Koga growled deep within his throat as he watched Inu Yasha approach the mouth of his small pack's cave; his tail went rigid when the hanyou stopped at the mouth of the cave. "Why are you here, dog breath?" He demanded, baring his fangs.
"I'm not here to cause trouble or get into a fight with you Koga," Inu Yasha answered, raising his hands so Koga would see he held nothing in his hands. "I only want to speak with you."
"About what?" Koga spat. "We have nothing to talk to."
"You think I don't know that Koga?" Inu Yasha sighed & lowered his hands. "Sesshomaru does have something to talk about with you, & he wants you & Kagome to come to his castle."
"Why does he want my mate with me? What type of trap is he setting up?"
"It's no trap Koga; he wants to talk to you & Kagome for a reason. He said the business was only between you & him, so he would not confide in me what it was."
Koga studied Inu Yasha, his crystal blue eyes narrowing from lack of trust. -How do I know I can trust him?- He thought. -A deal! I'll make a deal of some sort with him in return for my life possibly being in danger.- A smug smile came to Koga's face. "Come here Inu Yasha," he spoke, rising to his feet from the bedding he shared with Kagome, then walked to a different bedding, sitting down in it.
Inu Yasha took a long look at Koga before he walked to where Koga sat & plopped down, in front of him, a few feet away from the bedding. He looked at the overly confident Koga & began to question if coming closer had been a good idea.
"Inu-kurro, I'll make a deal with you," Koga finally spoke after a few moments of silence. "I have no trust for you, or your brother. For all I know, this might be a trap set up by you both. In one week, some females from the Southern ookami pack are coming to the caves to be mated with Ginta & Hakkaku... They are only being brought here long enough to bare pups to my men & get the pups as far along as not needing them anymore. This is an attempted start to rebuild my pack."
"What does any of that bull have to do with me?" Inu Yasha asked, a feeling of uneasiness settling in his gut.
"There are going to be at least nine females for Ginta & Hakkaku to share. But with nine females & two males, it makes it uneven. So here's the deal, Inu-kurro. I'll go see your brother, along with Kagome, & in return you mate with three of the females & stay around until it's positive that they are with your pups."
"WHAT?! I am not helping you rebuild your pack! Not after the bullshit we put each other through!"
"Then I ain't going to see your brother!" Koga growled, folding his arms over his armored chest. "I don't like the idea of you breeding with the females being sent for my men, but I'm going to need as much help as I can get. I'm willing to deal with it & you won't get another chance to share a bedding with someone, so take me up on the deal & come back here in a week."
"Forget it Koga."
"Then forget about me going to see your brother."
Inu Yasha frowned as he stared at the ookami before him that was pushing his limits. He may not like his brother, Sesshomaru, but Inu Yasha knew that his request had something to do with Catriona; & anything with her, he wanted to help her with. "Look Koga, how do I know you'll keep your end of the deal if I go through with mine?"
"I'll have your brother inform you that he did indeed see me face to face," Koga answered.
"Then if you do that, I'll keep my end of the deal."
"Fine then. I'll have your brother send word & when I return you had better be here & trying to get the females pregnant."
"Fine."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Inu Yasha sped along the river bed, keeping his eyes on the red light that shone through the black smoke of a volcanic mountain. There was Totosai's home, but it was still quite a way off from his current position. He had the small problem that from how long he had been running he was starting to get tired & his energy was fading quickly; meaning he would have to find somewhere to rest soon.
He slowed to a stop when he saw the river curved slightly. -I'll stay here for the night,- he thought as he looked around for a tall tree. Upon finding one, he jumped up & landed on the first branch, then jumped from branch to branch, heading up, until he finally got to the highest branch & settled into the bend where it connected to the tree. "This will have to do for tonight," he said to no one as he folded his arms within the sleeves of his fire rat robe.