Chapter 1 - Bree - Memories of Joining a New Pack (Patreon)

[Author Note - I've decided to restructure things a little, cutting off the Prologue a little early. I needed to have a little bit of a flashback moment here, and I think this might be a better time. I've extended the sort of intro scene a little to kind of flow better into this, and I hope the chapter title helps solidify what is happening without it being overly confusing. I think it's a good recap anyway, for people to see Bree's summoning from her side of things kinda, and then have the postponed discussion on screen with Jake and co. So now we'll be able to understand the dinodog's motivations a bit more. So anyway, the ending of that last chapter is going to be chapter 2, though I might extend it a little now.

I am going to replace the contents of the prologue, and put up a chapter 2 once it's done soon. It will be mostly old content, but there will be some new stuff in both, so you can check it out. I suppose I will send out an email too, but I have placed a majority of the changed content from prologue at the top of this release/patreon post.

Side note: I really wanted to make a waiting by the phone sort of reference or joke for Bree, but I feel like A divine beast that spends hundreds of years in a cave wouldn't have the thought. Oh well!]

New ending of chapter 1--rather than having lunch and leaving to the arena, Jake visits kids and bree:

Finishing his lunch and thanking the chef, Ava, with a kiss, he went to go check on his other kids and wives. Teleporting to the forest of the Refuge, their Sanctuary, this was where most of the family spent most of their time.

The egg incubator, which looked a lot like a giant bread oven with a clear crystal door, tapped into runes on the grass floor–a connection to the Refuge’s Divine Hearth. 

Ophelia and Tanda were now giving Blaze and Sharona pointers, the two fiery echidnas often sticking close to one another. And now, Rene and Nyxa, the light and dark twin echidnas and Jake’s two oldest, also got sucked into Blaze’s pace practicing with a mace at the moment. 

Blaze was the third born echidna, and had a mixture of bright orange and dark red scales throughout her tail and on her arms, like lava was flowing through flames. Sharona appeared to have taken on Fhesiah’s flames somehow, with red and gold scales instead. 

Blood and Berri also shouted out pointers as the girls swung their maces, while breastfeeding their newly hatched, and singing or talking to the other eggs in the incubator. 

Not far away in the clearing was Bree, who was resting. One of their echidna children was climbing her vines, but that didn’t bother the dinodog one bit.

In all, he didn’t think Bree had changed all that much since he named the Heroic Boar, summoning it during the Life’s Haven assault for the first time. The mixture of thick red hide and green vines mixed with fiery flowers on a large body were not all that different. 

But now, instead of the tusks of a boar, she had horns on a crown like a tricerotops–but only two. Then her mouth was more canine with large sharp teeth of a predator, and paws and claws to match at her feet. She had canine ears on top of her head, and finally a tail with a spiked ball at the end of it, like an ankylosaurus. Thanks to all her weaving of vines, she was like a walking, flaming tank.   

As the newest member of their strange family, Jake was admittedly a little put off by the intensity of her feelings. Learning that the day he and Blood bad pushed their wills against the unruly summon and branded her started a series of major changes for the Tier 4 being, was more than a little surprising. 

The idea that an argument that amounted to, hey, you should help us clean this up, caused a chain of events that might have influenced thousands upon thousands of lives was just bizarre to him.

The climbing child, Moxy the possible muckbill child, stumbled in her climbing and started to fall, crying out loud as she did. Jake had nearly sent over some hearth flames to catch her, but a vine was waiting, and snatched her from the air.

Bree chuckled. “Careful there, little one. Go ahead and try again.” She brought Moxy back to where she was near the top of the mound that was her large body, and even grew a small vine for her to continue onto.

Jake said, “Thanks for helping watch them. I imagine it wasn’t what you had in mind when you wanted to join us…our pack.”

“It’s no problem at all, I am used to resting for long periods. Plus, I’m still working on my form. Something about being here with my new pack feels so different. Closer. I often spent time with mother’s…spawn, but, she…has a more hands-off approach, after her children reach a certain age.”

“Law of the jungle, is it?”

“Yes. Very much so. To coddle children and keep them from harm, can mean to weaken and bring about their demise.”

“But you caught Moxy.” Jake pointed out.

“Yes. Well, you were right there and watching me, after all.” She winked. “But I also respect that my new pack has a more gentle approach to parenting. I don’t think my mother is wrong–her strength, and her children’s strength, is her proof. But… seeing your children grow, and your family’s strength… I believe that you can both be right.”

Jake let out a breath, nodding. “I don’t think there’s necessarily a right, let alone perfect way to raise children. Every child is different, and so is every family. Just the mere presence of other children sends things askew from even a perfect plan. I think the best thing a parent can do is to love them and do their best, and more often than not that will lead to success. It sounds like Echidna does that, but she is just a lot more focused on setting them up for success at birth, and what happens after that...”

Bree laughed. “Yes, I suppose that is very accurate. She is definitely focused on that, and also providing us many opportunities to test ourselves. To struggle and surpass.”

Jake’s Menu pinged, reminding him that he had a schedule to get through. “Well, I am glad you are enjoying yourself. I do need to get going. We’ll practice together later sometime?”

Bree gave a canine grin. “Yes, I do think I’d like taking on some more of your puppets when you’re next available. Farewell for now, Chief.”

Jake teleported from the clearing, leaving Bree with the vine climbing Moxy. She once again corrected the child, helping her reach the center part of her back.

When she arrived behind her crown, she held on to several of the vines, now properly in a riding position. “Ride!” Moxy said.

“Want a ride, little one? Very well. Aunty Bree will oblige.” Bree stood up, taking a break from her internal weaving and practice with the vast amount of auril energy. She would work on her avatar again later. 

As she stomped through the Hart Pack’s Sanctuary, she couldn’t help but think back to her arrival. It was a mess at first, but now… she was feeling like she had joined an amazing pack.    

Chapter 1 - Bree - Memories of Joining a New Pack

“My my, sister. Yet another day has gone by, and he still hasn’t called you. You can’t have too much time left on that brand.” Isolyn’s hateful voice reached Bree’s ears, interrupting her slumber. 

Ainora sneered. “Their Conquest was completed months ago now, wasn’t it? What are you waiting for, sister?”

Bree couldn’t say it. That it seemed like something was wrong with Jake’s soul, until recently. And, that only her pride was in the way of reaching out. While she desperately wanted to beg for help, she did not want to be a burden. 

Isolyn chuckled. “Sister’s really a wreck, don’t you think? I think she’s lost her mind over this male. But maybe she herself has doubts, and that’s why she doesn’t reach out.”

Ainora noted, “Eventually, our offer to duel for our sister won’t even matter. The mark will unravel, and then…well, you’ve already given a lot up. Is there even enough left to make your own Beast Avatar and go to Sector 87? And why would you? He’s not calling you, so he doesn’t even want you.”

Isolyn let out a rumbling growl from her canine mouth. “You know, putting it like that kind of pisses me off a little. As if our Bree isn’t good enough for some Tier 2 Human? Void affinity or not, we can destroy him with a mere snort of our nostrils. He should be begging for our magnificent sister with his face on the ground.”

“Well, even if this human called her. Could he really provide her with a suitable vessel for our duel? I know sister can probably manage something in time, but that boar would not be enough, I think. It won’t even be able to manifest a divine trait, let alone one that resonates with our sister.”

Bree wanted to argue, to defend her potential pack mate–he had defeated an Enforcer, after all. But this was far from the first time these two idiots made these same complaints and arguments. She couldn’t help but feel a little down, feeling so empty. Ever since she understood how unfulfilled her life had been, she had never felt so alone.

Suddenly, a gentle probing of the bond arrived. It was so subtle because of the poor connection with the mark, that she almost didn’t feel it. He often did this, wondering if it was okay to summon her for something less important than a real battle–since before, she was such a bitch and sneered at him for doing it, just like her hateful sisters.  

Please! Please call me! She desperately sent these feelings, hoping Jake would feel or hear them. 

It was almost blissful as Bree’s mind was brought back into her boar body, leaving her nagging sisters behind. Her auril heart beat, sending out its call to the world. She took a deep breath, finally back in the Refuge, with the children gathered around. 

As much as she wanted to enjoy it, she was still a bit worried.

Because her sisters were right. Would Jake have what she needs, to make a proper vessel? It was important to do it all in one fell swoop, if at all possible.

She heard a voice back, and this time, it felt more clear. The Framework was finally allowing her to speak, though not with words. 

Bree looked over at Avalara, the lesser avatar. The Celtic descendant just smiled back at her, her gentle, soothing voice washing over Bree. She did her best to convey what she needed, and to her disbelief, they held an artifact which contained a small amount of divinity in the little wolf bird Tanda’s chest. 

Just enough for what Bree needed. A core to hold her essence, and those sneaky divine even snuck in a sort of gift–a hearthivy seed, from Brigid’s tree.

Bree wished she could see the look on those smug bitches’ faces as she created an excellent vessel–perhaps even better than the beast avatars that they would send. It still had remnants of Brigid’s divinity, but she made them hers, with the power of the…magic apple, merging and shifting it to match herself and her desired body. Just where did they get such a treasure?

A primal satisfaction filled her. She was reborn with her own body and soul, and with a small fragment of her nascent divinity. Her sisters now had a completely useless head within their giant body, permanently slumbering within them. However, odds were, they had a new puppet to play with. 

Bree asked her new pack for some time to get her feelings in order, and to get used to her body before she told her story. Right now, it felt like she wanted to cry tears of joy, but she was also riddled with anxiety. What if her pack leader rejected her? These feelings were all new to her, and it was like she could barely even function.  

What if he didn’t reject her, and then they lost their duel instead? 

No. She wouldn’t think that way. She had reinforced the mark and suffered because she believed that her mate was worthy. And she only made the bet because she believed that they would win. Still, it was easy to imagine that her pack leader may not feel as strongly about her as she felt about him. He had no idea about her struggles, or what his actions had caused.

Which was why she had to tell him. Even if it was difficult for some reason she couldn’t explain.

The days and weeks went by, as Bree worked on the vines within her body. It wasn’t just on the outside, but on the inside as well. Using Flesh Shaping, a skill that she knew the dragoness was a little too familiar with, she continued to shift her body into her desired state. An auril heart beat within, but a fiery monster core–a hearth with vines running along her veins, did as well.

The family was always close in their forest, their children playing and the adults often training or others crafting. She felt like she was growing closer to her pack, the children calling her Aunt Bree. 

Food was often brought to her, and it was always delicious and helped her with her task. The auril beast meat of Highlands was amazing, and Jake’s cooking made it even more delectable. 

Having spent much time thinking about things, she called on them to have their talk. She was still not truly ready. The emotions were…all so new. But she had to confront her new pack leader.

Clan Hart gathered around, the six, or seven depending how you look at it, gathering around in front of her. Bree rose her upper boy high, resting on her hind legs. A very canine pose.

Her voice came out as she hoped it would when she finished her body, though a little deeper thanks to her size. “Thank you for your patience with me, pack leader.” She bowed her head slightly

Jake looked a little uneasy at her obeisance.  “It’s no problem. We’ve all been dying to hear your tale, but we have been plenty busy.”

Bree chuckled. “Ah yes, the children. So busy, so rowdy.” She sighed. “So, I had told you before that I was a Cerberus. And this was true. You likely saw just how large I was when you used your spell to summon me, so it should not come as too big of a surprise that, along with my sisters, I was a Fourth Tier Divine Beast. One that was approaching true divinity and godhood. As well as a direct descendant of Echidna.”

The shock on the family’s faces showed that it was in fact a surprise, though Berri clapped.

“Yay! I knew you were strong, and you’re kinda like my Aunty. How nice that you’re here now!”

“What does all that mean?”  

It took some time to explain that with three heads and thus minds and souls, she was a bit like Bloodberri. However, Bree and her sisters had not gotten full sentience and sapience until the Third Tier, and more intelligence in the Fourth, where Bree, Ainora, and Isolyn had started building up a bunch of devout followers through their conquest successes.

Bree was worshiped like many might imagine a dragon or natural calamity might be, which was actually a very poor means of divinity. As their worshipers only hardly resonated at all with her, so how much each worshiper gave in terms of faith energy was minimal. Still, the idea was certainly that you build up enough followers, then it wouldn’t matter.

“For the longest time, we three had felt that something was missing. We were so bored, and so lonely. We often fought with one another, so we really did not get along with other random champions or their gods either. So when Mother came by and stoked our interest in some puppets we could play with, we pounced on the opportunity.” 

“Really? You three were the ones driving the otter? And the badgerdillo?” Jake must have known that there must have been something weird about his summons, but that some divine entity of some kind was driving them was likely bizarre to him.

Bree gave a canine grin, as her eyes glazed over in remembrance. “It was fun. It was novel. In truth, as silly as it might seem, that was the most fun we’d had in years. Hundreds of years.”

Ophelia arched her brow. “Years? I thought you Tier 4 existences can make avatars easily–it’s how most of your kind do battle. Couldn’t you do like a dozen otters at once on your own if you wanted?”

Bree replied, “And fight Tartarus? Not really. While we can form a beast avatar, it must be linked to us. There are many dangers, and Tartarus loves to target us. When the three of us are together, we work well. When we’re by ourselves, we have weaknesses to exploit. Anyway, we got bored of that game for a long time, spending most of our time sleeping, just gathering our faith energy. Combined with our mother’s struggles, we kind of… became apathetic. Plus, it took a long time for our bodies and faith energy to grow. Outside of protecting our Territory we had won, we mostly slept.”

Ophelia said, “Okay, so…you three enjoyed fighting with the puppets. And you even got to fight a few enemy Champions, but limited as you were. Then, you hijacked the Celt’s beast avatars, getting something much more substantial. Is that right?”

Bree laughed. “Yes, and Isolyn and I were happy to get even nicer puppets to play with, but Ainora was so pissed! She got a feline, and sunlight rather than her lightning! Whereas Isolyn and I…” She grinned. “Anyway, yes. But each of these avatars had something in them, a small portion of their patron’s divinity. It helped us…or rather me, realize that something might be missing. In us. You might say that it planted the seed of doubt, in me.”

She continued, “Mother always said she knew what was missing. That we should just take a mate, and that would solve all our problems. But she can be so…overbearing with it, you know what I mean? Like an addict telling you how wonderful the thing they were addicted to is.” Bree shook her head. “We mostly ignored her.”

Jake side eyed Berri, almost making Bree laugh. Berri definitely appeared to have a lot in common with her mother the Goddess, Echidna.

Bree continued, “Aside from that, we didn’t want to make it our Path, our Eternal Essence… and we didn’t want to…just take any mate like she did. It actually caused a lot of fighting between us, as we tried to choose a mate. Can you imagine? Isolyn wanting a partner that matches her intense cold, and Ainora wanting a more…electrifying partner? We couldn’t decide.” 

She added, “So eventually, we three agreed that we would only accept a strong male that could defeat us. But…our pride combined with our other advantages was just too strong. In the end it only made us…so lonely.”

“Why would it do that?” Tanda asked. “Were you really too strong?”

Bree’s vines pointed at Bloodberri. “Do you really think that this one is fair? Imagine three. Three heads, minds, souls, and cores. Is that a fair fight against one? But we’d pretend that it was, our blind pride not accepting otherwise. I suppose it should be a point of pride that we believed our three selves as one, but now I just see it as belligerent and arrogant.”

Fhesiah chuckled, her smile becoming wide. “I see, and like, where this is going. But… doesn’t even the Framework consider you more than one? Even before Bloodberri became a Champion in truth, I do believe there was an event where she was considered more than one.”

Bree shrugged. “We were a giant beast, even before we had sentience and sapience, we were often considered more than one for balance purposes, and it’s the same for others with considerable size. Also, to our surprise, there was only one nascent divinity forming, despite any efforts we made to keep things separate. We even had worlds where they only worshiped just one of us–we kept the other’s heads off the altar entirely, and it made no difference. So, we had plenty of evidence to support our arrogance.”

Blood smirked. “So then this all culminated into when Jake branded you. You felt like a superior male defeated you, or at the very least, a worthy mate.”

Bree’s flower flames brightened, and even her partially plant flesh started to take on a pinkish hue. Her heart started to pound, and a sort of…trembling built within her. Was this…fear? “Y–Yes…” She paused, and looked at Jake with wide eyes. “Goddess, why is this part of the talk difficult for me? I have fought for thousands of years!”

She sighed, doing the best she could to ignore her body. “But… it was more than just that. My body responded when he branded me, and I reflected on the feelings when I returned to my body, rescinding my connection from the… puppet. Thinking about those feelings and how happy that made me, I felt…more fulfilled somehow, than I had in a thousand years. And I continued to reflect, all while my sisters nagged and teased me. It was like the illusion of grandeur was shattered, and I could truly see myself in the mirror–through them.”

Bree continued, “Blood and Berri are actually very different from us three. We three are the same. You two are opposites, but even Isolyn and I…admit it. If you gave me ice magic, we’d be almost exactly the same in the way we think. So when I really looked at them because they were so hateful of you… I could only hate myself for it.”

Jake noted, “It does seem like you three had every right to be prideful, though. There might be some arrogance there. But it sounds like you have achieved much, far more than most ever do. It seems impressive.”

Bree smiled. While her pack leader did not need to respect her, it for some reason made her feel wonderful–a shiver ran up her spin. “And this is true. I am proud of what we have accomplished. However, your defeat of me had us fighting over the results. It caused an argument so intense that Mother herself had to get involved.” 

She paused, and then looked at him with determined eyes as her flames took on a somewhat pinkish hue. It was difficult for her to say as her heart began to pound, but she felt like if she just got it all out, she’d be all the better for it. 

“All because I wanted to join with the male that defeated me–the first male that deserved to be my mate. The only one in thousands of years to make me feel joy and contentment, even before defeating me. I desire…nothing more than to join my mate’s pack, and I fought them fire, tooth, and claw to make them understand.” 

Jake looked uncomfortable at her declaration, while Fhesiah, Tanda, and Avalara all clapped.

Tanda laughed, her tail wagging. “Would you look at that, Jake? It’s like you beat up a beastkin and brought her home! Even though you didn’t try to. And, she was a giant cerberus, instead.”

Avalara giggled. “What a cute story! It’s a lot like mine.”

Fhesiah looked to the sky. “Have I been going about this all wrong? Should I just wait for more waifus to fall from the sky? It seems like even if I do nothing at all, they’ll just keep showing up, already won over somehow. Do my actions even matter?”  

Jake ignored his wife’s existential crisis and admitted to Bree, “It’s a lot to take in suddenly.”

Bree let out a breath. “I am not used to this. These…feelings–aside from the thrill of battle and similar, I am…inexperienced. I can’t say that I like them all, but… it is better than the nothing I felt for the longest time. And I know…what Tanda said is true.” 

She met his eyes once again, but this time, her body trembled in anxiety. She remembered her pain and worry about being alone, having now known what it feels like to, goddess, what was this? To have a crush? 

“You didn’t defeat me so that you could be my mate, and it is only your right to reject me, even after all that’s happened–I know this. I still feel like I owe you a lot, for how you’ve opened my eyes. I know the way us three were heading, it’d only have gotten even lonelier at the peak. For that, I do want to repay you. To fight along with your family, and serve you–to help you win this Sector. And…find my own Path. If, after that, you don’t desire me to join your pack…”

She hesitated, her pain and worry that she would be rejected spiking. “...Then I’ll just go home.” 

Jake seemed like he wasn’t really sure how to reply. “I…am happy for your aid. I don’t know about making you my mate, but I will be happy to help you find your path. We–”

Fhesiah interrupted, “You do realize he’s a mostly-human male and you’re a giant dog dinosaur, right? He’s at least a teeny bit worried that you’re not compatible, if you catch my meaning. Well, I know I am.”

Bree chuckled. “Yes, I’m quite aware of that. I’m sure I can work something out, much like this one here did.” She nodded over to Avalara. “Of course, I want to appeal to my mate… But… there’s…a problem with that too. You see… I made a promise with my sisters…”

Jake arched his brow. “A promise?”

“Yes. In the end, I do love my sisters very much, but they were not happy that I was leaving, that I was giving up so much of what I earned and became so weak. As nice as this body is so far, it would get squashed like an ant by my old one. It’s just a simple, undeniable fact.”

Bree continued, “They offered me to face them in a duel: me and you versus them. If you win, they will not only accept our pairing–they will join you in the great battle. Not as mates, mind you. Their arrogance still won’t accept this as a true battle, unless you could defeat them in their true visage, and you can only do that if you took them on in their unfair two versus one. But they will join as true allies, instead. They’ll fight with their all to help you claim this sector.”

Ophelia’s wings fluttered with excitement, “That sounds like fun, I can’t wait to watch the battle! But if he loses?”

“I promised that… I would go back home with them–that I was wrong. Because of that…we cannot do something that would be…permanent. I only agreed to that with utter faith that we would win, and that we would gain their aid.”

She was referring to the Hearth Bond, since that was very much permanent. Bree hadn’t learned much about it, but their family had certainly talked enough about it for her to get the gist. 

“You have that much confidence in me? Or us, rather.”

Bree gave a very canine grin, tilting her head to the side. “Oh yes. I felt like such a fool. Even feeling your Divine Reinforcement on myself should have been enough to know that you had immense potential. After seeing your flames against that life and death demon in the Raid, I knew for certain we could crush them. Together.” 

Jake asked, “They came here to this Sector to fight us? When can we face them?”

Bree snorted. “They paid to send true beast avatars, and they are now probably leveling up in some Beast Realm. Mother doesn’t have much in this Sector, but she does have a couple of worlds. However, it is to be at the peak of the Tier. We might be able to win sooner than that, but… it’s certainly in our best interest that we prepare as much as possible.”

Berri was interested. “I want to visit one of these! They really have two worlds full of beasts?” 

Bree nodded. “Nearly every Divine sends some token forces to a new Frontier Sector in hopes of claiming new targets of growing Faith as well as helping in the big battle, and Mother is no different. Because it’s best to send warriors at Tier 0 and Tier 1, it’d be really stupid not to. It’s like buying a lottery ticket for nothing that can win something with nearly every play.”

“Echidna did invite us to the Beast Realms when we last saw her.” Jake noted.

“They don’t have people, right? How did your mother claim them, with no natives to initiate?” Tanda asked.

Bree replied, “Beast Realms are a little unique, in that ownership is considered a little different–almost like cultivator worlds. There is no indigenous population, and Tartarus also doesn’t gain much from the souls of beasts. So who owns it when it gets integrated? The answer is sort-of both, but it can be won over and claimed through efforts.” 

She added, “Those efforts involve something her offspring are quite good at, rallying the many beasts to defeat the enemy, Tartarus beasts. The truth is that most Divine care little for Beast Realms because they cannot really obtain worshipers there. So Mother often works just a little harder and snatches them up. However, it doesn’t really earn her much. She often uses what she gains to barter with other Divine, by raising more special beasts and resources.”

Bree’s vines twisted, and began weaving into knots like she had done with the boar body before. “I still… need to get used to this new body of mine. This place is special, I do like your home, and I appreciate that you’ll help me find my path, if nothing else. I think that your family is on vacation will be good for me. I will prepare my skills, and…” She looked at Jake and smiled. “And prepare my avatar, even if it must be a lesser one. But I can also see the value in a more compact body at times, so… I’ll see what I can do.”

Fhesiah smiled. “Well, Ava and I can help you a bit with that, and maybe I can learn a little more. I know Blood is very interested in learning what she can from you, as well.”

Bree couldn’t help but be warmed with a little pride as she replied, “I’m happy to share what I can, with who might become my future pack. I’m afraid part of this has been somewhat taken from me–sealed by the Framework, and this is why it will take me a while. However, I know the broad strokes, and I do think I can achieve it in time. Time that we have.”

That awkward conversation completed, Bree had spent much of her time within the forest of their Refuge, or at the Arena in Life’s Haven. Sharpening her claws, and preparing for the battle with her sisters. 

Because she had waited a long time to have a mate, and seeing the void child with his powerful pack stoked the flames of her desire even further. She would be damned if she let her sister’s stupid pride get in the way of her happiness.

And if she could win her sisters over to join her, then her new pack would be stronger than ever. Strong enough to win a whole Sector out from under Tartarus’ clutches.