The water was cold but not unbearably so. Or so she thought, and Kami was she wrong.

"Ah!" Kagome squeaked as her cry was shocked to silence. Though her surroundings weren't at freezing temperatures, she could have sworn she saw her breath puff out in a little cloud. She shook her head, steeling her nerves and biting her lip as she waded into the spring Kouga had led her to.

She almost regretted walking into the water stark naked, for the water current against her skin was nearly biting… but at the fleeting thought of how utterly destroyed her uniform was, she figured it wouldn't have made much difference if she wore it anyways. So she had left it at the water's edge, a tattered pile of fetid cloth.

'I really need to talk to Mama about clothes more suited to traveling,' Kagome thought. She grimaced at the thought of how expensive replacing her seifuku was each time it got ruined, especially considering the tight budget Higurashi shrine ran on. She had overheard her grandfather grumbling about it while dusting the old well house – long before it housed her portal between eras – and regretted not having the chance to return the cellphone they gave her before the receipt had expired. 'Stupid Shikon jewel,' Kagome groused.

The star-shaped scar at her side burned slightly at the memory, and Kagome's palm subconsciously pressed against it in a placating manner. She was only seventeen – freshly so – yet she had seen and done so many things no one of her era would even dream of. 'Not that fighting demons and being dragged across Japan via foot or hanyou-back is my idea of fun,' Kagome frowned. 'If Mama knew everything, she'd probably forbid me from ever coming back.'

Which lead her to think about her current predicament. She was no longer with Inuyasha – her only other link to her era aside from the Bone Eater well. 'Will I even get to see Mama, and Souta, and Grandpa again?' Loneliness overcame Kagome and left her feeling cold, and the palm that cupped her Shikon scar moved to grasp her arm.

The frosty autumn air flowed against Kagome's face and shoulders as her body remained motionless in the water. She tried desperately to ignore the gooseflesh running up and down her arms, and she felt pinpricks dance along her flesh as iciness chilled her muscles seemingly down to her bones; Kagome felt like a human popsicle, and she vaguely wondered if this is what it felt like to wake up after falling asleep in front of an open fridge. Had she not been desperate for a bath to remove the grime and gore covering her body, she probably would have stuck her toe in and decidedly skipped bathing altogether.

'No wonder humans of this era don't practice proper hygiene…' Kagome thought. 'Although, they don't know about germs, and the stench isn't so bad in the winter…'

When Kouga mentioned bathing, he left out the keyword "hot" when he indicated a spring was nearby. Like everything involving the wolf, she didn't really know what to expect, but she couldn't help but feel a little cheated.

"Stop that," Kagome whispered to herself, her eyebrows knitting in concern. The fact that Kouga brought her to a fresh water source was more than what Inuyasha had done for her in months. The inu-hanyou would have been groaning about weak humans and slow healing abilities, but Kouga had left her to her privacy as she tended to her wounds. Something she was reluctantly thankful for.

Her night-vision was poor, but she could feel the tautness of healing skin spanning her back in jagged ridges. With every movement, she felt the raised flesh brush against itself, puckered and angry and probably very ugly. She hadn't seen the damage, and she prayed to all the Kami that it wouldn't scar like the hideous star-shaped scar on her hip, but secretly she knew it wouldn't matter. 'What's done is done, and I don't regret it.'

She heaved a gentle sigh, running her fingers up her arms and appreciating the silken feel of the water displacing under her touch. Kagome had hidden herself up to her collarbone under the calm surface of the spring, but she had scarcely moved to wash; it was as if somberness clung to her being and weighed her down, suffocating her until she nearly drowned. Thoughts of her family and friends flitted across her consciousness and left her feeling hollow and heavy.

Kagome closed her eyes, imagining herself falling into a void as she dipped her head back, plunging her crusted and matted hair in the water. Staring up at the moon, she wondered absently if her friends were also looking at it from wherever they were, watching the same stars facet the night-veiled heavens as wistfully as she was.

Kagome observed as tendrils of her ebony hair swirled in the water, splaying from her soaking form not entirely unlike Naraku's tentacles. The thought of the evil hanyou made Kagome shiver despite the cold, and it was not the first time she was made aware that she was alone.

The thought should have brought comfort to her, knowing that her captor – 'and savior,' she noted – was away… yet knowing Kouga had left her range of senses made her feel, inexplicably, uneasy and vulnerable.

Which she was – vulnerable… in more ways than one.

Soaking in a spring in the nude was not entirely foreign to her – rather, she welcomed every opportunity to bathe in the Sengoku Jidai when chance permitted it – but she was never this alone. Usually Sango was near, or Miroku tried peeping, or Inuyasha stayed a safe yet secure distance away. Usually, she scrubbed Shippo's ears clean since he never managed to get all the dirt from the backs of them, and he often overlooked between the pads of his paws since, as he liked to say, he "walked on them anyway."

The thought of her little kit made Kagome's chest clench. She lifted a fisted hand to her sternum as if to protect her from the pain of loss and failure, but it made no difference. She knew Shippo was safe with Inuyasha despite the constant beatings and arguments they had; however, deep down she knew Shippo only felt protected with her… and that little thought tormented her, knowing she was weak in the face of most enemies, and near useless to her friends aside from being a caretaker and occasional jewel shard detector.

'Jewel shard detector…' Surprisingly, the pain wasn't as sharp at the notion, and instead of Inuyasha's face drifting past her mind's eye, a smiling wolf prince with impossibly blue eyes surfaced. He had that satisfied smirk on his face that he had after he kissed her, yet his gaze was wistful like back in that dream…

'It felt so much like a memory, yet… not.' It wasn't right, yet it felt right to Kagome.

Taking a deep, rattling breath, the rosy buds atop her chest ascended the water and crested into the chilled air; they immediately hardened, bringing a tingling sensation to her breasts as she was made very aware of how the waterline circled them sensually. Bringing her palms to the top of her stomach, she suddenly felt less cold as new sensations were brought forward. Kagome felt every ripple lap at her skin and every current caress her body as she lay suspended, and a sort of heat started to pool in her lower belly as her miko senses burned pleasantly.

They kept growing stronger and stronger until she saw stars in the back of her mind, and her body was wracked with the hungry laps of wavelets. And suddenly the currents grew stronger, sweeping her to her feet as her balance was tipped.

And then she came face to face with Kouga.

She opened her mouth to scream in a mix of shock and rage until his callused hand clamped over it. She was affronted with the smell of blood – 'fresh blood' – not the old, musty scent of aging gore that clung to them both like turkey seasoning. She gasped in surprise, which turned out to be a mistake as the blood coating his hand smeared past her lips and glazed her tongue: thick, metallic, and so so gross.

She felt her stomach knot in an unpleasant way, and she had to make a concerted effort not to be sick in their only source of fresh water for miles.

'Probably not so fresh anymore, but still,' Kagome noted glumly.

"If you don't want to attract every yokai and beast within hearing distance, I wouldn't if I were you," Kouga warned her. 'Not that that delicious scent she's giving off won't already do that,' he thought. He thanked the Kami that she was submerged, for her scent only permeated the air directly around them, but anything with a discerning nose could sniff it out if they cared to. And oh, Kami, he did.

His woman was looking at him with eyes the size of the moon, sapphire irises sparkling with the reflection of stars on the water's surface. Her raven hair was impossibly darker, framing her face in an ethereal way that hinted of nightly pleasure. And the sight of her dusky nipples in the moonlight, surrounded by milky skin glistening with dewy moisture, was enough to make him thank the Kamis yet again that she could not see what she did to him under the water.

But her lips – oh, her lips – were nearly enough to send him over the edge into primal desire with the way they moved against his fingers, suckling on his flesh as she gasped innocently. The blood covering his hand smeared against her mouth and cheeks, making her look like she ate a fresh kill; it made his inner beast purr with contentment as he stared into her doe-like eyes.

He felt her lips draw into a frown, and he noted the look of disgust that crossed her features as she glared down at his hand. He removed it, but not before purposely brushing it against her plush lips once more as he brought it to his side.

"Whose blood is that?"

Now Kouga frowned. 'I didn't think she would notice the difference.' They had been covered in the remains of the obliterated Bird of Paradise.

When it was clear that she expected an answer, he asked, "Would you believe me if I said it was mine?"

Her eyes narrowed as they honed in on his wolfish smile, and he wasn't altogether comfortable with how transparent her felt under her watchful gaze.

"No."

He shrugged. "Well then, I guess you'll be left wondering."

Crossing her arms and hiding her chest from view as subtly as possible, he discerned a wince contort her features. "Kouga."

Her tone hinted at no playing, but the way his name sounded coming from her lips was positively sinful it was so perfect. It made him wonder why he ever bothered with all the women who fawned over him, because no creature could satiate his bestial desire like this little human miko.

'Shit.' He hadn't thought of that before he killed a human nearby and took the nicer of his wares – a fresh kimono and a pair of sandals, amongst other shiny bobbles he thought a human woman might like. He knew his miko had killed yokai before – she had that unmistakable confidence in battle – but he also had the dim feeling that that fact didn't extend to members of her own species.

"A man's gotta eat," Kouga half-joked. He had a bite or two of the human before Kagome's heady scent had reached his nose, but he doubted she'd ask what he had-

"You're not a man," Kagome pointed out with a raised brow. When Kouga shot her a withering stare, she amended, "You're a full-blooded male yokai. Plus, game is hard to come by this time of year. What did you manage to-"

Kouga sniffed, cutting her off with a preening glare to hide the anxiety clawing up his throat. "You doubt my abilities? You're right; I ain't no human or stinking half-breed, I'm a wolf. We track things."

Kagome glared up at him, and if Kagome had a mirror, she'd have seen the no-nonsense face that her mother had given her during Kagome's frivolities of youth. Like mother, like daughter – and hell if Kagome ever got something past her Mama.

"So where is it?"

Kouga blinked dumbly, trying his best to think of something quick. Grasping nothing she'd actually buy, he said equally dumbly, "Where's what?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed as she wiped the blood that had begun dripping from her chin, washing it away with a swish of her arm in the water. "Your kill."

"Ah… that," Kouga said haltingly. "Well… I ate it."

Kagome stared at him blandly, debating whether or not to take the bait before a fire sparked in her sapphire orbs. Smirking, she laughed bitterly, "What? Nothing to share?"

"Lone wolves don't tend to share things with anyone. Except with a mate, but that's more of an… exchange. A carnal one," Kouga murmured, eyeing the small priestess before him. How easy it would be to pluck her from the water and feast upon her body, ravaging her flesh in every carnal way.

She blushed prettily at the innuendo Kouga nearly growled in her ear, and her body suddenly grew warm despite the cold environment. Kouga's muscled body was giving off heat in waves far stronger than the subtle laps of water wavelets. He breathed in her juniper scent laced with wolfberries and a hint of citrus, and he listened to the strong thrum of her heartbeat as her sweet blood coursed violently through her veins. His nose traced the outer shell of her ear, skimming down to the juncture at her neck, where his lips caressed her soft flesh and sent a tremor down her body. His fangs elongated slightly, his beast emerging as his desire for the little miko grew. Her innocence was impossibly attractive, riling his beast to claim her so that no other male would sample what was his – none would dare touch what was his, unless they had a death wish.

And suddenly lust, bloodlust, carnal desire and carnal need came crashing down around him, inhibiting his senses save his overwhelming instincts. His eyes bled red, his muscles went rigid, his fangs came tantalizing close to breaking flesh as he savored her pure taste, which was free of salt and grime and worldly influence thanks to the water around them.

He felt her balmy breath fan across his face, and her luscious chest heaved as she panted like a bitch in heat. Her eyes were glazed over, her lips parted, her face tilted close to his as he grabbed her chin between clawed fingered and held her to him.

"Mine," he growled in his mother tongue before devouring her lips with his. She tasted just as she had before – sweet, piquant and irresistibly delicious… except the tang of blood made the kiss all the more exquisite, like the cheek of a beast – the most tender morsel of a kill. A delicacy.

Kagome moaned as Kouga laid claim to her lips. She leaned into him, as if knowing the touch of him, yet her virginal insecurity made her hesitate. The taste of blood was strong in her mouth again, and she vaguely realized it came from Kouga's meal. Kagome, for her part, preferred meat on the well-done side, so the familiar yet distasteful flavor of blood made a chaste woman of her despite her heady desire.

Attempting to push Kouga away, the wolf refused to let her go, instead taking her refusal as a challenge and pressing further and harsher. His tongue dove into her mouth as she grunted in frustration, and his arms snaked around her hips and pulled her flush against him. It did not take all of those sex ed classes from school for Kagome to recognize the hard bulge pressed firmly against her lower stomach, nor did it take a genius to realize she was on shaky ground where her maidenhood stood.

"Kouga, please," Kagome begged, continuing to push away even knowing she could never physically overpower the wolf demon. Her wounds were searing as she struggled to get away, and the throbbing brought tears to her eyes.

Kouga stiffened. Pulling back to look at his woman, Kouga's crimson gaze registered the pain present in her doe-like eyes; the telltale sheen of tears crested her lower lashed, and her swollen lips trembled with something akin to fear.

"Mine," he growled again, still in his native tongue. However, the scent of her growing tears cleared his head, his beast wilting at the distress of their chosen mate.

'Mate?'

Kouga snarled, pushing away from her like she had burned him with her reiki.

"K- Kouga…" Kagome said, a slight whimper coloring her tone. He hated how his name sounded just then, especially coming from his lips in such a desperately confused way.

He turned away from her, shame and anger and a multitude of other emotions roiling under the surface of his cold demeanor. In that moment, he had put on his mask as the Dark Prince, the feared and emotionless ruler of the wolf tribes his brethren oft saw him as. He couldn't bear to see the look on Kagome's face – the undoubtedly accusatory expression his own vassals looked at him with.

"Monster" he would hear them say in hushed tones. He was known as a fearless and cruel leader, where cries were his praise rather than songs of honorable battles; yet here he was, afraid to look upon the face of a mortal miko, one barely matured past the adolescent ripeness of a womanchild. He loved and hated the passion inspired in him by this slip of a human; there was pain as well, an unknown yet familiar ache that burned him like a forgotten and festering wound.

Yet still he could not bear to look at her, so he simply gestured to the bank where he had deposited his newly acquired items and whispered, "Get dressed. We need to get moving."

And then he left her once more, this time with little assurance as Kagome trembled in the spring, again feeling the bite of the cold rather than the prick of Kouga's fangs.

Updated: January 9, 2019