Author's Note: By InuYasha, I meant for you guys to think of Inu-Yasha. These demons are just humans with animal ears/tails/wings, depending on the species.
Also.
:| Cute doe eyes are cute. Seto cannot resist.
Prime Mate II
The world had been a mass of confusion, pain, and sound for quite some time, Joey reflected, whimpering as his cage was jostled about. It had come with no warning. They were all getting breakfast (everyone except him; he was being punished for his broken bowl, so he probably wouldn't have gotten a meal for a couple of days) when it had happened.
The doors had burst open and something thrown inside. The demons had only been able to stare in confusion while the humans scrambled to the back of the kennel, but when the object exploded and released a gas that stung their eyes and burned their throats, the demons had raised an uproar of angry and pained howls that echoed around the cold cement room. Once the gas had dissipated, leaving the demons stunned and weak from their frantic scrabbling to get away from the badness in the center of the room, a bunch of humans poured through the door, all wearing the same color and holding guns. The humans that had been feeding the demons were promptly carried out, and more humans came in with more guns and turned toward the kennels.
That had been the end of the forced calm of recovery. Each captive demon knew they were about to be killed, so they flailed and thrashed violently, snarling angrily and howling in despair as one by one each demon was shot. Joey had cowered in a corner, still weak from crying all night and resigned to his fate. He'd been surprised when Seto had snarled and, instead of cowering in the back like most demons had, charged toward the door, slamming into the fence and shaking the entire cage.
One shot hadn't even slowed him down. He continued to try and attack the humans through the cage, snarling and snapping until a second shot had taken the edge of his adrenaline-fueled energy. He'd growled, baring his teeth at them, then stumbled over to stand protectively above his trembling mate. There'd been a third shot, a pause, and then a breathless "whumph" as the brunet collapsed on top of him.
"Gah! Heavy…!" Joey had struggled out from under him, then turned to examine his mate's body instinctively, despite still being hurt by his words. Then, he'd been shot in the side, and everything went black.
So they hadn't been actual guns, just things to put them to sleep. He could hear other demons whimpering and mewling uncomfortably as whatever was carrying them bumped and wiggled and did its best to terrify them. He didn't know where Yugi or Seto were, and he didn't know who was in the truck with him. All he knew was that he was scared.
He gasped as he was blinded when the belly of the beast they were in was opened and light streamed in. The cages were jostled again. He mewed as he felt himself being carried somewhere, cowering in the back of his cage as he moved. "Nyooo!" He whined as the door to his cage opened, shrinking back into his corner, only to yelp as two pairs of hands grasped his arms tightly and yanked him out.
He yelped frantically as he was slammed onto a cold metal table, squirming to try and escape, but then he felt straps being clipped around his ankles, and then the straps gently being attached to his wrists, forcing him into a prone position that he was too frightened and weak to struggle out of. After a few minutes, he became aware of the sterile scent of the room. He recognized this scent.
He was at the vet. Vets weren't terrible.
Relaxing a little, Joey patiently allowed them to take his temperature and treat the scratches on his back and hips. He peeked over his shoulder to peer at the two vets curiously as they examined him. They murmured to each other quietly, testing his body for reflexes and such, then reached up to unbuckle the too-tight collar from his neck. His tail wagged thankfully.
When he was led into another kennel like the one back at the fight ring, he squeaked in delight as he saw a large pillow and bowl filled with soft chunks of meat set inside it. He scurried over to the pillow and curled up on it, mewing quietly as he peered up at the nice humans. If these were the humans keeping him, he wouldn't mind fighting for them. These kennels were warm and dry, much more helpful in keeping him healthy enough to fight properly.
He snuffled toward the bowl of food, inhaling the scent of thick gravy, then pulled the bowl closer and flashed a little smile at the humans before he began to eat.
The two veterinarians sighed; this demon was just the first of many, many more.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Exercise! They could
exercise! Joey squeaked gleefully as he saw his friend on the other end of the exercise yard and scampered over to him. "Yugi! Look! They washed me!"
Yugi smiled. "They washed me too!"
"I love these humans!" The blond frowned in confusion. "Hey, they didn't give you a ribbon for your hair."
"…My hair isn't as long as yours, Joey," the younger boy explained, even as he admired the pink ribbon keeping his hair tucked into a ponytail atop his head. "It looks good on you."
The dog demon preened. "Thanks." He paused, then frowned, ears wilting a little as he ducked his head and quietly asked, "Um… have you seen Seto?"
Yugi flinched, then glanced over his shoulder. "Well, yeah, but…" Knowing his friend would want to see his mate (no matter how much he may have been hurt by him before), he sighed. "It's… Well, here. Follow me." He paused, then added, "Prepare yourself, Joey. It's pretty bad."
Joey's ears flew up in concern. "Pretty bad? What does… what does that mean?"
"Just wait and see."
The blond whined quietly but followed him over to a secluded area in the corner, cut off from the rest by a large wooden wall. When his friend nodded for him to go around, he edged his way around the corner and peered inside. He gasped quietly. "Seto-!"
Seto was curled up in the corner, a thick chain attached to the wide leather collar around his neck. He turned sharply at the voice, his normally blue eyes turned a furious red, showing that most of his face was covered by another piece of leather buckled behind his head as a muzzle. He snarled and leapt at him, stopping just inches short of him. Straining at the chain, he clawed at the blond and growled threateningly.
"…He's been like that ever since he woke up," Yugi whispered, peering in behind him. "I'm worried the humans will have him killed if he doesn't calm down."
Joey bit his bottom lip, tail curling up against his stomach as his mate continued to claw the air in his direction. He was still hurt by what the brunet had said to him, but his instincts were driving him to protect his mate from any possible danger from the humans, so he'd be around to protect both him and any (unlikely) puppies he had.
Turning so his tail was to him, the blond rested his weight forward on his elbows, lifting his tail to present himself. When he heard the growls fade to curious rumbles, he began edging backward, keeping his tail up to flag his acceptance. He gasped as the wolf demon caught his hips and dragged him back toward him, spreading his legs obediently as the brunet snuffled between them.
Seto made sure that no one else had defiled him, the red slowly fading from his irises, then snorted in content. His mate had had a bath and his wounds properly treated. Pulling the blond back into his arms, he held him tightly. The dog demon mewed in confusion, having expected to be humped dominantly. Then again, he realized the brunet would probably want to clean him up afterward, and he couldn't do that because of the muzzle covering his face.
He yipped quietly as he was dragged over to the corner, then mewed as he was set down, blushing when the brunet forced him to tuck into a ball so he could curl around him protectively. Peering over at his friend helplessly, he shrugged, then turned his head to lick the brunet's ears comfortingly. He had wanted to run around a little more, but if protecting his mate meant being tucked against him safely, he didn't mind.
.-.-.-.-.-.
"I want to go home."
Joey sat up and frowned. "Huh?"
It had been a slow process, but once the vets realized that he and Seto were a mated couple, they'd been put into the same pen in the kennels—larger than the ones that only housed one demon, thankfully. Seto had immediately proved his claim on his bitch, disgruntled to find that when the blond had been cleaned, his own scent had been washed away with it. He'd spent quite some time licking him and rubbing his face against him, once again covering him in his scent.
Now that they were both cuddled up on a large, soft pillow, though, he found himself confused. "What're you talkin' about, Seto?"
Seto sighed. "I
want to go home."
"Back t' the wild?" the blond asked softly. He sat up to lick the wolf demon's ears comfortingly, smiling a little when his tail began to wag. "Don't worry. The humans must see that you're wild. They'll let ya go. These are
nice humans."
The brunet rumbled quietly. "I want to know that my brother is okay. I sent him away when I smelled humans. If they captured him, I… I'll go to the ends of the earth to find him."
Joey frowned. "A brother? …If he has just an ounce of the same blood you do, I'm sure he's alright." He nuzzled the older boy's shoulder gently. "You'll hafta tell him that your mate was a good person. You'll do that, won't ya?"
Seto glanced toward him in confusion. "Why would I have to tell him anything?"
The blond flinched. "Oh… W-well, ya don't hafta tell him about me if ya don't wanna, I guess. I just thought…"
"
Why would I have to tell him
anything?" the wolf asked again bluntly, sitting up and scowling at him. "You're coming with me."
Joey blinked up at him and frowned. "…Seto, I would never survive. I can't hunt. I don't know what's poisonous and what's not. I've always been provided for. Ya have no reason t' take me with ya, especially since I can't give ya puppies."
"You're my mate. I'll provide for you," the older boy stated firmly. "So what if you can't hunt? The other wolves can. You can baby-sit the pups so that their mothers can help hunt."
The dog demon smiled sadly. "…Seto, I'm a dog. Wolves don't… wolves don't usually like dogs. I don't think they'd let me watch their puppies when they found out I'm basically infertile, anyway…" he added quietly, curling back up.
"…You say '
basically infertile.'" Seto tilted his head and eyed the blond for a moment, then huffed quietly. "That means there's still a chance, doesn't it?"
"Well, yeah, but apparently it's 'highly unlikely' and it's possible that any puppies I
do have might be stillborn or have problems." Joey sighed. "…I'm sorry I didn't tell ya before…"
"…Well, we'll just have to keep trying. You're still ovulating, right? Even though you don't smell like you're in heat, because it stopped when I mated with you. We can keep trying." Seto nuzzled his back gently. "We can keep trying until you have the puppies you want."
The blond mewed quietly in confusion. "But… but I—"
The wolf crouched over him and began humping him lightly. "Let's start trying right now."
"Nyu!" Joey squealed as the brunet rubbed his erection against his rump, then lifted his tail obediently; while he was still a little hurt by what the brunet had said before, the thought that the more they mated, the higher the chance of pregnancy made sense.
He really,
really wanted puppies.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Seto licked his mate's ears slowly, tail wagging a little as the blond whimpered and snuggled closer to him. He would admit that perhaps he hadn't needed to hump him as
much as he had, but he'd wanted to show his dominance, cover him in his scent, and impregnate him all at once. However, the vets had eventually come and sprayed him with a water bottle, and then he'd realized the blond had probably had enough.
…His bitch was a pretty little thing. He wondered what his brother would think of him. He hoped that Mokuba wouldn't say anything about his mate being a dog demon. While Joey had been right about some wolves thinking less of dog demons, it also wasn't uncommon for dominant wolf demons to take dogs as submissive mates when they couldn't find other wolves submissive enough for their tastes.
While these dogs weren't viewed as highly as wolves, they were still treated with respect, because it had been found that dogs were better babysitters than wolves. It was assumed that this was because dogs adored all puppies, while wolves tended to favor their own biological children over other wolves' pups. And, while dogs certainly ate a great deal more than wolves, they expended energy more than wolves as well, keeping the pups entertained enough that they didn't bother their exhausted parents after a long day's hunt.
Dog demons were appreciated, and protected because they would give their lives for the pups they watched. Hopefully, if Joey never had puppies himself, he could content himself by watching over other people's pups.
After a few more moments of watching the blond sleep, he went to sit in front of the window near their kennel to look at the full moon.
He wanted to go home. He wanted to hug his little brother tight and never let him go. He wanted to cuff his cousin and start a playful romp. He wanted to run around their territory and make sure that everything was the same as he'd left it. He wanted to be away from the humans and their stench, to wash it all off and forget everything that had happened.
Everything except his mate, of course. He could never forget his mate.
Seto frowned and looked back at the blond. He'd said that the demons that escaped always left all the other demons behind. How many times had he made friends with demons in the kennels, and how many of them had promised to take him with them when they escaped? How many times had he been left behind?
Well, that wasn't going to happen again. He would be taking his mate home with him, period, no matter how insecure he might feel.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Joey cowered against his mate anxiously as they were once again transported to a different place. There weren't a lot of demons—just a few, like Yugi, and a few other demons whose parents had been wild—but that didn't make it any less intimidating. At least he had a mate to tremble against; he could hear Yugi whimpering a few cages over.
He mewed as their cage was lifted and carefully set on the ground. "Seto…"
Seto gave his forehead a reassuring lick. "Everything will be fine. I'm here." He rumbled quietly as the door to the cage was opened, waiting until he heard all the humans back away before he edged out of the cage and sniffed around. Once he decided it was safe, he turned back to the cage. "I think it's alri—" He stopped abruptly, brows furrowing together as he caught sight of a rather large mountain.
He knew that mountain. He was just a little too far to the east. He could travel west and be home before dusk the next day—
"…Seto…?"
…Perhaps two days. Until a few days ago, the only exercise the blond had gotten was fighting for his life. He would never be able to keep the pace Seto had had in mind.
"Seto, is it…?" Joey peeked out of the cage and glanced around. "…There are so many plants!"
Realizing that Joey had probably never seen
grass before they'd been rescued by the vets, Seto kept the smart-ass retort of nature being known for its plants to himself. "I can get home from here."
"Do… do you mind if I follow you?" Yugi asked hesitantly. "Joey and I have known each other since we were pups, and… I know he's your mate. I would never try and take him away from you. But… he's my friend." He looked up at the brunet pleadingly.
Seto's eye twitched. Damn doe eyes. Mokuba had doe eyes too. And he was quite certain that Joey's doe eyes could break his resolve to pieces with one look alone.
Well, Yugi
was a wolf (albeit a tame one), so he should be well received without a mate of the pack. And it wasn't like he was bad-looking, or anything, plus his doe eyes—
"GAH! Fine. I don't care, as long as you can keep up."
Captive demons must have had some sort of medicine to make those doe eyes. Damn doe eyes! He hated them.
Hated them. Seto blinked as he felt a slow lick on his cheek, then sighed and rolled his eyes. He didn't even know his mate very well and he was already a sucker for him. "You're lucky you're cute."
Joey mewed sweetly and rubbed his head against his shoulder. "Lead the way, Seto."
The two captive demons giggled to each other as the brunet huffed and began walking away at a brisk pace. It was a shame that Seto didn't realize that he was just as cute in their eyes as they were in his.
