Chapter 1

Kagome hummed an upbeat tune as she went about her morning duties at work. Tokyo Zoo would be receiving a new wolf today and she was very excited. Kagome smirked, this particular wolf was apparently special since he came with his very own keeper.

Kagome looked at his file once again. The wolf was a very rare, highly endangered arctic wolf named Maru. The keeper that accompanied him was Inuyasha. Kagome chuckled to herself, how appropriate. Maru had a reputation for being difficult, hence the reason Inuyasha was always with him. Apparently, Inuyasha was the only person that could deal with Maru safely. Kagome put down his file and picked up her knife. She cut a small chunk of red meat off of a large slab. She inserted a pill into it and walked over to the arctic wolf enclosure.

"Cleo, you're getting a new friend today," Kagome said as she knelt down in front of the mesh fence. Cleo trotted over to Kagome, smelling the raw meat in her hand. Kagome gave Cleo the meat with the pill tucked inside and Cleo swallowed it whole. Kagome smile, it was much easier to medicate friendly carnivores than it was any other animal. As long as the meat was small enough to be consumed whole, the big cats or canines never fussed. They had no idea they were being so cooperative.

Kagome was pleased. Cleo needed to take her vitamins everyday to ensure her body was in good condition. Especially now that Maru was arriving. All arctic wolves kept in captivity were part of a breeding program because they were highly endangered. Kagome was crossing her fingers that these two would get along long enough to ensure Cleo would produce new offspring.

"Come in Kagome," her radio crackled. Kagome unclasped her radio from her belt and pressed down the black button to respond.

"Go ahead for Kagome," She said.

"We're coming with the new arrival and Inuyasha," Kouga's voice buzzed over the radio.

"Copy that," Kagome said. The large smile on her face was evident in her tone. Kagome paced around the back room, waiting for Kouga to arrive. She buzzed with excitement.

Soon she heard Kouga's voice through the back door and rushed to open it. She swung the door open and abruptly stopped when she was met with a pair of bright yellow eyes. Kagome gasped for a moment but tried to regain her composure. The man that greeted, the one she assumed was Inuyasha, was gorgeous. His eyes were a remarkable colour and his hair was a beautiful white shade. It match the colour of Maru's fur, which Kagome was now fixated on.

"He's beautiful," Kagome said as she knelt down in front of the wolf.

"Why thank you Kagome," Kouga chuckled and Kagome glared up at him.

"I was talking about the wolf," Kagome said with a bit of bite to her tone. She looked back down at Maru. He stood proudly in his small carrying crate and his golden eyes never met hers. Kagome stood once again and helped Kouga move the crate towards the entrance to the enclosure.

"Inuyasha, pleasure to meet you," Kagome said and shook his hand.

"The pleasure's all mine," Inuyasha said, flashing her a toothy grin. Kagome blushed slightly. They moved the crate over to the holding yard. Kagome and Kouga exited the pen and closed the door behind Inuyasha.

"Are you sure you'll be alright with him in there?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, don't worry," Inuyasha reassured her. He opened the crate and Maru walked out, glanced back at Inuyasha and then moved forward into the pen. Inuyasha took the crate and shuffled out of the holding pen. Kagome pulled the rope which controlled a smaller door connecting the holding yard to the main pen. Kagome left it open to allow Maru to come and go as he pleased.

"He behaves so differently from any other animal I've met," Kagome said.

"How so?" Inuyasha asked, exchanging a glance with Kouga.

"He's not afraid. I've never seen an animal look so comfortable in a new environment," Kagome explained.

"Oh, right," Inuyasha said. Kouga bid them farewell and left to return to his section of the zoo. Kagome got to work, showing Inuyasha all the ins and outs of her section. Though Inuyasha would be working primarily with Maru, there was plenty of other things he could do to lighten Kagome's work load.

"This is the kitchen," Kagome said, leading him towards the back of wolf house. "You can feed Maru what ever you think is appropriate but if he starts to get fat then we'll have to discuss his diet."

"Sure," Inuyasha chuckled. They spent the rest of the day working together. Kagome's attraction to Inuyasha grew throughout the day only to be crushed when Inuyasha mentioned his wife Kikyo. Kagome huffed a little, why were there no attractive single men left in the world? Even with Inuyasha off limits, Kagome found him very fun to work with. They spent most of the day laughing together and Kagome was happy to have another person to work with in her section.

When feeding time approached, Kagome asked Inuyasha if he could bring Maru into the holding yard. Kagome had to do a presentation for the public everyday and she didn't want to introduce food into the enclosure the first time Cleo and Maru were together. Inuyasha did so very easily and Kagome once again thought Maru was the strangest animal she had never met. Usually it was difficult to get animals to do what you desired without the reward of food but Inuyasha was able to talk to Maru and the wolf would do as he said. Kagome was perplexed.

The public show whet well even with Cleo seeming off from the prospect of her new pen mate. At least she was acting like a normal wolf. The rest of the day seemed to fly by and soon Kagome was cleaning up to leave for the day.

"I'm going to stay and review how to use to guillotine doors on the pens," Inuyasha said.

"Alright. Be careful," Kagome warned.

"Will do," Inuyasha said with a grin. Kagome waved good bye and got changed and ready to go home. Normally she would never allow a new employee to be alone with the animals, especially not to practice using the doors, but this wasn't Inuyasha's first rodeo, so to speak. He had years of experience behind him and Kagome felt that she could trust him.

Once Kagome and most of the other staff were gone, Inuyasha approached the enclosure.

"Sesshomaru, can I talk to you for a second?" Inuyasha called. He watched his half brother trot towards him from across the pen. "Nice new digs, huh?" Inuyasha said. Sesshomaru huffed at him.

"You have to admit it's bigger than the other zoo," Inuyasha said. He tried his best to keep the mood light between them. He knew Sesshomaru was probably beginning to go crazy. Sesshomaru stared back at his brother with mild disinterest. He had been stuck in this body for almost five hundred years. The witch that had cursed him was long dead but he remained in this body. At first he had live in the woods, on the western lands which Inuyasha had been taking care of. He was essentially Inuyasha's registered exotic pet but when the species he resembled became endangered Inuyasha was forced to place Sesshomaru in a zoo's breeding program or Sesshomaru would have been taken away from Inuyasha. They had done the zoo hoping act for years. Sesshomaru would live at the zoo until he would be considered an "old" wolf. At that time, Inuyasha would forge documents, offering Maru to another zoo. They would transfer zoos and Shippo, a young fox kit, would stay at the zoo in disguise for some time before "dying" of old age. Thus they kept the immortal aspect of Sesshomaru's nature a secret.

They were getting tired of it. Inuyasha, Shippo and especially Sesshomaru longed for the day he would be free and could resume his place as ruler of the western lands.

That role would look much different than it once had. Sesshomaru had watched the world change before his very eyes and what would once have been a glorious reign over vast forests and mountains, he would now be more likely ruling from a tiny apartment building in Tokyo.

"And we have a miko this time!" Inuyasha said. Sesshomaru gave a nod. This was a new development. Kikyo was the last of the powerful mikos of their time but even she was not able to break the cruse on Sesshomaru. They had not encountered a miko since. Sesshomaru was sure that there were still a few practicing mikos around but Inuyasha had never been able to locate one stronger that Kikyo. The girl working with Inuyasha, Kagome, however had vast power, totally untapped and untrained.

"Any bright ideas of how to approach her about it?" Inuyasha asked. Demons and Mikos were a thing of myth and legend nowadays. It would be a miracle if Kagome knew she was a miko, but Sesshomaru doubted the girl had any clue about her potential. Sesshomaru's eyes told Inuyasha "no." Inuyasha sighed.

"Alright, I'll figure something out. I'm going to head home," Inuyasha said. This was always the hardest part of his day. Inuyasha hated leaving his brother in a situation that Inuyasha knew he hated while Inuyasha got to go home to his wife. Sesshomaru gave a nod and Inuyasha stood to leave. He waved at his half brother and headed out the door.

Sesshomaru turned away from the fence and found a comfortable spot to lay down. The nights were much more difficult for him in the past then they were now. He'd had plenty of time to think while the humans were away. When the witch first cursed him, Sesshomaru had felt humiliated. Not only was he stuck in the form of a dog, but Inuyasha had to take care of him. His relationship with his brother grew stronger over time but there were many moments where Sesshomaru wished he could snap his brother's neck. He was indebted to everyone. Inuyasha worked seven days a week in order to keep Sesshomaru out of trouble and Shippo had to spend weeks away from his mate, Rin, while he pretending to be the aging "Maru" at another zoo.

His powers were subdued, his lands were not his. Sesshomaru had nothing and yet he tried to be a patient as possible and walk with as much dignity as he could. Perhaps Rin would visit tomorrow. His adopted daughter had been thrilled when Sesshomaru became a dog because it gave her a pet to snuggle but Rin soon grew up and realized that she would much rather have her father figure back. Thinking of Rin, Sesshomaru settled down for a good night's sleep.

The Priestess and The Yokai by Lindsey Merril – available now – free from August 7th - 11th - www amazon com/dp/B07G74GWRK