Sesshomaru's eyes grew red as he smelled blood as they came up on his castle. Sesshomaru, Inu Yasha, & Isamu had been running non-stop for three days now & the two hanyous were running out of energy, but Sesshomaru was being spurred on by the scent of Catriona's blood. It was a slightly old scent, but since it was the blood of his mate, it didn't matter to him how old it was.
Inu Yasha was forcing himself to keep running since he wanted to get there at the same time as his brother & his nephew incase something had gone wrong & his help was needed. He kept his breathing as normal as he could to keep from hyperventilating while he ran. His nose picked up the blood scent & his ears went back, his protective instincts kicking in as his mind began to think of the worst possible ideas.
Isamu's demon blood began to take over as a bad feeling formed in his gut hen his nose found the scent of his mother's blood. His fangs got sharper & his claws extended as his eyes began to turn red. He didn't care if he felt his father's eyes staring at him; all he cared about was getting to his mother. He knew how fast he could run & even though he was low on his energy, he still had energy he had been holding back. He could see his father's castle in plain view now so he decided now was as good as time as any to use to energy he had been saving. He ran ahead of his hanyou uncle & his demon father, who had been holding back also since requested to by Inu Yasha.
Inu Yasha watched as Sesshomaru ran ahead also to catch up with his son, leaving Inu Yasha to run by himself since he couldn't run faster since he had almost run out of energy.
At the castle Sesshomaru & Isamu burst through the door, one running to the left wings of the castle, the other running off to the right. Isamu checked every single room that held the scent of either his mother, Rin, or Miroku throughout the right wings of the castle, but he couldn't find her anywhere. Sesshomaru had done the same thing throughout the left wings of the castle & had also come up with nothing. Even though Inu Yasha was last to the castle, he still helped out in the search by looking around the castle area for any hints about the whereabouts of the three people.
Sesshomaru had caught his breath by now, but Isamu was almost there since he was no longer panting as he walked throughout the castle, searching again. Sesshomaru followed the scent of blood to Catriona's room where on the bedding was a large amount of blood; the blood he had been smelling since they passed through the castle barrier. When he heard a sound in the doorway, he turned to see his son standing there with a confused, lost look as he stared at the blood belonging to his mother.
What...happened? He asked himself as he moved closer to the bedding, sniffing the air. Why did she bleed this much? His nose picked up the scent of fear, anger, & sadness. "I have to find her," was all he said before he left the room & made his way to the main doors, following the scent of Miroku, Rin, & his mother.
Inu Yasha was about to enter the castle when Isamu walked out, his pace dead set on a scent. "Isamu, wait."
Isamu stopped & looked at Inu Yasha, his eyes golden since his youkai blood was no longer controlling him. "What do you want Inu Yasha?"
"I found the scent of you mother, Miroku, & Rin leaving the castle barrier behind your father's castle. Go get your father." Inu Yasha watched as Isamu ran back inside the castle. Within a few minutes, Sesshomaru & Isamu emerged from the castle, Sesshomaru looking at his brother. "Sesshomaru, I found their scent leading away from here behind your castle. If we follow it we can find them."
The demon didn't say anything as he took off to behind the castle, with Isamu following, then followed after the scent trail; Inu Yasha soon followed after them.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Catriona groaned softly as she lay on the bedding that had been put together for her by Koga & Kagome. Her & Rin had been taken to Koga's caves when Kagome & Koga ran into her, Miroku, & Rin while Miroku was leading them away from the castle. Catriona opened her eyes to see Rin looking down at her. "Rin..." She managed to get out before wincing from a pain in her lower stomach.
"Catriona, I'm glad to see you're awake again," Rin said, holding her hand as Ginta, one of Koga's remaining pack members, approached them with hesitation since the scent surrounding Catriona made him queasy. "Ginta, she woke up," Rin said, looking at the wolf demon who now sat next to her.
"So I see," the demon said, looking from the little girl to the woman laying on the bedding. "How are you feeling Lady Catriona?" Ginta asked.
"I don't know... I hurt so bad," she said before she slid her arm around her waist, whimpering in pain.
"Forgive me, but that's to be expected Lady Catriona. After all, you did lose the child you were carrying."
Catriona's eyes widened as she quickly turned her gaze to Ginta. "What child?"
"You did not know? I can smell it clearly that you were carrying a child, but for some reason, lost it not too long ago. The monk that carried you denied the idea that you were pregnant, but his actions gave him away."
I was pregnant? She thought to herself. But who was it from? It could have been from Miroku or Sesshomaru since I slept with both of them so soon after one another... She bit her lip as Rin rubbed the top of her hand. "Where is Kagome? She is the last person I remember seeing before I passed out again," she spoke. I wish I knew who it was from...
"Kagome went with Koga to get your mate & Inu Yasha," Ginta answered. "Young Lady Rin explained to her everything that happened so she decided to take Koga & wait for the two at Lord Sesshomaru's castle." He watched as Catriona nodded & looked away from him. "Can I get you anything Lady Catriona?"
"Is there anyway for me to get some water?" She asked, not looking at him.
"Of course!" Ginta rose to his feet & walked away from the two girls, leaving the cave.
"Catriona, is the child from the monk?" Rin asked, unaware of the woman's thoughts.
"I don't know Rin... I also paired with your 'Papa Sess' a few nights before I paired with the monk. I do not know who the child was from; though I would like to know for my own reasons.
Outside of the caves, Ginta walked up the terrain on the side of the caves, making his way to the river that supplied the cave's waterfall. He had with him a pouch for water so he could carry water to Catriona without spilling any of it. Ginta walked until he saw Hakkaku standing by the banks, looking around since he was put on guarding duty. "Hey Hakkaku," he said.
The fellow wolf demon turned to look at Ginta. "Hey Ginta, what's the pouch for?"
"Water. Lady Catriona finally woke up & since she requested water, I came up here to get her some."
"Bah..."
"Any sign of Koga or sis?"
"Not yet. I don't know what he expects us to do if we get attacked... How are we supposed to protect ourselves & save the two women at the same time? With just the two of us, it won't be easy."
"I know, but Koga trusted us with this so I'm going to try my hardest."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Kagome as on Koga's back as the wolf demon sped in the direction of Sesshomaru's castle. "Thank you again Koga. This is such a nice thing of you to do for my friend," Kagome said, kissing the top of Koga's head.
"It's no problem Kagome," Koga said, looking back at her. "Your my woman & I'll do anything you want me to."
Kagome blushed, still not used to hearing those words now that she had agreed to be Koga's mate. At the moment she was two months pregnant with his wolf "pups," & him, Ginta, & Hakkaku had been extra protective of her since they first began smelling the new life inside of her. She rested the side of her head against his own, careful not to press too hard & end up hurting him.
"Kagome, Catriona is the mother of a hanyou, correct?" Koga asked.
"That's right, she is. Her son is also the son of Sesshomaru."
"That cold-hearted jerk?! What does she see in him?"
"He's not a jerk to her Koga. He's loving with her & their son."
"She must have your charming ways," Koga said with a smirk in his voice, knowing it would make Kagome blush.
Kagome buried his face in his shoulder. "Don't say those things," she whimpered, her cheeks burning.
Koga chuckled as he looked ahead & sped up, wanting to hurry & reunite Catriona to Sesshomaru & her son so Kagome would be happy. He found the trail he had found Miroku & the girls on & he followed it. When his sharp eyesight picked up movement nearly a mile away, he ran as fast as he could, creating his tornado behind him.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Inu Yasha was running beside his brother & nephew when his nose picked up two familiar scents; Koga & Kagome. He ran faster to get to the scents, even though he had asked they hold back on running only slightly so they could save energy incase they needed to fight. When his eyes finally saw Kagome & Koga, he went to them, slowing until he had stopped & was now waiting for them to close the distance.
Koga skidded to a stop in front of Inu Yasha, kicking dirt up onto him, smirking as the hanyou brushed the dirt off the front of his fire rat robe. "Inu Yasha," he said, breaking the verbal silence as Sesshomaru & Isamu came up beside Inu Yasha, standing at his sides.
"Koga," Inu Yasha said, his eyes narrowed as he picked up the scent surrounding Kagome. This was the first time he had seen her since before he left in search of Isamu, so he had not been informed of the child growing inside Kagome. He looked at Kagome. "Hi Kagome."
"Inu Yasha, how are you?" She asked as she got down from Koga's back, running to Inu Yasha & hugging him tightly.
Inu Yasha returned the hug, inhaling her scent, ignoring the other part of it. He looked at Koga while he held Kagome, hoping to see jealousy in his eyes, but all he found was a look that told him to enjoy her embrace while he could. A sharp reminder to remember that she was Koga's mate. He glared at him & kissed the top of Kagome's head as she pulled away. "I see you're doing well."
Kagome nodded & looked at Sesshomaru. "Sesshomaru, I as on my way to your castle to wait for you to return so I could let you know where Catriona is," she spoke, moving to stand by Koga.
Isamu stepped forward & stood in front of Kagome. "Aunt Kagome, where is my mom & Rin?" He asked, not caring what may have happened to the monk he so wanted to kill at the time being.
"They are at the wolf caves & are being watched over by Ginta & Hakkaku, Koga's own guards," Kagome answered, kneeling down to be eye level with the young boy.
"We have already been at the castle & found a large amount of blood on her bedding... Do you know what happened?" Sesshomaru asked, looking at Kagome.
Kagome looked at Koga since she did not know & thought he might. When she caught his eyes, she nodded towards Sesshomaru. "Do you know what happened to her Koga?"
Koga nodded, looking at Sesshomaru. "Lord Sesshomaru, your human mate lost a child that was growing inside of her. I do not know how long she was carrying the child for, but it appeared to me when I saw her that she was unaware she was once carrying one."
"Where's Miroku?" Inu Yasha asked.
"The monk that we found her with was trying to steal her away to a village nearby this area, but we took her from him since Kagome knows she is supposed to be with Sesshomaru in the condition she is in. We took off with her & the child, Rin, but we didn't not find out where he went after that."
"There hasn't been any sign of him either, so I'm not sure what's going on," Kagome said.
A small silence passed through everyone as the two hanyous & the demon thought things over in their mind. The silence lasted until Sesshomaru spoke. "Koga, will you take me to your caves so I can get my mate & servant child?"