It is nearly zenith and I only just remembered Swift’s not been well. She has been much healthier recently. Her medication is perfected. She is putting on weight and muscle and can easily keep pace with our den-pack, if not every warrior in the attack-pack. She sometimes has shifting limb weakness, but she is almost healthy. When we do the next Service, she won’t take the Heat dose herself, though of course she will be central to the Service! Fierce, Swift and I (and I’m sure Scrawny somewhere down the pack-bond) decided though we are young, we would like to serve Pack. All-Pack Guider^ No-Eyes First Eyes Runt^ Rise has swelled. She didn’t even take whelp-leave for a degree^. Her den-pack were ready (as they should’ve been) to den-parent the litter, who’re already in creche. I want to be such an aromatic example to Pack. Fierce is eager to serve too. Some of Swift’s desire for Service seems to have diminished over her illness but, like her strength, I am sure it will return.

None of us has ever taken the Heat-dose before. The pack-bond tingles with excitement today. Fierce collected the dose itself from stores this Rise, while reporting our progress to CT-HQ. Our entire attack-pack is serving with the buzz-researchers. The Service ranges from, fetching inspection equipment from other research-suites to holding items a particular way to allow scientists to get their noses into various nooks and crannies on these strange, but now familiar, objects. We report every sixteenth-season^, one of the four of us. We send Scrawny when the report is too technical to stay in our warrior minds. Swift visits Wisdom First Eyes when she does the report. She often doesn’t return until the Set hunting-degree; I’ve no idea how much time is visiting Wisdom First Eyes and how much is her travelling at her own pace.

Swift and I are sitting on the Sun-plain (where buzz-artifacts are left under the Sun to wake the tiny artificial beings inside). When an artefact lapses into lifelessness, it is brought up here and another is taken down to the more controlled investigation-dens. We are giggly and sending each other the oft-remembered, bawdy scents from One-Spot First Eyes’s stories. We’re on duty but I want to tussle with her and bite her ears anyway. Scrawny has given us all a wide swathe today. He knows our plans; how could he not? He can’t disappear in the pack-bond anymore, but at least he’s keeping his bond-belly to the ground. Both our ears prick, and our heads turn in unison as we feel Fierce’s approach. She is moving comfortably but spritzing excitement, the weight of the fat cube in her cache-pouch feeling like it is bumping off each of our shoulders.

She’s on the outskirts of the complex around the research-dens. She’ll be with us soon. We all start sending each other our favourite sexy thoughts and giggling. It is only just after zenith. It’ll be a long time before tomorrow, when we have arranged Heat-leave. We chose not to travel to Rise or Set settlements, to the legendary Heat-suites. We have our old den where no-dog will disturb us for a few days. Scrawny and Silky are going to keep a nose on the pack for the next days.

Silky has been invaluable in shaping this attack-pack. We’re now a well-disciplined pack with a good Service ethic. We even had a mention from All-Pack Guider No-Eyes First Eyes Runt Rise in an All-Pack declaration. I have three-notches, Fierce and Swift each have two, even Scrawny now has one. Silky, still has none, the only thing All-Pack Guider has disagreed with me about, she will not accept my recommendation for promotion for Silky. She says he has not earned them from her and, since he is officially still her dog, he’s not able to be promoted. I want to reward him. I can’t believe a dog so useful has never been notched. Maybe he just needed to be in the right environment.

Fierce approaches the sun-plain. Scrawny appears, shouting, in the pack-bond,

( Notch, Fierce, Swift – you have to experience this! ) He sounds excited not worried but we, as one, run into the research-camp. He lets us smell his location down the bond. We know he is outside the main field-research-suite. He’s been helping Pompous Set with the winged-comfort-units. Since we found they can unfurl their wings, we’ve not been able to make them do anything more. We can’t understand why they were fabricated; buzzers can already fly can’t they. No amount of touching the divots on the comfort-unit section have done anything. If they’ve made some progress, that’ll be a great report to send to CT-HQ. We really are serving Pack.

We reach him at a trot. He leads us into the chamber reeking of excitement,

“We were trying all the usual investigations with this – adding different pressures to different areas with stones to mimic the tiny buzzer-feet. We somehow slipped and my nose went into this divot and Pompous’ went into that one and it moved. Very briefly. We tried again and we can get it to twitch but… it sort of created a temporary pack-bond between us. I wonder if it needs a pack-bond to be able to make it do anything better.” They’re both so excited. The chamber is in disarray, whether from their movements or the movements of the device is any-dog’s guess.

“I know ye investigate down here to minimise external distractions but…why don’t we take it outside and give it a go on the Sun-plain? That way, the potential for damage, if we can get it going, is less. We could also keep it alive for longer.” I am trying to behave calmly, I have heard of many young guiders, notched-too-soon who embarrass their packs. I don’t want to be one of them.

“Yes, Notch,” dogs enter almost instantly to help take it to the surface. I recognise Eager Set and Mane Rise and know we will be on the surface safely but rapidly. We lift it with care and Swift clears the tunnel while Fierce, Eager Set, Mane Rise and I each take an awkward flimsy side. The scientists follow us murmuring to each other faster than I can follow. It is not heavy, the weight could comfortably be carried by one warrior but the wings won’t fold back and it is ungainly. The scientists only break off their stream of chat to watch us negotiate an obtuse turn. We burst into the light and place the winged-comfort-unit down.

“So, Scrawny, Pompus Set, show us what you did.” They put their noses in two divots and the whole device is animate for a heartbeat. I sense the area in more clarity than I’ve ever done for a heartbeat. They both fall back. I can feel Scrawny’s headache in my own head. “So, what is it like. Other than the headache?”

“It is like feeling through each other’s ears and noses, like pack-sharing, but we do not have even a slight pack-bond. It cannot be controlled at all. It is quite overwhelming” Pompous Set is quiet and concise.

“So, what do you think would happen if you and I, or Fierce or Swift, were to touch it with you Scrawny? We share a bond. Maybe we could more easily control the sense-sharing.”

Pompous Set says, “I think that will help. That’s why I wanted him to call you”

“I’ll give it a go first, I have a stronger bond with Scrawny than you do and I am not recovering as Swift is.” Fierce acknowledges Swift’s health openly. Scrawny and I flinch a little; we don’t normally mention it anymore. Swift sends a private bond-message to me,

( I don’t want anything to get in the way of leave tomorrow, or the chances of Fierce swelling. Surely it is better for Pack for me to try. I am much stronger than I was. ) I can feel her exhaustion through her forced, brightness.

( No. She is right, she’ll try it first. It is better for Pack if you survive. While it did nothing more than a headache for these two, I would rather not put you under stress, particularly now you are recovering. ) I send her a bond-fantasy of her taking the Heat-dose later on, and Fierce and me worshipping her Heat.

Fierce takes over from Pompous Set who steps back. Scrawny and Fierce gently place their noses into the divots together. This time, it is a swirling mass of information that flattens all four of us for a moment. I can smell through 4 noses and hear through 8 ears. I can see the device from every angle and distance. It is more than I can cope with. I am about to tell them to stop when they both roll away, breaking the connection. We are all shaking our heads and trying to stand when Pompous Set shouts,

“It flapped, it is a flying rig! You controlled it far better. Two flaps. Are ye OK?” We are just establishing that within the pack-bond.

“I think we are. This is very interesting – it is much clearer with a pack-bond. It is quite a lot to comprehend but that time I was able to smell from all sides and separate those inputs. It was like a whole scentscape that I could travel around. Only for a heartbeat.” Scrawny is so excited I find myself wagging, “I think, we could all learn. I made it flap. I don’t know how but I wanted it to and it did.” He runs to Pompous Set and they start talking in language I can’t understand about the pack-bond and the artificial being inside the flying-rig.

Fierce, Swift and I are all getting back up. I don’t know whose ears are ringing but it’s humming in my mind. Swift has been most knocked down. Fierce and I approach her. As if from nowhere, Silky appears,

“Are you alright Notches? Can I help? Do you need to get to den?” Fierce and I are nudging Swift onto her feet.

“Thank you Silky, can you please keep an ear on this situation? No-dog is to touch this flying-rig. Scrawny seems to be immune so let him if he wants to” ( Scrawny, sorry to interrupt, we need to take Swift back to den. We can then come back- )

( No need Notch. Start your Heat-leave early, get a break and then you can start Service in the Rise. ) He sounds so calm, no hint of interest or curiosity in Heat, which I know he is normally curious about. His mind is full of the flying-rig. ( I can’t do further experiments until you are back anyway. I will prepare. I will get QPGs to send over pain-predators at least. Enjoy. )

And like that, he and Pompous Set go back inside talking over each other and exclaiming. Silky stands over the flying-rig with determination in his scent. Swift and Fierce have been making their way over to our old den, I gallop to catch up.

Around the den is much tidier than I would have thought after nearly a season of being empty.

( I tidied up yesterday. ) Swift is always so thoughtful. ( QPGs will leave Heat-feed in the cache. ) Swift asks for a few moments to rest inside. Fierce and I tell her to go ahead while we figure out a plan. When she goes inside, we try to establish if we need to get Scrawny to add anything to our cache, for her. This is not exactly how I imagined my first Heat going. We are continuing to debate when Swift cuts in

( I am going to be fine. Are you taking that thing or not? ) We release caution to the wind and join our mate-bonded. It seems she didn’t just tidy, she dug a rudimentary perch. ( Who says we can’t have luxury even if we want a more earthy^ experience? ) I am so overwhelmed by the strength of feeling in my stomach for this dog. Both these dogs. Fierce places the Heat-dose on the floor. We all smell it for a moment. It smells sexy and exciting. She then grabs it with her teeth, thoroughly chews it, as instructed, and swallows.

We then sit in awkward communication-silence for a few moments. None of us know what to expect. We all have been to Heat-classes but that’s not the same. I suddenly have nothing to say to the other two parts of my being. It seems wrong to make small talk, but it feels odd to share the saucy stories that felt playful when it wasn’t actually coming.

Fierce seems most nervous. Swift, ever the pack-maker, gently grooms Fierce, starting with her ears and neck and beginning to lick in long, smooth stripes along Fierce’s back. I join them and we are all gently grooming and beginning to drift in and out of sleep. We each jolt awake at some point and share a few giggles before lapsing into nervous grooming and private thoughts.

Swift notices first. She begins to trace her nose up the back of Fierce’s legs and delicately sniffing at her warming hindquarters. I catch a spice of it in the air and my body responds before my nose can fully appreciate the spectacle. I feel my dick^ slipping into the air, as it has few times before and never with such reason. Fierce’s glowing^ scent is effervescing into the air and filling us all with aching awe. Fierce immediately tries to show she is ready for mounting. Swift tackles me out of the way.

( You are not meant to start until the Rise, not until you have had a Heat-feed. You can wait another degree. ) It is with some control that I manage to not barge past Swift and into Fierce’s beckoning Heat. All I can feel is a fog. Every nerve ending tingles and throbs. I want to feel something that I have never felt before but that I know my body needs. Right. Now. As I reel, Swift mounts Fierce in the more rounded, two-clit position and starts to grind. I know, from Heat-class, their clits are rubbing and hitting each other making them progress to orgasm, which no-dog can understand until they have felt it. I’m jealous that they’re going to feel it before me. It is not a time I thought I would feel jealousy of experience, we three share all experiences. They are open in the pack-bond and their excitement is coursing into my stomach and heading for my balls. They are tight, hard and high. I can feel my pulse in them. I am unsheathed and hardening. This is not meant to happen until penetration has occurred. Am I going to miss it altogether?

Swift has been vigorously rubbing for a few cents^ and I can feel the approach to something I could not imagine a degree ago. They are both travelling to some kind of release. I can feel myself oozing. I do not want to waste this fluid, vital to Pack. I circle, unsure of what action to take. Suddenly all my senses are blown out and I feel my dick twitch and the ooze increases. Swift slips from Fierce’s back.

( Thank you. ) I barely comprehend anything other than Fierce’s swollen oozing Heat. I lunge forward, grab her scruff to steady myself as I slip off. I find it hard to get purchase but eventually I feel her opening. It feels impossibly tight on my already hard dick. It resists my first tentative push. Fierce turns and nips my ears, encouraging me. I adjust my feet and force myself in. My dick screams at my whole body in a way it has never done before. The agony is almost too much but then there is a pop and I am inside Fierce. Every part of my body feels refreshed and renewed. Like this is the first time I have been a full dog. I finally understand what it means to be a dog and in a mate-bond. I feel my dick expand even further. It feels like being full.

( It certainly does. ) Fierce’s thoughts in my mind feel effortless. I can feel Swift. As I swell, I feel Fierce’s pulse. I feel closer to her in this moment than Soil does to World. She is periodically tightening. With each one my senses get fuzzier as she experiences the aftermath of the passage through the portal I want to follow her through as soon as possible. I thrust and my ears are filled with ringing. I become a blur of thrusting. My body taking over from my mind, knowing the right thing to do. I feel a growing rumble. It has sparkling clarity experiencing it in my own body. A kind of experience you could never train a dog to be ready for. I smell Swift’s Heat, a different note, slightly fresher, not as strong since she is only vicariously in Heat. Her body is not ready for pups, but it cannot resist that Fierce’s is. I notice she is against the mound she dug in the corner and riding it as she rode Fierce. Rubbing her swollen clit against the Soil she is almost earthy. She is progressing. I feel it at the edge of my own warm safe experience. Soon I am unaware of her again and all I can feel is my own urge to burst. I smell scents of all kinds, rippling over each other, I hear nothing but the thumping of my pelvis against Fierce’s hindquarters.

Every nerve ending feels connected to my dick. I feel hard to the tip of my tail. I feel like every part of me is making me harder and filling her more thoroughly. I then explode. Every sense is gone for a few moments. I feel myself empty and know I was foolish to worry about losing what oozed out before. Fierce and Swift howl. I feel Swift explode like a puff-ball fungus throwing its spores. We are all melting. As Fierce and I wait for me to recede enough to detach, Swift joins us and we lie touching noses, smelling each other and recovering from what just happened.

When Fierce releases me, I flump down and we begin to surface

( Well that was interesting! ) We all burst into clouds of chucks at the inadequacy of even pack-words to explain what that was.

( The next few days are going to be fun. )

( I can’t wait. )