Physical Hypnotherapy

Story by Thakur on SoFurry

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https://www.sofurry.com/view/931224

This story is based upon great artwork by Nari Kitsune found at the link above, with my own Thakuresque spin. A dudebro needs sensitivity training and ends up getting a taste of his own medicine.

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Special thanks to Guri, Kankuroboa, Nymlus, Rob Baird, Rokanoss, WolfPrinceKouga, Blake, Silvani and the rest of my beloved patrons for all their love and support!


"Can we get on with this, Doc? I only have to do three more of these fucking sessions," I said, tapping my foot.

"Mr. Bennet, we've talked about this attitude before. I can't help you if you won't involve yourself in this process," Hampton repeated for the hundredth time. Truth was, I didn't want his help at all, though I told him I did.

Court-mandated therapy. What bullshit! Just because I'd slapped a co-worker on the ass. If she'd been a man, there'd have been no issue, but she took it entirely the wrong way. Couldn't a girl these days take a compliment? A hundred years ago, she'd have laughed it off, but now women were brainwashed into thinking that everything was about them, and that men were some secret cabal designed to keep them in chains or some shit.

"I mean, yeah, I don't want to get slapped with another sexual harassment suit," I admitted, truthfully.

"You aren't going to make progress unless we can change your beliefs about women," he said, adjusted his glasses. He looked straight out of a movie, with his fancy jacket and shiny black shoes. What a stereotype.

"But I'm right. It's this fucking P.C. bullshit culture that's pushing the idea that women are the same as men. I mean, sure, they can do some stuff okay, but basketball? Computer programming? Chess? Come on. Women just aren't better than men, but I'm supposed to lie and believe they are?" I growled. The asshole had the nerve to look indignant.

"Chuck, why does it matter? There are women who are better at all those things than you are. There are men better at sales than you. Why do you spend so much time thinking about how men and women are different, rather than the same?"

"You want me to lie - to myself, to my kids...just to get along with some uppity broads at work?" I shrugged.

"You don't have any kids."

"Not yet!" I protested. "When I find a woman who hasn't fallen hook, line, and sinker for the feminazi lie."

Dr. Hampton leaned back, sighing. "You might do better with women if you treated them as equals."

I rolled my eyes. "I do fine with the ladies, Doc. I fucked a chick last night. It's just when they want commitment that they reveal themselves as little feminists."

"There's something I want to try, Charles. We have three sessions left, as you mentioned. I think we may get further if I can get you to focus on the real issue here. I feel like you allow all these things you've learned on the internet to interfere with what you're really afraid of."

"I ain't afraid of shit, Hampton," I explained, learning forward and glaring at him.

"Good. Then you won't mind if we try a little hypnotherapy."

I paused. I'd never taken the Doc for a quack. Hypnosis was a bunch of pseudoscience garbage, about contacted lost love ones or finding out which king or queen you were in a past life. "It ain't gunna work. I know all about the placebo effect, doctor. It won't work on me because I_know_ it isn't real."

"Still," he explained, "I'd like to try it. Hypnosis is not magic, and I don't imagine I can just convince you to change. Rather, it is a way to focus your attention on a single issue - to clarify your mind. I'd like to tap into your imagination. Is that okay?"

"I'm legally required to say yes," I grinned. That wasn't technically true, but I liked to point out how unwilling I was every chance I got.

Dr. Hampton raised his eyebrow. "Good," he said, rooting around in his desk. "Where is it?" He kept searching for a few minutes. "I can't find my flashlight..."

"Aw, shucks," I said, glancing at the clock. Still another thirty minutes.

"I suppose I can use this - my niece just sent it to me," he noted, pulling out a gnarled, wooden necklace. "This is a druidic symbol, one of the original few focuses of their ancient religion. The note says she heard that the amulet, called the Krokan de Diancecht can draw on the subconscious fears of those around it. It should do as well as my flashlight."

I blinked. It did_look old, but I didn't believe him. Not for a _second. "Nice try, Doc. You and I are both men of science - you ought to realize that I know you're making that up to try to make me more suggestible."

"If you say so," the man replied. "Is there anything you need before we begin? Bathroom? A glass of water? If this works, we may be occupied for a while."

"I can last thirty minutes. Just get on with it," I said, leaning back in my chair. Still, when he offered a glass of water, I drank a few gulps to clear my throat.

"I'd like you to relax all your muscles and focus your eyes on the Krokan de Diancecht. Stare at it; think only of it, focus on the amulet."

I played along because I didn't want this to take any longer than it already would. I had to force my eyes not to roll at the inanity of this exercise. I wasn't the kind of person to get hypnotized. I kept looking at the amulet, wondering just how many chumps had fallen for that ancient druidic crap story. Sometimes I wished I could be that gullible - ignorance is bliss after all. If I just believed that women were as good as men, it would make my life a lot easier.

"I'd like you to put your feet flat on the floor, your hands at your sides."

I did it, though I was tempted to show him just how free-willed I could be. I settled for saying, "Doc...this is a waste of time" but I only got as far as "Doc" before he _shushed_me. "Your role here is to listen and think, not to speak. Imagine you are on a beach in the tropics, the ocean lapping at the sandy shore, seagulls cawing. Take a deep breath."

I inhaled loudly, strangely enjoying this mental image. I looked to my left and right and pictured myself some babes in tight strips of cloth that barely covered their bodies. They knew they were hot and didn't pretend to be shocked when I looked at them!

"What do you see?" he asked, quietly.

"Women. Beach chairs. Kids, playing," I said softly. My eyes were starting to close. This was actually very relaxing. I imagined the beach. There, to my right, was a young man, muscles bulging like I'd always wanted, covered in a bronze sheen.

"What do you see now?"

My eyes fluttered open.Why am I imagining that?"This is stupid," I said, looking away from the amulet.

"What - what did you see?" Hampton said again.

"Big, bouncing breasts. Is that what you want to hear?" I said irritably.

"Charles, quiet down. Just picture the palm trees swaying in the wind."

I took another deep breath, forgetting the people on the beach, picturing the trees. The palm leaves swirled in the wind, heaving up and down in tight circles that seemed to lock me in place - I couldn't look away if I wanted to.

"Good. What is your name?" the doctor asked.

I opened my mouth to say_Chuck_, but what came out instead was "Charles Daniel Bennet," in monotones that lacked all of my usual aplomb. What the fuck just happened?

"Why are you here?"

Speaking without fully understanding or realizing why, I said, "Court manda -"

"No, why are you _really_here? Why do you hate and fear women?"

Okay, _that_was too much. I opened my eyes and stormed out of the room. Except when I tried to stand, I was frozen in place, eyes locked on the Krokan de Diancecht. Instead of leaving, I opened my mouth and spoke against my will, "I don't - it's not my fault they act like impudent children. They need to be treated with a firm hand, like dogs."

As soon as I said that, I blinked, and that same wooden amulet was swinging in front of me, but when I glanced down at myself, I looked completely different. At first I thought I'd become black, when I realized that my skin hadn't changed color - I was sporting rich, brown fur. My arms were long and thin, pressing into the cushioned chair right next to my legs. My nose poked way out in front of my eyes, and I realized that I was every bit the dog I'd claimed women to be, the spitting image of the Greyhound stud, Warhound, my Dad had gotten us when I was seven.

"What the fuck?" I said, and this time, the words came through. Perhaps Doc Hampton's control over me was starting to weaken.

But the shrink continued on as if he didn't even realize his patient was sitting on all fours in the chair in front of him. "Maybe it's not women_you are afraid of. Perhaps I've been going from the wrong angle. What do you feel about _men?"

Of course - I was hypnotized. I only looked like dog to me, not to him. I managed to hold my tongue a few moments before I sputtered an answer. "We're the best: the strongest, smartest, most aggressive, masters of all we survey, most attractive -"

"Most attractive?" Doc cut in.

"Oh, no you don't. I just meant we're physically perfect. I mean, look at me!" It felt a little odd to lift my paws out to show off my physique, but I knew that as far as Hampton could tell, I was still my old self.

"You are young and strong, yes. There are many people who would find you attractive, Chuck. Both men and women..."

"Hey, Doc, don't get all faggy on me."

He ignored the comment, putting down the druidic talisma. Now, I was transfixed on his own face, even as he _dared_ask, "When did you first learn you had feelings for men?"

"You son-of-a-bitch!" I shouted. Or...I wanted to. Instead, all that happened was Dr. Hampton appeared in front of me, a sleek, black-furred Greyhound. He didn't seem to notice, cocking his head as I answered his question against my will. "Fifth grade, Billy Rockefeller stayed the night. I couldn't sleep, so when he drifted off, I watched him. I didn't want to, but I couldn't look away."

That...never happened, did it? Was this some sort of repressed memory? I _know_I'd read somewhere that hypnosis could implant false memories. Sure, Billy had spent the night, but I didn't remember anything like that. "Doctor Hampton," I whimpered, "please stop."

"There were others, weren't there?" he said.

I nodded. He said, "You wanted them. You wanted to submit yourself to them."

"N-no, I just..."

"You know what you're running from. You wanted to be their bitch, and so you take it out on the women in your life. Charles..."

I slowly lifted my paw and pointed it right at the other dog, forcing my mouth to form the words. "This is _bullshit_and you know it," I struggled. Each word was punctuated by a heavy breath. "Let me go right now!"

"That's not what you really want," Hampton explained.

"We're...done!" I gasped, but I still couldn't get off the chair. "You're...abusing...your power!"

The doctor just grinned, his sharp canine teeth now showing. "You're half-right. We're not done, though. We're just getting started."

My jaw dropped as the doctor hopped off his chair, staring straight at me. I couldn't look away, still trapped to his will. "Down, Chuck."

All that time I could barely move my feet, but as soon as the command came, I obeyed, stepping down onto all fours. Or, was I standing? My senses were so confused I couldn't tell. But the Doc wasn't hypnotized, so he knew exactly where and what I was.

"Turn around."

I stood my ground - for a few seconds. Then I placed one foot in front of the other, growling the whole time.

"Give up, Charles. You're under my control now. You'll never get better until you indulge yourself. You know you want to submit to me."

"No..." I whined.

"Don't fight it," he said again as if he knew what was best for me, a friendly smile hiding the predatory gleam in his eye. He walked up beside me. My feet once again were glued in place. I screamed to myself again and again "Hypnotism isn't real! Hypnotism isn't real!" It sure felt real as the black-furred Greyhound rubbed his body up against mine until his head was a few inched to the right of mine. He looked me in the eye and said, "I'm everything you've ever wanted, and now you can have it. My body, my scent, my dick...all within your grasp."

I shook my head, but I couldn't move. If only I could see what was really_going on! Even if I could fight his control for a second or two, how could I punch him when I had no idea where he really was, or even where my hands were!? Slowly, the "dogter" walked around in front of me, and I got an eyeful of his muscular shoulders, his abdomen just filled out enough to hide his ribs. Then, I was face to face with Hampton's sheath. I'd seen Warhound's equipment often enough, and that dog was a beast, but in my hypnotic dream, the doc was even _bigger.

Had he taken off his pants in real life? Was I kneeling in front of the pervert right now, gazing wide-eyed at at his cock? Or were we actually on all fours? Hampton curled up along my left side, tail wagging against my head and neck.

His pants _must_be down, because even now I was inching my nose closer to the big dog's crotch, sniffing. _What am I doing!?_Despite my protest, I inhaled deeply, the musky scent swirling through my nose. Ever so slowly, I closed my eyes, letting the scent drive me forward, until my black, canine lips bumped against his tip. Though I shuddered, I couldn't stop myself - I licked.

"Good boy," Dr. Hampton praised.

Soon, I found myself snuffling and lapping at his swelling sheath, even as the glossy red flesh poked out, just like the times when Warhound had smelled the neighbor's bitch. Ducking my head lower, I cupped his big, black balls in my tongue, slathering them as I cringed at the salty flavor.

"There, isn't that better?" the Doc said. I could just imagine him smiling contently as he made me suck him off in the middle of his office. When I got out of this, I was going to sue the fucking _pants_off of him! Not that I wanted him pantsless...

The pointed tip poked free, followed by his swollen girth, white veins coating his cock. This couldn't be more humiliating! I had to wonder if I was the first patient he'd hypnotized into this sort of thing. I knew it was all a mental trick, but even with my superior intellect, I couldn't even see past the illusion of us as dogs, much less stop myself from even now lapping up Hampton's throbbing dick.

That's when I felt it. His cold, wet nose nuzzling me. I couldn't begin to picture what he was really doing. As far I could see, the other Greyhound was curled around me, nosing the base of my tail while I slurped up his junk. I tried to ignore the sensation, but he was insistent. I knew what he wanted, and that was enough - he didn't even have to command me. Though I tried to hold my tail still, it arched up and to the right of its own accord, revealing my own canine ass and balls.

I shivered, still dutifully sucking the man off as I felt his hot breath wash over my butthole and then my balls. We must have been laying naked on the ground in a sideways 69, because I still had the Doc's dick in my mouth while he licked my balls.

The worst part was that it felt good. "Doesn't that feel better? It's not women you feel threatened by, it's_men_. Well, after this, you'll realize there's nothing to be afraid of."

Okay, 1) he was wrong. I wasn't afraid of men, and I certainly didn't want them messing with my junk. That was reserved for women. And 2), he actually seemed to think he was doing me a favor, that this was part of his job as my psychologist! Sick fuck! The things people will tell themselves...

My thought was cut off as the Greyhound pulled away, leaving me panting, nose still filled with his musk. He'd walked around me, and I glanced over my right shoulder to what appeared to be the Doc lifting a heavy paw and placing it on my rump. "Oh, no you don't!" I whimpered, but the words fell away like water running down a gutter. All I could hear was the meaningless whine.

Dr. Hampton had me so under his spell that my body language wasn't helping anything either. Against my will, I spread my hind legs and curled my tail even tighter out of the way, shivering as the larger, black dog started to climb onto my back. He wasn't going to... was he?

His powerful paws snaked around my proffered hips, easily holding his heavy weight. His ribs rubbed against me as he pulled himself further up my body, the warmth of his crotch finally radiating up against my black cherry. I was certain now that outside the illusion, he was exactly mirroring our canine selves, the perverted rapist now mounting me doggy-style. He was really going to do it! "S-stop!" I gasped, and for once, the words took form.

The shrink paused, pressing his bony tip right up beneath my tail. "This is for your own good, Chuck," he said.

Yelp!

The motherfucker did it. He pushed his huge dick inside me, shoving my ass apart. In some ways, I was grateful for the illusion of us as dogs, because I don't think I could have handled was was _really_happening. I dropped my jaw, whimpering as the big, black dog stuffed his saliva-coated cock where the sun don't shine.

He was huge, and I don't know if that was an effect of the illusion or if Hampton really _was_that well hung. My tight, untried ass was ploughed wide as he slowly drilled his way deeper. I wanted to yell, but all I could do was whimper like a bitch in heat. The Doc didn't have the same problem, groaning, "God, you're tight."

I dug my four paws into the carpet, trying to squirm away, but I was thoroughly pinned. I could do nothing, even as he slammed the rest of the way in, his balls now throbbing against mine. "There," the shrink said, "doesn't that feel right? Isn't this what you always wanted?"

"No!" I gasped, but instead of stopping, or even hesitating, Hampton starting to pump in and out of me, drawing his thick cock back only to hammer it forward. "I don't, you sick fuck!"

He smacked against me again and again, grunting, "Stop fighting it! Be a good boy and submit."

Even hypnotized, he couldn't make me agree to that! Even though I had to admit, the feeling wasn't as bad as I'd expected, it was still wrong and humiliating and I wanted nothing to do with the therapist - the_rapist_ - on my back. I growled, "I'm not gay, you bastard!"

There was a pause, four seconds of time where my words sank in, but instead of realizing his mistake, the gears in Hampton's mind were turning. "Of course!" he said, in epiphany. "You just wish you were a woman!"

I was speechless.

"Every time you used and abused a woman, you were really wishing it was _you_getting abused. All your sexist comments, your inappropriate gestures, your physical assaults...you were acting out because you couldn't be what you really are - an obedient bitch!"

"No...!" I yelped, but even now, I felt different. Something was different - he had shifted back. He was pumping upward now. I glanced beneath me, curling my head to stare in horror - my dick was gone! Instead I saw two rows of four little pink nipples emerging from my rich brown fur. Somehow, the illusion had shifted and he wasn't fucking my ass, he was buried all the way up my trembling, swollen cunt!

I knew it was just an illusion, but this was even worse!_Becoming a dog was bad, and getting fucked was worse, but now I'd lost _everything that made me the superior man that I was. This hypnotic dream was a nightmare on every level. Hampton humped harder and harder, plugging my doggy pussy again and again as I groaned and whimpered.

When he'd been raping my ass, it had felt a little awkward, but now my pussy clenched_around him, trembling with each inch of his pumping cock. It...felt..._good. He fit perfectly, his huge cock spreading my sensitive cunt to its limits. I swear I could feel his pointed tip poking all the way in...to my womb.

"This is the medicine you needed - your own," Hampton groaned. "Doesn't it feel good? Doesn't it feel right?"

I wanted to say no. I wanted to believe he was wrong. But I couldn't. The flood of pleasure that radiated from my clenching cunny was too persuasive. It felt so good and so real, though of course I'd never felt like this before. How could _I_know what it felt like to get a dick in the cooch? I must have been projecting the pleasure I'd given to the bitches I'd fucked onto myself. Like them, I moaned and thrust my hips back against my big lover, shuddering beneath him.

"And now you can suffer the same fate you gave to so many one-night stands, Charles," the Doc groaned. "Feel those heavy balls?" he asked. I did. They were starting to convulse in a very familiar way. He continued, "I'm not wearing a rubber, either."

Either? How did Hampton know about that? I'd never told the shrink about all the ways I'd tricked drunk women to have unprotected sex. Sometimes I'd just unwrap it and throw it on the floor, sometimes I'd pull it off right before going to town, when they weren't looking. Sometimes they were just so drunk they had no idea what I was doing. But I'd never told anyone.

"Ready for a full litter?" Hampton taunted. "Doesn't matter, because you don't have a choice."

He...couldn't know about that. Those words, they must be part of the illusion! What if all the words he'd said were just part of the illusion? I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't! _God, I hope this whole thing is just a fever dream!_That's when I remembered what he'd said about the druidic amulet: it draws on the subconscious fears of those around it.

Shit - what if none of this was really happening. What if I was sitting in a chair and Hampton was just asking questions, and this was what I was telling him? What if everything that was happening really was_a product of my own thoughts? What if I really _did want to be a bitch?

As weird as it sounds, that would be definitely worse!

Dream Hampton was thoroughly pounding me, but now I knew it was all in my head. I stopped fighting it, letting the pleasure wash over me as I tried to think about what to say when I came out of the hypnotism. Deny, deny, deny, of course, but I doubt that would convince the esteemed Dr. Hampton. I groaned and rocked my hips up and down, drooling as the _slap, slap, slap_of his balls against my rump filled my ears.

That was when I felt it. He was getting bigger. _What the fuck?_Was I just subconsciously trying to punish myself? But no, he was swelling inside me, but only at the very base of his cock. I'd never dreamed of anything like it. Suddenly, my pussy lips were inflating wider and wider, and Hampton's thrusts were short and sharp. Was this what it looked like when dogs fucked?

I froze. My only experience with dogs was with Warhound, and the most I'd seen of him was when he poked out a little when he got too excited. I didn't know anything about canine mating. I'd always assumed they were just like humans, but this was unlike anything I knew about.

But...if this illusion were based on my subconscious fears, why would this happen? The hypnotism couldn't draw on things I didn't know!

The only way this made sense was if this was actually happening. If somehow, I was_literally_ a female Greyhound and Hampton was actually inflating inside me. But...how?_Unless the Krokan de Diancecht was _real...

"There's no backing out now," Hampton growled, fully locked inside my heat-swollen cunt. "Time for you to get exactly what you've always wanted - or if not that, deserved."

"No, wait!" I yelped, suddenly more afraid than I'd ever been in my life. He didn't listen, pumping harder, _slamming_his twitching tip against my cervix. He held himself there, grinding his hips against mine, when I heard the loud _splurt!_And then another one, and another, splattering right up against my unprotected chamber.

"You're milking me, Chuck!" he groaned, balls churning against my rump. Despite myself, I was bucking up and down, squeezing down around his erupting cock. Whatever had expanded inside me, it made my pussy lips bloat out like a balloon, and just inside I could feel him bouncing and jiggling against what could only be my clitoris. After so many nights of unprotected sex, while a woman shuddered beneath me completely unaware of the risk they were taking, I found myself in roughly the same position

But Hampton wasn't letting me be ignorant. "Can you feel it?" he asked. "Can you feel my rich, doggy cum splattering straight inside your womb? How many puppies will you have? Eight? Ten?"

I whimpered, helpless as the larger dog hung on to my hindquarters, using me like a teenage boy's sock. How much could he possible produce? I felt my belly bloating, getting heavy with his cum. Or was that...?

"Don't come whining to me," the vicious doctor growled. "You _wanted_this, didn't you? You can't _wait_to be waddling around, stuffed to the brim with my litter, like the bitch you've always wished you were, your teats dangling low with milk."

Then, to my horror, it started to happen. Even as Hampton twitched a few last, sticky loads inside my quivering quim. "This isn't real!" I whined, but even as I ducked my head down to watch, I saw my thin abdomen begin to expand well beyond the contents of the Doc's balls. I grew out sideways first, then down, the pressure growing on my spine and rib cage. Soon, I looked 8 months pregnant! Or...how long was it in dogs?

My eight nipples started to grow and fill out, dangling grossly beneath me, large, pink udders filled with milk. It had to be an illusion, right? But if I'd thought the amulet might be real when it turned up both into Greyhounds, why not this? I lay my ears flat and groaned, legs shaking from the combined weight.

With a grunt, Dr. Hampton hopped off my back, and at first I was grateful, until I felt the_tug_. He was still inside me! Somehow, he was able to turn all the way around so that he was facing away, though he arched his neck to grin at me. Was this really how dogs mated? Maybe my brain was filling in the gaps, and this was just part of the dream. It's not real, it's not real...

"Oh, it's more than real, Charles Bennet," the psychologist replied. He groaned as he tugged at my swollen pussy, trying to pull himself free. "You got exactly what you were afraid of, though the dog thing was rather...unexpected."

I whined like a little bitch, but of course, that's what I was now. Any trace of my masculinity was dead and gone. "But...why would you do this to me?" I gasped.

Steeling himself, the large Greyhound pulled so hard, I was launched a foot backwards, but it did the trick. He _popped_out of me, sending a heavy spray of dog cum across the carpet, still leaking out my abused cunt. With an evil grin, the Doc said, "Because you _thought_I would."

I blinked, and then the whole room began to glow. No, it wasn't the whole room, it was one spot, so bright that I couldn't see. But I knew all too well - it was on the desk where he'd left the amulet. The Krokan de Diancecht was glowing like a nuclear reactor, and then, just as suddenly, it was gone. The light..._and_the amulet.

As my eyes adjusted, I saw that the Doc was back to normal, lying on the ground still wearing the same stupid jacket and shiny black shoes. I took a deep breath and looked at myself...

...

I was still a dog.

I was still a brown, pregnant Greyhound, barely able to move I was bulging so big in the middle. Whatever the amulet could do, it had spared Hampton and trapped me. This couldn't be happening! I peered up at the desk, but the druidic device really was gone. I froze, paralyzed.

Hampton crawled to his feet, shaking his head, when he noticed me. "Oh, holy fucking shit!" he yelped, and climbed to his feet. "That wasn't...that couldn't..."

He patted his front pocket, as if hoping to find something there, then glanced down at the desk where the Krokan de Diancecht had last been. "What...where is it?" he gasped, glancing around on the floor, in his desk, everywhere. When he couldn't find it, he sat back on the desk, pale and panting.

"Chuck? Chuck, can you hear me?" he asked.

Still stunned, I managed a curt nod.

"I didn't mean to do any of that. It's like...it's like the amulet made_me behave like you always said I would. I was...your version of me. I would never, _ever... You have to believe me!"

I cocked my head.

"Right, sorry. I can't find it - the Krokan de Diancecht. I didn't really believe..."

I lifted a paw and moved it up and down as best I could, to show him that there wasn't really much doubt that it was real.

"I can talk to my niece and see if she has anything else, or try to find the amulet. I promise I'll do everything I can to make this right, but..." he paused, looking me over. "If this doesn't wear off on its own...you have to realize that I can't tell anyone_what really happened. No one would believe me, maybe not even my niece! Good God, I barely believe _myself."

* * * * *

A week later, at Dr. Hampton's house, I gave birth to sixteen wriggling puppies, all with some mix of brown and black fur. Hampton treated me like a patient, getting me real food and setting up a huge whelping bed, and he even hired a vet to make sure that nothing went wrong during the birth. The vet said she'd never _seen_so many puppies in a Greyhound litter.

It didn't hurt, really, more proof that women were a bunch of whiners. But giving birth sixteen times did take hours. They all came out happy and healthy, though I had to nudge a few of the more outgoing pups away from my teats so the meeker ones got a drink. Their little teeth nipped at my swollen glands, but I didn't mind.

I had to wonder what Hampton felt about the puppies - his, as much as mine. They didn't seem to inherit my intelligence. I spent most of my days wrangling our kids and watching TV with the giant, handicapped remote Hampton had found online. With every passing week, I knew that the doctor was never going to find the Krokan de Diancecht or anything like it again, and there was no reason to believe that anything could, or would, change me back.

Hampton made sure to contact the right people about my sudden disappearance, though he couldn't explain what _really_happened, of course. I just...had to adjust to my new life. Honestly, it seemed a lot harder for the Doc. He felt really guilty about using the amulet in the first place, and he was always running around, trying to find ways to make my stay a more pleasant one.

He knew - he _had_to know - that when he'd accused me of intentionally knocking up unsuspecting women, that that had been real. That that idea had come from me. He knew that I deserved it, but he still felt guilty.

Three months later, and there was still no word from his niece about any new artifacts, and the libraries and museums hadn't found much either. The druidic culture was fairly old and mostly gone. People only knew of one ritual. The pups were getting bigger now, and Hampton and I agreed to sell them to good families, though we both felt pretty awkward about it.

He noticed. I didn't expect him to notice, because I was trying to be pretty careful, but the doctor was nothing if not attentive. Once I started to bleed, there would be no hiding it, but the pups had been weaned for months, and suddenly my body was flush with hormones. I found myself resorting to the only thing I could do without hands - licking myself.

So when Hampton came home and said he had a surprise for me, I was more than a little surprised. I'd long since realized I was going to spend the rest of my life like this, so I knew immediately that he hadn't found a way to change me back. No, instead, he opened the door and, leash in hand, walked another dog in.

A big, black Greyhound. Unsure, the Doc said, "I can take him back if you..."

I looked him over. He was_very_ interested in me, probably already able to tell I was about to go into heat. I could barely ever get myself off with my tongue, and I wasn't about to ask Hampton to help me out. I looked up at Hampton and shook my head 'no'

Wagging my tail, I met my new mate.