Chapter 4 Tigress awoke with a groan, feeling her ass was sore from the running yesterday morning to late at night. She reached behind her to rub her plumper ass and relieve some of the soreness. At that she noticed the harness she once was made to wear had vanished, leaving only the black bracers on her forearms. “Must’ve released me when I fell asleep.” Tigress thought to herself, before her fingers touched something wet on her backside. Pulling her hand back to her front she saw it was some cum, twisting her body she could see the large amount still matting her fur. The sheer amount kept some of it damp in her fur, while the rest dried up. Marking her with Saevus’ scent, making her shudder as she could still smell him on her own fur. Then she slowly stuck out her tongue, hesitating at first, before she licked the cum that was on her hand. Moaning perversely as she lapped up Saevus’ seed, once such an act would never have been thought possible by Tigress. Even she never could’ve heard herself eagerly licking up the cum left on her body, yet there she was. What a whore she must have looked like, the idea making her smile as she felt a spark of excitement run through her crotch at the very thought. Once she licked her hand clean she scraped the rest off of her back as much as she could to get more. Before she slowly rose from her bed, stretching and giving a moan as she felt her bones pop back into place. That was when she noticed something, was her own chest. Which seemed to have grown in size as she slept, now they were DD. Her hands moved up, cupping both of her now even larger breasts and squeezing them gently to see if she was seeing things. Giving a soft moan as she did so, finding them more heavy and sensitive than she’d ever felt before. The feeling of carrying the extra weight did not affect Tigress much, as she had trained all her life to carry heavier things. But she knew these would be hurting her back as time passed. “What happened?” She asked aloud, thinking she was alone. “Just your body,” came a voice that made Tigress jump and turn. Seeing the old Shaman standing in the doorway of her room. “Becoming ready to have its young.” The Shaman said. This made Tigress raise a brow, only to remember the other wolves. Ones with traits that didn’t belong to their species. This made Tigress blush, the very idea of her with cubs, or this case pups, had never crossed her mind before. She had always thought she would’ve used the rest of her days training other students in the arts of Kung Fu. But now the idea made her heart leap, was it . . . joy she felt at the prospect of becoming a mother? “Best for you to clean yourself up and take a bath.” The old wolf said, tearing Tigress away from her personal thoughts. “As much as some might enjoy the idea of leaving a slave in one's seed, it’s better to have them clean to keep diseases out of the village. Especially when it comes to one's mate.” The wolf said, chuckling to himself as Tigress again blushed. Before gesturing for her to follow him out of her room, he led Tigress to a smaller room that held a natural spring that had a small waterfall that flowed down from the rock wall. With the pool itself, which looked more like a small pool to her, large enough for Saevus to wash himself in without any trouble and didn’t seem to get any larger. Though she could not see the outflow pipe that was hidden at the edge of the pool. “S-So you heard?” Tigress asked, shocking herself as she stuttered. It hadn’t happened to her since she was a cub and first wanted to play with the others in Bao Gu Orphanage. Before they locked her in that room. The memories of which made her growl softly in anger, only to blush again as the old wolf was still there watching her. “I believe everyone for the next hundred miles heard your declaration.” The wolf said, smirking as tigress looked away as the floor seemed to suddenly catch her interest. “So wash yourself and come eat breakfast. My son at least had some manners to give you some before he left.” At that the shaman closed the door, leaving Tigress alone in her room. With her body already naked for the past few days, save for the bracers she was made to wear. So she followed the old wolf’s advice and walked to the pool, seeing it had already been drawn not too long ago as the steam still came from the still surface telling Tigress the spring was rather warm. Standing at the edge she slowly stepped in and lowered herself and stepped into the water, sinking deep into the pool until the water was under her chin. “Aaaah, I needed this!” Tigress exclaimed, not caring if she was alone as she felt her aches already relaxing. For a time she just simply sat in the pool, enjoying the heat and soaking herself. Then she grabbed a cloth from the cloth laying at the edge and some soap that smelled of Peaches and Plum Blossoms. It took nearly an hour before Tigress would remove herself from the pool and dried herself off. Seeing no other towels large enough for her to cover her more voluptuous body she simply walked to the door and peered out. Seeing the older wolf sitting at the table and waiting for her to leave the room as he had taken off his robes and placed them on the chair next to him. If this had happened days ago she wouldn’t have hesitated to bolt past the wolf and flee the village, or take him out then and there. But she found she could not bring herself to do such a thing, “What is wrong with me? They force others to be their broodmothers and destroy everything else! So why can’t I just leave?!” She thought, gripping the edge of the door before she opened it and walking out. As nude as the day she was born and feeling her face heating up as her blush with embarrassment. Steadily growing more and more red that even her fur couldn’t keep it hidden as her breasts and ass jiggled and bounced with every step she took she drew closer to the shaman. Until she stood on the opposite side of the table with him, trying to cover her chest and finding it more difficult than ever before with their larger size. “No need to be embarrassed, I’ve seen bodies of all species in my life and impregnated many of them as well.” The old wolf said with a chuckle, though the ‘joke’ didn’t make Tigress feel any less embarrassed standing in front of the elderly wolf. Then the Shaman stood up from his seat and moved around the table next to Tigress and began looking her over. “Now, please remain still. I must focus and see how much of the poison is still in your blood.” He said as his hand began to glow a soft golden yellow and he hovered his palm over her. “Poison? I don’t-“ Tigress said before she remembered the thorns Saevus was worried about during the race. “I-I see. Then what do you think . . . Shaman?” Tigress didn’t know his name so she could only call him by what he was. And it would’ve been disrespectful to call him Old Wolf to his face. “My name is Pertusio, but you can call me Pertus. After all, you are going to be family.” The now named Pertusio said as he focused on his hand for a time. Slowly moving it over her but never touching her body as he held his eyes closed. “Is this Chi? He seems to be using it to look deeper than his eyes could. If they and Kai crossed paths, could this shaman be able to beat him?” Tigress thought as she watched Pertusio continue for a time. Moving his hand over her back and her chest. Even lower down to her groin and made her cover herself once again and narrow her eyes at the wolf. “That’s not yours.” She said aloud before even thinking. “I know, my son will lay his claim soon. He prefers taking his time with pets. But with his mate, he might be persuaded to go early.” Pertusio said, making Tigress blush and stutter as he chuckled. “And what I see is not good. Your body took in too much of the Fertilitate Spinea, so there will be adverse side effects as the poison burns out inside you. But not to be lethal.” “Then . . . what will these side effects be?” Tigress asked, Saevus already having told her of the increased fertility the plant caused. But what more the plant could cause she did not know, after all it seemed to make her breasts more voluptuous and ready to feed many pups. “That depends on the dosage, normally one is only given a very diluted amount in the paint applied to the body. Just enough to assist in motherhood. But an undiluted dosage has been known to cause stomach pains and convulsions, especially during one's first pregnancy.” Pertusio replied, his hand stopped glowing as he stepped away. “Other symptoms are an uneasy stomach to vomiting, headaches, muscle and joint pains. Mostly in females as they seem to be the most affected by the thorns.” Pertusio moved to his robes, reaching into a pocket and pulling out three vials. He mixed two and shook them vigorously then mixed it with the third. All the while Tigress noted that even as old as he seemed the wolf still appeared as muscular and tones as the others of his clan. Making Tigress lick her lips as she saw Saevus in his fathers form. Pertusio saw this out of the corner of his eye and chuckled, “I’m afraid I’m far too old for you,” he said, making her eyes go wide as she noticed what she did and blushed before turning her head away. “Besides, ‘never take a pet or mate of one in the clan’. That rule was established at the very beginning. Same as the pet and mate does not try to leave the one who chose them.” “Keep the tribe from infighting.” Tigress said, seeing the logic of not wanting the wolves, her new clan, to become divided. “Indeed. Now here, mix a small amount with your drink every morning until the vial runs out.” Pertusio as he handed her the mixture and a cup that was small enough to fit on one of her fingers. “This cup will help you measure the correct amount.” He said as he pointed to a straight line running across one side. “Thank you.” Tigress said as she gently took the mixture and cup, placing them on the table next to a bowl of soup left out for her with some bread and a cup of tea next to the meal. The scents were not something she’d ever smelled before, making Tigress turn to Pertusio. “Three Sisters soup and Frybread, and the tea is Winterberry. Native to our homeland.” He said, sitting back down at the table and gesturing to Tigress to sit down with him. She did so as she looked at the soup and tea before her; they smelled rather strange to her. Yet when she took a sip of the tea she found it rather good. Even the strange vegetables that she never tasted before in the soup was nice and she found herself eagerly eating the bowl. Making Pertusio chuckle as he drank his own tea. “I’m glad to see you like my son’s cooking.” “I’ve never tasted anything like this before . . . it is rather good.” She said before finishing her bowl as Pertusio smiled. With Tigress now left with her tea he showed her how to mix the tea and potion before she would drink from the cup. “If you don’t mind me asking; What are you people? You are larger than normal wolves and many others I’ve seen. You are stronger than any I’ve faced and have strange uses of Chi that affect all others. As well as can breed other species from what I’ve seen and been told by Saevus.” “Our people have existed for millenia now, long before any species that lives now first appeared.” Pretusio said, as the shaman rubbed his chin. “To truly understand us you’ll have to hear our founding and the old days. This is Ten Thousand years ago now.” He said, making Tigress’ eyes go wide and stare at him. “T-TEN THOUSAND! That’s impossible!” Tigress said in disbelief. “So you think. But we’ve survived because of one who decided to keep our people from passing into dust like so many others.” Pertusio replied, pulling out an old tattered journal and placing it on the table. Opening the journal Tigress could not understand the symbols scrawled across the pages. Maybe in time she would. “The White Wolf.” ________________ The freezing winds whipped around him as the snow blinded his vision. Not even his black fur kept the biting cold that made him regret his journey to the mountain’s peak. But he needed to reach the highest peak if he wished to have the answers he sought. It was only as he neared the very top of the mountain that the winds subsided, for the clouds were now below him and air was becoming thinner with every step. But he continued to press on, until at last he reached the highest peak. The top being perfectly flat as so many shamans of his and other tribes once used this place to commune with the spirits of their ancestors and reach peaceful negotiations between them in the past. But those days have long since passed. Now the old ritual site was covered in snow and ice. The wolf walked to the center and began placing still green saplings and roots in a circle around him. Then he opened a pouch on his belt before dumping its contents over the plants, coating them in ashes. The circle now completed, he kneeled down and drew a stone dagger from his belt. Cutting his palm and letting the blood drip down onto the circle in front of him. The ashes seemed to reignite in a blue flame that melted the ice and snow away as before the wolf he could see a figure whose body seemed to shift and change from a wolf to saber tooth to mammoth and creatures older than his clan's memories could recount. “Oh great Spirit! Hear me! I come seeking your wisdom so that I may help my people, as we have always done!” The wolf said, bowing his head low that it almost touched the flames. Though he could not feel the heat, his body still felt pain being so close to the flames. A bad sign for any when they spoke to the spirits. “Always done? Have your wolves not come here in nearly a century now?” The spirit asked, it’s tone even but still held some anger as it spoke. “Have you not held the festival of tribes in our honor for just as many years?! You better reflect upon your words, Mortal. For you have not ‘always’ abided by us.” The Spirit’s growing anger made the wolf flinch as the winds began to build once more around him as though he was in the eye of a hurricane. But he still held his head towards the fire. To pull back would only cause greater harm to him. “I-I understand, Great One. We have not held to the old ways as we have before. But that is why I have come to you now! Please! Our crops are dying and many of the young are birthed stillborn! We barely have anything to survive!” He exclaimed, tears starting to fall from his eyes. “The other tribes now wage war on us for what little we have and we lose more with each attack! PLEASE! I DO NOT ASK OF YOU; I BEG OF YOU AND ALL OTHER SPIRITS! OF NATURE AND OUR ANCESTORS! HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND FOR WE ARE DYING!” Silence filled the air as the spirit stared down at the wolf, unmoving as the winds slowly died down around them. Then he heard the spirit once again. “It is the way of the world. Life grows and blossoms, then withers and returns to the soil. Those that remain are forever changed and replace the old. Life and death. Darkness and Light.” “Then tell me, Spirit. Is there not something that can be done? Something to spare my tribe the same fate?” The wolf said, lifting his face from the flames to gaze upon the spirit. Not caring anymore if he was struck down for the action anymore. The spirit returned his gaze, its eyes piercing his very soul as the winds died completely. “There may be one way.” Those words made his eyes go wide with hope, but before he could speak the spirit spoke again. “As the world lives in a constant cycle of peace and chaos, there are times when it comes to the world to make chaos and make way for the new. If you wish to save your people, then you must become part of that cycle. To live in peace, while sowing chaos and despair to all others.” The wolf’s eyes were now in shock, his mouth hanging open for a time before clenching shut. Was this all he could do?! Let his people die! Or become something meant to bring pain to all others! Part of him wanted to believe that there was a different solution; something that could turn things back to the stories of his grandfather. But he was taught the Spirits do not lie, that they showed things as they are and meant to be. If this was his only choice then so be it. “I . . . Accept. I will become the instrument to bring despair. If it means my people continue to live in peace.” He said at last. Around him the flames died and showed the once green plants now white with hot coals lining their surfaces. The plants shifted before they pierced his skin and made the wolf scream in pain. “It will be more than just you who will become part of the cycle. For them to live they must be taken and remade, as you will be.” The spirit spoke one last time before it disappeared. The wolf was still screaming as he felt the plants burrow under his flesh and become a part of him. His fur became pure white as his body grew and his muscles bulged as he became larger. Then with a snarling howl he bent forward, reborn an instrument of the spirits. “Then so be it!” He said as he stood and began to make his way back down the mountain, back to his tribe. ________________ “Soon the White Wolf returned to the clan, our ancestors shocked at his new form and more so the tale he told them. That they were doomed to die, as all others. Unless they accepted the same ‘gift’ the Spirits gave to him.” Pertusio said as he closed the book. “Some were reluctant to join him, but they saw the necessity if we were to live. To survive. In the end the clan accepted and drank from the Fertilitate Spinea that grew from his body. Binding them together as never before. Then began the Dawn War, the battles that our tribes waged to take all others into our clan. From there we found we could breed with most other species and they would still birth pups like any other wolfmother.” The shaman continued and gave a sigh as he looked at Tigress who was still processing the story. Was it all true? Or was it only a Legend the wolves told to justify their actions? There had to be some truth to it! They had powers she’d never seen, to command the very plants. To bind their prey or make weapons as Saevus had used on her. She had seen Chi used to give life to others or to steal it as Kai had done. But to shape life at will and change one's body, as hers had been. “This . . . cycle the story spoke of . . . is it still happening?” She spoke at last, finding her words to ask the first of many questions he held. “Even if the story is true, things aren’t as they were then! It’s changed!” “So you think.” Interrupted Pertusio, staring Tigress right in her eyes with a deathly seriousness. “The cycle is unknown to all but those who give themselves to become a part of it all. What you see as a peace between people, we see as the building of disaster from the world. The world itself is waiting to crack and crush, to flood and drown, to burn all to ash. It only takes time to do so.” He said. The countless years of the tribe having recorded every disaster not caused by them as they watched the very world consume others. Tigress tried to find her words to counter his, but her mind could not think of anything. She agreed that there was strife always in the world, Tai Ling and Kai both destroyed the village to nothing but rubble. What if they hadn’t had the warning? Never helped the villagers run? What if there was a disaster caused by the very earth and water around the valley and they could do nothing to stop it? “I-I suppose you are right in a way. But that doesn’t mean you should still destroy peoples lives! You are taking and raping people! Even my people!” Tigress said. She wanted to get angry at the shaman for that. But the images of the fellow tiger being pounded and filled by wolf after wolf that seemed to never grow tired that night only made her body shudder in pleasure and chuff, imagining her being the one in her place and Saevus breeding her. “So you think one can just break a deal with the Spirits themselves and everything will be fine?” Pertusio asked her, showing roots that grew from under his claws before her eyes until they covered the entire room. “The deal for our survival is binded to our very souls. We live and die, while our people continue to thrive. We inflict pain and destroy villages, yes. But we do so for our survival and to ensure others dying out will be remembered at the very least. Some even remain still with us.” These words surprised Tigress more than any use of magic she’d seen the wolves do as her eyes widened to the point they looked as though they would pop out of her skull and roll around on the floor. “W-What do you mean?” She asked, “I thought that your wolves only kept some traits of the mothers.” “We do, there are also times when a mother births one of her own with more wolf-like traits of the father.” Pertusio said and stroked his braided beard before he stood. “I’ll show you.” “Show me?” Tigress asked, feeling her heart flutter for a moment as she thought of a cub with a wolf’s tail and her orange fur and strips in her arms. Before Pertusio tossed Tigress some cloth that landed on her head. “Here, cover yourself up and we will go out. The festival is done so there is no need to go out in the nude anymore.” Pertusio said as Tigress pulled the cloth off her face. Standing up she fastened it as best she could to her body. Having to settle for a simple strap that covered most of her breasts and another that hung around her waist like a loincloth which left her stomach, thighs, and biceps exposed. She felt strange but it felt rather nice as well. Not as constricting as her old clothes, though she still misses being more covered. But the braces on her arms and legs weren’t the only thing covering her now at least. As Tigress tied the last knot on her loincloth Pertusio gave a nod and led her to the front door and outside. Then down the path towards the center of the village and the large tree at the center. Tigress gave another thought about running, especially now that she was out of the house and in the center of the village. But her body wouldn’t listen and a slowly building part of her mind said ‘NO!’. So she simply followed behind Pertusio as he led her to a rather large building carved into the very rock of the cave. Stepping inside Tigress could see some apothecary mixing herbs before another wolf took them through a door on the opposite side of the room. Following that wolf led her to a large hallway with many heavy doors on both sides. Pertusio took the lead and led her down past many of them, until he opened on and ushered her inside. Closing the door behind them to show the room was light with a light shaft that was carved to the surface. And a few candles at the very far ends where the light could not reach. At the center of the room was another Tiger, older and a few grey patches of fur. But what Tigress found the most troubling was that the older female’s stripes and her own matched.