Yo! My first Wolf's Rain fic! Yay! I'm not sure how big Kiba/Tsume fics are, but they're my favorite pairing in the series. I know Tsume.Toboe and Kiba/Cheza or Kiba/Hige fics are big and I've read many but I like this one the best so here's my contribution.

Warnings : Some language, some yaoi situation, some cute? and fluffy? stuff! I don't own Wolf's Rain...Oh well.

Temptation

He stood up from his kneeling position and pulled his hand back. That was grey fur, no doubt, but there was also blood. Like he'd brushed too close to the machinery and tore his shoulder. That made him a bit worried. Tsume wouldn't be that blatant on purpose, would he? No, he mocked their abilities plenty by leaving such obvious hints but he'd never go so far as to leave a blood trail. He wouldn't really.

He was worried. He really wasn't good at this. There were too many smells in the city, too much to dilute the original scent. If he had been outside in the wilderness, it would have been easy. But there was just too much here. The constant scent of lunar flowers, the emissions from the metal carriages and the thousands of people who'd roamed the streets today covered the scent more effectively than anything he'd ever encountered.

It figured that Tsume would be so good at this. The grey had spent too much time in the city to not adapt to live within. It was stacked against his favor but there wasn't a force in this world that would make him sacrifice his pride admitting defeat.

Instead, he took off at a dead run, snaking through alleys and up sidewalks. He ducked down an alley. He hesitated for a moment then jumped, using the window ledges to gain altitude. There were a few flecks of blood on the rooftop beside his landing spot. He didn't pause in his pursuit now and tore over the rooftops and down a fire escape.

He'd catch him today. Definitely.

-X-

Okay, maybe he'd taken the flight part of the fight or flight response a bit too far. It wasn't often that he stupidly did something he knew was beyond his current abilities. And misjudging the distance between himself and the machinery was a very stupid occurrence.

He lapped at the blood smearing his grey coat, but being unable to reach the actual cut on his shoulder pissed him of more than he was willing to admit. He savored the slightly metallic taste before taking back his human body to temporarily rummage through the food Toboe had left for him. Taking a bite out of the raw beef hide, he swallowed it slowly and gave a relaxed sigh.

It was more fun than he'd ever admit to, being chased like this. It gave a whole new meaning to "The Chase". It was liberating to be on this side for once. To be the one at a disadvantage and yet to still outwit and outlast the other. The predator in him wasn't soothed in the least but he was rather smug. It was a special talent of his no doubt.

It was liberating to be as free as this. To temporarily forget everything and give himself up to the chase. He tore through the rest and pitched the bag over his shoulder. He used the human hands to haul himself down to the foot-wide balcony under the rooftop walk. After taking a second to orientate himself, he tracked his best path down and took it. He absently shifted back, feeling the ground under his paws pulsing with the life of the city.

It had its own beat. Its own pulse that signaled to everyone that this place was alive and thriving. Regardless of how bad it looked, life was growing in this place. He could feel the people walking in their apartments beside him, the cars conquering the concrete paths, and the music that throbbed through the very air. He could get drunk off the mere sound. Unlike the others, he'd spent too much of his life in the city to ever fully accept giving it up, as much as his blood demanded it of him.

He loved the sounds of the city, even more the smells. The mess that would have the best hunter dizzy with confusion because of its sheer weight. But he'd acquired a taste for it and a knowledge of the scents. He knew motor grease from braking fluid, which was more than the others knew about distinguishing one patch of grass from another.

Add the fact that lunar flowers blessed this place and he was in his own paradise. The wilderness was a memory written in his blood; the city was a love written into his soul.

He'd never been conventional. He had never craved a pack and wound up with one anyway. He was a loner by more than nature and yet he was leaving such obvious hints, subconsciously trying to bring his pursuer closer. Because, what other excuse could there be for him to stupidly and brashly collide with the shape machine edges except that he wanted to make the chase tighter? To give him more opportunities to outwit the white?

It wasn't like he wanted caught.

The grey paused in mid-stride and threw his nose to the air. His shoulders went stiff and his eyes scanned the sky as if the object he was scenting was going to fall out of the sky before him. He briskly paced into the shadows under the rooftop and watched carefully. Kiba was catching up to him. He'd have to abandon the skyway fast.

-X-

He slid as gracefully as a motor car onto the path under the roof. He managed to pull himself up with the human hands and balance on the smooth road. He could almost taste the blood that had dripped carelessly onto it. Tsume was going to be in so much trouble and if that wound wasn't life-threatening then he would make sure it was.

He let his body change into a form that was easier to move in. His paws were light and fast. Confident as he glided over turf that would have had him staggering over sideways had he had two legs. He could almost let himself forget and feel the crunch of fresh snow and ice as it submitted to his will. He stumbled over a crack in the concrete and the fleeting image was gone. He caught himself before he fell off the ledge and sighed at his own gullibility. But he picked up his speed. He wasn't going to be eluded anymore. He let his teeth show as he smirked and his tail waved like a battle flag.

The grey was hidden in the building's shadow in the roof ledge across from him. But there was a bridge overpass to Tsume and the grey had only that one choice or he'd be forced into a corner. Never before had he been so thankful that the humans had built their buildings so close together. The grey obviously wasn't going to take this laying down. This was their first confrontation since the chase began. Things were going to get interesting.

He took off for the bridge along with Tsume. The grey was ahead by a single stride and Kiba could clearly see the blood matted on the other's fur. He could see the sure steps and arrogant confidence. And it only made his pace increase, relying on his feet to find purchase on the ground. He cut to the left as Tsume cut right, both landing on the bridge's undercarriage. The rough-hewn stone felt old under his paws but it was strong. He could feel the cars overhead as they passed and hear the river running below. Tsume was already headed down the legs to land at the riverside.

He snorted in irritation but ran faster, faster, trying to devour the space between them with a long stride. He was heftier than Tsume, he realized, as the weak supports under the bridge cracked under his weight. But he was quicker in getting off them and to the next than Tsume was.

He could smell the river, clean and steadily growing polluted. He could hear the quiet flow and see their reflections in the mostly clear water. He doubled his effort and gave a steadily rising growl as he lunged at Tsume and they crashed into the river. The grey surfaced before he did, the fall knocking him into his human shape and he sputtered. Kiba was still in his fur and treading water to the grey.

"Gotcha." Tsume scowled and then shoved water into his face, temporarily blinding him. The grey laughed as he changed back and climbed up the incline, using his claws to grip the tiled stone.

"That's cheating! Dammit, Tsume!" He growled angrily as he climbed up, panting a bit before chasing the grey down the riverbank. His deep, throaty laughter echoed back to him, the wind carrying his scent mixed with water and blood, a metallic and fishy smell. Yellowed eyes looked at him over a bloody shoulder and crinkled in mirth.

"Come get some!" He returned, arrogance, amusement and challenge woven together like a tapestry. "Try it, pretty boy!"

"Tsume!" He nearly howled in irritation but kept to contained to an angry whine. He had a longer stride than Tsume and was soon in inches of the charcoal wolf. He tackled the grey and pinned him to the riverbank, in the sweet grass and grimy dirt. The scarred wolf was quivering in indignation at being held down by the stockier white and voiced this with a rumbling growl. He could feel it in the pads of his forelegs, pinning the other's chest.

"Get off, Kiba." The sun rippled behind a few clouds, throwing shadows over their faces. When it cleared, Tsume was still trapped but Kiba had moved so he was looming over the grey but not pinning him to the ground. "Back up, I'm caught, okay?"

"How'd you cut your shoulder?" Kiba's eyes hadn't been trained on any other part of the grey but the blood matted shoulder, not even a glance to the enigmatic cross on his chest.

"I was careless and brushed some machines." He shrugged as much as he could, and froze under the cool look in the other's eyes. He hated being submissive but kept still under his pack leader's scrutiny. More clouds rolled over the sky before Kiba moved again. The white leaned down and began to clean the fur, rough tongue gingerly avoiding the actual cut. Tsume was too still under his ministrations, making him pause and meet the other's eyes.

"Tsume?" He was close to whispering now, forelegs slightly bent to grant him access to he wound he'd been caring for. Tsume was wide-eyed and his fur had bristled, evidence of his anxiety. "Tsume? Hey, did I hurt you?"

"…No…" Tsume's eyes closed and he swallowed thickly. "I'm fine, damn it."

"Ya know, somehow I don't believe you." He let his sarcasm and gentle teasing scorn through in his voice and carefully returned to lapping at the wound. "At least this one won't scar."

"Hm." But Tsume wasn't paying attention, instead he had pulled up, burying his nose in the thicker white fur around Kiba's neck. Kiba went still as he felt him breathing, ruffling up the soft fur, and the cold nose on his skin. The grey relaxed from his tense posture, and Kiba was careful to let himself up, without breaking the slight embrace.

"Tsume?" And when the sun was shrouded in the dark grey clouds, they slid into their human shapes, Tsume's rough hands and long fingers on his back and the tanned throat pressed to his own swan-like column. Artic pale eyes were fogged with confusion and slight satisfaction, relishing the other's submission. His hands were the same creamy pale white as his throat and he wrapped his arms around the black leather torso and suntanned skin.

Their legs were tangled together and their arms tight around each other's body. But the only skin to skin contact was the tanned throat pressed against the white. Pale fingers absently traced the scuffed edges of leather before skating over the grey's spine. He tensed and then relaxed, Kiba's mind leisurely supplied, 'like melting chocolate' but he was too aware of the other to pay attention.

He felt hands glide under his jacket and to his white t-shirt before slipping under and around the thin waist. Yellowed-silver eyes were closed in a sigh as he felt the other shift to a kneeling position, straddling over his lap. The clouds moved again, lighting the landscape. Tsume shifted, his mouth touching the soft skin under their sensitive ears and hovering annoyingly. Kiba squirmed but Tsume didn't move, so he retaliated by pressing his lips in the same place but languidly mouthing his way over the warm flesh.

"Thanks." Was huskily whispered into his ear and they pulled back and apart enough for Tsume to shift back. The grey rubbed his nose in raven locks of hair and then tenderly licked the side of Kiba's face before sliding out from under him and cheekily fanning his tail out. "But that's all you get for the first time."

"Tease." White fur bristled uncomfortably as the arousal that began flowing through his blood reawakened by the grey's throaty laugh.

"Yeah, but I'm only gonna lead you to temptation, you've gotta take the plunge." And the grey was dancing away from his tackles and lunges, skirting enough away but arrogantly brushed a charcoal tail under the white's nose. "If you have the guts to do it."

Kiba smirked and let Tsume have the head start, before throwing back his head and releasing a wild cry. A call of the chase, the hunt, the never-ending game between prey and predator. Tsume gave a challenging cry back and Kiba ran after him. If this was a taste of sin, of Temptation, then he had already barreled over the cliff. He could still taste salty skin, metallic blood and river water. He wondered briefly how he would taste without a dip into the river. He'd have to test that later, when he pinned the older grey down again.