Full Moon Howler by Harlecorn

Chapter 1

SAFE Event submission

Trope: Monster Transformation: Werewolf
Rating: T

Word Count: 2739

Howler (n)- a very stupid or glaring mistake

xXx

"Cya tomorrow, Kags!" Yuka calls out as she, Eri, and Ayume split off to head to their shared apartment. They'd all gone out to the movies to celebrate surviving finals of their freshman year of college. Kagome waves once more before ducking down an alley that ends at the edge of the forest behind her family's shrine. She knows it's probably dumb, but cutting through the woods will cut the last twenty minutes of her walk in half. Plus, it's well after midnight, so she figures it's probably fine. She's got her phone and a can of mace, just in case.

She hums to herself as she watches the ground, the full moon lighting the surrounding area just enough to see without a flashlight. Skirting around a tree root, she smiles to herself, enjoying the quiet that surrounds the trees.

That is, until she hears a series of loud snaps heading towards her. Her eyes widen as she fumbles for the can of mace in her purse, trying to move quickly and not trip over anything, her own feet included. A roar echoes the now too silent woods, just before a pair of bright red eyes appear in front of her.

She freezes, shocked still, her breath catching in her throat. It looks like a giant wolf, but… not quite right. It's covered in dense, dark fur, from its muzzle to its long, bushy tail. But, its limbs are slightly too long, its paws look more like hands and feet. Not to mention that its eyes are red and they're glowing. If she wasn't so terrified, she'd be intrigued.

A rumbling growl knocks her from her thoughts as the beast pads closer, its lips curled back in a snarl, showing off the dangerous, white daggers it has for teeth. It rears back to stand on its hind legs and, yep, it's definitely not a wolf. Her eyes lock with the claws on the end of its front paws - hands, those definitely look more like hands - as they gleam in the moonlight, long and lethal. That's… if she had to give it a name, that's a werewolf. But those aren't real. A hysterical giggle forces its way up her throat as the beast cocks its head in a very canine way. And it would've been funny. If it hadn't lunged at her then.

That's when she screams.

And that's the last thing she remembers.

xXx

"Yo, Sess! Are we still going out tonight?" InuYasha asks as he plunks down beside his brother and boyfriend, Kouga, settling himself in a chair across from them. Sesshoumaru looks up at both of them from the dissertation he'd been typing out. Sighing quietly, he nods, eyes returning to the screen.

"How are you?" Kouga asks gently, knowing Sesshoumaru's recent break-up has left his long-time friend withdrawn.

Sesshoumaru shrugs, "As well as can be expected, I imagine." He stares at the words on the screen, willing his thoughts back to the essay and not on raven wing's hair, bright smiles, and sparkling blue eyes. Heaving another sigh, he closes the lid of the laptop and looks at his brother and friend. "I miss her, but it was for the best. She doesn't know, and I won't bring her into this life. She deserves better." He closes his eyes and leans back, feeling his brother's arm drape over his shoulders to jostle him a bit.

"It'll be okay, bro. You'll see. Now, we're meeting Shippo at the WacDonalds on Main at nine and heading to the forest thereafter. We're gonna change, have fun, and forget about everything else for the night. Sound good?" InuYasha and Kouga both offer smiles as Sesshoumaru nods again.

xXx

Sesshoumaru breathes deep as the wind brushes through his white fur, his red eyes glowing in the bright moonlight. He looks over and sees a black wolf with dark brown fur interspersed in his ruff, Kouga, and a slightly smaller white wolf, InuYasha, wrestling while Shippo, his fur a russet brown with lighter copper fur around his nose and paws, sits and watches, chuffing and barking every so often at the idiots.

Pleased that his pack is safe and enjoying themselves, he sits on a large jutting rock to keep an eye on them as well as the surrounding forest. His ears twitch as they capture the sounds from around them. Closing his eyes, he inhales again, letting himself revel in the sweet scents of the forest and his family, pushing everything else aside.

A growl at the edge of his hearing catches his attention. Standing, he huffs a low bark at the other three as he takes deep pulls of air, his eyes and ears trained in the direction the sound came from. Slowly, he pads down to his group, his bulk dwarfing them some. Then he catches a scent he shouldn't be smelling. His ears pull back as his hackles rise, swishing his tail to tell the others to stay put as he prowls towards the edge of the clearing, towards the growl that's grown steadily louder.

He rumbles out a warning to the incoming intruder, snapping his jaws once before a black blur collides with him. He avoids being knocked over, but slides some across the ground. Reaching over, he snaps his jaw around the scruff of the wolf that just slammed into him, wrenching it down to the ground in front of him, using his front paws to hold it down. Flashing his eyes, he growls out again, low and deadly, warning the smaller lupine against trying anything. The smaller wolf struggles futilely for a few more moments before going slack and huffing.

Stepping off the wolfs back slowly, he shifts himself so he can see the wolf when he lets go of its scruff. It's then the scent of the wolf hits him fully, and he's knocked from his wolf form in his shock, falling naked on his rear, hands catching behind him.

"Kagome?"

The wolf jumps to its feet immediately, facing him and his pack behind him, ears pinned down and hackles up, lips pulled back in a silent snarl. Its head dips low as it crouches, preparing to lunge again. He hears his brother gasp behind him, having evidently shifted back.

"Kags?"

The wolf freezes to an almost unnatural stillness, its deep blue eyes the only thing moving as it flicks from Sesshoumaru before it to the three behind him. He hears more shuffling behind him as he assumes the other two shifted back as well, confirmed when he hears a soft "fuck" from Shippo and an "it is her" from Kouga.

"Kagome, shift back please," Sesshoumaru says softly, shifting forward slowly so that he can sit more comfortably. Smoothly, the dark fur of the wolf shifts and recedes into smooth pale skin as Kagome sits back, her hair settling around her shoulders as her blue eyes almost turn cold with the heavy glare she levels him.

"Is this why you broke up with me?" she snaps out, her voice so low it's almost a growl. She must see something on his face because she scoffs, crossing her arms before spitting out, "You're a fucking idiot. All of you."

"Kags, when- how? What are you doing here?" Kouga asks before cowing slightly under her baleful stare.

"You're all idiots. This forest is behind my family's shrine. I'm here every full moon. Seriously, whoever taught you should be ashamed. Both for their own inadequacy and for how terrible you all are."

"Hey, now-" InuYasha starts before cutting himself off as well, shying back a bit.

"Before we started dating, you moron," Kagome all but snarls as her eyes flick back to Sesshoumaru. "I knew the entire time. If I'd known you were going to be so stupid as to dump me because you thought I was too delicate, I would've said something. Thought you just weren't as into me as I thought since it'd only been a few months." She shrugs in what appears to be a blithe manner, but the twitch of her lips and darkening of her eyes gives away how much it hurt her when he broke it off.

"Wait, this is the girl Sess was dating for four months? And none of you guys figured out she was a wolf?" Shippo asks incredulously. "Is this what she always smells like? If so, good gods, you guys are morons."

"Yes, it is, and yes, they are. Nice to meet you finally, Shippo. They all talked about you constantly," Kagome answers, offering him a small smile.

"You too. Couldn't go a single conversation without your name coming up. Was a little sad to hear you guys broke up before I got to meet you."

"Me too. Especially since evidently it was because they're too stupid to use their senses properly. Are you guys new or something?" she asks the group, her eyes flicking over them all.

"No, we're all born, 'cept Shippo. He got turned when we were in high school," Kouga replies, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.

Kagome stares at them all before turning back to Shippo. "It took you five minutes to figure it out, and these dumbasses didn't after months. I've been a wolf for two years now, and I knew as soon as I sat down in the classroom with Yash that he was one. From across the room. Who the fuck taught you guys how to use your noses?" Her tone has gone beyond incredulous at this point, earning a laugh from Shippo and sheepish looks from InuYasha and Kouga.

Sesshoumaru has remained quiet during the entire exchange, unable to believe that the girl he'd fallen for was a wolf and that somehow he'd missed that. He should be ashamed of himself, they all should, because she's right. They all should've known immediately. He inhales deeply, parsing through her scent. The floral smell of her shampoo, the bright citrus undertone of her favourite perfume, the scent of tatami and oils from her family shrine, the smell of ozone, leaves, dirt, damp wind, and- oh. He is a fucking idiot. Under everything else, he can smell wolf.

Leaning forward, he braces his elbows on his knees and puts his head in his hands as he starts to laugh. Good gods, he left her for no reason. She already was, already knows. Knows how to be a better wolf than him, and he was fucking born as one. Knows the dangers, knows how to survive. How did he go the entire time knowing her, dating her, without realizing it?

"Figured it out, big guy?" Kagome asks with a sigh. Slowly, she stands, looking at the others again. "You guys staying here all night, then?" She sees the other three nod, giving a single sharp nod in return as she turns to look up at the moon. "Right, I'll go then. You guys have fun." She pivots on a foot and shifts between one step to the next. Shaking out her fur, she begins to walk off.

"Wait!" Sesshoumaru calls out, golden eyes wide as he stares after her. Kagome stops, turning to look over her shoulder at him. "Stay?"

Kagome continues to stare before shifting again and sitting back on the ground, legs crossed beneath her, and leans back on her arms. It's amazing how smoothly she shifts, for being a bitten wolf. It rivals that of his own shift.

"Why?" she asks, startling him out of his thoughts.

"We miss you," InuYasha answers before Sesshoumaru can think of a reason other than that he doesn't want her to leave, would give anything to prevent her from leaving. "You're right, we are morons, but we miss you, and if you'll stay, we'd like to try to fix it."

Kagome stares at him for several long seconds before her eyes turn back to Sesshoumaru, who's gazing at her in wonder and longing. His gaze flicks across her, taking in all of her before settling back to meet her eyes.

"Please," is all he can manage, his voice barely above a whisper, but knows she can hear him, hear the desperation colouring the single word. She continues to look at him before she sighs and looks down at the ground before her.

"You all owe me. So fucking much." She looks up at the trio of friends she'd made before their stupidity got in the way and sees Kouga and InuYasha grinning widely. Sesshoumaru closes his eyes briefly in relief before looking at her again. "Do you guys do anything particular or just shift and goof off?" she asks him, earning a snort from Shippo.

"Pretty much all they do. Sometimes we'll run, but mostly it's just roughhousing." Shippo answers, as Kouga and InuYasha both shift back and tackle him, startling an "oof" out of him before he shifts as well and bowls over Kouga. Kouga's bright blue eyes spark in the moonlight as he grins wolfishly and darts to the side to let InuYasha land on Shippo, eliciting a playful snarl. Shippo's bright green eyes almost glow as his head whips around to snap at his attacker. Golden orbs flash as InuYasha dodges, chuffing a laugh as he does.

Kagome smiles as she watches before turning back to the man before her. "I'm not wrong that this is the reason, right? It wasn't that you actually weren't interested, or lost interested?" Her voice is firm, but there's still a hint of pain underlying the tone, drawing Sesshoumaru's eyes back to her.

"You were right. I… I didn't know, I should have, but I didn't, and I didn't want to put you in danger. There were hunters circling-"

"They're gone."

"-and I- What? Gone? Gone where?"

"Gone. As in, they're no longer here. They've been taken care of. They came to investigate a rumour of a rampaging wolf, and found nothing, so they left." Kagome shrugs as her eyes land on the playing wolves again.

"How?"

"Sango." Sesshoumaru stares at her, his confusion clear on his face before she sighs and elaborates. "Her family comes from a long line of hunters. This city is their territory, so any incoming hunters have to check in with them before they can hunt. They spun a story about a rogue wolf that was news to them. So, her family investigated, found a string of murders following them, caught them and turned them over to the Council. They're being dealt with. You should know this, too. Seriously, who taught you guys anything?"

"I'm aware of the Hunter Council and the family who controls the city. I've never had to deal with them, though. And your friends' surname doesn't match."

"Fair. Her grandfather is currently the head of the council. Sango's taking time off to study before she steps up to take over for her father as head of the family." Kagome shrugs as Sesshoumaru nods.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry. I was an idiot. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I'd like to at least be friends again." He looks at her as she turns to study him, her brow pinched slightly and head cocked a bit to the side as her nose flares almost imperceptibly to take in the scents around her. Seriously, he was an idiot to not have noticed before.

"Tomorrow, eight o'clock, meet me at the cafe. We'll talk then and see where we stand."

"I- yes. Okay," Sesshoumaru manages, a little stunned, watching as she stands and flashes him that bright smile that made him fall for her to begin with.

"Come on, then," she says as she shifts and lunges towards the other three, knocking all of them over before jumping up, spinning around and ducking down with her tail high, her lips pulled back into a wolfish smile.

The pack all stares at her for a moment before she lets out a sharp yip and snaps her jaw once. Sesshoumaru shifts then, and jumps forward, catching her rump with a paw to bump her over, chuffing as she slides across the leaves.

Narrowing her eyes a bit, she looks between the four of the men, before spinning and darting into the woods, hearing howls and yips behind her as they give chase. For as angry as she was at their idiocy, she missed the boneheads.