Disclaimer: Not Mine!

Warnings: Yaoi. Hints of Mpreg.

Enter the Wolf's Den

By: wolf demoness

Chapter Eighteen: Rearing Children

When Inuyasha arrived home from Yuuka's hut he was carrying Ren, who'd fallen asleep in his arms during the brief walk. Tetsuya was clinging to his right pant leg and yawning widely as Shippo trailed behind them. The hanyou settled the twins in their bed and startled Shippo by scooping him up from the ground and laying him next to Ren. When they were all tucked in bed, Inuyasha blew the room's only candle out and slid the door shut as he exited into the hall. Stepping into the hallway he looked up to see Kagome facing him. The Miko had a stricken look on her face as though she were fighting back tears. "What is it, Kagome?" he asked concerned.

Kagome lunged into the hanyou's arms and let her tears fall freely, "I'm so sorry!" she wailed.

"Quiet, wench!" Inuyasha said alarmed, "I just got them to sleep and so help me if you wake them up…" he left it hanging.

"Inuyasha, I'm so sorry, I…"

"Kagome," Inuyasha interrupted her, "Kagome, just back off, all right," the hanyou said thrusting the human girl away from him.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said brokenheartedly as tears dripped down her cheeks, "You must hate me."

Inuyasha shook his silvery head, "I don't," he said softly causing Kagome to look up at him hopefully. The half demon sighed wearily and looked up from the careful observation of the hall's wooden planks he'd been conducting thus far into their conversation. "I don't hate you. Believe me I've tried," he elaborated folding his hands in his sleeves. "I can't hate you," he shook his head. "I can hate you as well as I can Kikyo. It's almost like…" he trailed off.

"Like what?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha smiled sadly, "For the longest time I tried to separate the two of you. I tried to think of you and Kikyo as two different people, but the longer I'm with you, the longer I'm around you, the more I see that the two of you are the same," Kagome started to object but Inuyasha silenced her with an upraised hand. "The same person in a different package. Reincarnation didn't change you." Inuyasha walked up to the dark haired human woman and forced her to look him in the eyes with a clawed hand on her chin. Kagome shivered at the penetrating glare the hanyou was giving her becoming all to conscious of the fact that this was a demon. A demon whom, without the binding spell around his neck, she was incapable of controlling. Abruptly, Inuyasha turned from her and began to walk away. Pausing at the entrance to the room he and his mate shared he looked back at the human woman. "Stay away from me, Kagome. I may not hate you, but that doesn't mean I'm not angry with you and I don't trust you around my family. Stay away from me and stay away from my sons."

Kagome watched the half demon step into his room and close the door against her. "Inuyasha," she whispered, hoping that he'd come back out and that everything would be all right again. That this was just like any other fight they'd had, wasn't it? He would pout and bluster then he'd yell for awhile, but in the end everything would be back to normal. In her heart Kagome knew that this wasn't a usual argument. It was so big. So many things had gone wrong so quickly, she didn't understand it. Where had she gone wrong, she wondered. She didn't understand it at all, perhaps she never had.

"My mate is far too forgiving," a voice said from her right, startling her. She did not think that she could take many more surprises, she was emotionally exhausted. There standing in the shadows of an open door was Koga. "Make no mistake, woman. He may forgive you, but I do not. You left my mate to die," the wolf said growling low in his throat as he advanced on the Miko. "What possible explanation could you have?" he asked glaring at the trembling human.

"I didn't know…I…" she said sinking to her knees as she clung to the wall. An enraged Alpha wolf was truly a frightening site to behold.

"Idiot girl," Koga snarled. "You should have known, he was your friend and protector but you are a fool. You always have been. Don't think I haven't met your predecessor," he smiled cruelly at the cowering woman delighted by her fear and feeling vindicated in his cause, glorying in the way the sight of his fangs made her shiver and cower against the wall. "My mate is wise to see your failings. You were an imbecile in that life and you're nothing less now." Koga leaned down to whisper in the woman's ear; "That alone saves you. But if you ever cause harm to my mate again nothing in the world will be able to save you and I'll find you..." the Alpha wolf stood and began to walk calmly away from the miko, "…wherever you hide," he tossed over his shoulder. Koga left the human to her fear and misery in the hallway and walked into his room smirking at his handiwork before he closed the door.

"You wouldn't hurt her," Koga heard from behind him.

"Don't be so sure of that," he whispered as he felt his mate wrap his arms around him from behind. The Alpha wolf grasped his mate's warm hand and brought it to his lips kissing Inuyasha's fingers once before leaning into the embrace.

"Why?" the hanyou asked as he settled his mate in his arms. He loved having Koga so close. It constantly amazed him how trusting the wolf was with him. Perhaps it was the way of wolf demons, but Koga couldn't fathom that his mate had the ability to harm him and so he was more trusting and open with Inuyasha then anyone had ever been before. It was overwhelming to the half demon, who all his life had been regarded with suspicion and hate. Even the humans he'd traveled with had placed him under a subduing spell and until recently they had been the people who, he'd thought, trusted him most in the world. That the wolf let him cradle him in his arms, kiss his throat, and listen to his heart beating in his chest…it made him feel as though someone thought that he was good and that he was worthy of good things. More than anything else that made him love and treasure his mate all the more.

"I won't let anyone hurt you, not even me," the wolf said. Inuyasha looked at his mate questioningly. Koga smiled at the beautiful half demon. He raised a clawed hand and gently pressed his palm to Inuyasha's soft cheek. "I know that harming her would upset you, so I won't touch her. This time," he elaborated. Inuyasha nodded his understanding and Koga felt his heart lighten when a small smile graced the hanyou's lips, the wolf leaned back into his mate's arms, resting his head on his other's shoulder. "She's acting like a spoiled child. Someone has to call her on it," Koga sighed heavily savoring the warmth that radiated from the silver haired half demon. "And," he said quietly, "She's not a danger to us anymore."

"No, she's not," the hanyou agreed, "and I won't give her that kind of power again. So," he said turning his mate in his arms to look directly into the wolf's blue orbs, "first you have her tied up," Inuyasha started as he began to press languid kisses to his mate's throat. "Then you threaten her life, then you make her faint, and after all that you leave her trembling in a hallway." Koga smirked in the dark. It had been very satisfying to see the girl cowering from him as he knocked her down a few pegs. "I love you."

Koga shivered as his mate lapped and sucked on his pulse point. Inuyasha began to slowly shuffle the wolf he held captive back to their bed. When he felt the edge of the furniture piece pressing against his knees he sat, pulling his mate down with him to rest in his lap. He then paid attention to his mate worshiping his smooth soft skin with warm kisses and caressing hands.

Hours later when the two lay pleasantly exhausted and curled up in each other's arms Inuyasha voiced an opinion that he'd thought of before, but had only fully formulated over the past few hours, the parts he'd been coherent for anyway. "I've been thinking about what you said earlier," he started abstractly tracing the lines of his mate's chest with the back of a fingernail.

"About what?" Koga said, lifting his face from where it'd been pressed against his mate's chest.

"About Kagome acting like a child," Inuyasha said thoughtfully. He blinked slowly; his eyes were beginning to burn. He decided that he'd better get some sleep soon, hopefully at least a few hours before Tetsuya and Ren decided to wake the both of them up. He loved waking up to his son's smiling faces, but he wished they'd sleep past dawn just once.

Koga yawned, fighting to stay awake. It was a loosing battle though, he was too relaxed and his mate provided a comfortable warmth against the chill in the air. "What about it?"

"I never really thought that much about it before, but from what I understand of her era, I think the she might still be considered a child by her people."

"That's nice," Koga said spiraling down into sleep. After a few moments what Inuyasha had said penetrated the murk of his sleep-fogged mind. "What?" he asked, slightly more alert now.

Inuyasha pulled his mate closer to him, rubbing a hand over the smooth skin of his mate's back that covered his taught, strong muscles. "She lives in her grandfather's home. At first I assumed that she lived with the leader of her family in her father's absence and would continue to do so until her grandfather arranged a marriage for her."

"That's what any human family would do, isn't it?" Koga asked.

"In our time," Inuyasha said slowly obviously deep in thought. This was one of Inuyasha's little quirks that Koga loved. When the two were in bed, or in private, and Inuyasha was thinking about something really hard he would unconsciously pet his mate. His hands would rove over the wolf's chest, arms, back, whatever the hanyou could get his hands on. Koga loved the attention and he loved that his mate was totally unaware of his little habit. It was the cutest thing. "But in her era," Inuyasha continued, "women are allowed to choose their own mates and their families don't have much say in their actions."

"That doesn't mean she's a child. She's what fourteen, fifteen? That's considered mature for a human," Koga pointed out.

"Yes, but…" he paused trying to think of a way to voice his suspicions, "the first time Miroku bartered us a night's stay in a Lord's house Kagome got drunk on the sake." Koga looked up at his mate wondering where this was going. "I yelled at her for not being able to handle her drink and helped her to bed. In the morning I was yelling at her that it was her own fault and that she was an idiot for drinking more than she could handle. She told me that I should shut up, it was the first time she'd had any alcohol and if she'd known how lousy she'd feel the next day she wouldn't have touched the stuff. Well," Inuyasha paused, "she cursed a lot more and sat me a few times, but you get the point."

Koga growled briefly at the mention of the binding spell, then nodded when he saw his mate waiting for a response from him before continuing. "What happened then?" the wolf asked.

"She told me that there was a law in her time that prevented anyone under a certain age from drinking. I never really thought it was that important. I just thought that it was another stupid human law." Inuyasha paused there to gather his thoughts before pressing on. "There's more, she always talks about doing things when she's old enough; when she's old enough to vote, when she's old enough to go to an 'R movie,' when she's old enough to go to a 'club' with her friends, things like that. It seems like there's an awful lot that she's too young for."

Koga sighed, "And if she's too young to do all that…then…"

Inuyasha nodded.

"Kuso!" Koga swore and pulled away from Inuyasha to bury his head under a handy pillow.

"Hey, what's that matter with you?" the hanyou asked puzzled at his mate's strange behavior. Koga mumbled something from underneath the pillow. "What?" Inuyasha asked as he pulled the cushion away from his mate's head.

"I proposed to a child," Koga moaned.

Inuyasha smiled at his mate's discomfort trying to school his features, stay serious, and seem sympathetic. However, he failed miserably when he began to chuckle at the stricken look on his mate's face, then to laugh. Eventually he was laughing so hard that he had to gasp for air.

"Hey! It's not funny!" Koga protested.

"Y…y…yes…it is!" Inuyasha said through his laughing fit.

"You liked her too!" the Alpha wolf sulked.

"But I didn't propose," Inuyasha said, still shaking with laughter.

"Hmmh," Koga sniffed, using his knee to push his hysterical mate off the bed and onto the carpeted floor.

"Aaah!" Inuyasha yelped in surprise, before he jumped back up and growled at his mate over the side of the bed. Koga looked up at him, his eyes wide and innocent. "Stupid wolf," Inuyasha muttered climbing back onto the bed. He lay down on his side of the bed and turned his back on the wolf demon sharing the space.

Koga smiled at his offended mate and moved over to wrap his arms around him. "Perhaps, but I'm your stupid wolf," he said pressing a kiss to his mate's cheek.

"Hmmm, lucky me," Inuyasha said dismally then turned over to encircle his mate's waist with his arms, pulling the wolf to his chest.

"Hmmm," Koga echoed his mate teasingly as he leaned in to kiss his soft lips. The two fell to sleep wrapped in each other's arms only to be woken a couple hours before sunrise by two ecstatic cubs bouncing on their bed. Too tired to get up the couple forced the cubs under the covers with them and held them down until they all fell back to sleep the boys held snugly in their fathers' arms.

Though the two demons had wrested a few more hours sleep from their exuberant sons, Tetsuya and Ren refused to be deterred and waited just until the sun crested the treetops before exchanging mischievous grins and as one jumped onto their sleeping fathers. According to their reasoning, it was way past time to wake up. They had a big day today after all. They were going to start training with Shippo and they wanted to show him around the den. There weren't many cubs their age in the pack and the two boys were ecstatic to have a friend to play with. They'd only been able to show Shippo their auntie Yuuka's hut yesterday. But today they wanted to show him all their favorite places; the rock cliff that their daddies took them to when they went on walks together, the pool where uncle Ginta taught them how to catch fish, and all the other places they liked to play at. Very soon two sleepy demons could be seen walking down the hallway, each of them carrying a silver haired little boy in their arms.

When Koga stepped into the kitchen he was surprised to see Yuuka and Kaede already preparing breakfast for the group he was housing. Yuuka waved and gave an impish wink when she saw how exhausted the two males were that morning. "Long night boys?" she said smirking. Inuyasha yawned widely as he sat Ren down on the bench beside the kitchen table. Straightening he growled at the 'evil perky morning person' demoness. Koga smiled at his mate and kissed his cub on the forehead before setting Tetsuya next to his brother at the table.

"Good morning," he greeted the women before walking over to where the two women were happily cooking away. Coming up to Kaede he took the utensils from the aged priestess. "Sit down, Lady," he smiled kindly, "Yuuka and I can take care of this."

Kaede smiled at the Alpha wolf and walked over to greet the little demons who'd adopted her as another aunt and were currently clamoring for her attention. "I'll help," Inuyasha said.

Sensing imminent disaster, Koga whirled around and managed to stop his mate before he reached the counter. "No, you won't! I'd rather not get food poisoning today, thanks."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Inuyasha challenged.

"Hnnh," Koga sniffed and rolled his eyes turning back to the task at hand.

"You trying to say, I can't cook?"

Koga smirked, "I'm not trying to say anything."

Inuyasha smirked back at his mate, "Arrogant ookami." The inuyoukai caught his mate's face in his hands and ducked in for a chaste kiss.

The wolf sighed in contentment and opened his blue eyes as the kiss ended. He smiled up at his mate. It astounded him how lucky he was to have this amazing person before him as his one and only mate. "Go wake the others," he said.

"Alright." Inuyasha turned and made to leave the room.

"Daddy, can we…" Ren began.

"…help you wake Shippo up?" Tetsuya finished.

"Sure. Come on." The two boys raced ahead of their father, giggling and laughing all the way to Shippo's room. Inuyasha left his sons to wake up the fox while he went to get the others. Miroku was awake when he walked into the room. The hanyou waited a few moments for the monk to finish his morning prayers before informing him that breakfast was ready and giving him a warning not to try any of his lecherous tricks on the she wolves in the pack. Inuyasha knew his friend and he didn't think the human was prepared to deal with an irate pack of wolves after seducing a woman of the pack. Not that Miroku ever had luck in his endeavors, but should hell freeze over and he succeed in finding a woman that desperate, he at least had to be aware of the consequences.

After pounding it into the monk's head to leave the women alone he went to wake the girls. Not one to stand on ceremony, the hanyou simply walked into the room and shook the women awake, telling them to hurry up if they wanted breakfast. Kagome nearly burst into tears when he woke her. It made him feel almost...sorry for the harsh things he said to her, she did look young and lost, and if it weren't for her gross stupidity he would never have his mate and his sons. That didn't mean that he forgave her just yet. She had a long way to go before he could put aside his anger with her and allow her to begin trying to earn his forgiveness or his trust again, but there was the potential for healing between the two. He patted her on the shoulder and left the room allowing the women time to ready themselves. Before joining the others in the kitchen, Inuyasha visited his son's room and herded the three young demons out of the room and to the breakfast table.

Tetsuya and Ren were fascinated by the young fox demon. Having never seen any other demons than wolves and their father, whom they were just beginning to realize was different from the other demons around them. They chattered excitedly with the other boy throughout breakfast, completely unaware of the tension that filled the overcrowded dining area. When they were finished Koga told them to go outside and play before they went to their lessons. The twin boys happily dragged the little fox along and within a few days the three were the fastest of friends. Shippo himself had been lonely. Yes, he was well cared for by the humans he traveled with and Kirara looked after him, but that just wasn't the same as having friends his own age to play with or a family. When the day was done, Koga and Inuyasha would call their sons home. Sometimes they'd be out playing when the two demons would come up behind the twins and sweep them up into their arms. And of course the twins, whether they knew their fathers' were coming or not, always shrieked in laughter and allowed themselves to be caught. It reminded Shippo of his father and the kitsune found himself jealous of his newfound friends. He didn't mean to be envious, but he missed his family, it wasn't fair that Tetsuya and Ren had a family and he didn't.

Koga and Inuyasha were excellent fathers. Shippo never thought he'd ever want Inuyasha or Koga for his father, especially since Koga had tried to feed him to his pack when first they met, but he wanted to be a part of all the love and attention that the wolf and dog demon showered on the twins. One day when the demons came to collect their boys as the sun went down Inuyasha noticed that Shippo was holding back. The little fox was scuffing the ground with the nails of his hind legs a few paces behind them. At that moment Shippo felt the hanyou's eyes on him and looked up. The undisguised yearning in the fox's gaze and his dejected posture very suddenly reminded the hanyou of another little boy. It wasn't easy growing up a half-breed in the court of the great Inuyoukai Lord, as a child Inuyasha had been no stranger to loneliness, he recognized the look in the fox's eyes. It puzzled him though, what could the fox have to feel this way about? Shippo's gaze dropped back to the ground. Just ahead of them Koga and Tetsuya were laughing together over something one of them had said, Shippo's eyes swept toward the pair and settled on them for a moment before he resumed his inspection of the ground beneath his feet.

"Daddy?" Ren asked from his perch in the silver haired demon's arms, tugging on his father's kimono, wondering why they'd stopped.

Inuyasha smiled reassuringly at his youngest, then called over to the fox, "Come on, Shippo. We're gonna be late for dinner if ya don't hurry up." The hanyou held his hand out stretched to the little demon who, unsure of himself, walked up to clasp the older demon's hand. Inuyasha tugged on the little fox's arm and allowed the kitsune to scamper onto his shoulder, opposite Ren. The three continued on their way and as they passed the wolves of the pack saw the little fox ridding on the shoulder of their Alpha's mate and recognized the silent message that was being sent. The next day, Shippo was cared for not as a visitor to the pack, but as a son of it. Koga was surprised at first when Ginta and Hakkaku began to tease him, albeit good naturedly, about the new addition to his family, but he accepted his mate's decision. As the bearer of his children, Inuyasha held a place in the tribe that would have been equivalent to the Alpha female, had he himself been female. It was the Alpha female's right to adopt any orphaned cubs she saw fit as her own or to confiscate any cubs born to unfit parents within the pack. Inuyasha was simply exercising this right and Koga accepted it as the natural order of things. He would treat the fox as his own son for as long as Inuyasha felt the need to care for the boy.

Of course Koga could not have any child of his as weak and untrained as was this kitsune. At the first opportunity the Alpha wolf spoke with Makoto to arrange an intense training regiment for his newest son. He'd have the fox whipped into shape in no time. So far Shippo had been training with his sons, running, practicing swordplay with wooden swords, and so on, but kitsune were not wolves. They had different strengths and different tactics must be applied to ensure their development. Kitsune were one of the only types of canine demons that relied heavily on their inner spiritual strength and magic. Other demons preferred to bulk up their body, relying on muscles and strength to aid them in a fight. Foxes, on the other hand, were unable to attain the bulk of most canine demons; they maintained their lithe, elegant, forms all through their life. That's not to say that they were weak, there were many foxes that could outstrip the brawniest demon in contests of strength. A kitsune simply supplemented his strength with his inner magics, not unlike Inuyasha. The hanyou's body was weakened by his human blood and so whether he recognized it or not the half demon had turned his pursuits for power toward increasing his demonic energy rather than the strength of his body. It was a practical strategy, as his spiritual potential was limited by his will alone and not by the blood flowing in his veins. Since this was the natural state of kitsune, it was more important to train the fox's spiritual powers then to train his body. Recognizing this, Koga and Makoto discussed the eventuality of bringing a kitsune warrior in the den to train the boy. But all things must be done in their due time and Koga was confident that the wolf tribe could at least earn the boy his next two tails without outside interference. He intended to consult the kitsune he'd relocated to the human village in his territory on the basics of rearing a fox kit at the first opportunity. However, at the moment the group had larger concerns, they were going after the jewel of the four souls.

A/N:

1) Hi everyone! Sorry for the wait, but besides being buried in school work this chapter has given me no end of trouble. Would you believe I've been drafting and redrafting this chapter since the beginning of March?

2) Replies to Reviewers since the last update: (No offense but I only wrote responses to people who needed explanations about the story or asked me a specific question and if the question was asked by more than one person, I only answered it once. Sorry, I just don't have the time right now to do these individually. For those of you without a special note, I do drop hints on future chapters in the replies, if you're curious it might be worth your time to read them.)

acern, agrias-101, ChaoticSpecter, cookiemistress, DarkWolf-Kurama, Dvineanarchy07, Empress Satori, FREAK014, heart of ice, insanechildfanfic, Ishi Tatsu , kurokioku, Ranma Higurashi, SoulSister, SuperSaraMoon, TsuyaKK, XxMaster-ExX: Thanks for the reviews guys I really appreciate the support!

deliciae: Thanks so much! I'm a huge fan of your fic I Return to You and I'm flattered that you took the time to review my fic. To answer your question, yes Sesshomaru is going to show up, but later rather than sooner.

DragonsDesire: You might not be as paranoid as you think, I haven't decided yet.

Greg Selm-Orr: I'm glad I can entertain you, but sorry no threesomes. I blush enough when I write intimate scenes between two characters I don't think I could handle a third.

Happy: Thanks! Ummm...where is Myoga...where if Myoga, ::has an idea:: Okay, you know how there are lava pits all around Totosi's house? Let's just say that Myoga fell into one of those and is unable to join in the story for at least another four, maybe five, chapters. I'll give you a hint though, when Sesshomaru shows up Myoga won't be far behind.

inu-youkai-911: There is no way I would be upset by you using one of my ideas. Anyone should be flattered that his or her work inspires though, that's the spirit of fanfiction after all! Let me know how it goes and I'll be sure to look you up.

MoroTheWolfGod: Sorry, I skipped Kaede talking to Kagome. It was boring anyway, trust me you wouldn't have wanted to be in the room.

Tiger Timberwolf: Thanks, that question was sort of a spur of the moment thing, brought on by the combination of lots of caffeine and no sleep. Why is it that I write best at one in the morning anyway? Anyway, I cannot yet divulge the location of Shippo's future residence, but I'll tell you this, the little fox isn't out of the woods yet. Shippo's orphan status and lack of permanent residence will be a recurring theme in the story.

Wolf whirl: Ahhhhhh, I'm ignoring that. ::Author hides behind a handy tree:: Let's all just pretend that the boys were developed enough that they could go right to cereal after they were born. I know it's weird for someone who likes mpregs as much as I do, but a man lactating gives me the willies. And I can't picture Inu with breasts. ::Shudders:: No offense to anyone who likes that, but Inu has such great pecs, I couldn't bear to ruin them.