~Cause I-I-I told, you so~

~You were wrong, and I was right~

~Cause I told. You so~

~Hopefully You have seen the light~

~Cause I told. You so~

Shaggy sighed as Levy danced around the deli. Broken furniture and animal-human hybrid bodies were strewn across the floor. But the lithe Drow danced across them all as she sang her song. Shaggy’s pack was picking over the corpses and Shaggy was keeping watch. Which meant he had a prime seat for Levy’s ‘I told you so’ dance.

It was a dance he had grown very familiar with. Levy was a very superstitious woman. More so in the games they had played. Any time Shaggy mentioned or said something that could bring the RNG gods down on their heads, Levy would ready her dance. Shaggy didn’t think it was truly warranted here. But that wouldn’t have stopped her.

The Wild Bunch were already out in force looking for who hit them. So they were bound to run into them, anyway. Now that they had, Shaggy wasn’t impressed. Most of the animal people were just slightly stronger than a standard human thug. Rita and the others had little trouble wiping up the ten hybrids in the deli. But with Shaggy and Levy helping, it was a slaughter.

They had hit the front of the deli like a hurricane. Dashing in and slicing, burning, and shooting all who stood in their way. Now the deli was a mess and Shaggy was sure sirens were going to go off at any minute. But if they could get away with some extra credits, why not try? Although he thought Levy could’ve helped. When he said so, his wife got an annoyed look on her face while still dancing.

“Love, you know this is tradition. When your stupid mouth gets us into trouble, I get to dance.”

Shaggy rubbed the bridge of his nose. “How is this my fault? We knew the Bunch were out in force.”

Levy stopped twirling and cleared her throat. “Ahem I quote ‘Finally. We are home free’ end quote. So you see, this is all your fault.”

Levy began dancing again as Shaggy let the matter drop. He wasn’t sure how his excitement at being close to home had spawned enemies. But credits were credits. So far, there hadn’t been any sort of police presence either. Even with Sybil and Vick shooting the place up. Rita stood from her position over a white-lion man. Shaggy could see she was playing with a few credit sticks in her hand. Noticing his gaze, Rita grinned.

“Not a bad haul, boss. They aren’t loaded like the Quinica. But we could make some decent cash if we keep hitting them.”

Levy stopped dancing again as Shaggy nodded. “We’re going to have to. They are trying to move onto our turf. So we need to hit back where we can.”

“Really boss, it was kind of their turf first.”

“So? That’s how this crap goes. If we want space of our own, we gotta start taking over the neighborhoods.”

“Not a lot here to take over, boss.” Vick added, looking out the deli window and to the bleak-looking block of apartments and abandoned buildings.

Shaggy shrugged. “Let me worry about that. But for now, let’s head back down. Maintenance entrance is in the basement. Right, Levy?”

“Huh?” Levy blinked in surprise. She had stopped dancing and seemed deep in thought when Shaggy called out to her.

“Oh yeah, the ward’s been burned and we can head that way. But don’t you think we should check the block? Maybe find a few more of these mobs to farm?”

“Why?”

“Because we have a Love Nest to build and that takes cash. Cash these animal-people have.”

Shaggy grinned. “While I agree and love the bloodlust, babe. We need to recuperate and check on our crew of teens. Also, we need to find out where the old man wants us to drop off Jerruza’s crap.”

“Well, can’t you do that while I take the pack out?”

Rita raised a hand, interrupting. “While I would normally have no problem with that. There is also the matter of turning us into Weres boss. You promised.”

Shaggy nodded and shrugged his shoulders at Levy. “I promised. Plus, afterwards, we’ll be running around with a bunch of werewolves. If you thought they were a force now…”

Shaggy trailed off as he smiled. Looking around, he could see looks of excitement on his pack’s faces. They all seemed ready and willing to go through with everything. But Levy looked contemplative. The fairy on her shoulder made Shaggy think of another reason to head back underground.

“Also, don’t you want that little one to recover? Being jostled around so much can’t be good for her.”

Levy started and glanced at her shoulder. She looked like she had forgotten about the little fairy. When she returned her gaze to Shaggy, she was biting her bottom lip and looking apologetic. Shaggy stifled a laugh and waved toward the back of the deli. With the looting done, they could head to the basement and recuperate for the next jaunt to the surface. Shaggy was still worried about the lack of sirens, but he hoped it meant nothing ominous.

The trip underground was uneventful and quick. Levy warded the door to the deli again. They continued until they ran into a few of Luis’ kids. They were all hanging out in the hall, smoking and talking. Shaggy grimaced at the smell, but said nothing. With curt nods and a few quick conversations, Shaggy found that this group had also just returned from scouting on the surface.

“So like, yeah, the Bunch are out all across the streets, right? But they ain't doing nothing. Like, they are just posting up around the blocks.”

Shaggy grimaced. That either meant they were waiting for a stronger force or they were trying to box them in. Neither of which was good for them. They needed to get all this werewolf and spy stuff done so they could start pushing back. Shaggy thanked the smokers for their help and dashed off toward the old kobold tunnels. As they went, Tom asked.

“Can’t we just do this werewolf stuff here?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Shaggy shrugged, but kept moving. “Maybe, but from what I know, it’s going to hurt. So maybe we want to do it away from the kids. Less chance to freak them out.”

“It’s painful?”

“Yep, and the pain gets worse if you try to fight the process. Y’all are going to scream.”

“Why would we fight it?” Sybil asked.

Again, Shaggy shrugged. “I don’t know. The shift is going to change you. Maybe if you aren’t one hundred percent sure about that change, it slows the process. Meaning more pain.”

Shaggy could feel his pack tense in both worry and excitement. This is what they had signed up for and the system message hadn’t said they would die from the change. He just hoped none of them would go crazy or anything. The senses alone could be a bit much. They would also have to get used to their strengths. His group zigzagged their way down and down into the dark until they finally arrived at the open cavern. Shaggy barked out a harsh laugh at what he saw.

Luis and Mari’s teens were in the large oblong cavern. Some were training, others were cooking on campfires, and some were setting up tents. The kids had turned the large cave into a campsite, of all things. Shaggy couldn’t help but laugh at how industrious the lot of them were. Luis was helping with the tents, while Mari was exercising alone. Shaggy was about to go talk to the kids when Levy’s hand grabbed his arm.

Gazing up at his wife, he saw her staring at something in the middle of the cave. She was grinning and when he turned to look, he couldn’t help himself. In the center of the cave, standing where anyone could see, was a player terminal. Shaggy was sure it was a simple Hideout terminal and not one for a Lair. But with the excited way Levy was hopping around, he didn’t want to explain the difference to her. Levy ran off and Shaggy was about to join her when a mental tug brought him back around.

Rita and the others were staring at him with equal parts excitement and fear. He sighed and sent them soothing thoughts. He was more than sure they would be fine. Just some pain and then some awesome demon-werewolf powers. Shaggy wondered about the whole Demon-wolf thing and how that would work. But he shook it off and started for the far wall of the cave. He gave Levy a brief wave as she examined the player terminal. She vaguely waved back, but seemed intent on reading everything she could.

Once they were against the far wall and away from the kids. Shaggy brought up his werewolf tab and looked everything over. The notice hadn’t described how the entire process would work, and he was unsure if it would play out like a normal werewolf. Did he have to bite them? Or was it a skill he could click? He was reading when he realized that his entire pack was standing ready with their sleeves pulled up. Shaggy could even see Tom shivering in anticipation. Seeing that the skill was called Werewolf Bite, he decided to just go for it and dove in.

Rita was the first to get nipped, and he tried to not to gouge her too badly. He kept his mind partially on what he was doing and partially on activating the skill. Rita grunted as his teeth sank in and he quickly bit in and out. Without pause, he moved down the line to Cekrass, Vick, Sybil, and finally Tom. By the time he had gotten to Vick, Rita had collapsed on the ground, rolling in pain. Her face was contorted and her mouth was open, but no screams spilled forth. Cekrass was the same, but Vick and the rest collapsed screaming.

After biting Tom, Shaggy rushed to Vick and tried to calm the man down. Sybil was also on the dirt floor, rolling back and forth in pain. Vick seemed too busy screaming to see Shaggy and Sybil was kicking and jerking around too much to get close. Tom was just screaming and Shaggy couldn’t get a word in edge wise. Sighing, he backed away and let the process do its thing. Looking up, he saw the teens staring in horror at him. He waved and smiled blandly.

Levy was still at the terminal, tapping away at a holographic keyboard. But the drow raised a questioning eyebrow at him. He just shrugged back at her and sat with his pack as the bite changed their very DNA… or whatever NPCs had. He supposed that the game’s AI would replicate DNA and then change it? Or maybe it just fundamentally changed the NPC model? His thoughts whirled as the others screamed and grunted in the dirt. As Rita was the first to be bitten, she was the first to snap out of it.

Shaggy gaped as the older woman stood. He hadn’t known the changes would be that striking. The normally older woman now looked younger and was far more fit. Which Shaggy had expected. What he had not expected was the slightly reddish tinge to her skin, or the dark sclera to her eyes. It wasn’t an enormous change, but it was noticeable if you had seen what the woman had looked like before. He was about to comment when Cekrass unfurled from the floor next.

Shaggy groaned. The lizard-man had been changed even more strikingly than Rita had. The green scales of Cekrass’ body had taken on a darker rudder hue. His normally human-esque hands now were closer to claws, and his teeth were massive fangs. Shaggy wasn’t sure how the big lizard was going to take the changes to his body, but he had little time to wonder as Vick and Sybil stood next. The pair held onto each other as they stood on wobbly feet.

They had the same changes as Rita, mostly. Dark brown skin tone, younger-looking appearance and the whites of their eyes had gone black. Although in Sybil’s case, the color was probably closer to grey. Also, Vick’s normally close-cropped hair was now shoulder length and darker. Both were far more muscular than they had been before. They were gawking at one another as Tom stood in total Tom fashion.

“That FUCKING SUUUUUUUUCKED!” He yelled as he got to his feet.

Tom was the least changed in body shape. He was still a tall, lithe man. Just now, he had longer hair and sharper teeth. In fact, Shaggy thought he looked like a long-haired, blond Vlad. Tom got himself reoriented and hopped up and down for a few seconds. He seemed full of energy and as Shaggy looked; he thought the same was true for the others. Each was shifting on their feet and flexing their fingers and arms. Shaggy could feel their energy hum over the pack link and he turned his attention fully to the bond they shared.

The link almost overwhelmed him as he mentally dove into it. He knew Rita could smell the blood rushing through her veins. He could feel the muscles on Cekrass’ chest bulge as he flexed. Vick was playing with his new eyesight, trying to pinpoint the farthest he could see. Sybil was flexing her fingers and trying to ignore the heat radiating from her own body. She was running hotter than usual and Shaggy was unsure why. Tom was… trying to shift into a full wolf.

As he noticed this, Shaggy felt the link shift as everyone glanced at the lithe blonde man. They were all aware of the information he had just parsed. It felt like he had four more sets of eyes and they were all converging on Tom. Tom felt it too as he jolted in surprise before he turned his attention to the link and saw them watching. Shaggy pulled himself from the link and stumbled backwards. It was a lot to take in, but once he was out of it. He missed it. It had felt like being part of a greater whole and by the hurt looks of his pack, they must’ve felt the same way.

“Let’s not play with that until we have a better idea of how it works.” Shaggy said.

Rita and the others nodded, but didn’t look happy. Shaggy saw that he had a couple of unread notifications, but he let them be for now. He wanted to get a firmer grip on the changes his pack had gone through. The need to run was permeating throughout all of them. Even when he wasn’t ‘submerged’ in the Pack Link, Shaggy could still feel it. Their blood was running hot and his pack wanted to hunt. Gone was the exhaustion and bruised egos from earlier fights. Now they wanted prey.

Shaggy could feel himself being pulled into the Pack Link again. But first he wanted to talk to Levy. He needed to get the money situation figured out, and he needed to contact Obadiah through the tablet. He also wanted to talk to the kids. As each new goal solidified in his mind, Shaggy felt his pack resonate with each one. It was like they understood his goals and they agreed with the decisions. Shaggy looked around at his pack and saw them all nodding in agreement. They knew what he wanted and he could feel their own want to discover more about their new forms. They wanted to run, but their Alpha’s will came first.

Shaggy grinned and gave them all a mental order to train. He wanted them to play with their new powers and test themselves. However, staying close was also important. Cekrass, Vick, Sybil and Tom sent agreement as Rita took a spot next to Shaggy and nodded at him. Shaggy snorted as he felt her desire to protect him. Silently she glared at him and Shaggy stuck his arms up in surrender.

“Your second isn’t here. So I’ll be your guard till she can be folded into the pack.”

“Almost sounds like a cult when you say it like that,” Shaggy chuckled.

She swatted at his ear and Shaggy ducked out of the way of the blow. Rita almost lost her balance with the swing and Shaggy had to catch her. Shaggy guessed that the change had even increased their strength. Something that the others of his pack immediately started testing. Once Rita righted herself, they both walked toward Levy.

“So boss,” Rita started as she cracked her knuckles and stretched her shoulders. “Why did your eyes change?”

Shaggy stopped. “Do what now?”

“Your eyes, they are blue now. Also, the whites have gone completely black.”

Shaggy fell back into the pack link and tried to look at himself through Rita’s eyes. She was right. He was exactly the same as before, except now his eyes were bright blue and the whites had gone fully black. It looked really cool, but Shaggy groaned and rubbed his palms down his face. He pulled back from the link as he marched sullenly toward his wife.

“I look anime as fuck right now,” Shaggy groaned.