The devil you know...

Dr. Avanti couldn't remember the last time she screamed so loudly in her life, not even as a little girl. The backhand she received had enough **** in it to knock her several feet from her car, her breath stolen from her lungs as she landed roughly and tumbled to a stop, splayed out like a rag doll in the cold mud. In a daze, she lolled her head and looked up, vision blurry. The Amalgam stomped over to her prone form, its claws brandished like knives as it sized her up, baring its teeth as if ready to pounce on her. This was the end, she knew it, squinting her eyes shut and holding her breath, she waited for the final blow... Until she heard another growl off in the distance.

An intense rush of air blew past her, followed by a roar so loud it made Sara's chest rattle, and her eardrums ring. The nearby birds flew off in a panic, scattering into the sky at the declaration, as Sara heard something collide with her attacker. Rolling into a fetal position, Sara slapped her hands to her ears, whimpering as she could feel small tremors from the ground beneath her. Growls and roars filled the cold air as the noise and bluster of a fight filled the air around her before it finally became dead quiet.

Slowly opening one of her eyes, Dr. Avanti looked up to find her would-be killer **** down to the ground and whimpering like a scared, wounded animal, while a black furred monster even BIGGER than it pinned it down with a single claw, its wounds re-knitting and regenerating in seconds. Calming down and managing to wipe her dirty black hair out of her eyes, Dr. Avanti sat up to look at the two monstrosities before her. The larger one looming over the other, she immediately recognized as Dr. Simmons, but now that she was out in the middle of the day, she could get a better look at the woman. She was gigantic!

She was covered in jet black fur that covered her entire body, so pitch it was no wonder she couldn’t see her in the dead of night save for the high beams of her ruined car. Her muscular bulk rippled as she pressed down on her opponent; she had to have been two or three tons of raw physical power and might, if not more. Hunching low, Tina Simmons had a row of foot-long spikes jutting out of her back, rising, and rattling off her like the hackles of an angry wolf or reptile, starting between her shoulders and leading down to the base of her tail. Her hands and feet were barbed with black curved talons like those of some jungle cat or bird of prey; by the look of all the scratch marks on the trees in the background, the good doctor had no doubt they were razor sharp. Lifting the offending Amalgam by the scruff of its neck, the black furred monster woman lifted it to look her dead in the eyes, yellow and reptilian, she glared at the whimpering thing as it stared back at her sharp gaze, fanged teeth and massive looming horns that swept back, crowning her lupine skull.

"SHE'S... OFF... LIMITS!"

Growling down at the creature, she nodded vigorously before tossing it aside to her left. She landed roughly onto its side; the thing righted itself quickly and fled back into the forests and out of sight, leaving only broken branches in its wake. The two women could still hear its yelping cries in the distance until all was a heavy silence. Switching her attention to the prone woman lying on the gravel near her car, Tina stepped over and leaned down to sniff at the olive-skinned woman, her hair and clothes dirty with the dust and gravel she sat in, along with the cold mud that stained her clothes.

"Did he hurt you?" Asked Tina, leaning in closer to smell Sara more closely, the small woman shied away, shaking her head, still in shock, wiping mud from her eyes and hair. Seeing the female Amalgam more closely, Dr. Avanti began to blush at the sight she was **** to stare at. Dr. Tina Simmons wasn't just massive with muscle and bulk... But womanly curves as well. Even as Tina brought a clawed hand to lift the woman's head to check her for cuts, Sara's eyes were glued to the three rows of breasts that hung off the monster woman's chest and midsection, each one had to have been as large as her own head! And despite being out in the nude for over two years, they neither sagged nor looked deflated, standing proudly off her like meaty black furred orbs.

"Shit, woman, I said, did he hurt you?!"

"N-no... I'm good." Slowly standing up with her knees shaking under her, the good doctor brushed the dirt and dust off her clothes, leaning against her car to steady herself. Tina stepped back to give her room, flaring her nostrils as Sara cleaned herself over and looked up at the female Amalgam hesitantly. It still baffled Sara that the creature standing on all fours in front of her, taking up more space than an elephant, had once been human. With a low growl, Tina turned and walked into the deep brush of the woods, calling for the timid woman to follow her.

"Where are we going?" Sara asked, unsure whether to follow.

Turning her head over her heavy shoulder, Dr. Simmons smirked, her fangs poking out of her lips as she answered the wary doctor trailing behind her.

"I thought you should know how the rest of us had changed because of our exposure to the Phage, so I'm taking you to our den; hopefully, you won't be as intimidated by Cal as you were by me."

"Cal? Do you mean Dr. Strentum? Wasn't he the one who attacked me, the one you drove off?"

Stopping for only a short moment to chuckle at Sara's confusion, Tina smiled back again, more darkly than before. "That wasn't Cal, that was my son."

"Son?!..."

***

After trudging through the cold mud and leaf litter spread over the forest floor for the better part of an hour, Dr. Avanti no longer worried if she was lost or not, because she was sure she WAS! The trees she passed by looked exactly like the ones she walked by ten minutes ago, and ten minutes before that. A blurry maze of tree trunks and falling leaves that made it nearly impossible for the shivering woman to know where she was. But she dared not wander off to find her car, not after meeting the lone Amalgam that very nearly killed her. What if there were more out there? And what about Dr. Simmons? She continued to follow Tina through the trees and shrubs, hoping to lead her back to her car when they were done. She still tried to wrap her head around just how the good doctor became what she was now, the monster woman was stomping beside her on all fours like some gigantic bear creature, keeping her pace slow enough for the woman to follow her. Now and then, a haunting call sounded out in the woods, a howl or... Sara couldn't recognize it at all. It was only when Tina finally stopped that Sara stood still and looked around.

"We're here..."

Snapped out of her reverie, Sara looked forward just as Tina stopped and stood up on her hind legs behind the diminutive woman. They both stood before a cave, scarred and hewn by years of digging. Sitting under the bow of a massive tree, its roots gnarling around the entrance, and the autumn leaves draping the grounds in a heavy mat of foliage. There was a smell in the air, rotten and pungent. So much so that Sara pinched her nose while she took careful steps towards the opening in front of the cave.

"Where in the bloody hell are we?"

Her foot tapped against something solid in the leaves, pulling her attention down to the ground. By her foot lay a chipped, aged human femur, the marrow hollow and cracked like a broken tree branch, its pale grey surface making the woman's eyes widen in shock.

"STOP HIDING EVERYONE, WE HAVE A GUEST!"

Suddenly, the area came alive with activity; the trees shook and ruffled as thousands of leaves dropped to the floor, the grounds moving just meters from where her feet stood as creatures hidden from sight rose from their hiding places, all the while growls and snarls came from the lone cave in front of the two arrivals. Out of fear, Sara ran back and hid behind Tina's massive furry thigh, clinging to her like a scared child around a leg just as big as she was, while the pack revealed itself. Dozens of large creatures ran out of the cave like wolves, circling the two as others, larger than the first wave, dropped from the trees or stepped out of the cave soon after. As more and more came into view, Sara tightened her grip on the black-furred Amalgam's leg, her heart pounding in her chest and ears, and her eyes darting in wild panic.

Some of them were flat out massive, nearly as large as Dr. Simmons herself! Hulking with muscle to the point of being hunched over, they still towered more than twice Sara's height. Some stood upright while others lurched forward like a bear or ape. Others stayed on hands and feet as they circled and prowled around her, sniffing the air and glaring back at her panicked face. The aggressive-looking ones had horns like a bull; arched and curved forward in sharp points, they had to have been a meter long, and with enough reach they could probably do just as much damage as a mad steer, right along with their razor-sharp talons, reptilian-like tails and foot-long spines jutting out of their backs like a stegosaurus. The others Sara could find were just like her chaperone, obviously female with their rows of immense breasts lining their broad chests, and horns adorning their heads that swooped back like that of a gazelle. But unlike the lithe and graceful herbivore, these creatures were bulky and powerful, with muscles and claws strong enough to fell a full-grown tree. A chimeric blur of deer, bear and lizard comprised the form of these gigantic creatures circling the poor trapped woman.

Three Amalgams just as big as Tina approached from the group of beasts and stomped forward to rise to a stance in front of her, towering over Dr. Avanti and flaring their nostrils at her direction. The woman was too terrified to act as they regarded her.

"So... This little kitten is the woman about whom you were talking?... The one that hit you?" Asked the blonde furred female among the trio. Slamming down heavily back to all fours and leaning forward to smell Sara more closely. The creature bared its fangs, rows of finger-length teeth that promised a vicious bite if she so chose to do so. "Look right into my eyes, woman! Count yourself lucky it wasn't ME you struck instead of HER!"

Growling deeply, the monster made Sara shiver with fear, clenching her eyes shut before her guide silenced the aggressive beast woman with a glare of her own.

"Yes, Michelle, this is her, she's going to be the one to help finish our work... SO SHUT THE FUCK UP!" With a surprisingly gentle grip, Tina moved Sara out into the open in between her cohorts, crouching down to one knee so she could whisper into the scared woman's ear. "You must forgive Dr. Hilbert. Before she went on a full power trip after her change, she was just a shy, mousy little thing... Weren't you, Michelle?"

Growling in return, the blonde calmed down before storming off towards a clearing and lying down like a cat, lounging and staring at the human woman in front of her with disinterest.

"Now, Dr. Avanti, no one is going to hurt you here, no one!" Looking up at Dr. Simmons' calm demeanour, then back to the others, she slowly brought her hitched breathing under control before the other Amalgams spoke.

"So, you're Dr. Sara Avanti? I've read your reports from a few years ago, about using the Phage to trigger recessive genes in DNA, very fascinating paperwork on your part."

Looking up at the speaker, Sara blinked as the brown furred creature leaned down to one knee like Tina, unlike her, this one's horns arched forward like a bison's or bull's, his chest flat and barrel wide, raising a powerful arm to bring his clawed fingers out to shake her tiny hand. Dr. Simmons was right, the one who attacked her earlier was NOTHING compared to the one kneeling in front of her. Well over a meter taller than her assailant, she guessed he had to stand at least 15 feet tall, and with a growing blush on her cheeks, her eyes darted back and forth between his flat, muzzled face and the furry bulge between the brute's legs.

"I'm Dr. Cal Strentum... Or at least I used to be before all this." Crouching down to fold her legs under her, the red-furred female next to him smirked as Sara had to wrap her entire hand around two of Cal's fingers to shake them.

"And I'm Rebecca, Dr. Rebecca Chambers. We had our theories, but from what we could tell, the explosion mixed our gene experiments with the Phage retrovirus already active in our samples. At the time, we were working with genes from deer, geckos, starfish, rats, and bears; now we're... Amalgams of those animals." Smirking as the human woman looked around at the pack that circled them, she continued. "And thanks to the conflicting genes and the instincts we have hardwired thanks to a rodent's metabolism and a lizard's fertility, we now all have, the result has been a few dozen kids."

Looking around the area as she kept her hand around Cal's two fingers to greet herself, Sara watched as several other Amalgams gathered around her. Many of them were as big as she was, while others were nearly as big as their parents, who stood close, curious about the conversation. The younger of the amalgams sniffed at the woman's leg before retreating behind their siblings; the older and much larger ones merely watched from a distance. Dr. Avanti finally regained her resolve after a few minutes to calm down. Looking up to Dr. Strentum, crouched over her like a giant, the woman nodded and finally spoke.

"Start from the beginning."

***

Two days later...

Over the rest of the weekend, Dr. Avanti took in and digested as much information as she could from the four Amalgams and their progeny. It shocked her to find that they matured so quickly, reaching adulthood in just under a year, and the way some of them looked at her made the Indian woman feel like a rabbit that wandered into a wolf's den. Sara had spent as much time as possible collecting samples from the beast people around the cave as her pockets could hold, including hair and nail clippings, along with blood samples from as many as she could. Sunday was harrowing for her when she returned with Dr. Chambers as her chaperone and attempted to take blood samples from the adults and their children. Although the four doctors were more than happy and willing to help, their kids were quite uneasy about the whole experience; one even tried to take her head off just as the needle went into her arm. The only thing that kept it from killing her was a sudden snarl and glaring eye from its father.

It was terrifying and stressful, but now she had everything she needed. On the following Monday, Dr. Avanti had driven her rental car back to the Gennex laboratory and started testing the samples she had taken, staying deathly still to make sure no one was paying attention to what she was doing. To both of her compatriots mulling about at their ends of the lab, she was working on the same project as they were... In some way, she was.

Dabbing a single droplet of blood from one of the vials she had on a rack nearby with an eyedropper, she collected a single drop and placed it onto the glass slide in her hands. Sticking it under her microscope and setting up a nearby computer to perform a digital scan of its genetic makeup, she waited for the scan to complete, all while focusing the scope to inspect the sample visually. Turning gauges and knobs to improve the image definition, her eyes narrowed at the magnified image of the blood cells floating idly in front of her vision. It wasn't long before the droplet began to dry out, the red and white cells withering under the scope before blotching together into dead tissue.

"Hmm... The cells are almost completely coagulated; their metabolism must be so high that if their blood were ever exposed to oxygen, they wouldn't even have enough time to bleed out before scab tissue would form."

Checking the LCD screen near her microscope, connected to both it and the high-speed computer, she reviewed the gene scan readout from the sample, along with a digital display of the genetic strand compared with a human genome. Making a printout, she read the comparison from a standard sample of human DNA and nearly gasped as she checked what was in her hands.

"It's... They're stable!"

The coiling strands of the 'Amalgam' DNA looked like a bulbous, knotted rope compared to the human genes rotating next to it on the screen. Additional genetic strands zigzagged and bypassed each other over the human DNA, yet they all connected smoothly without excess genes or any damage to the genetic code. Waiting for more data to be printed, she checked each page and compared it to the human template, her curiosity growing with every second as she read more.

"Reptilian and starfish cellular regeneration amplified with rodent and venison metabolisms and cell growth, backed up with heightened scabbing proteins and white cells from ursine genes... And it's all stable! My goodness, can anything even injure them?" Checking the rest of the papers, she set them over her workbench and shook her head, the smile never leaving her lips as she mulled over her findings. "Incredible... If I can somehow duplicate the process and tweak some of the excess genes that caused their mutations..."

Her smile widened on her lips; the good doctor typed new commands into the computer, taking readings of the Amalgam DNA and snipping out the alien gene blocks that had grafted permanently into her colleague's DNA, smoothing out the chain of genomes as she programmed the simulation on the screen.

"If I'm right... And if I'm careful, I might have the cell-regen formula right here in my hands. Maybe even a cure for Dr. Simmons and the others!"

Looking up from her bench to the others in the room, she made sure they weren't paying attention to her as she worked. Looking down at the screen again, she held back a giggle.

"Incredible, simply incredible... The others back in the woods should be quite pleased once I give them the news."

***

"Why are we letting humans live?" Snarled out an angry voice among the horde of amalgams, a series of growls beside him shared in the Amalgam's confusion as over a dozen of them stood before Cal outside the den's entrance.

The moon was but a sliver of light above the cloudy night's sky, and yet the monsters could see each other as if it were a clear midday. Three packs of Cal's many children stood around him demanding answers; his firstborn had formed packs of their own half a year ago, and were already becoming independent, and unruly in his presence. Now standing tall and defiant, they gathered around their father and elder like equals as they demanded answers from the brown-furred Amalgam. Michelle's twin sons, Rom and Rem, stood side by side to Cal's left. The two were lean and swift, proving the fastest runners among the new Amalgams. Their sharp eyes took in the meeting like wolves, as their four females stood with them, their bellies full from their mating season last month.

"She bleeds us... snips pieces of our fur off, why let her live? We should have eaten her when she set foot here!"

Glaring back at his red-furred son as the others voiced their disapproval, Cal bared his teeth, brandishing his claws as his son argued with him. Basil was Rebecca's only son from her first litter, and as such, he grew up with little competition to humble him during his rapid growth, save for Michelle and Tina's boys to fight with. Rem and Rom's sisters joined Basil's pack as his lovers, along with one of Tina's daughters. The four brown-and-blonde females smirked as they watched their alpha flaunt his stature before their shared father, his rippling muscles tensing as he pointed an accusing finger at the elder.

"DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME, BOY. Your mother and I have a plan for her, and YOU will not interfere with it, no matter what Dr. Avanti snips off your arm!" Cal's chest heaved as he stared off at the snarling, red-furred rival, the two nearly circling each other as their blood rage reached a boiling point. "Or are you scared of the little human woman like you were of the squirrels when you were a cub?"

With a howl, Basil lunged at Cal, his claws sinking deep into his father's sides as he clamped his teeth deep into his shoulder. Blood oozed from the wounds, soaking Cal's brown fur just as he clenched his right fist and slammed it into the side of his son's face, the blow releasing Basil's hold on him and had the monster stagger back in a daze. With a roar that silenced the growling jeers from the group, Cal grabbed hold of the stunned Amalgam and hoisted him over his head. More than two tons of muscle and rage thrashed above him before he sent the angry beast-man hurtling towards a tree, splintering the bark on impact, and nearly breaking the old tree in two. Regaining his bearings as his teeth realigned in his jaws, Basil raised his head to find a massive claw snatch him up by his neck and pin him up against the tree he collided with.

"I AM THE ELDER HERE, BOY; I SAY WHAT GOES ON IN THIS PACK! NOT YOU!"

Grappling against the arm that held him, the red-furred Amalgam sneered with bloody lips and teeth just before he snapped his long tail back and bull-whipped Cal across the eyes. Dropping Basil once he was blinded, the two collided and rolled in the bones and cold mud, trading blows that healed seconds after they were inflicted. Thrashing and swiping at one another like a pair of vicious tigers, Cal got the upper hand and put his son in a **** hold, pressing his bloody face against the dirt just as the wounds in his sides and neck completely healed, the scab tissue flaking off with new hair growing over the reknitted flesh.

“ME! Not you…”

Whimpering under the hold his father had on him, Basil eventually relented, his ears bending back, his lupine face nodding, his eyes looking away.

"How can you trust her father? What if she leads others here? What if she betrays you?"

Turning his head to look to his right, Cal's demeanour softened as he looked over to Callie, one of Rebecca's daughters and certainly her favourite. Callie had made a pack of her own by overpowering all of Tina's sons to join her. Having grown even taller than her mother, Callie was the largest in the litter, and she let her siblings know it every chance she got. Now a fully grown female, she stood over 14 feet tall, her six heavy breasts were large and developed, jutting out proudly from her chest and overflowing with mother’s milk as her bounty dripped from her thick puckering nipples. Mating season had taken her like the others, and she had aggressively claimed her pack-mates one after another. With her claws at her wide hips, the tall, brown-furred female looked to her father with a serious look in her eyes, ignoring the jolts and activity in her massively pregnant belly while she waited for an answer.

"She won't betray Callie, she's like me, a scientist. We’re a puzzle for her to try to solve. To a scientist, that is irresistible! I trust her to try and understand how we came to be, because THAT's what will drive her."

Tilting her head to the side to let her long brown hair cascade down her muscular shoulder, Callie finally brought a claw over to calm an active spot on her swollen womb.

"What is there to understand, Father? We live, we hunt, we grow. What does it matter about the 'how' in which we exist?"

Basil stepped back to join the rest of his pack after Cal let him go and stood to his full height. The patriarch of the amalgams towered a good meter over his children around him. Rolling his shoulder and cricking his neck after his injuries evaporated from his flesh.

"Whether you understand or not, this is how things are going to go until I say otherwise... And if any of you even THINK about hurting Dr. Avanti while she comes here, then you will all learn to understand how much you can heal, after I am done taking chunks out of you."

Glaring at each of his kin in turn, he received a submissive gesture from each before Cal calmed himself and relaxed. They were too close for Tina's plan to fail, and he didn't want any more problems before Dr. Avanti's efforts bore fruit.

"Now go... It's time we started the next step in all this."

Pointing a clawed finger out onto the forests and nodding to the three packs in front of him, the Amalgams scattered into the woods. They disappeared, some climbing into the trees to crawl unseen above the canopy. In contrast, others vanished into the brush and starlit night, melding into the darkness itself before disappearing entirely. Basil was the last to leave as he gave his father one last look before turning his back to sprint on all fours into the darkness.

He was still mad; his heart was pounding in his chest like a hammer, and he was taking deep breaths as he failed to calm down. Turning to enter the cave and see his pack mates, Cal stopped as he saw Rebecca standing outside the entrance, leering at him in the moonlight as she leaned poised against the stonework and idly scratching at the fur over her six hefty breasts.

"Are the kids giving you trouble? They certainly take after their father."

Looking deeply into the half-open eyes of his smiling pack mate, Cal growled out a smirk as he moved towards her and pressed up against the female amalgam, pinning her to the side of the cave opening and kissing her deeply. Moaning into his mouth, Rebecca could feel him lift her leg over his waist forcefully, grinding his growing erection into her naval as his other claw groped at one of her plump breasts—something she allowed, eagerly, as their kissing intensified. Her own hands explored his body.

"Ooh... You're usually not this aggressive... 'Pant'... Did Basil get your blood going? Mmm... Or is it you can't... 'pant'... Wait for what comes next?"

Grinning from ear to ear, Cal nibbled at the abyss of her cleavage. Her response was to thrust out her chest and expose her neck to give him more space. A low purr of pleasure escaped her fanged lips as Cal finally plunged into her folds and started bucking his hips to mate with her. Clamping her other leg around to lock her feet together and keep him inside her, pinning him closer to her and wrapping her claws over the mountain of his back, Rebecca howled in ecstasy. Lolling her head back and forth as she felt him drive deeper and deeper into her, fresh mother's milk leaked from her three rows of tits, staining their fur as they ground against each other.

“I know you are as excited about it as I am. You can hardly wait to see the results, can you? Right now, you're so excited you’re about to burst! Soon Rebecca, soon…”

"YES! There, right there... So close... Harder! So close… FUCK ME HARDER CAL!"

Arching her back, Rebecca's tail thrashed the ground at Cal's clawed feet, her long horns and spines scraping against the stone and roots behind her as her lover snarled and tensed his grip over her. With a shared roar out into the cold late autumn night, Cal erupted into his mate and lover, flooding her insides with hot seed as the world blurred around him in the orgasmic overload. Rebecca panted and laughed as she felt each jolt of cum enter her womb, the promise of another strong litter of cubs waiting to be born in just a few short weeks. He was right; she could hardly wait...