FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_ File Name: _ Beware the Hounds - Lucidity, Part 1

_ Owner: _ Dark Violet

_ File Location: _ www.patreon.com/SomeonesPC

_ File Type _: Story:Adult:F/M+M+M+M+...:Human x Mightyena

_ Caption Text: _ Support us on Patreon for special art, stories, and more!

_ Details: _ Requested by _ Sheeron _, and inspired by a random train of thought.

You know in old movies and TV shows where the big evil millionaire leans forwards on his plush leather chair, tilts his head to the exquisitely designed microphone, and mutters “Release the Hounds"?

Ever spent much time thinking just how that scenario might play out…?

Beware the Hounds

Lucidity, Part 1

Suddenly, it was all in perfect clarity. Time slowed; a single second was seized and stretched by the adrenaline that coursed through Reese's body. She stared forwards, seeing with a sudden sharpness, caught in the peculiar serenity of the moment.

A large pond spread out before her. The surface rippled with the reflections of warm-hued lights, twinkling and shimmering across the otherwise black surface that reflected the clouded nighttime sky above. Cutting the water in two was a bridge of ornate grey stone, glowing with regularly-posted lanterns across its length. On the other side of the pond, the vast gardens of Parfum Palace presented elegant shapes of closely tended, sporadically illuminated flora. That light only served to cast the surrounding hedges into dark silhouettes, turning that expanse of upper-class luxury into a foreboding wood of grasping fingers and shades.

The lights speckled across the scene before her were warm, orange, proclaiming safe havens against the night. The shattered glass - a million shards that surrounded her in the empty air - gleamed like diamonds.

And then, the moment was over, and Reese was once again plummeting towards the ground below. Wind whipped at the gashes across her cheeks as the world rushed by. She just had the prescience to wrap her arms around her legs and duck her head low.

She hit hard stone. The air was forced from her lungs as those shards of glass crashed around her in a crescendo of destruction. Pain exploded in her shoulder and across her torso, making her cry out; a harsh sound over the tinkling glass. She'd just managed to twist her body, just managing to roll with the impact - it wasn't perfect, but it was a damn sight better than cracking a few ribs on the granite paving.

Her shoulder continued to scream at her as she pushed herself to her knees, and her side burned with pain. She rubbed a hand down it, but couldn't feel any lacerations that went right through her jumpsuit - it looked like the material had been thick enough to help her body survive going through the window mostly unscathed. That meant all the injuries were just blunt trauma; unfortunate and troublesome, but temporary. Small mercies. Fighting the urge to stay down and wallow in pain, Reese shoved herself to her feet. She staggered around to stare back up at the window she'd been thrown through.

It had only been one floor above ground level, but that was a fairly sizable drop, especially for a palace like this. It wasn't too far, though, for her to make out the shape in that shattered frame, a shape somehow darker than the black, unlit room around it. A very recognisable shape too; pointed ears, a blunt muzzle, long and mussed-up fur across the crest of the head. Red irises on sickly yellow were the only colours showing in the dim lighting from outside.

At the end of that muzzle, the garden lights glinted off a few drops of saliva.

Reese swore sharply, turned, and began to run.

The lanterns of the bridge flashed past her on either side. Her heart hammered in her chest. Visions of dark canine shapes loping after her, that at any moment one would leap up to close its jaws around her neck….

She scrabbled at a pocket of her black jumpsuit with the hand not currently grasping the duffel bag and yanked her phone free, trying to push the image of those dogs from her mind. A flick, a press, and before the phone even had a chance to give a single electronic ring it was picked up at the other side.

“You've got them riled up." came the distorted voice from the cheap speaker. The quality was terrible, but right now, it was the most beautiful sound Reese could conceive of.

“Very funny. Wanna do your side of the job?" Reese panted. The end of the bridge seemed so far away.

“I am, I am!" Sammi's sweet, normally quiet voice sounded genuinely hurt. “I've got the chatter now. The staff are being woken up and security has been despatched. I guess they already found the missing money."

“It's almost as if they don't like twenty-three million dollars being stolen." Reese muttered, forcing the sarcastic humour as a preference to dwelling on what seemed inevitable.

“Twenty-three? Coooool! I didn't expect you to get more than twenty!"

“Thanks for believing in me. Anything else?"

“H-hey, I just meant-"

“Anything else!?"

“Nothing unexpected." Sammi's voice shook slightly. Guilt over interpersonal relationships at a time like this? She really was sweet. “Police just been called, and… damn. Roadblocks have been ordered. That's private security for you. Looks like it's Plan B after all."

“I wish." Reese was staring at the end of the bridge, so close now. Her knee suddenly sparked with pain, and she stumbled in mid-stride. “Ow!"

“You okay?" Came the digitized, concerned reply.

“Nope. We've got the Hounds on us."

“Cripes…"

“Yeah. One of them did something. A Roar, I guess. Knocked me straight through one of the windows."

“Cripes!"

“Not too high. Going to have amazing bruises tomorrow, but nothing broken. I'll be okay."

“Oh… okay, so Plan C then?"

Reese's foot hit the pathway on the other side of the pond. She could hear commotion behind her now; footsteps hammering along that same bridge. From somewhere distant there was a shout for her to stop.

“Plan C. Sorry."

“Don't worry, just so long as Dactyl gets back here safe. And you in one piece. And rich, too."

“Deal." Before her, walls of leaves loomed in the darkness, almost pitch-black in their depths. For every part of a safe haven it was, it was also an opportunity to get caught unawares from whatever lurked inside. She swallowed, trying to steel her mind. “See you soon."

“I'll wait for you. Be safe!"

“I'll get back to you on that one." Reese muttered, and ended the call. She could hear now that those footsteps that were tailing her weren't human. She broke the phone's ariel with a quick snap, stuffed the now-untraceable device back into her jumpsuit, and plunged into the dark hedge maze.

Oh, why did it have to be the Hounds?

She leapt around another corner, the edges of the leaves tinged with just enough ambient light for her to stop just before she ran straight into them. Her feet scrabbled on the dirt ground as she set off towards the light of another lantern.

It was her own fault. She could have targeted any big, old mansion or castle that was bursting at the mortar with money. But no, none of them had been as bursting, as innately founded on bundles of paper gold as Parfum. So, she'd come here. Despite the reputation. Despite the stories of how they dissuaded theft. Stories of the Parfum Hounds, stories that made you wince at your computer screen, stories that-

A Mightyena's howl cut through the world, like a harsh tempest screaming through a mountain pass. Reese slid to a halt; the night air was suddenly like ice. All other sounds faded away, as if commanded into silence by that guttural, feral outcry.

In the silence, her heart pounded noisily in her chest; the only sound she could hear. She wished it was quieter.

Then the howl came again - closer this time, to her right. Then another one, to her left this time! Howls upon howls upon howls, beacons of fear in the night, surrounding her!

Her feet dislodged sprays of dirt as she raced away from the sounds, deeper and deeper into the maze. She gritted her teeth and stared forwards with wide eyes. The plan. Nothing mattered but the plan. She dared not think of anything else right now.

The howls continued as she wound her way through the maze, and doubt began to claw at her heart. The map she'd memorized for this place - maybe it had been inaccurate, old? Surely this left hand turn had been sooner, and there was a junction before it, wasn't it? Had she just not seen it? Was she on the correct path?

She scrabbled to a halt suddenly as she passed a fork in the path, quickly ran back, and then set off down the other direction. She had almost missed it.

Up ahead, the maze opened up into a small courtyard. Neat flagstones tiled a central square, hosting a large fountain in the middle that was still shooting water upwards, even this late into the night; its babbling was an oddly calming sound. The paving was surrounded on all sides by crowded rows of flowers backed up against the edges of the maze. She knew those flowers were a royal indigo and blue, but in the night they were just another black.

The calming, floral scent of those flowers hit her nose immediately, carried on the cool, refreshing patter of tiny droplets of water. Lovely, almost intoxicating, with flavours of nobility and notes of fine living. One could imagine saving up their entire lives just to have a house that smelled of such, and here it was, trapped in the centre of a maze….

Reese found herself smirking. How suitable then for what she was about to do.

She slowed to a stop by the fountain, yanking open a pocket of the duffel bag. She pulled out a small container, unscrewed the cap, and dumped the contents into the fountain's base - a fine powder that disappeared beneath the surface. Dumping the empty jar back into her bag, she pulled a small cylinder off the cap, cracked the end, dropped it in after the powder - and ran.

She'd reached the edge of the courtyard before it detonated. A sudden torrent of water was launched into the air with a great roar, the pressure wave in the air slamming into her eardrums. She didn't turn around to look; she already knew how it worked, and how ungainly beautiful it was; an arc of water spraying across the flagstones.

The fine powder had dissolved into a foul-smelling liquid that, when boiled by, say, a sudden explosion, created a thick layer of gas. A gas so pungent and so aromatically repulsive, it became impossible for humans to walk through, let alone nasally-dependant creatures such as canines. A scent bomb, buoyed by the wet air and reinforced by the flowers to make sure that any trail she'd left was eradicated. With any luck, the fountain itself would also remain intact - that stonework was almost four hundred years old! She was a thief, not a barbarian.

Not that she had time to check. Two small brick pillars flanked the pathway back into the maze. She jumped, putting a foot on one, then pushing off and grabbing onto the other, hauling herself up. As she rose, the hedges dropped away around her, leaving her stood in darkness. She took in the maze that spread out below her feet.

The thing about this hedge maze was that the hedges all had brick walls behind their dense leaves. It was meant so that you couldn't break through the hedges or even see to the other side in some assurance of fairness - but right now, the exposed brick tops of these walls just meant she had a route out of here.

She danced down the walls. There was a set route down which she'd planned this, avoiding lanterns while staying high above where any Hound would catch her scent. The route would take her right to the edges of Parfum's gardens, and looking ahead she could already see the treeline, tantalising and inviting-

She stumbled on a loose brick, gravity grasping her suddenly, the duffel bag throwing her balance off. With a twist and a sudden kick, she launched herself onto the other side of the path she was on. Her free arm grabbed the wall, falling onto the top of thick, manicured hedge. It took a moment to scramble back onto the wall itself and stand up again. Her breath was laboured already, but that surge of adrenaline from the brief free fall forced her into another run.

No more howling, she suddenly thought, as she leapt across another dark void of a path below. Where were they? The realisation that she didn't know was an icy claw at her heart.

But all it took was one more leap. She sprinted down the current wall, the last jump just a few metres ahead of her. She couldn't be perfect in her stealth - few people would see a dark shape dancing across the hedges, but she wasn't about to bet on that. Thus, she had to make up for it in speed. Ahead lay the edge of the forest, on the other side of a wide path that passed next to the maze. The branches of the nearest trees were long overdue for a cutting, so most of them encroached on the gardens. Thank goodness for lazy work, she thought. Adjusting her gait to compensate for the duffel bag, she reached the end of the wall, planted one foot on the edge, and leapt.

Air whipped once more around her as she sailed over the wide gravel path. On the other side was a low hedge, just before the ground slid downwards and into the forest that surrounded Parfum. Again, Reese felt the stinging on her face where the glass shards of the window had cut her, but this time she was focused; she reached out, feeling her gloved hands curl around a thick branch on the tree directly ahead of her. Pain shot through her injured shoulder once more, and she grimaced, closing her eyes - but fortunately, this part was to be performed all on feel anyway. She let herself pivot on the branch, feeling it crack under her weight a split second before she let go, swinging her in an ungainly fashion. She hit the small slope on the other side of the hedge at an angle, and rolled to remove most of the momentum before crashing to a stop at the thick base of a trunk. She opened her eyes again, stunned; her right side now ached with both pain and exhaustion.

But she was out of the gardens. The lights there were now blocked by trees that reached up into the dark sky, a prison to hold in the opulence. Reese panted as she crouched between the tree's roots. For a moment, there was again peace, and she allowed herself a few seconds to crouch there and relax.

And then she jumped up, and ran once more. She wasn't about to wait to hear any more footsteps - or worse, howls - to give her the motivation. Branches and roots clawed at her, but she kept on; the only sounds were the rustling of the trees, her own laboured breathing, and the thumping of her heart.

It didn't take long for the forest to thin, and she found herself running across a grassy field with a gentle downwards slope. A breeze cooled her face and stung the gashes in her skin. Lumpy, untilled ground passed beneath her as she ran towards the dark scar down the middle of the valley; a river, flanked by sporadic copses of trees. It ran down past the Palace, and looking left she could just imagine that the orange glow on the south-western horizon was where it ran past Cyllage City and out into the sea.

Not that she was going there. Route 10 was nearby, and with so many hiking routes and easy vantage points, it would be the first place for authorities to look. Hell, police were probably already on their way there to guard the river's path. No; she was headed north; a swift night's trek would take her to the other side of the forested ridge she could see right now on the horizon. There, a small hut would give ample supplies and facilities for her to rest up for a few hours, before setting off for a safe house along Route 12.

She was coming up on the nearest copse of trees now, and could already hear the relaxing gurgling of the river beyond it. It was all coming together.

At least, until the howl came. A howl that was far too close. Her heart froze as she turned on the spot, staring back where she'd came.

The forest was a dark mass of trees, but over the top, the ramparts of Parfum were illuminated in startling white - they must have finally managed to switch on the floodlights, all too late. Of course, they certainly would have had difficulty, if someone had cut the power cables. Her hand still ached from having to squeeze the pliers so hard.

Her attention was drawn to the treeline as another howl sounded, and another. For a moment, she hoped that they were the frustrated howls of a failed mission, perhaps a begrudging salute to a worthy, if despised, opponent.

But luck didn't seem to be on her side. From that distant treeline, dark shapes detached themselves and started moving down the field's slopes…

Reese swore again, harsher this time, as the blood in her face ran cold. What had she done wrong? She knew the scent bomb had gone off, so it couldn't have been that! Had they seen her in the lantern's lights, as much as she'd avoided them? Wait… one of them must have seen the cracked branch….

Not that any of that mattered. She threw her duffel bag to the ground, opening one of the other pockets wide. Low light just managed to illuminate the two Pokéballs that lay inside; an ordinary red one, and a black Luxury one so polished that even now she could see her face in it.

The Luxury Ball was monogrammed with the word 'Dactyl'. It held Sammi's Pokémon - a Staravia that the nerd girl was fond of. Very fond of, in fact, a feeling that Dactyl apparently shared. The walls of their apartment were thin enough for that to be clear. Strange, abnormal, taboo - not that Reese had anything against such a relationship morally; the two of them seemed to enjoy themselves. Just… odd. She even found herself smiling at the thought of their faces each morning after...

She pushed the random thought from her mind as she reached for the ordinary Pokéball, and stopped, hovering just over it. Inside, she knew, was a female Mightyena; freshly caught in the past week. A loyal species that would obey her, but not attached so that they'd follow her.

The method for the Mightyena was simple; send her out, splash that little vial in the other pocket over her, and she would be a distraction for the Hounds for sure. That vial was a concentrated concoction of carefully chosen pheromones, and with the likely assumption that all the Hounds were male….

And yet, she hesitated. There was a sour taste in her mouth. Those Hounds - she couldn't shake the feeling that it was cruel to the poor girl. Come on, Reese, she thought. She'd been fine all the other times she'd considered it. Hell, she'd thought it up. What was so different now?

Because now, the Hounds were right here. It seemed real...

Across the field, she could just hear the loping footsteps now; a rhythmic, worrying drumming. Her time was running out. She closed her eyes and breathed in… and then cursing her own conscience, grabbed the Luxury Ball out of the pocket and threw it.

Dactyl's shape coalesced in front of her, briefly glowing an incandescent red before the Staravia landed, legs spread, wings raised ready. He turned back, fixing Reese momentarily with black eyes.

“We're going with Plan C." Reese said quickly, shoving the empty ball back inside and hoisting the bag onto her back. “Lead them downriver. I just need five minutes.". The Staravia's eyes were firm, focused, holding such intelligence and determination. It was a shame that he wasn't big enough to fly her away - even for a Staravia he was small, not even reaching her knee. Still, maybe that agility would help.

Reese let out a breath. “Good luck. I'll see you back home soon."

Dactyl nodded, and turned back to the encroaching shapes. Reese's gaze lingered for just a moment more before turning and running.

Well, now that was someone else in danger, she thought as she ran into the trees before the river. Not that Dactyl was incompetent; on the contrary, how many battles had he won? And anyway, he could keep out of reach, and was going to fly away the moment it got too much, so it wasn't like he was going to be caught. He'd agreed to it too, insisted on doing so, but still…

She forced it out of her mind. No chance for second thoughts, not anymore. She stared forwards, took in a breath - and leapt into the dark, rushing water.

The splash was lost to the tempest of the water's fury. Icy rapids surged up to her knees; for a moment she almost slipped, standing as she was on wet rocks just below the surface that rocked and toppled against the shallow river bed. But she was stable enough, and immediately began her run up-river.

It was tough, but necessary; the Hounds wouldn't be able to track her scent along the rushing water. Rocks subsided below her hammering footsteps, and the current fought her with every step, and each twitch of a bush along the bank looked like a Hound keeping pace; but she continued, glaring forwards, keeping one leg in front of the other and always moving, always moving!

She'd practised this part for weeks. A few of the tributaries to the main river on Route 12 had been perfect for training; all it took was the concentration to stay upright, the determination to keep up a quick and steady pace, and a stubborn attitude to not care about the water currently inflicting hypothermia on your toes. In the end, though, she found that the best method for getting through it was to swear in time with your steps. The mind was kept occupied for sure. She'd invented some good words.

While she ran, she pulled the broken phone out, and for a few steps held it underwater. Thank goodness for cheap models - this kind of phone could suffer irreparable water damage from a light rain, let alone beneath the surface of a mountain stream. Happily satisfied with the phone's ruination, she stuffed it back in her jumpsuit and continued.

It wasn't long before she heard an avian cry from behind her. Her heart ached at the sound, but she forced herself not to turn around, to stop - halting the pace was one of the worst things she could do right now. She reminded herself; he was good, he was trained, and he could get out of a conflict easily. And regardless - that cry sounded like it was much further downstream from where she'd started. Dactyl had certainly done his job. She swore a brief and directionless prayer in the hope that he was already on his way to safety.

And then it was back to her task. One, two, one, two; never stop, never look back, never think about how your legs ache or how your shoulder burns or how the errant spray stings the gashes to your face. Don't focus on how the bag gets in the way of every stride or how the jumpsuit clings to your body, especially when wet. Never consider for a moment how you can't feel the balls of your feet any more, or how tightly you're holding onto the bag's straps, or how those teeth of the Hounds could be just seconds away from snapping at your throat...

Several worries and many harsh expletives later, she woke from her hypocritically masochistic reverie when a low hanging branch nearly lashed her right across the face. She recoiled, stumbling to a halt, staring at the branch - though more importantly, at the single strip of cloth waving from the very end. A legacy from some previous hiker, one that she decided would serve her purpose adequately.

Panting, she hurriedly splashed across to the opposing shore and clambered up the bank to where a large forest was just beginning. She kept to outcrops of grass and rocks, surfaces that wouldn't show her presence, unlike puddles of mud or broken reeds. She almost stumbled - her legs were nearly frozen. She dropped to her knees near the base of the tree that overhung the water.

Hidden beneath a large, snaky root was a second, small backpack. She yanked it out and tore it open; inside, she could feel another soft, thick woolen jumpsuit covered in leaves and dirt. As she moved it, the scent of leaf mould wafted around her. A perfect aromatic camouflage - though right now, the fact that it was dry was the main reason she was grateful.

A moment later, she was wearing the new - if similarly style - clothing. She tossed the old, sodden clothes back into the new bag along with the phone, hoisted it over her shoulder with the duffel bag, and ran off into the nearby forest. Within a few minutes, the new bag had been dumped in an old, disused burrow hidden beneath a fallen tree, shoved deep with a lengthy branch. Covered over, completely hidden, and forgotten about - perfect. She continued into the night.

She still didn't let up her pace, never falling below a brisk jog. She danced over trunks and branches, finding the familiar, barely used Pokémon trail and setting off up the hill. The darkness closed in around her as the canopy thickened, stealing away any remaining ambient light. Silver leaves became blurry grey shapes became brief glimpses in the night. With one hand, she pulled out a small tactile compass that had been stuffed in the new jumpsuit - it buzzed whenever you were pointing it north, and with that in mind, she continued with renewed vigor. The Pokémon trail was mostly straight anyway, and now, even she could smell the lingering scents of those that frequented it. In all, she was set for an invisible getaway.

It had barely been about five minutes when she heard another howl - but something was different. She stopped still, coming to a total halt in the darkness. Around her, trees whispered with their leaves. There was a vague caress of a passing breeze. When it came to the sound of the creatures, the forest was silent.

And then, a howl behind her. Another one followed it, and another, but... they were different; the sound was indistinct and muffled. They were further away, she realised with a faint smile. From the sound of it, they couldn't be within a kilometre of her. And yes… oh yes, she could almost hear the desperation and anger in those howls…

Reese laughed as they shouted their complaints at the empty night - a haunting sound, and yet one that filled her with warm triumph. Dactyl must have gotten away if they were that annoyed. She was grinning from ear to ear now, forgetting even about the pain as she realised; she'd done it.

She turned, the tactile compass leading her back along the trail. The howls fell into silence almost immediately, and she panted with exhaustion, indulging in nothing more strenuous than a brisk walk up the rest of the hill. After all, after this point she would have to conserve her energy - It would take her about eight hours of solid walking at this point before she got to the hut. The sun would be rising in a little over three, but by then she'd be far enough away to not worry about any foot patrols, and the canopy was uniform enough that airborne searches would be useless. Still, she didn't want to have to stop for a break unless it was necessary.

Her mind turned to thoughts of medical attention. Aside from a bruised arm and a cut face, she had no injuries, so nothing she needed to patch up. Infection might be a problem, but none should set in before she got to the hut. Even so, antibiotics might be a good idea. In the hut, there were-

She stopped, the only sound around her being the whispering of ferns and bushes. She held her breath so as not to make a noise. Branches no longer caught at her body, so she was in a small clearing. The air here was still; not even a breeze against her exposed face.

That was what had worried her. No breeze. Because if that was the case, then why were the ferns and bushes moving…

Holding her breath, she slowly took a small electrical lantern from the duffel bag. She held it out, her hand shaking, and then… switched it on.

Mightyena surrounded her. Five… six… at least seven of them, terrible eyes gleaming in the lantern light, staring from beside tree trunks and inside clumps of ferns. They stood incredibly still, save for a gentle rising and falling of their torsos as they breathed regularly and deeply. Their heads were held low, and all held an expression of triumph on their short, stocky snouts. Seven sets of deadly teeth dripped gleaming saliva.

The Hounds had caught her.

Reese's heart was a sledgehammer in her chest. She was scared to even breathe; fear clawed down her limbs, seizing her entire form. The lantern shook in her grasp, sending shadows dancing across the dark shapes of the canines. They still hadn't moved.

“But you were far away… I'd gotten away from you…" Reese gasped under her breath. The howling had certainly sounded like that had been the case.

Her eyes were drawn to one of the Mightyena to her side taking a swaggering step forwards. It leant down and stuffed its muzzle into a nearby mound of dirt up against a tree, and let out a chilling howl.

The howl sounded indistinct, muffled; exactly like a distant howl would have sounded…

But how had they found her? She'd been so meticulous, sticking to the plan, and…

The duffel bag. Dammit! Shame rose within her like a bubbling ocean. She hadn't switched bags when she'd gotten the new clothes. She still had the duffel bag she used at Parfum - it probably still had the scent of the place!

Reese swallowed. The Hounds were smart, she knew, but she had thought she could be smarter. She had thought she was smarter!

Wait… the Mightyena, in the Pokéball. She still had the original duffel bag, so she still had it, and the vial. All she had to do was get them out…

She swallowed past the lump in her throat, and slowly, carefully, began to crouch down. Bushes and branches loomed over her as she gently placed the small lantern on the short, pointed grass, and leant back onto the balls of her feet, letting her duffel bag rest on the ground

Bushes twitched as the Mightyena began to move…

Aware of every breath, every movement, Reese moved a hand to the front of the bag. The pocket was still open from before - a brief surge of thankfulness for her past self shot through her mind. She slid her hand in as quickly and quietly as she could; around her, the Mightyena's advance was like an encroaching glacier; slow, powerful, unstoppable.

He hand met a ball. She grasped it, and hoping it was the right one, tugged it out…

The shiny black exterior of Dactyl's empty Luxury Ball reflected the shapes of the Mightyena around her. Her heart pounded harder. She looked up at the Mightyena around her; one was missing a chunk of its left ear, another had a scar down its muzzle, and none of the expressions spoke anything of kindness and mercy. Her breath quickening, she dropped the ball down on ground, and reached back into the bag. There was still time…

Her fingers met nothing but the cold fabric of the bag's interior. Trying not to show surprise on her face, she delved deeper, rubbing her fingers around the lining. She forced herself to break her gaze, and stared into the pocket.

It was empty.

The Mightyena's Pokéball wasn't there.

A million thoughts began to rush through her mind. What had happened? The pocket - it had been open. She must have left it open when she sent out Dactyl. But that meant it had been open all this time! Had the Mightyena's Pokéball fallen out during her run up the river? Or had she left it when she'd gotten changed? Maybe it had dropped out halfway down the trail, and now lay in the darkness waiting for the next hiker or curious fauna to come along and open it. At least she still had Dactyl's Pokéball, who knows what would happen if she lost that one. But that didn't offer her any solutions...

She realised that the Mightyena around her had stopped. For a moment, she thought that it was because they realised her panic, and had decided to let her stew - but then, she realised that none of them were looking at her anymore - but rather, they were looking behind her. Forcing herself to breathe slowly, aware of every beat of her heart, she turned.

Behind her, the canopy of the forest was open enough to show a sliver of deep indigo sky past the black branches and leaves. It was a view down into the valley, and just visible in the distance was the small, incandescent speck of Parfum Palace.

And before it all was the black silhouette of another Mightyena. It stalked towards her, head low and ready. The light from the lantern picked out a swirl of black fur across it's face, curling over two sharp, gleaming eyes….

A solution came to her mind immediately. She couldn't believe she was thinking it - it was crazy, it was mad. The moment she thought of it, so much of her had instantly recoiled at the idea, but…

The Mightyena's paws were heavy on the ground. She could hear every chilling step.

She couldn't do it. No, she couldn't, it was far too dangerous. In front of her, the new Mightyena lowered its body further in preparation to pounce. Adrenaline coursed through her veins-

“Wait!"

The voice had been hers, though she only realised that after the sound had died down. She looked at her own hand, extended before her - it was shuddering. With wide eyes, she watched the Mightyena stop and stare at her.

The sound of panting Mightyena surrounded her. She could feel every one of those eyes.

She had to do it. There was no other way.

“Alright then, all of you…" She muttered loud enough to be heard. “Try this..."

Still holding her hand out, she leaned back on her feet. With her other hand, she felt for the duffel bag, for one of the many pockets now empty of countermeasures and tools to get away. Empty… save for one.

With her eyes still fixed on that Mightyena, she pulled the vial of female pheromones from the pocket, and brought it around to her front. Bringing her arms in close, she unscrewed the top.

The sweet, musky smell of the contents suffused into the air. It reminded her of dusky concrete alleyways, of cold nights and promises of warmth. A hint of spice, too, made her nose twitch.

There was a change around her. She noticed several of the Mightyena lifting their heads in curiosity. The one in front of her didn't move, but those eyes seemed to change; now they seemed to wear expectation.

Reese breathed in, and out. In, and out. She had to remain calm. After all, what she was about to do was crazy.

Making sure they all saw, she cupped her hand and poured a few drips into it. Then, drawing in a breath and holding it, she rubbed it across her cheek.

Deep growls surrounded her. She forced herself to ignore them, and just continue slowly and methodically, coating her face in it. When she was done, she poured out more, and reached up rub it over her neck, her fingers reaching beneath the thick collar of the jumpsuit. All the while, she kept her eyes fixed on that one Mightyena in front of her, who stared back with unblinking eyes.

Her head finished, she began to unzip her jumpsuit. She wasn't wearing anything underneath it - she didn't need to, after all, with how thick it was, and she had wanted the bag it had come in to contain as little as possible. The night air was cool against her skin. It felt even colder as she rubbed more of the liquid down her front, starting at her throat, between her breasts, and on over her stomach.

Around her, the growls began to grow in volume. She swallowed, and taking another breath, dumped the rest of the vial's contents into her hand. This time, she slipped it deeper down her body, and cupped her crotch - there, she rubbed it in roughly, coating every last bit she could. Her fingers slipped between her folds, making sure to coat every part - especially one…

It was simple, she thought. The Hounds were smart, intelligent even, but no matter how much training they'd had, they still had instincts. Instincts which, in some cases, would take over the mind. Instincts like the desire to mate.

The bottle empty, she dropped it beside her, and knelt down on the ground. The Mightyena were swarming, barking, gnashing...

Well… more importantly, the instinct to not attack a female they'd just bred.

“Go on." She spoke firmly, staring at the Mightyena in front of her as she sat back. She'd never felt more exposed. “What do you make of that...?"

The Mightyena stared back. The moment stretched out like a thin rubber band, strained and tense, making each second seem like minutes as she sat and waited to see the reaction…

Then slowly and deliberately, the Mightyena before her lowered its head again. Its eyes narrowed, mouth opening to show sharp, glimmering teeth. It gave a loud grunt.

The pack was upon her in an instant. She was forced to the ground, the bitter taste of dirt in her mouth as paws slammed into her already wounded side. Teeth snapped by her ear, snarls and growls surrounding her as claws dug through her jumpsuit. She started to think that it hadn't worked, that they didn't care for the pheromones - but then she felt the claws begin to slice through the thick cotton like it was nothing, teeth clenching around the fabric and ripping great chunks from it. In seconds, the jumpsuit was mere tatters barely hanging onto her form, showing claw marks in her skin from the most hasty of swipes. Her hips, especially, were completely exposed.

She managed to push herself back onto her knees, but before she had time to even draw breath, a Mightyena shoved its muzzle between her legs from behind. A cold, wet nose delved between her folds, grinding against her, trying to delve as deep as it could while it sniffed and tasted her. Another Mightyena jumped onto her side - warm, musty fur pressed against her arm while it clawed at her shoulders. Another jumped on her back, wrapping its paws around her shoulders and pressing its head into her neck, inhaling and licking. Around her, at her legs and arms, the rest of them began their own assaults, sniffing and growling in a maelstrom of black and grey fur.

Reese closed her eyes tightly, feeling her body explored and pulled and grabbed. The Mightyena were ruthless, animalistic, feral - there was no consideration or care to any of them. They yanked her and ground against her, each one fighting over some small part of her body which they could use.

The Mightyena that had stuck its muzzle between her legs was suddenly pulled back. There were sounds of snarling and gnashing, before another nose delved for her crotch - was it the same one, or different? She couldn't tell, not that it mattered - it was just as rough. From her front, more did the same, muzzles poking frantically around her nethers, teeth grazing her thighs and hips. She was pushed this way and that, biting and gnashing at the air as they fought over it.

It was terrifying… but it was necessary. Those claws were already scraping at her skin, and fresh scratches burned in the cool night air, but if she hadn't done this, then there'd be a lot more wounds on her body by now. Mightyena; the Bite Pokémon, she reminded herself.

The Bite Pokémon. And right now, four of them had their muzzles right up against the most sensitive part of her body.

The one on her left curled its paws around her body, leaning over her now, making her crouch low from the sheer weight. Warmth spread across her arm as coarse, thick fur pressed against it, the Mightyena beginning to grind and hump against the skin. She caught her breath in her throat, suddenly feeling flesh, while drips of hot liquid tumbled from it.

Another set of paws hit her back, and she was shoved forwards again. This time she fell onto her arms as a Mightyena climbed onto her back, paws scrabbling for purchase on what remained of her jumpsuit. Fuck, it was heavy! She tried to push against it, to get out of the uncomfortable position she'd been forced into, but then another set of hips were shoved against the side of her rear. Again, that hot, worrying feeling…

Suddenly, a snap followed by a long, loud growl. The Mightyena on her back clawed at her fabric and snarled back - they were fighting! Fighting over her? She dug her fingers into the ground as they traded guttural, unintelligible insults over her hips. Around them, the rest of the Mightyena were taking the opportunity that the distraction provided - more noses and teeth grazing her sides and hips and neck…

All except one. That Mightyena that had come last, the one with the patterns over it's face. It stood still, just away from the rest, watching the scene passively. Reese stared at him, and he stared right back at her…

And then her vision was blocked by a wall of grey fur. A Mightyena clung to her head, panting somewhere above while it gripped her tightly, back legs staggering into a good position. In the dim lighting from the forgotten lantern, she saw it - the Mightyena's sheath. It hung low from the body, yet still indistinct in the mess of the fur of the underside. The balls hung in their own fuzzy sack, waving in time with a frantically wagging tail. And there, at the very top of the sheath, was a small length of pink…

She had to admit that she didn't really know what a Mightyena's penis looked like. She didn't know what the cocks looked like on pretty much all Pokémon, actually (save for Staravia, where she'd also learnt to knock before entering her housemate's bedroom). She could have learnt it before the mission, but she'd never have thought it useful. She couldn't have predicted this….

The tip hung before her face. It came to a point below a blunted, almost circular head, and pre shone on the smooth surface. A spurt hit her on the cheek, and she tried to pull her head back in surprise - but the Mightyena just held tighter, moving after her.

She had no choice, she supposed. She wasn't about to try and break free now, especially not with the fight still going on behind her - almost to punctuate the thought, there was a scrape of claws against the ground as it felt like one Mightyena was lunging at the other. No, it seemed like she had to face this.

So, taking a deep breath and clutching tightly at the ground below her, she pushed her head towards that crotch. And oh, the Mightyena did not waste time. Those hips began to hump almost immediately, the tip of the shaft thrust against her cheek and next to her eye. She squinted, the shaking crotch forced against her face over and over again. Her nose filled with the overbearing scent of the Mightyena's musk; a strong, thick odour, similar in many ways to the pheromones, and in other ways not too dissimilar to the few human males she'd slept with. Slightly musty and overbearing, it filled her mind as the tip of that shaft rubbed lower, spurting more hot liquid across her face as it began to find her lips.

Reese was going to open her mouth, try to prevent her teeth from catching on anything, and give the Mightyena a good angle. However, she could barely do the first before the shaft was forced inside. It jerked immediately - it swelled in her mouth, sliding from the sheath; a thin, wet film of pre tasted like the musk smelt, only far stronger. Before she could react, her face became buried in the crotch, the Mightyena shoving its cock deeper still. She almost choked as it hit the back of her tongue, and then again as she tasted that strange pre.

The Mightyena was going berserk, scrabbling at her scrunched-up hair as it humped her mouth. Claws dug into her chin, the canine almost bent double over her head as she was pulled down onto that heavy-smelling sheath. The thrusts didn't let up - constantly hammering at her, thrusting needily into her mouth. She was sure he'd stop at some point, but he just kept going, pounding away as the shaft swelled and bulged in her mouth!

Reese yelled as claws scratched along her back, and she fought to stop herself from doing anything to disrupt the Mightyena in her mouth. The fight must be getting nasty back there - while two of them were growling, a third felt like it was coming up to mount her, curling its paws around her waist. Another scrape of claws and loud snarl sent it scurrying away, but not before she'd felt another cock pressing against her. Even now, she could feel pre - or otherwise - leaking down onto her back. Around her, the Mightyena were beginning to climb onto one another in an attempt to get closer, paws on legs and arms as she was assaulted and molested on all sides.

A particularly strong headbutt hit her thigh - it shook her, causing her to pull back instinctively. The cock in her mouth was tugged free past her teeth, and she gasped for breath, staring at it fully for the first time.

It was large, for one thing, far larger than before - it had definitely been inflating inside her mouth! Even the blunt tip was more than twice its original size. Up from the tip, the shaft bulged and widened, the surface a criss-cross of vivid red veins beneath the reflection of the surroundings on the wet, shiny surface. It got slightly thinner again as it passed halfway, but right before the end it bulged once more - this time in a set of thick nubs, a slightly paler pink compared to the rest of the shaft.

It jerked and jumped before her, the Mightyena repositioning. Suddenly, teeth bit down on her back, catching skin - she gasped again, mouth opening wide, and the Mightyena began to thrust hectically once more. It wasn't long before the mark was found, and the shaft was forced back into her mouth, the tip ramming against the back of her throat.

Now she was being used - those teeth digging into her back made her claw at the ground, as the pain lanced through her. The Mightyena around her head held her in place, and hauled her up as it thrust forwards! That cock bulged against her tongue, and the nubs near the sheath must have started to swell too - or maybe they just felt much bigger here, shoved carelessly inside her…

Another cock was pressed into her thigh, and a paw scrabbled at her leg as one of the Mightyena seemed to make do with that position, beginning to hump and grind against her. She could feel the pre spurting across her skin. A jolt ran through her as another one leapt onto her back to join the one already up there. Snarling, scratching, biting, it felt like there was an all-out fight up there now! She tried to remain in place for the Mightyena taking her mouth, but each jolt threatened to send her teeth into where they shouldn't. The last thing she wanted to do was enrage a creature with its teeth at her neck.

The weight on her back lifted suddenly, and a whumph to her side signalled the fighting Mightyena toppling to the ground. Instantly, two more jumped at her back, one of them moving to mount her before being pushed away. Each time they moved, she could feel more hot flesh being ground and shoved against her. So feral, so incredibly needy. The pheromones must have been stronger than she'd thought! Right now, she didn't know whether that was a blessing or a curse.

Then the Mightyena at her head jerked to the side, and a new one joined it. A brief flash of pink preceded another cock slapping against her face - its warm flesh was wet on her skin, and a spurt of pre just missed her eye. More growls and snaps of teeth, but neither was moving. The first began to thrust harder, faster, jamming its cock deeper into her mouth, causing her to gag and recoil. Both Mightyena came with her, the new one thrusting manically as it tried to get its own cock inside her, missing each time but successfully rubbing against her and - by the sound of it - enraging the first one. The sounds of fighting continued around her…

That's when another Mightyena fell to the side of her with a yelp, and suddenly, paws wrapped around her waist and she felt haunches press against her rear. Something hard and hot jabbed against her cheeks. Whichever Hounds had been fighting for rights to mount her first, this one seemed to have won. She gasped, steeling her resolve, staring ahead at the second shaft at her face as it spurted pre over itself.

The Mightyena mounting her rear was frantic, but it didn't take long before that shaft found her folds, still wet with the pheromones and saliva. The insides were poked roughly, carelessly, but when it found the right hole…

And just like that, the Mightyena was inside her. 'Rough' didn't even begin to cover it now - this one was brutal in its actions, wild in its humping. Her cunt stretched to accommodate it; oh, he wasn't small, and he wasn't getting any thinner either, each thrust making her grasp the dirt tighter to cope with the feeling. Thick-furred haunches slammed into her rear with ever more unrestrained thrust. Against her back, it pressed its head against her skin, flecks of drool splashing over her.

And then the shaft in her mouth jerked and throbbed dangerously. She could feel the nubs near the base begin to swell - she only just managed to close her mouth as they were tugged back past her lips, the next thrust jabbing them into her face. Dim memories, clouded by the quick, careless rutting, floated up - she'd heard about this! A knot, a tie, a ball of flesh to keep a bitch in place while the Pokémon came!

Oh, it came alright. The knot was forced against her lips, but she didn't let it past, which just left the swollen shaft to jerk and pulsate inside her mouth as hot, thick liquid spurted over her tongue. She felt every rope, every twitch of the shaft as more of the seed splashed into her. Fuck, the knot was just getting bigger! What would have happened if it had gotten caught in her mouth? Would she have been able to breathe with the damn thing!?

A snarl right beside her ear made her jump, jerking the Mightyena taking her cunt - not that it stopped it, its claws just digging in harder and pain lancing from them. Then, the Mightyena at her head was shoved aside, the cock pulled from her lips as it fell back. The taste of the cum filled her mouth - sour, salty, thick and overpowering. She coughed, feeling it drip down her chin as more spurted across her face. The Mightyena was still holding onto her head, after all, and she glanced up to see it staggering to stay upright, cock twitching and jumping with rope after rope…

The second Mightyena jumped into view, its own shaft slipped fully from its sheath and bouncing in place as it tried to mount her as well. It was almost as big as the first, but she knew it would get bigger.

Yelp! Her arms trembled, and her heart caught in her throat as the Mightyena in her cunt growled loudly down her ear. It picked up the pace, claws moving to her stomach and digging in to get a firmer grip. She gritted her teeth as it leaned forwards over her, that ceaseless thrusting causing her hips to ache and ache….

Suddenly, the Mightyena that had first taken her throat let go and jolted to the side, staggering and falling to the ground - its teeth were pulled form her, causing just fresh pain from the wounds that made her jerk upwards and gasp. The new one had shoved it aside - but just as it turned back to mount her, another appeared, trying to get there first. Two shafts were forced into her face, and she tried to pull back out of sheer surprise - but the Mightyena behind her kept her in place, claws digging into her stomach as it continued to thrust recklessly. She couldn't move away, staring forwards in shock - both Mightyena were trying to get her mouth at once! Claws scraped across her back suddenly, and she yelped at the icy sensation they caused. Above her came the incessant sound of bared teeth and snarls.

They weren't going to back down; her mouth was the spoils, and she was the battleground. Another swipe with claws caused her to arch her back, inadvertently pressing her cunt back against the Mightyena behind her, which growled in pleasure and thrust forwards all the more enthusiastically. The shaft slammed into her with each one, her insides aching from having to accommodate the rough, primal rutting. Above her, both Mightyena jerked forwards, scrabbling at the ground to stay with that mouth.

Right, she thought, swallowing as her body continued to scream at her, fresh pain from all down her back and her rear. She wasn't going to be torn to pieces over who would get to fuck her first. She did this to survive, dammit….

Shifting her weight onto one arm, she reached up and grabbed both shafts in one hand, and squeezed. Instantly, both Mightyena jerked, pulling their claws from her skin. Before they had time to react further, she rubbed her hand up and down them, pulling and rubbing and grinding them together. The pre made adequate lubricant - it was tough to keep both in the same grip, but she could just manage it, rubbing from the head down to the nubs. The head was the sensitive area on a human male, but she figured that the same wasn't the case here. Still, this couldn't hurt; quickly, she stuck her head forwards, drawing the smooth tips of both shafts into her mouth simultaneously.

The Mightyena's claws returned to her back - but this time, instead of swiping and slicing, they were just trying to find purchase, curling their paws over her head or around her shoulders. She squeezed the shafts together again, sucking on the tips, sticking out her tongue to lap between them…

The taste wasn't exactly fantastic, but she had to admit that the more she tried it, the more bearable it seemed. Then again, maybe that was just her body making anything tolerable that might get her out of this situation unharmed - well, relatively unharmed, anyway. Claws still tugged at her skin, fresh wounds along her body. She just clutched at a patch of short, tough grass with her other hand while she continued to pull and pleasure at these twin cocks at her mouth.

Meanwhile, the Mightyena at her rear was only getting more excited. She could feel the tail wagging back and forth, coarse fur and air currents battering at her ankles. A paw scraped across her thigh again as the Mightyena tried to mount her more, shoving that cock deeper into her with the new position. A tongue lapped across her back, teeth grazing her skin. She could even feel the chest vibrate as it growled - and oh, it growled, full of lust and desire, base instincts swirling in that one, guttural sound!

She panted as she rubbed the shafts in front of her. One of the Mightyena suddenly pulled free and jerked forwards, the tip finding her tongue. The other one, though, now the sole recipient of the handjob, seemed happy to just back away and allow it. Reese closed her eyes again as she got a face full of canine underbelly, the shaft driven into her mouth. Oh fuck, this one was rough too after being teased so much by her hand! It wasted little time, ravaging her mouth with that cock that jabbed against the back of her tongue, grinding happily into her!

The other Mightyena around her were having their own fun. In addition to the two at her front and the one in her cunt, the one at her thigh was still eagerly humping and thrusting with a much larger shaft now, if the feeling was anything to go by. Against her left, one was trying to climb up onto her back again, or trying to mount anything it could - she felt the cock prodding at her bruises uncomfortably, now coated in pre. Another one was trying futilely but repeatedly to gain access to her rear with its nose, while another had just dived beneath her, snuffling around her breasts and down to her stomach, pressing and grinding its head against every part of her it could reach.

Was that all of them? Had any left or arrived? The memory of the one with the swirling facial markings, that patterned Mightyena, staring at her shot through her mind momentarily. She wondered if it was still watching, or perhaps had joined in….

Another series of growls above her, and several of the Mightyena shifted. Muzzles kept poking into new places, shafts rubbing against her skin. It was impossible to tell which part belonged to which Mightyena, and if one muzzle was the same as any other that had prodded her. So many of them, so many shafts all eager to mount and fuck her! A whirlwind of canines, eager to breed this fertile female she'd made herself into!

Then another shaft joined the first at her face. This time, the Mightyena already in her mouth was shoved to the side - and before she could react or pull away, the newcomer just managed to thrust the tip of its shaft into her mouth. Two cocks now, each one being thrust into her at a different rhythm; each owning its own sporadic, random, lust-driven pace. She strained to keep her head up, letting them take her mouth again and again. With both of them there neither could get far in, but it meant that her cheeks bulged and strained with their efforts to do so regardless. Whenever one slipped out, a growl and a shove forced it back in again. Pre splattered across her face, and saliva dripped down her chin to mix with the semen from before. All the while, the Mightyena she had in one hand was getting faster, thrusting and bucking. She felt it raise a hindleg, slamming its hips down into her hand in raucous enjoyment!

Pain again! Pain through her back, causing her to buck and jerk. The Mightyena taking her cunt had bitten down, and she swore it was hard enough to draw blood. A snarl rumbled through her body as those hips slammed into hers, and she felt it again - the knot, that tell-tale bulge of flesh. It hammered against her, trying to gain entry as the shaft swelled to final size. Jerking, pulsating, the paws curling around her and squeezing her tightly as that whole feral form began to shudder - it was cumming! Deep inside her, cumming…!

The vague realisation crept up on her. She'd never let anyone do that before - pregnancy scares, mostly, meant she'd always insisted her partners had pulled out. She was never big on condoms, and hardly confident in them anyway. And so, this was the first being to ever orgasm inside her cunt, and it had been a Mightyena! A damn Pokémon, in the middle of nowhere!

Wait… canine orgasms lasted a while, right? That's what the knot was for, after all; making sure penetration happened long enough for all the seed to be delivered. How long was it again that the tie lasted? Quarter of an hour, half an hour if the knot ended up inside? She couldn't remember! Whatever strange article or website she'd been reading hadn't seemed that relevant at the time. Fuck. What if the Mightyena had managed to actually knot her? She needed that info now. Not that she'd have ever thought that this position would occur. But now here she was, under a slumped, occasionally bucking Mightyena, two more in her mouth, one more in her hand, and at least three more rubbing and grinding and nuzzling and sniffing and licking….

It was unbelievable. It was unbelievable. Her heart pounded like a drum, again and again...

She couldn't afford to slump like the one mounting her now did, not while her continued safety seemed to depend on the pleasure of the Mightyena around her. She sucked harder on the shafts, pushing her head forwards to do it better, the lengths squeezing past her lips to delve further inside her mouth. They were swelling all the time, the manic thrusting getting harder and harder for each of them due to their sheer combined size. She stuck her tongue out, lapping at the underside…!

Claws dug into her shoulder and arm. One of them swelled again and jerked in her mouth - she was ready this time. The first spurt of cum splashed against her tongue, that same salty taste, the same thick liquid that slid past her lips as much as it splashed against the back of her throat. This Mightyena was holding itself into her as long as possible, even managing to gain most of her mouth - the flesh bulged and pulsed, spurting more and more seed into her. She could feel that knot again, pounding against her lips, while the other Mightyena fought to just stay inside!

Meanwhile, the one in her hand began to jerk too, the Mightyena twitching and jolting as its own orgasm arrived. She moved her hand up, grasping the knot - with a face full of two Mightyena crotches, she couldn't see what she was doing, but she could feel how it moved and swelled. She grasped it tightly, like a female's cunt would upon orgasm, her fingers sliding behind it to the top of the sheath -

The Mightyena yelped, bucking wildly. The shaft jerked, and she felt the seed rushing within. Hell, she even swore she could hear it splashing onto the ground, a rhythm of wet splashes as it spilled its seed all over the dirt. Huh, the knot must be sensitive. Oh, she could use that -

Another scratch at her back made her jump, and then without warning, the Mightyena in her cunt was lunged at, forced from her back. G-gah! She lurched back, the cock inside her pulled free as it fell. Its sudden exit splashed hot, thick liquid all down the inside of her thighs, and made her jump in surprise. Another Mightyena climbed onto her back, and the cock - wet with pre or saliva, she didn't know at this point - was suddenly jabbed right between her cheeks, right up at her asshole. Oh fuck no, it was not taking her there!

And what choice did she have? Those claws dug into her so harshly that she couldn't react before a first, rough thrust speared right into her! She yelped, closing her eyes, the jerking of her body just eliciting another spurt from the orgasming shaft in her mouth.

Mounted from the rear and the front now as well as one hand, with two of the four in mid-orgasm and the other two desperately working towards it. She just managed to take a breath, breathing through her nose, almost spluttering as cum dripped down the back of her tongue. She swallowed it down like many of them before, the taste so familiar now.

That Mightyena at her rear though - it was eager, and it must have been close already! She was stretched uncomfortably - she was no stranger to anything inside there, but being so unprepared! Still, the reckless Hound was forcing itself all the way inside her with zealous thrusts, both hind paws scratching at her thighs as it tried to get off as quickly as it could. And ow… ow, with how her rear felt, how that shaft swelled, it was succeeding…

Then, inside her rear - that bulging, that stretching of her insides, her eyes wide with the sudden feeling, the growing feeling of pain. It could only be the knot! The moment it had started inflating, that Mightyena had forced it inside, and now it's hasty thrusts had turned to enthusiastic grinding and humping. With the knot in there now, there was no way for her to escape.

Oh, fuck…!

Before long, that Mightyena began to jerk and twitch in that very telling way, even those sporadic jolts backwards doing nothing to pull it out. She shuddered in exertion and pain as her rear was suddenly stretched wide by that knot, the shaft growing and swelling with release. She gasped past the cocks in her mouth, clawed at the ground, shaking as she suddenly felt that load being spurted so deep into her!

She was still focused almost entirely on that canine's orgasm, on how the shaft twitched and jerked in time to the Mightyena's motions, when paws were suddenly wrapped around her. She just had time to gasp in pain before she was yanked to the side!

She toppled over, both of the Mightyena's cocks in her mouth being pulled out as she rolled onto her back. She opened her eyes, staring at both the Mightyena that had been at her mouth. One staggered away, tongue lolling from its muzzle and dripping saliva everywhere - that must have been the one in mid-orgasm, a thought only confirmed as cum splattered over her forehead. The other scrabbled forwards again, paws on her chest as it tried to thrust against her face. Meanwhile, the one in her rear yelped as she ended up on top of it - not that its orgasm faltered for a second, the shaft still twitching and throbbing inside her….

But she wasn't taking much notice of that one. She was far too focused on the one that had rolled her over. It was the one with a chunk of its ear missing; the fur on its head was wiry, unkempt, and its eyes glared into hers - its pupils weren't distended in order to take in as much as the low light as possible, but thin slits. They looked mad, so mad…

It bodily shoved its way between her legs, claws unsheathed as it stalked up her torso, easily straddling her before crouching down. She was so small under this one; it loomed over her as she gazed up in fright. It seemed bigger than the rest, stronger than the rest, and the others weren't challenging it as it shoved its thick, wet shaft against her folds. It was a lurid red colour, with every part of the veined, swollen length screaming with the need for release.

It forced its way into her cunt carelessly - she gasped again, recoiling away from the whining Mightyena trying to enjoy her face and get to her mouth. All her attention was on this one now as it tried to get the rest of the large cock into her, squeezing it past the folds. It snarled, baring gritted teeth, and those eyes full of insane desire never once left hers. It loomed closer as it tried to push deeper, trying to stretch her open, gouging great clods of dirt out from the ground as it pushed further and further

It wasn't going to fit! It wasn't going to fit, and right now, if she wanted to please any of the Mightyena then it would be this one. It tried again and again, front paws moving to her hips, claws piercing skin the moment they grasped it as the crooked-ear Mightyena tried to get more of that bulging, thick shaft in - but to no avail. Reese squirmed below it in pain - oh fuuuuuck!

A sharp growl cut through the air. It yanked what little of its cock it had gotten into her back out again in one harsh motion. Once more, those eyes focused on hers. Then there was a brief pause. That mind seemed to work, and that expression - if it was possible - seemed to grow angrier. It advanced, lowering its head with worrying slowness. Its teeth parted, eyes tracking down to stare at her throat.

Reese's eyes widened. Oh no, oh please n-

A blur of black fur filled her vision, the crooked-ear Mightyena slammed away and falling in a heap on the ground. Reese stared up at the new Mightyena standing over her, its head lowered and snarling. The crooked-ear Mightyena scrabbled to its paws, tried to move back-

Another harsh snarl, another paw on the ground. Black, ghostly wisps swam from those teeth, curling over the face…

Around her, the Mightyena were slowing and stopping, the only sound now a continuous, rapid panting of excitement and exhaustion. They were all watching the conflict, the showdown…

The crooked-ear Mightyena growled back… and then, slowly, it turned and stalked away from the lantern's light, back into the bushes.

The new Mightyena on top of her let out a low, trailing growl, and turned back to look at her. Swirling black facial markings curled across its eyes. It stared down at her with sharp, intelligent eyes. The patterned Mightyena from before...

And at the crotch, its own shaft was out from the sheath, a shiny red length so stark against the grey fur. A length so well formed, with barely any imperfections - soft curves from the tip to the unformed knot, nestled in soft grey fur. Those veins that crisscrossed it were so vividly coloured, and seemed to throb just from being looked at. Pre hung from the tip in one long trail that slowly fell onto her side...

And somehow - even though it went against all expectations, even though it made no sense to her - the sight exhilarated her.

The patterned Mightyena regarded her for a moment longer, flicked between her and where she was looking, and then turned to walk around her hips. There, it pushed between her legs, straddling her like the one before it had. Its shaft pressed against her folds, but it was no longer uncomfortably wide - in fact, it felt… almost… right.

What the fuck was she thinking? The pheromones must be getting to her too…

But this patterned Mightyena. She needed it to be pleased, just like the rest. She focused on that - not on the fact that part of her, inside, was beginning to say that maybe it would please her too. Either way, she lifted her legs up…

...And the patterned Mightyena sunk his cock into her. She gasped, her insides sliding around the length. She lifted her legs higher, and he kept going, pushing right to the nubs of the unformed knot. She panted, chest rising and falling, dripping saliva and pre onto the ground around her.

The rest of the Mightyena took this as their cue to continue. The conflict was over, and they had a female to rut.

The one at her head resumed first, stalking forwards again, and she tilted her head back as it managed to angle just the tip of its shaft into her mouth, and thrust down against her tongue with that engorged length. It didn't waste any time either - she stared up at those balls that swung over her nose, slapping against the shaft as the Mightyena gave quick, shallow thrusts into her mouth. The one at her rear twitched and scratched down her sides, emitting a low, satisfied growl. It tugged at the knot, its orgasm either having finished or decreased past the point of her being able to feel it spurt more into her. Either way, it was going nowhere soon.

Around her, others moved in. Another one grasped one of her raised legs to grind against that, and ones came close enough to each arm for her to feel the heat radiating from their shafts. Before she was thinking about it, she'd grasped both their lengths, and rubbed her fingers up and down the slick shafts.

It was a cacophony of wet slaps growls and grunts as she was taken from every hole. The Mightyena surrounded her, covered her, letting out their instincts and their desires. They didn't let up, indulging in her prone form, her holes, her skin. She realised now that she was completely naked - the jumpsuit had been ripped completely from her body. The night air, however, was warm - more so than the usual spring night. A pack of Mightyena crawling all over her, yearning to fuck her, was more than enough to warm her up…

And so it continued; a writhing pile of fur and flesh, spurts of pre and growls of desire. Through it all, she was right at the epicentre - the focus of such raucous lust, such rampant passion. Every last drop of pleasure these Mightyena wanted, they were getting from her, and they did seek out every last drop they could.

She lifted her head to look past the shaft delving into her mouth. She could just see him if she turned - there that patterned Mightyena was, watching her. Those eyes seemed to speak of a mind much more intricate than the rest. And oh, how he thrusted into her, delving deep as that shaft would allow. His balls slapped against her rear and his claws pressed into her skin as he rutted her with such power, such force, such utter need!

She lifted her legs higher, tightly wrapping them around the Mightyena's hips….

The Mightyena in her mouth suddenly thrust faster, its balls pressed into her nose, forcing her to inhale that strong musk. The shaft delved deep, almost hitting her throat - and the knot began to swell. She pulled back, and her head hit solid ground - she couldn't pull back any further! The knot inflated quickly behind her teeth, the entire shaft bulging and jumping. She took a deep breath, not knowing how long it would be before she was going to get one again…

The Mightyena exploded inside her, cum splashing into the back of her throat. She swallowed immediately, each rope giving her just more to drink down. The canine on top of her twitched and jerked in orgasm, unable to move, unable to give her relief. Not a single drop of that cum went to waste. She choked, but she kept swallowing…

Reese knew what had to come next, even as she felt more splashes around her from the Mightyena she was pleasuring, or those that were just grinding against her. Pre, cum, it didn't really matter. She swallowed the cum in her mouth and managed a quick breath through her nose before the next spurt. Then, she twisted her head again, straining around that harsh, huge knot in her mouth holding her in place, looking past the Mightyena's thick crotch fur.

The patterned Mightyena stared back, looming over her. As she made eye contact, he crouched low, wrapped his paws around her chest, and gently closed his jaws around her throat…

Oh, fuck…!

This wasn't an attack. This was a bite of affection - or as much one could get from a dark type. It stung, it hurt, warm breath and hot saliva rolling across her skin and tongue lapping at the wounds already there - but he could have bitten down so much harder. No, this was just keeping her in place, and showing her an ounce of respect as…

That knot stretched her painfully, delightfully, as it was forced into her over and over again. With each thrust it inflated more and more, ready for that final orgasm. He wasn't just shoving it all in and waiting for it to inflate there - he was waiting until the last moment. Her insides shouted in exertion, but also exhilaration as he pounded harder and harder and harder until finally…

He slammed his haunches down, his thighs against hers as the knot sealed them together, creating that strong canine tie. Inside, it swelled and jerked and throbbed, and she closed her eyes to take in every last one of those incredible, delightful movements. His jaw closed very gently on her throat, the teeth doing nothing more than creating small pricks in the skin. Enough, though, to enhance the feeling as he came deep inside her, spurting every last drop of his seed. And what a load, too - every jolt in that shaft was followed almost immediately by another one, and then another, rope after rope of thick canine seed splashing into her. She felt every detail of every last spurt, the bulging of the shaft, the heat of the cum, and she too began to roll and explode with that incredible desire.

Above her, eyes mere slits and face a picture of pure ecstasy, the patterned Mightyena gave a guttural howl. It struck her very core; a howl of instinct, a howl of pure feeling and desire. So similar to when she'd heard it in the chilling chorus during her escape, but now so much heavier, so much more.

This was it; all of her holes, knots in each, holding her close to these reckless, indulgent Mightyena. She couldn't move. And still, while those inside her recovered from their orgasms, the rest continued to crawl over her. She felt more cocks against her hands and her sides and her hips, more paws scratching needily over her body. Some of them must have already orgasmed at this point, and recovered enough by now to go again. The Hounds continued to circle, and she was still there, the eye of the dark tempest, their focus…

And, as her heart pounded and her fingers grasped the shafts around her, as the bodies at her head and rear twitched and shuddered, as the Mightyena around her renewed their clamouring, and as that shaft inside her cunt continued to spurt more and more seed into her with so little sign of stopping…

She didn't even feel like she wanted to get away...

* * *

The rutting continued. The lantern, finally knocked one too many times, flickered out - and it continued. The horizon became tinged with a sharp orange glow, the night finally beginning its begrudging retreat - and it continued. The sky turned a dirty turquoise hue, casting the landscape below into a grey, washed-out painting - and it continued.

Now, the air was hazy with a gentle morning mist that brought a freshness to the air. Gentle birdsong of the early dawn chorus played over the scene, in ignorance to the previous night's ravaging. The sun's rays tumbled through the trees in stark, bright lines, illuminating the destroyed clearing. Those rays came to a stop on the hides of the Mightyena as, at long last, they began to slip away one by one into the underbrush and back down the hill.

Reese panted heavily, staring unseeingly forwards. She clutched the ground tightly, biting down on a scrap of her jumpsuit.

Pop!

The knot was yanked free of her cunt. She gasped, slumping forwards onto the ground, barely hearing the growls and pants of the Mightyena behind her over the pain of pulling out. A few seconds later it had walked around to her front, and gave her face a few warm, wet licks, before walking off after the rest. Its tail wagged in its wake.

Everything hurt.

Her shoulders had been clawed almost to death. Her sides, too, felt like somebody had attacked them with a rake. Her muscles were stiff from the running and the sharp impacts they'd taken during during the escape, and now her arms and stomach ached from the positions she'd endured throughout the night. Her jaw was sore from the all the fucking there, too, and she wondered if she'd ever get the taste of Mightyena seed off her tongue.

She didn't even want to think about how her rear and cunt felt…

She rolled painstakingly onto her back, letting out a grunt from effort. She ran a hand down her front - almost every part of her was covered in scratches of some sort or another. She didn't look - she didn't want to.

For a few moments, Reese decided to lie there, just enjoying no longer being accosted for more lustful, needy sex from another heat-crazed Mightyena. The pheromones had finally worn off - or at least, she could no longer smell them. Just the strong odours of dirt, and sweat, and Mightyena musk. Oh, and cum, of course. So much cum…

She pushed herself up slowly. The muscles in her arms complained, and she felt her bones crack, but she finally ended up in a kneeling position - she wasn't about to try sitting down on her rear just yet, after all. But now, at least, she was able to survey the scene.

The clearing was a mess of gouges in the soil. Pawprints, claw marks, scuffs where entire bodies had fallen or lain. Streaks of wet mud from the last few Mightyena, too. Her lantern lay in two pieces a few metres away, next to the dirt-covered - but still very much intact - duffel bag. It still looked full of her ill-gotten spoils.

Then she turned around, and saw him sitting there, staring out across the valley. The patterned Mightyena.

She sat quietly for a few moments, just watching him, that lithe and strong form so still and yet so full of presence. Her heartbeat sounded loud in her chest. Eventually, she coughed, partly to get his attention and partly to get rid of some of the remaining seed in her throat. “Still here, huh…"

The Mightyena turned his head, and regarded her silently.

“You haven't turned me in." Reese said, with a small amount of gratefulness. “And I don't think you're going to, are you?"

Again, silence.

“Why?"

The Mightyena stared at her, and she stared back. After a moment, he rose, walking slowly over to the bag. He nosed it, then sat down and looked up the trail, up to the ridge and away from Parfum. Then, after a moment, he looked back at her again, almost questioningly.

Reese frowned. “Yes. I'm going that way."

He stood again, and walked slowly over to where the trail exited the clearing and ascended the rest of the hill. Then, he turned back to look at her.

Reese blinked, and tilted her head. “You want to come with me?"

He sat down again, and regarded her silently once more.

A smile began to form on her lips. “But what about Parfum…?"

He looked away, and then stood up, walking over to where she'd first seen him. He looked out over the valley, to the majesty of the hills in the morning that dwarfed the miniscule palace.

Reese shakily went down onto all fours, and slowly crawled over to him. There, she sat back, lifting an arm up to stroke along his back.

The vista the two of them were treated to… it really was stunning. This was the sort of vista that inspired a lifestyle like hers; not getting tied down, always off and exploring, always wondering what's over the next hill. The realisation struck her - if you'd spent your last few years alternating between a Pokéball and the grounds of a single, small palace, then those distant mountains would seem almost like a dream.

And now, to be here, in the dream…

Reese smiled, and trailed her hand down his neck. The Mightyena growled gently; a warm, soft sound that slid through her body like honey off a spoon. She began to laugh.

“You know, you're going to need a name. A different one to whatever you have now. Can't keep the same name if people are going to be searching for you too…"

It only took a moment's thought before the answer appeared in her mind.

“You know, I heard your howl last night. Like a wind through a ravine, it was. Chilling, haunting…"

The Mightyena turned to watch her expectantly.

“How about 'Howling Gale'?" She said with a smirk.

The Mightyena shrugged her grip off him, giving a rough grunt. She laughed at that too.

“C'mon. It's a good name! 'Howling Gale'!"

He turned suddenly, jumping up to put a paw on her back, stopping her from getting up. She remained still as he staggered around to her rear, and straddled her once more. The matted fur of his underside was warm against her back, and his body was heavy as he put his weight on her, curling his front paws around her chest. His muzzle slid up against her head, the growl loud in her ear now, sending a shudder right through her used body, down to the tips of her aching fingers. His shaft, still wet with the spoils of previous ruttings, rubbed over her folds.

She smirked, stretching her body back against him. The spark of this new taboo set alight her desires. She pressed her hips back. “Well go on then…."

With a view before them of such beauty, with the cool morning air around their bodies and dew underneath them, with the scents and sounds of the waking forest to accompany their movements, they rutted together once more. It was rough, it was lustful, it was needed by both. Over and over that powerful, dominant Mightyena thrust forwards, sinking that shaft into her. She let him - she wanted it. Five hours ago she was trying to avoid something like this at all costs, and now she was just wanting it to continue, on and on and on….

He knotted her when he came. It hurt, oh fuck did it hurt, but she craved every last ounce of it. She yearned for the feeling of it swelling up inside her, not letting her get away as cum spurted deep, splash after splash, filling her up one last time for this night; an ultimate pleasure. They shouted in unison, their combined cries a greeting to the future.

A few exhausted minutes later, she was sitting on the ground in front of him, leaning back against a thin tree trunk. His engorged cock dripped seed in long, thick lines, and she was pulling at the grass, too indulged with release to feel the pain anymore. They watched each other, searching each other's minds with their gaze.

“I think you'll be a very fun companion…." Reese said finally between breathless pants.

He stared down at her. Those eyes gleamed in the morning light.

Oh, they were intelligent indeed…

A smile had taken over Reese's whole face. She reached up to stroke her thumb down his bulky, thick... lovely muzzle.

“Very fun…"

Fin