Disclaimer:  Yatta Yatta Inuyasha I own not blah blah

Authors note:  Okay, the longley overdue next chapter to Wolfgirl Kagome is here!!  Sorry for the incredibly long time it took for updating—but I did!!  I hope you likes!!  I am trying to keep the romance in this story open!!

Kouga's intense blue eyes stared into her own, momentarily making her unable to speak.

Finally, Kagome managed to let out a short laugh, trying to mask the panic that threatened to overwhelm her.  "Of course you know who I am.  I am Omi, the messenger of Nongo."  She said tightly and attempted to move out of his grip.  His hands dug deeper into her shoulders.  'He knows?  That I am the one he has to fight later on? How?  How is that possible?'  Thought spun around in her brain, leaving her momentarily numb.  'Should I knee him now or…'

"I remember you—you were that little human girl that I didn't kill."   Kouga said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Didn't kill!?"  Kagome felt her temper rise, but then drop just as suddenly as she realized that her suspicions were right.  'He was that wolf boy from the village.'  Stunned by the random chance that the boy she saved turned out to be the boy she was now trying to kill, she just stared at him.  "Wha-what are you talking about?  I'm a youkai, no human."  She managed to sputter out.

His eyes left hers momentarily and one of his hands released her shoulder.  In one swipe, he pulled down the corner of her leather out fit, revealing momentarily her shoulder.  Without any thought or hesitation, she punched him—hard.  He leapt backward, clutching one of his eyes.  "What did you do that for, bitch?"  He demanded.

"I don't give a damn who you think I am, but…"  Her voice was choked with anger.

"You got that a scar where the fire got you on that shoulder!"  He said crossly.  "Humans don't heal as well as us youkai."

"Huh?"  Kagome paused in confusion, and then remembered the small flaw in her skin left by the unfortunate ember that caught her.  "…Well…that…" She sputtered, trying to come up with a plausible story.

Both turned as they heard voices coming down the tunnel. 

"In here."  Kouga grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby cave.  After a moment, whoever it was came and went.  Kagome wasn't really sure what Kouga was planning—if he had wanted to kill her now since he wasn't able to when he was younger, then why didn't he expose her to whoever the wolves were that were wandering the cave ways?  "Your scent is coming back too."  He said once it was quiet.  "I remember your scent."

"Yah, I've been told its quite strong."  Kagome said frankly, realizing to hide the fact she wasn't human was now hopeless.

"I like it."  He looked again into her eyes.  "Nobody else has ever been able to beat me in a fight—but you did.  And you're human."

"Can't change that."  She said edgily, feeling uncomfortable by the fact that her heart had decided to beat more rapidly.  "Look, how about if I leave and we both forget about this encounter."  'Forget the plan—I need to get out of here before anything else goes wrong.'

"Okay, I'll let you go, if—" He began.

"I'm not your prisoner, so hell I can go when I want to."  Kagome said firmly, not wanting the wolf to have any sway on her.  'He's my enemy.'  She told herself. 

"You're in the middle of my clan's home—even if you get lucky again and beat me, you still have to face everyone else in my tribe."

"Lucky again?  I think I beat you and then saved your life."  She snapped.  "But you're right about me being in the wrong place to fight you."  The ironic situation threatened to overtake her, considering the wrong place was literal on many levels.

"Look, meet me in three days near here."  He told her.  "And I'll let you go."

"Why?"

"Eh—you're smelling more like a human."  He looked embarrassed.

'Yah, now that was a subtle way to change the subject.'  Kagome thought.  "Fine, I'm going."

"Wait, you won't even be able to fool other youkai any more."

"Well, I'll just wing it then."  Kagome said wryly.  Kouga looked at her for a moment, as though deciding something.  Then, in one quick movement, he sliced a narrow cut on one of his hands and took her own.   The cut on her own hand burned from the contact and for a brief moment a wave of dizziness hit her as the youkai blood flowed through her.  Kagome nearly found herself on the floor, supported only by Kouga's arms which had slipped around her.  Once steady, he released her, his expression changing from worry to a grin.

"Well, you smell youkai again.  Turn left out of this cave and keep going until you get out."  With that, he left her.

'Okay, what the hell just happened?"  Kagome gripped her hurt hand, feeling a little confused.  'Mating rituals are sure taken lightly these days.'  Quickly, she followed the tunnels out, realizing that this was probably one of the most unsuccessful missions she had ever been on.

Kouga had recognized the girl when she was speaking to the clan master.  Her smell, her looks, everything about her looked like that girl who set him on fire several years earlier.  She had beat him, then saved his life.  Living with wolf youkai and especially learning how to hate humans by his mother, this had thrown him for a loop.  If had been another youkai he had been fighting, he would have found the act stupid—why save your enemy?  But something about her made it different.

He walked outside, running into two of his friends—lackeys really that were more loyal to him then to the actual clan leader.  "So, you're going to compete with that Omi wolf later?"  One of them grinned at him.  "You're going to beat her good."

"Nope.  Don't tell anyone, but she isn't really Nongo's messenger." He confided.  "Just an imposter.  She already left."  The wolves just stared at him.

"Well, then why was she even here?"  The other asked. 

"Huh?" Kouga looked at him blankly.

"Why was she posing as Nongo's messenger?—Was she a rebel from that tribe?"

"Is her name even Omi?  Why did she want you to show how strong you were?"

The million questions he should have asked suddenly hit him.  He just looked at them both, suddenly feeling very stupid.  Viciously, he hit them both over their heads.  "It's none of your business," and then stomped off.  'Well, I'll see her in three days.  She acts a lot stronger than other wolf youkais and isn't afraid to fight…there is something about her…'

"Well?"  Was the first words that left her mother's mouth.  Kagome had just reached the clearing that she had left them much earlier that day.  With some surprise and a little happiness, she noticed that Inuyasha had decided to return to wait for her.  His eyes seemed to widen when she had returned, but now were looking at her with his usual contempt expression from his perch in the tree.  "Well?"  Nateli repeated.  "You get in?  See the bastard's moves?  Hopefully you annoyed the old head bitch in some way too, right?"

"Eh…"  Kagome nervously laughed.  "The mission didn't go over so well." 

"Keh, she managed to mess it up."  Inuyasha snorted.

"Shut up."  She said defensively.  "I got in great—the clan leader never guessed that I wasn't youkai and bought that I was Nongo's messenger surprisingly well.  Unfortunately, she wanted me to compete with Kouga—the guy I am later suppose to fight."

"Kouga—what a stupid name for a wolf to have.  Kagome is so much better."  Her mother laughed richly.

"I was thinking about going with that, but Kouga wanted to delay it, claiming that I must be tired.  Several hours had already past and he wanted to wait several more, and I simply just didn't have the time."  Kagome stated, carefully leaving anything about her own encounter with him out.

"Damn it."  Her mother spat, then narrowed her eyes.  "You still smell really youkai to me—too bad you can't smell it yourself to know you could have stayed longer."

"Yeah."  Kagome nodded carefully.

"You kinda smell different though…"   Inuyasha broke in.  Kagome glared at him, threatening him to say any more.

"I was around other wolf youkai's all day—its not surprising."  She said firmly.

"Geh, the plan failed, but at least you saw him and he probably won't suspect you to be the one attacking him, so hopefully we'll have some damn surprise on our hands."

"Right."  Kagome agreed quickly.  "Eh…well, I think I'm going to go to bed—the youkai blood's really worn me out."  While it was partly true—she did feel worn out—Kagome quickly realized that her freshly renewed youkai smell was going to be sticking with her for quite some time.  She needed to get away from both her acute smelling mother and Inuyasha.

"Well, it didn't kill you, so its bound to have made you stronger."  Her mother grinned.  "Me…I think I'm going to fix my new found friend up and send her on her way."  Kagome looked at her questioningly, before realizing she was probably referring to the original messenger.  Either way, the look her mother gave had little room for inquiry.

"Keh, I guess I'm going to go too then."  Inuyasha leapt from his perch, landing solidly on the ground.  He started walking off back into the trees, his hands tucked into the sleeves of his kimono.  Kagome grinned at the sight and picked up a stick on the ground.  With one quick flick of her wrist, she threw the stick at his head.  As the stick neared, his ears twitched suddenly and one hand reached back, catching the approaching missile.  He spun around, his grip cracking the stick in two.  "What the hell was that for!!!?"

"Testing your reflexes."   She smiled.  "I just wanted to thank you for waiting for me to come back."

"…Keh…had nothing better to do."  He replied, looking slightly flustered.  "Normal people would just say that and leave out the throwing part."  With that he turned and leapt high into the trees before disappearing. 

Nateli, who had been watching the entire thing with ill concealed amusement, broke into peals of laughter.  "What?"  Kagome demanded.

"Nothing, nothing"  She choked.  "I gotta go—you sleep good and lets train tomorrow!"  She ran into the woods, her laughter still echoing inside Kagome's ears.

'Okay, everyone has gone insane.'  Kagome went off a little ways before leaning against a tree, planning on actually getting some sleep.  She was finally drifting off when a sound forced her back awake.

"Hey?"  The voice whispered.  "You awake?"

"No."  She responded automatically, but then opened her eyes.  "Inuyasha?  What do you want?  You aren't mad at the stick throwing thing are you?"

"Keh, no."  He stated.  "You smell funny."

"You look funny."

"Hey!  What's that suppose to mean?"

"I think I'm the one who should ask that."  Kagome smirked at him.  He gave her a look that managed to both read I'm hurt and you are so annoying.  "Fine, you don't look funny.  I smell funny because I still got some youkai blood in me."

"It should have worn off by now."  Inuyasha insisted.

"So?  Things don't always go as plan."  She said vaguely, but was strangely flattered by his worry. 

"Human logic."  Inuyasha hmphed. 

"Oh, is the hanyou confused?"  Kaogme grinned at him while Inuyasha responded with a bighting glare.

"At least I'm no HUMAN."  He snapped.  "This is what I get for worrying about you— "  He stopped, realizing what he just said.  A tension began to build around them, cut by Inuyasha's frantic attempts to restate himself.  "I mean—that's not what I menat—I just knew you were stupid enough to mess everything up and get yourself killed."  With that, he leapt to his feet and vanished, leaving Kagome to wonder what in the world he meant.

The next few days passed by quickly for Kagome.  Her mother, even less serious than she normally was, made training far more fun then it should be, involving more intricate games of tag within the trees than actual fighting.  Agility lessons, as she called them.  Her mother occasionally would also look out into the trees, as though sensing something, then turn back to Kagome with an odd smile on her face.  As for Inuyasha, he seemed to have disappeared completely.  It surprised her how much that disappointed her. 

And finally the third day came.

'Okay, I could just stand him up—it's not like he knows where I am or anything.  He probably wouldn't be able to find me.'  She thought to herself while sitting on the ground, chewing on a sliver of meat.  'Then again, it can't really hurt.  I don't have to stay long—he probably will want some stupid rematch or something from that one fight.  Revenge is the wolf youkai's way.'

"Hey, mother?"  She leaned backwards, looking high into the tree where her mother was lazily stretched out along a branch.  "I'm going to out into the woods by myself for awhile—I want to get something near the river."

"Good, go away."  Her mother grinned down at her, waving her off, as though it was her own ideal that she should go.

"See you later!"  With that, Kagome sprinted off, heading to the place she agreed to three days earlier.

The moment Kagome vanished out of sight; Nateli looked absently into the trees, a murmur of a smile on her lips.  "Come out, idiot.  If you think I can't tell your there, your underestimating my wonderful wolfy powers."  The woods remained silently.   In an annoyed voice, she spoke again.  "Hanyou, my nose is working just fine!"  After another pause, a figure slunk into the clearing.  "Hell, I could have called you out while she was here—I always do enjoy a good show—but I didn't."

"Keh, it wasn't like I was hiding."  With one sweep of his hand, Inuyasha tried to be nonchalant over the entire matter. 

"Of course not."  Nateli smiled at him. 

"Bitch, I wasn't!"  He said defensively.

"You're the one over denying it."

"Hell, I'm leaving."  Inuyahsa turned, but pause at Nateli's next words.

"You like my daughter, don'tcha?"

"What!!"  He spun around.  "Hell no!  Why would I like some human bitch who can't even—"

"Careful what you say."  Nateli cut him off, a warning flickering in her eyes. 

"I don't like her." 

"Which is why you spent all day waiting for her to return?  Or why you've been hanging out here for the past couple of days, always near to us, yet always out of sight?  Keh, I'm a damn wonderful mother who knows these things."  Inuyasha's face turned unreadable.

Finally, he shook one fist up at her.  "What the hell are you talking about?  I told you I don't like her!"

"I was just saying that I don't mind you liking Kagome—if she likes you too, I don't mind if you go for it.  Kagome unfortunately doesn't have many suitable male friends her age, my fault probably."  Nateli shrugged.  "But you don't seem half bad."

"I don't like her!"  He repeated angrily, and then stomped off.  Nateli just smiled after him.

Well, another chapter done and I hope reviews follow it!!  Thank you for your support!!!