AN: WHOOP! I AM BACK IN BUSINESS! After a very very long time of not updating I am back! YAY! I am so sorry for random hiatus, I got lost on the path of life… seriously that actually isn't a lie. I had graduation, I got a Job and am now working my butt off, and all the while attempting to make sense of the long list of stories simultaneously flowing through my head. It is because off all you amazing reviewers that give me the power to continue on, so please bear with me for as you have all probably seen I am very bad about when I update. Well That said, I hope you all enjoy the story. May the power of youth guide your eyes across the lines of my story! Which I own nothing….

Chapter 12

The village square was packed by the time the small wedding party arrived, lead by the "happy" couple. Originally it was supposed to be just the said couple, a simple trip into town for a fitting, but it quickly turned into a huge ordeal, as both Ritsu's and An's mothers decided to join and then drag their reluctant husbands along with them. Add in an annoyed Takano and this wedding party was a picture of perfection. No one really wanted to be there; well at least none of the men, the woman were just happy to have an excuse to shop. Ritsu was constantly being pulled from stall to stall by his energetic fiance and barely had a moments rest. A simple trip turned into a rather long and expensive trip, and they had yet to reach the tailor shop.

Takano watched the two with barely concealed annoyance. He hated watching the human female run her hands over Ritsu, and wanted nothing more than to pull the younger male into one of the alley ways and show him who he belonged to, but he restrained himself. Ritsu wasn't ready for that. Not yet anyways, and Takano didn't want to scare the boy, but that bitch had better stop touching him.

Finally after an hour of nonstop browsing,the group reached the tailor shop, and the women of the group whisked An into the other room for her fitting, much to Takano's and secretly Ritsu's relief. The others went back to the bridal room to watch the fitting, but Ritsu stayed in the parlor, giving the excuse that it was bad luck to see the kimono before the wedding. He had hoped to grab a few seconds of alone time, but that thought seemed foolish as Takano settled himself on the bench beside him.

The wolf had yet to speak to him since the events that transpired in his bedroom, and for some reason it drove the poor boy mad. All he could think about was what had happened earlier. How Takano had touched him. His skin still burned from the sensation of the wolf's hands, and it scared the living hell out of the Onodera heir.

What was this feeling? Was it normal? All Ritsu wanted was for the man to run his hands over him again, to hold him, to kiss him and to do that thing with his- Ritsu shook his head. What was he thinking? He was at his future wife's fitting for their wedding, he shouldn't be thinking of another person, least of all another man.

Ritsu tried to distract himself by looking around the room, but it was just an ordinary tailor shop with shelves upon shelves of fabrics, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't keep his eyes off the wolf. Takano glanced over at the Onodera heir and smirked, "Is there something wrong?"

"No!" Ritsu blushed looking away from the handsome wolf. "I-I was just thinking we should get you fitted for a Kimono as well."

Takano frowned and leaned into Ritsu, "And why's that?"

Ritsu shivered as Takano's breath tickled his ear, and felt an unknown urge spread through his body. He wanted Takano to keep talking like that. "Y-you'll need it." he said.

"For?" the wolf asked and Ritsu felt ready to melt.

"For my...wedding." Ritsu said softly and suddenly Takano was gone from his side. Blinking his head clear, Ritsu looked up to see the wolf standing above him an annoyed look etched onto his face, and Ritsu became all to aware of how alone the two were at the moment.

Takano's eyes glowed a bright golden color as his hand shot out and gripped Ritsu's chin, forcing the younger male to look him in the eyes. "Mark my words Ritsu." he breathed, his hot breath fanning across the boys face. "I won't let you marry that girl. You are my mate, and no human female is going to take you away from me. Especially one you don't even love."

A chill ran down Ritsu's spine, "Wha-"

"Don't try to lie to me Onodera Ritsu." Takano barked using the younger males full name. "I've seen the way you look at her, and I've heard whose name you call out in your sleep. Trust me it's not hers."

Ritsu's face lit up in embarrassment. He was too close to Takano, he couldn't think straight. His throat was dry and the burning sensation was back in full force. In the back of his mind a voice was telling him to get out of there, but he couldn't move. Takano had him, and for a moment Ritsu wanted him to do something, but the wolf pulled away.

"Onodera?" a man called from behind the counter. "Your wife is just about done, do you need anything?"

"Ah no thank you," Ritsu breathed a little flustered. The man bowed and then left the room again to go check on the rest of the party. Ritsu glanced over to Takano, but the wolf was facing the other way.

Ritsu lowered his eyes and began to fiddle with the hem of his haori. He wasn't sure if he was embarrassed or angry, but all of a sudden he didn't want to be in that room anymore. Standing from his seat he walked out of the store ignoring the calls from the wolf behind him.

Once outside, the Onodera heir took a deep breath before starting a slow pace toward the compound. He knew Takano was following him, and he knew that he would hear hell from his parents for leaving An in the middle of the fitting, but he would apologize later. He needed to be alone right now; in fact he was about ready for a drink.

This whole situation drove him mad. First he is forced into a marriage with a woman he thought of as a sister, and then he is being stalked by a possessive shape-shifting wolf who claims that he's his mate. His father can barely stand to be in the same room as him, and to top it all off his stomachs hurting. Why couldn't he have a normal life? Why couldn't he just say no?

Sighing in defeat, Ritsu stopped walking and stared at the ground for a few seconds, before looking up to the green banners that hung off the compound walls. He knew why. He was an Onodera, soon to be a Lord just like his father. It was his job to sacrifice his happiness for the rest of the village, and a union between the Kohinata's and Onodera's was exactly what the village needed. He just wished there was another way.

"Ritsu." Takano's voice was low and gentle. "We should return. The others will be missing you." Ritsu didn't want to go back. He wanted to run. He wanted to be anywhere but there, he wanted to be free, but now the only place he had is gone, just like the only person he had.

A hand touched his shoulder, and Ritsu knew it was Takano's by the way it seared right through his Haori. For a moment he closed his eyes and imagined Takano's hands running across his body. He imagined Takano taking him away from this place, and then he came back down to reality, and shrugged the hand off. This wasn't a fairy-tale, he wasn't a princess who needed to be saved. He was a man, and he had the rest of the village to think off.

Turning around, he walked past the wolf with out so much as a glance, and headed back to the tailor shop. Takano following behind.

888

Watching from a distance, Yokozawa stared at the boy in front of Takano with realization and anger. This was the boy that had driven Takano to leave him. This human child was the fixation of Takano's love, the one Takano dreamt about every night that he was with Yokozawa, the one that had stolen Takano from Yokozawa before the wolf had met the other male.

Jumping from the roof Yokozawa quickly moved to the street the two where on and watched as they entered a small tailor shop. Moving to glance through the window, he watched the boy as he was embraced by a woman in a silken kimono, but he didn't focus on her for long. He was watching Takano, and he loved and hated what he saw.

Jealousy was not a good color on anyone, least of all a wolf, and Takano was green with envy. Yokozawa could see the restraints Takano so carefully held on to slowly slipping away and it made Yokozawa smile to think that Takano wasn't going to get his happy ending with the boy he so craved, but at the same time a sickening feeling crept into the blue eyed wolfs stomach. Takano was jealous of the boy, and Yokozawa was just a memory to the wolf. Takano had practically forgotten the time they shared together, the sweet nothings they had whispered to each other when no one else around. How could that have really meant nothing to the other wolf.

Glancing at the boy Yokozawa studied him trying to find what was so special. He hid as they left the store, and followed the group down the street never taking his eyes off the boy. He couldn't understand the other wolfs interest in the brown haired boy. Though there was something strange about the party. For a moment he thought he smelled another wolf among them, but the scent was carefully hidden so he couldn't quite pinpoint who it was. Was it the boy?

Yokozawa stopped a few yards away as the group reached the compound, watching as the woman in the silk kimono and the boy bid goodbye to one another, and make their way to opposite sides of the compound with the adults leading the way. Takano stuck close to the boys side, obviously agitated and as the two disappeared into the house Yokozawa relinquished his post. To pursue any further would alert Takano to his presence and in doing so give away his new found plan. He would use this boy to get to Takano, and when it was all said and done, he would kill them both.

AN: Alrighty my friends, that's it for this chapter! What is Yokozawa going to do? What is he planning? Who is this other wolf? R&R please!