Sesshoumaru glared north, his claws biting into his palms as he tightened his grip on Ah-Un’s reins. He had entertained the girl’s ridiculous whims long enough. It was time to end this foolishness. He would find the wolf and strike him down this very day–as he had proposed from the start. As his seething blood demanded that he should.

To have suffered the company of those mongrels was more than vexing, but their effusions toward the miko had filled him with unspeakable rage. How she had managed to win such devotion beneath his notice was infuriating. It was true that in the first months he had tasked her with undoing the seal, he had summoned her infrequently–infrequently enough, it seemed, for her to have ensnared another so completely that even without mating her, his underlings revered her as their alpha…

The daiyoukai grit his fangs anew. An alpha she was–even he had been forced to acknowledge this truth. Though the girl was categorically ignorant of her appeal, the beast in him could not let such a fact escape his notice. But she was not Kouga’s alpha.

This, Sesshoumaru would make clear.

As the sun began to descend toward the horizon, the girl drew up beside him. He could sense her apprehension, but it was the guilt he scented from her which at last gave him pause. He leveled his gaze upon her, vindicated and enraged in equal measure as she shrank back from the force of his scrutiny.

“It’s getting late,” she said hesitantly. “…Shouldn’t we stop to make camp?”

Sesshoumaru considered her narrowly. Perhaps he had been too hasty in presuming her ignorance. Wordlessly, he led them down to a clearing in the pine forest below. The girl dismounted, Jakken springing from the horse with a muttered curse. Setting down her pack, she glanced at Sesshoumaru briefly before turning away with a frown.

“Thanks for putting up with Jakken, Entei-san,” she said quietly, scratching the horse youkai behind the ears. “I know he’s a pain.”

“You are the pain, ningen!” Jakken snapped. “Why Sesshoumaru-sama suffers your existence I do not know!”

The miko glared. “Yeah, well, you’re welcome. I could have literally left you to the wolves back there.” She hugged her arms about her chest, studiously avoiding Sesshoumaru’s gaze. “…I’m going to find some firewood.”

Sesshoumaru watched as she walked away, his black mood only growing darker still. The fact that she could not seem to face him made him more suspicious and irate. She was concealing something from him—of that he was certain. The thought that there might be the least truth to what those wolves had claimed made him want to tear her limb from limb.

“Jakken,” he said sharply, “see to Ah-Un.”

“Y-yes, milord!”

Already the two-headed dragon was lumbering off in the direction of the closest stream. Dropping the wolves’ gifts next to Entei, Jakken trotted after in pursuit. The miko’s horse lay down as Sesshoumaru swept past, red eyes regarding him indolently. The daiyoukai’s jaw clenched–even this beast was afforded more respect by the girl than he, his ire deepening as he recalled how familiarly she had addressed the wolf.

His concealed youki roiled beneath his skin as he stalked through the woods. He could kill Kouga–perhaps he still would. But it was the girl herself who needed to be brought to heel–

Now.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi