Chapter 14
Chapter 14.
+150 days.
Five months had passed since I last saw my team. Nickel, Chris, Chiko, even silent Stew, who's paws were big and gentle. And sometimes not. I surely had enough Malamute DNA in me, now, to make me a hybrid. Yet, not once did I get release, no thanks to what was anchored around my prick. Such thoughts used to drive me crazy. Now, less so.
I had shed quiet tears, leaving them all behind. But I was looking forward to seeing Sin again, easily eclipsing my sadness. Things had grown very busy at the site, hundreds of new names and faces, with progressively less time spent around my friends. Nightly routines turned into a once-weekly routine, and even then, often people were missing. The special times in the beginning were memories I clung to fiercely.
Sin opened up with my return, more than just his arms and jaws. So long as I remained respectful, the times that words came to my mind, I spoke them without punishment. I rather missed the reinforcement of silence my collar invoked, as it was a much different feeling to be able to speak, but refrain, versus being unable to form sentences entirely. The former was much hotter to me, and I don't know why.
While parts of me found my collar's different modes fascinating and erotic, another part of me simply hated it. I was often pulled in conflicting directions on how to think or respond, what my opinions were changed often, seemingly out of a different vantage, from a different viewpoint.
I almost never remembered anything at setting number one, the most basic it offered. As I lay there in my bed, early in the morning, thinking about all this, I knew I wasn't at that mode. I could tell I was somewhere between a three and a four.
My owner was asleep, the sun had another hour to rise, scent told me so. I remembered once using my wetware to tell the time, but I didn't need it anymore. The house was nearly silent, my mind was not. In my higher settings, time felt precious, so I sat up and pondered, plotting and scheming the day's events.
Words came easily, which made me suspect strongly that it was at a four, a rare treat. At three, words were much more difficult to form, and at two they were completely absent.
I couldn't feel the transitions, so I had learned to pay attention to what Sin was doing, he almost never hid it by using his wetware to make the changes. Why he made it so obvious was something I couldn't figure out, yet.
At five, I was fully myself. I always knew I was there, if I ever felt much contempt for him. In all the other settings, I fell all over myself to make him happy. Right then, I could find no reason not to make him happy, my dick hardened at the mere thought of pleasing him. His touch felt wonderful, and his scent was often one of pleasure, whenever I was around him. I made him happy.
The part of me that hated, and resented all this control, the inner wolf raging against the bars of my cage, inspired plenty of humor in my mind. The fact that I suffered multiple personalities wasn't lost on me.
Oh, no. By now, I had even turned it into a game, something to pass the time. Sometimes, I tried to pass on some of my hatred from five, into four, down to three. I even managed to get the knowledge of such hatred into two, but one remained loyal, obedient, and incredibly stupid, by my vague memories of such times.
Memories are associative, and my associations were under attack. So was my vocabulary and intelligence. I wished I knew more, about how all it worked, but I was no psychologist. What I did know about the mind pointed out the fact that it would be impossible to dissect much from inside my head, while all this was going on.
For the first year, I was pretty sure I had been at either a one or a two, two for when there were lessons and manipulations to my attitude to be made. One stripped me of any physical threat I might pose.
I tried to fight it. I tried meditation, I even wrote myself little notes and hid them away, in places only I would find. My reading ability was never hindered at a two or higher.
But the collar was powerful, and flawless in its control, I found no way to succeed in fighting its effects. It worked well, too well, really. Once, I had found myself at a five, with Sin glaring at me, holding up a note I had written for myself. I had ratted myself out, I must have been at a one or two, when I found it.
In the higher levels, when I could think most clearly, I occasionally worried where this technology might be used next. I had never seen or even heard of anything like it, and I used to be in touch with the latest and greatest. Back, when I was on my own. Such memories were blurry, they lay partially obscured behind a thin layer of ice.
What happened if I tried to remove the collar? It didn't kill me, it simply shocked the hell out of me. Oh, I was sure it could become lethal if I started cutting it, or pulling it apart somehow. It wouldn't fit over my head, and unless someone else was touching it, if any three or more of the six contacts lost touch with my skin, punishment came firmly, and quickly. I learned this by placing paper in between them, all around my neck. It produced a strong arc, burning through the paper and into my skin. It hurt so bad I never wanted to try that again.
That sort of thing was logged, and I would hear about it from Sin later, he was aware of everything I tried. He greatly enjoyed my attempts, even, but punishments came anyway.
A lot of other Rhenthar worked in our house, which was much more of an office building than a house, as plenty of it contained professionals going about their business. I saw glimpses of them on occasion, but no details were ever fed to me on the subject.
I also saw cleaning staff and servants of a sort, people who prepared food and served it. As far as I could tell, they were all paid. They pointedly ignored me, and I got into a lot of trouble when I tried to infiltrate them. Sin must have paid them well.
Mild punishments usually went like this: I was promoted to a high level, usually five. There, I had the best memory retention. My owner would then lecture me about what I had done wrong, why it was wrong, and how much it displeased him. He gave me some negative reinforcement, which usually came from the collar. It varied from unpleasant to painful as a horsewhip, with no physical damage to my body. I would then be slammed down to a level one, where I'd forget all about it, and be pleasant to be around. No moping or crying or even shying away from my owner. Later, I was promoted to a high level, and the memory would surface with a sickening chill.
Such realizations felt awful, like taking the blame for something someone else did. I had a very strong aversion to committing the offense ever again, and not because I was afraid of the punishment, but because I believed what I had done was wrong.
He was shaping me, and while this might sound simple, it took a very long time for me to figure out, to piece things together from the inside, looking out.
Sin was cruel, occasionally. Either because I started to like being shaped, feeling submissive, or because he relished embarrassing and humiliating me. For instance, he might bring me to a professional dog groomer. Rhenthar still have pets, though usually less exotic than another Rhenthar. My collar would be set to a one, and he would calmly explain that I had been born with the same intellect as a domesticated canine, and that I needed a bath. I don't know how he did it without lying, but the end result was me getting a bath like I was a dog, during which he'd promote me to a four or five, and I learned the hard way not to disillusion the game. So I went along with it, acting dumb, panting, wagging my tail. Leashed to a table while people dried my fur and trimmed my claws. So embarrassing.
Sin wasn't limited to using my collar. Oh, no. The badass five in me sliced him up good, one time, when the mood struck me right. The next thing I knew, I was in a big cage with a wire muzzle locked tightly around my jaws. I was surrounded by cats and dogs, each in their own cage. I smelled terror, everywhere, and it soon became mine when the vet showed up to neuter me. My last attempts to speak, to say this was a mistake, ended with a sharp spray of gas to my muzzle and the world faded away.
Sin let me get all the way to the operating table, before notifying them that he had changed his mind. Likely, the plan all along. I was incredibly happy to see him pick me up, I was more than willing to take a leash, walk by his side, do a perfect heel, and not start any shit, all on a five. He was very good at what he did.
The more I learned, and obeyed, the more time I spent in the higher settings. The rewards were often intense, they could be physical, sexual, or even chemical. The shear amount of effort Sin put forth into making me happy made me feel like the luckiest Rhenthar alive, all I had to do was obey. I really did understand Zach's obsession.
I eventually remembered the third dream. With it, brought a lot of insight, and it all calmed my inner wolf. Gave my subservient side bigger ammunition. The most frustrating and enraging times often had calm periods of introspection afterwards, recalling parts of the dream, seeing proof of the wheels in motion. Reasons for why things felt the way they did. Zach was probably right, if I knew too much about the process, I would fight it. I would change it. And I would probably be more screwed up. Like him.
My life was always full of surprises and wonder. Sometimes I woke at a high setting, with a sore ass, or maybe some minor injuries, marks and bruises. Things tangled up in my fur, unknown scents. New toys in my bad. Sometimes we would be someplace else in the world, maybe on a different planet entirely. I was effectively brought out, when it was convenient entertaining, or there was something my owner wanted me to learn or experience. I was de-intellectualized when obedience was necessary. It was a lot to take in, as a whole, but he and Zach both spoke constant words of encouragement. I was doing really well, for my new position in life. I couldn't always fight him, I couldn't even sometimes fight him. I took it all one day at a time, even when those days didn't seem to follow one another.
A big breaking point in my mind was when the inner wolf, my badass five, admitted that the sex was the hottest I had ever had, in my life. That even he, was extremely attracted to him. I once asked Sin if he would let me be on top, some time, but he only laughed at me.
I pondered on that, climbing to my feet and sniffing at the edge of his bed, standing on my hind paws to look over the top. In the house, I was supposed to remain on all fours, but this was technically not disallowed, even if I was standing to do it. I stared at his sleeping form, for a while.
Sin was tall and heavily muscled, with very wide shoulders. He obviously had wolf in his lineage, the yellow eyes were a dead give-away. Even my own eyes had only the slightest hint of yellow at the center, edging into green for the outer part of my iris. His fur was silky and shiny black. It was the typical wolf double-coat, with coarse outer guard hairs comprising his color, but lighter in color, like a deep gray, comprising his undercoat. Anywhere there was a curve, such as at his joints or around the bulges of his muscles, the gray would show through, creating a ripple effect which I found hypnotic. His paw pads were black, a rare trait all on their own, and his claws were black, too. Even his whiskers were black, much like my own.
He was half curled up on what would have been a king-sized bed by human standards, and it was barely big enough. He was about ten inches. Hm. Twenty five centimeters. Inches, I remember using inches. So strange.
Ten inches taller than me, and about another hundred pounds on top of me. I had felt that weight, resting on top of me, on many occasions, hurf. My sheath stirred, but something else had me in its grip.
His scent was complicated, and unlike some Rhenthar, there was never any trace of lingering human body odor, even after many days of not bathing. He typically smelled confident, experienced, in control, and I could tell that he'd eaten red meat recently. His tail was like a large sword, arcing out from the base of his spine. It wasn't very fluffy, but it wasn't a short-hair, either. Somewhat thinner at its base and the same around the tip. It had some decent mass to it, a good counterweight when he was walking, running, and. Uh. Other things. His knees touched the floor when he was on all fours, a part of my mind recognized that his legs were human in length.
I froze. His eyes were partially open, he had apparently been staring right back at me. How could I be so stupid? Maybe he slept with his eyes open, or something. I dropped off the edge of the bed-
...and hung from my collar. I could feel his paw under it, he'd lunged at me that fast. I rose up into the air as he stood, and I knew not to take too much weight off that collar, Sin took it as an insult to his strength, provoking a demonstration of it. I knew, also, not to just hang there lazily, forcing him to support all my weight. Oh, the lessons. Once, I grew angry at the idea of so much knowledge focused on making someone else happy, but that was countered with the fact that when I made him happy, he made me happy. So in the end, it was still a selfish, self-serving policy. I was still me, I just knew how to survive, and prosper, in this new life.
He held me out at arm's length, my hind paws barely touching the floor.
"What have we heeeere? Rrrr?" His ears were flat, but he wasn't showing off his fangs. I felt the sudden need to notice the surface of the paint on the ceiling, finding acute interest in it. My tail wrapped up between my legs to cover my sheath. If I showed him any more throat, my neck would break. Or worse, he might think I was trying to pull away from his grip on my collar, Dog help me.
"Good morning," I said, taking initiative. "Alpha? Sir?"
He snorted. "Sir?" He tested the word in his muzzle, tasting it. He twisted over his shoulder and looked at the terminal by the bed, nodding to himself, then stared back at me. "Tell me, what do you think your collar is set to?"
I stole glances at his eyes, his incredible yellow eyes, and then found other things to look at in the room. "Three? Four?"
"Mmmhmm. We'll go with that," he said, releasing more of my weight onto my feet. "Such obedience, so early in the morning... ' his tail flicked behind him, like a cat's.
"Uh, well. You trained me well?" I grinned, playing dumb. I doubted he bought it. Some very interesting thoughts had been on my mind, all morning, and they were not quick to settle down.
He seemed perplexed, his nose rose into the air, scenting it with building understanding. His other paw went straight to my sheath, curling around it. It was very firm, I was half knotted up.
"And a good morning it is, little one, indeed." He squeezed. "Tell me, not-so-little, what did you have in mind? Don't lie to me, runt. We're off to a great start, today, but it'll be an ugly ending." He growled the last words, promises of pain, and worse. If I lied right then, my scent would change, my knot would shrink, and he would know. He'd know!
I licked my muzzle and focused on the thought, further. It was such a naughty one. I got harder, still, looking right into his eyes. I mumbled, "me on top, sir."
His eyes opened wider. "Well, holy shit! Look at you!" He moved me around by my collar, to prove his point. "And how are you going to do that, have you even thought that far ahead?" His smile felt welcoming, I decided to continue.
I took a risk, standing up straighter. "I can. I will. If you let me, sir." I almost looked away, but then I would have missed his grin grow larger at the comers of his muzzle. I wasn't the only one turned on, it wasn't just my scent of arousal, floating in the air.
Sin reached between my legs and tugged at the hard area behind my knot, the base of the parasite locked inside. "And this? Did my little omega forget, so soon?"
I splayed my ears, but kept a little confidence, knowing I'd be punished if I gave up, and it would be worse if I came on too strong. I walked a sharp edge, but I had a sound theory. "You have something that will get around that, sir."
Sin narrowed his eyes. Oh, shit. He gave the barest little nod. "I do," he said, pushing me back down to the ground, onto my back. Only then did he let go of my collar. The implication was to stay, not to move, not even to look, but I would. Somehow.
He pulled open one of his drawers in the side of his bed, a very special drawer. In it, were toys, many toys. I never went in there, except once, and never again. He pulled out a thin tube of black segmented metal, it looked similar to how my collar was constructed. He attached it to a longer piece of gray tubing, and twisted their ends together with a click. He licked the metal and pulled down my sheath, exposing the parasite. He pushed it into the tip, guiding it inside me deep, down into my prostate. It didn't hurt at all, not after having had so much put in there, in the past. He was careful about where the tube was, how far it went in, and with a much quieter click that I felt, he pulled the gray tube free. The metal was left inside me, and my mind buzzed with analysis.
Sin stared at me, enjoying the sight of the wheels turning in my head. "It's a stimulator, a miniature version of what I've used on you in the past. It can't be left inside. Good for one orgasm,, where do you want it to be? Choose.'
I worried it might be a trick, but I couldn't stop now. "I wanna be inside you, if you'll let me, sir." My ears went airplane, and I licked the air in front of my muzzle. It was a sign I wanted to lick his muzzle expectantly, an old "feed me, mom!" habit. He smelled confident, but there was a wary element present.
I was shocked when he did the most amazing thing, he climbed back up onto the bed and beckoned me with a claw.
I hopped up and felt my determination growing, along with something else. It became a battle of blood pressure, from what was needed upstairs, and what was heading between my legs. I had to get this right, it was a change of venue. I wanted it more than anything, his praise, his satisfaction. Without that, I would never have an interest in mounting him again. I worried he might know that. What if this was just a trick, a lesson in abject failure, to further enforce his position as Alpha?
I stared in disbelief. Sin was lying on the bed with his butt in the air, his tail wagging slowly back and forth, he looked at me over his shoulder with his arms crossed under him. Who is that? My tail slowly fell as I paused and watched, swallowing. I sniffed the air, and my heart pounded harder.
He grumbled laughter, seeing me freeze up. "What are you waiting for, an invitation?"
Blood further drained from my brain and entered my dick with a fast throb. Just before I had jumped up, I heard the sound of a small container being snapped shut. The contents of which rapidly spread through the air, drilling into my mind as hard as any fist, and just as quick. Pheromones, bitch-in-heat, ow hard. My tail flew in a slow, wide arc, as I dove into his hindquarters, gripping his powerful thighs with my paws and taking enormous inhales under his tail, the source of what I sought. Where he had applied the scent.
My heart beat like a second stage turboprop, yet, there was simply not enough blood pressure remaining for my brain to think properly. I felt light headed, and I worried he'd knocked me down a few levels with my collar. No, I could think of words clearly, as oxygen built up, clearer than ever. This was real, this was really happening. My body shook with anticipation, I so had to do this right!
I buried my muzzle under his tail, licking his hole. I plunged my long pink tongue as deep inside as I could push it, which was pretty deep, after all. He growled in either pain or pleasure, perhaps both. I kept finding it very hard to pull my tongue out, when he clenched down on it, he was tight. Drool poured from my muzzle, and for once, he didn't say anything about it landing on the bed. In my eagerness, I felt almost comical, and I kept at it, lubing him up. I alternated between penetration, and just licking the outside with long, powerful strokes. Both made him clench down, just the same.
I snuck one of my paws forward to grip his huge sheath, and it felt firm to the touch, before he knocked my paw away. I had to check, I pretended it was all part of my plan, as I drew my claws down his legs from his rump to behind his knees, digging them in as deep as I dared. My sheath and stomach ground against the bed, there would have been long trails of pre were it not for what was encasing me.
The parasite was stretchy, a second skin, it never hindered my erections, not even slightly. My knot could grow pretty large, bigger than an orange. Behind my knot was a ring of bone that prevented any pressure from reaching the base of my prick, that tasty, sensitive area all canines needed to be stimulated, in order to reach climax. I didn't know how this was going to work.
This truly was a fork in the road, a change in our relationship, from this point forward things would never be the same. He turned around and pushed me away.
I didn't understand.
He came up behind me and lifted my butt, snarling and gripping my waist. I froze, I knew a bite to the neck was coming, he was going to mount me, after all. I felt a poke under my tail, but nothing entered. He growled some words, I splayed my ears sideways so I could listen closely.
"Come on, little one. If you want me so badly, you'll have to work for it."
I quit panting, and stopped breathing, even. What could that mean? I thought I knew, and I wondered. I was about to do something that went against all my training. A leap of faith, I just hoped it wasn't a flying leap off a cliff.
I flipped around, like the lithe weasel my body was capable of, and I grabbed his arms and twisted as hard as I could, wrestling to put him under me. He laughed, which validated my actions. So, I pushed harder and pinned him to the bed. He broke free. I pinned him again, with his leg over my neck, he broke free again. He felt boneless when I pinned him down, he was up and out and laughing or growling. My fear caused me to hesitate, twice. He flipped me onto my back and pinned me down at the opportunity, both times.
This worked me up, making me even more aroused, if such was even possible. The pheromones were thick in the air, mingled with our own scents of aggression and lust, I saw red at the edges of my vision, and we were both poking inches out of our sheaths.
One of the times he had me pinned down, I saw his sheath right next to my muzzle, I opened up and drove down his length, his tip scraping across the ridges at the roof of my mouth. He growled, wrenched my limbs and my head was pulled away. He didn't want that.
I snarled with lots of white showing, and lifted his furry butt into the air and grabbed his wrist in a lock, pulling it out from under him. I leaned forward, placing my other arm around his neck. His growl turned deep, and then faded, it was his turn for silence. My prick was halfway inside him, and I started humping. No rest for the wicked.
He felt amazing. I was shocked that I could feel the smooth texture of his ass through the parasite, the slip-grip squeak from using only spit as lube. I let his wrist go and took his waist in both of my paws, trying not to puncture his skin so he didn't decide to kill me. I savagely thrusted, fucking him as hard as I could. I felt my knot enter, and each time, where there should have been intense ecstasy leading to my climax and a tie, there was instead, only a numb sensation.
The metallic scent of Sin's pre mingled with the other scents present, he shot all over the bed each time I buried my knot, so I kept doing it. I realized I had a unique ability to knot-fuck him, without actually tying. He growled and groaned in pleasure, clenching down to hold me in, and biting his pillow. Fabric popped and tore, my hind claws ripped at the sheets and mattress.
This went on for some time, my nose dripped sweat, as did my paw pads, we were both panting hard to expel all the waste heat, and then it happened.
My climax built up, slowly, with a tantalizing rise in pressure. Stronger, stronger, higher, my joints locked, my limbs seized up. My breathing stopped, my eyes shut tight, my knot filled out, expanding, locking us together. I coughed and growled, forcing myself to breathe. Sin kept biting his pillow, he'd triggered the stim device with his wetware.
I tied, good and tight. It felt beyond delicious, we were locked together and my pleasure knew no equal. I was a part of him, now, and he, by definition, was an extension of me. Every movement I made, moved his body, we were connected from the inside, my tail rose and fell as I came my brains out. I could smell his own seed, it was on the bed below us, and I couldn't remember him touching himself.
After a dozen minutes, he sank to the bed with me on top of him. I was still firmly lodged in him, my mind was off in happy dog thoughts of climax. My paws were buried in his fur, massaging his ears while I licked the back of his neck with tender kisses. He loved every minute of it.
Later, we ate. Sin sat in his chair, I was at my usual location on the floor, next to him, having just wolfed down my food. It wasn't something lame, like kibble, though Sin did enjoy hearing the tags on my collar clinking against my bowl, as I ate.
I sat up and stared at him with a huge grin. He looked away from his datapad and stared, down at me. He knew what I was grinning at, he snorted.
"You think what we did was funny?" He cocked his head curiously.
"Oh no, not at all, sir." But my grin wouldn't leave, I was so happy.
"Well, I have something funny, to show you." He pointed his datapad at me and slid a claw across the screen, showing me a new window. A big "5" filled the screen. A date below showed the last change, months ago. I was at a five, and had been for a while.
"Uh, but." I sputtered, the smile fell off my muzzle as I realized the significance. My "badass" five self was no more. There wasn't a shred in my mind that had any contempt for Sin. When I thought of him, I felt a beaming radiance that spread from my heart.
Surprises were not few, that morning.
"C'mon up here, Keman. And don't call me sir anymore."
The world slowed down, I got up and pulled a chair out, I sat across from him. The new vantage had its interests, but my view was only him.
"We're at a crossroads, you and I. There was much question, as to if you would ever even reach this point." He interlaced his fingers on the table before me. "But you need to know several things. One, you mean the world to me. You've cracked my shell protecting my emotions, you're more amazing than Zach or I ever imagined." He said, pausing to let that sink in. It did, the world slowed further.
"Two, I am a fair creature. The method used to bring you here left little choice on your part. We have influenced you and shaped you, and I have helped you stabilize. The direction we're headed, there is no turning back, not ever. Except, right now."
The world ground down, even slower.
"You must understand that I know how your mind works, Keman. This is your last chance, to make choices on your own. And I am making you take it, because you mean that much to me." I saw that his eyes were wet. Ah, no! My Alpha was crying?
My world stopped. I was glad he didn't ask for a response, I couldn't give him one.
"You need to take who you have become, and go back out there, to the world beyond my own. It is your final test." He leaned forward and wood shavings from the table curled under his claws. He stared deeply into my eyes, I couldn't look away. "Don't let me down. I want you back, but only if you come of your own free will."
"How long?" It was a whisper, I couldn't find my voice, my throat was so tight.
"Two years." His eyes lost their focus, and he reached forward and touched my collar. It gave off a sharp hiss and I smelled stale air. It fell off my neck and landed on the table with a clunk.
I stared down at it, feeling naked. My neck was cold, fur was missing in a thick stripe. My vision watered as I argued with myself. Two years was impossibly long, but maybe I could sleep it all, somehow, a coma or something.
"You have to do something with yourself. I'll be keeping track. Go, Keman. It's your own world, now. Make the most of it. I. Want you back. But not if you don't want to come back. Understand?"
I nodded, still speechless.
I focused on my nose. Graphics shot into the center of my vision and slid into the edges. A green line rotated around Sin's body. His name, personal identifier, and extended attributes dropped down next to his head. (Truth) (Sincere) (Compassion) cycled back and forth irregularly, as my wetware deciphered my olfactory senses.
"You now have access to a fund, and I think if you spent too much, you would disappoint yourself, as much as you would me. So remember that, if you choose to plumb it's depths."
I toggled my financial records, and saw a lot of zeros. I could buy a starship. I could rebuild a starship...
I heard a knock behind me, Sin looked at the door. "Come."
Zach padded in quietly, his scent was one of sadness. It threatened to shatter my mind, I turned and stared at him, wondering what he knew.
"Zeek. I congratulate you on finding Keman while he was held captive. You killed his owner and returned him to society successfully. A job well done." Sinclair stared at me, "I know that if such matters as have taken place were to reach the wrong ears... the future would be in jeopardy." He paused. "To be clear, tell no one, Keman. This is our business, and none have say."
Zach yelped and nodded. "The Hahkota is waiting. We have to leave here, Keman." Words I never imagined I'd hear.
Sin slid a small piece of black metal, about the size of a pen, across the table toward me. I stared down at it. A stimulator, the one we had used earlier.
I pushed it back.
"Keman," Zach spoke softly. "You should take that."
I shook my head.
"I. Think you should take that." Sin, authoritative.
I folded my paw around it and took it. Tears leaked from my eyes, the world went blurry. Zach put his paw on my shoulder. "Let's go, Keman."
I went.
To be continued...
Check back for book two: Lost In The Mist