or a sister. You have to actually mate with Kouga to get those titles.”

I reddened, and hid my face under the bed’s furs as the old healer walked away laughing.

A few minutes later, Kouga came in and sat next to me on top of the furs, tilting his head to the side when I refused to show him my red face.

“What did you say to Riki and Kotone?” I asked, keeping my hot face under the fur.

“I just told them the consequences of their actions and that they won’t be banished or anything like that…”

“…What are the consequences?”

“Well, once the cub has been born, Kotone and Riki will be washing endless amounts of dirty pelts, weapons, and various wolves, to start. And I’ll inflict other consequences as I see fit.”

I nodded, satisfied with the verdict.

“They also have to become official mates when they are of age, but they seemed pretty okay with that,” Kouga added, smiling and shaking his head. “I don’t think I could break them up, even if I thought it was for the best.”

“Why is that?” I asked, uncovering my less reddened face.

“They’ve always been attached at the hip, and they’ve been intended for each other since their births,” Kouga smirked at me then, “Riki could smell his mate since he began the route to being a man.”

I suddenly remembered Kotone telling me about male wolves’ ability to smell their mate before the woman even knows the male, and how they act differently around their ‘intended.’ “How do I smell to you, Kouga?”

Kouga’s blue eyes widened, “You really want to know?”

I hesitated but said confidently, “Yes.”

“You smell… like a tree.” He said confidently.

“…a tree?” Was that supposed to be a compliment, or…?

“A nice big oak tree.”

Not exactly the answer I was looking for… Then again, I was talking to Kouga…

“How do I smell, Kagome?” Kouga asked with no hint of joking in his face.

“Well judging by the fact that I human… I’m pretty sure I don’t know.”

“Humans do have some sense of smell, don’t they?”

“Well yeah, but-”

“Then tell me how I smell to you, please.”

“Um…” I took a quick whiff and I realized I’d known how he smelled since the day I’d met him. (Yes, the day he kidnapped me…) “Like the wind.”

Kouga let out a deep laugh and patted me on the head like I was a child, “Did the healer give you something that is messing with your head, Kagome?”

“No?”

He laughed some more and walked out of the room- continuing to laugh. I was confused, but caught him say, “It’s like the wind through the trees!” between his laughter. And he left me in his room alone.

What was with these demons walking away laughing today?!

I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon sleeping, since I had been woken up to find Kotone so late at night.

Midori came to wake me at midday and took me to get cleaned up and dressed, telling me that there’s no pride in sleeping the day away, human or not.

“Are you all right, Kagome?” Midori asked; her tone more serious than I’d ever heard it.

I looked up into her green eyes and -stupidly- answered, “My scratches aren’t hurting anymore, so I’ll be fine…” There was a questioning tone in my voice, silently asking her if that’s what she meant.

She shook her head and closed her beautiful eyes in what seemed like sympathy. “I meant… are you all right after what happened with the dog?”

“Kouga told you about Inuyasha?” Ouch. The name, the face… it all still hurt. The scratches on my arm seemed to pulse with pain at the mention of his name.

“Yes. Well, only myself and a couple of the others that are close to you… he didn’t want us to say anything that might seem…” her eyes showed pain for me, “heartless.”

I suddenly felt anger; towards Kouga or Inuyasha- I have no idea. But Midori pulled me into her demon-strong arms and told me that she was there and that Kouga did it out of his ‘love’ for me.

Love, huh?

“Kagome?”

I felt a different set of arms take me into a hug and realizes it was Kouga taking me back to our- wait no, his, room.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told them-”

I cut him of by pressing my lips quickly to his, surprising him, and me.