“Okay, this shit’s annoying.” Shaggy said.

He pulled glue from his hair as he held Dragan up with one hand. Shaggy had the boy by his collar and was glaring at him. Nearby, Rita had Ulf on the floor and was stepping on the boy’s back. Seth, Rin, and Vud were on the floor in the middle of the living room. The mark had taken them by surprise and the sudden flare of pain dropped the three new members of Shaggy’s pack. To say that Seth’s brothers were angry would’ve been an understatement.

“You said he’d be fine.” Dragan yelled, trying to break Shaggy’s hold.

“And he is. So calm your ass down and stop shooting that damn shit everywhere!”

Dragan’s response was to shoot another stream of glue toward Shaggy’s face. With a sigh, Shaggy dodged and shook the boy like a rag doll.

“QUIT. IT.”

“Stop!” Seth shouted from the floor. “I’m fine. The pain was just more than I was ready for.”

The blond-haired boy flipped himself over and put his back to a nearby chair. Rin and Vud were helping each stand as Shaggy gave Dragan one last shake and dropped him. Rita stepped away from Ulf as Shaggy looked over to Seth.

“That looked like it hurt more than it did last time. You alright?”

“I don’t know about last time. But it felt like my veins were on fire, boss.”

“It felt like my exoskeleton was cracking.” Rin said as Vud nodded along.

Shaggy checked the mark that had appeared on all three of them. It looked the same as the one that was on the rest of his pack members. Except maybe a little red around the edges. Rita and Sybil checked on the bugs and Shaggy noticed a weird change in the Pack Link when he focused on it.

“Swelling around the mark area, but he’s okay. Did this happen cause we did three at once? Boss had to hunt us down one at a time when he did it the first time.”

“Vud looks fine. Now I just need to get these boys back to the shop and see what they can do. I bet they’ll rip through the rest of our inventory like locusts. Wait… is that racist?”

Shaggy shook his head as he looked at Rita and Sybil. But the voices wouldn’t stop. He recognized he was hearing their inner monologues. Like when they were wolves. But now it was just happening when he glanced at them. He had to look away, but his eyes fell on Seth and the same thing happened.

“Thatfuckingsucked.Myheadhurts.Diditworkthough.AmImorepowerful?”

Shaggy blinked and looked away. The boy’s thoughts were rapid fire and Shaggy could barely keep up. Once it was clear everyone was okay, they all got to their feet. Shaggy was careful not to look at anyone. Dragan and Ulf rushed to their brother’s side and started to check on him. A buzzing at the back of Shaggy’s mind made him look at the two Bug Brothers, who were now standing stoically, letting Rita and Sybil examine them.

“Noticeable strength improvements.”

“Increased metabolic processes.”

“Telepathic communication abilities also seem enhanced.”

Shaggy gave a mental snort to that thought “Pfft. I’ll say.”

The entire room paused and turned to look at Shaggy, even the bugs. Which meant that every errant thought of his pack slammed into him at once. The force of the conversations hit him like a physical blow and Shaggy went down to his knees. Rita and Sybil cried in alarm, but it was Rin and Vud that got to Shaggy first.

“Patriarch, imagine walls around your mind.”

“Focus on them until they are solid.”

“Keep it in your mind when you look at another.”

Shaggy focused on doing what the bug people said and the voices got more and more quiet. Eventually, they disappeared altogether and Shaggy sighed loudly. Then he realized that the two insect members of his pack were holding him up and looking at him with their ant-like faces. Tamping down the urge to jerk backward, he nodded at them gratefully and focused more on the shields on his mind.

“What the hell?” Rita asked out loud.

“Pack Telepathy got a huge boost thanks to Rin and Vud, I think.”

Sybil squinted her eyes and then widened them as she nodded. “Whoa! You ain’t kidding.”

Rita tried the same and Shaggy realized that the two women already had mental barriers in place. He was wondering why, when it suddenly came to him. His pack probably was used to blocking out his and each other’s thoughts. Shaggy was the only one who didn’t really focus on it much. But now, with the upgrade, he didn’t need to focus. The link was just active. All the time. And since it came from him, his Mental Defense and Psychic Barrier skills did nothing against it. That was annoying.

“Well, until I get a better handle on it. Let’s keep the noise down, huh?”

“Picture a door.”

“Or a window.”

“Open it when you want to send something.”

“Soon the action will be second nature.”

Shaggy looked between Rin and Vud as they spoke in turn. He gave them both a silent nod and turned to Seth, who was still thinking a mile a minute. Wondering if the boy was okay, Shaggy attempted to communicate in his mind.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“How ya doing Seth.”

“Needapressandindustrialequipment.Alsoneedtofindtheappro- Huh?What’sthat?Whosthere?AmIcrazy?”

The boys thought started spinning out and Shaggy had to walk over and get his attention physically.

“Slow down. Your thoughts are a mess!”

Seth blinked. “Huh? You can read my thoughts?!”

“No, because you're fucking thinking like a damn spaz! Slow down!”

Dragan snorted. “Pfft! Good luck with that one, Shags.”

“Yeah, Seth doesn’t talk much, but his brain is a lot faster than his feet.”

The blonde-haired brother grimaced as he tried to defend himself. “I’m not that bad and my feet are plenty fast. I’m a speedster, after all.”

His brothers gave him dubious looks. But Shaggy patted the boy’s shoulder and nodded along. “Sure, you are. Now I need you to focus on Rita and try to talk to her slowly and concisely, okay?”

Seth looked confused as he nodded at Shaggy and turned to Rita. “Hel... lo. Ri... Ta.”

Shaggy smacked his forehead as Rita and Sybil tried to hide laughs. Even Rin and Vud made chittering noises that seemed to mimic laughter. Seth was looking at Shaggy like he was wondering if he did a good job. The boy appeared to be so earnest that Shaggy almost didn’t want to break it to the kid. But he did anyway.

“Okay. That was my fault. I didn’t explain properly. I meant in your head. The entire pack is linked mentally. But because you are such a talented speedster, your brain is a little too overclocked for us to get anything. Try again, but this time in your mind.”

Seth’s eyes were as big as saucers as he nodded rapidly. He turned back to the older woman and squinted his eyes in concentration. Rita’s face went from placid to almost sheer horror as Seth focused on her. Shaggy dropped the drawbridge on the fortress in his mind and focused on the mental conversation.

“Rita.Rita.Onetwo.Onetwo.Comein!”

Shaggy immediately flagged the boy down and said again. “Slower. Think slower. Please.”

It took some time and some helpful hints from Rin and Vud. But they managed to get the young boy to use the pack link without overloading everyone. Afterwards, Sybil rushed the bug brothers back to her auto-shop and Rita dragged Dragan and Ulf back to Under-Town. Seth would be staying here as a provincial member of Shaggy’s pack. He was going to get a workshop and be allowed to tinker.

The speedster was almost vibrating as Shaggy stood on the porch and looked around. Lackeys were working everywhere. The circle of trees around his and Levy’s home remained untouched. But outside that ring, dozens of walls and buildings were being erected before his very eyes. It wasn’t as fast as the Viper’s Den had been built. But things were still moving. Shaggy nudged Seth and pointed to a spot in the south-east of the cavern.

“How about over there? It’s next to pack lodging and far enough away from everything else that you can experiment.”

“Why do I need to be far away to experiment?”

“Because of the explosions.”

“What explosions?!”

“The explosions that are standard whenever any of you smart types start messing around with stuff.”

“Shaggy? What do you expect me to be building for you?” Seth asked.

Shaggy shrugged. “Whatever you can think of. And after looking into your brain, I’m sure you can think of a lot.”

Seth rubbed his head. As if Shaggy could pierce through to see what he was thinking with just his eyes. Seth had crafted a small home as his mental fortress and took great pains to describe it for Shaggy. Apparently, talking out loud helped the boy picture things better. Shaggy wasn’t going to knock it. Everyone had their quirks and Seth’s seemed to be tied to his super-power.

“So you’re just going to give me a workshop and some toys and let me play around?”

“Yes, and No. I’m going to need you to come up with things the pack can use. That’ll be your primary job. On the side you can make things for your brothers or the other Lackeys. If you deal in credits, kick five percent back to the Legion. If they pay with Points, you can keep those for yourself. Sound good?”

“Sounds like a dream. But what about being a… y’know werewolf?”

Shaggy wobbled his head. “Well… we’ll get to that later. For now, just focus on building and making things.”

Seth stared out at the area Shaggy had pointed to. A small smile pulled at the boy’s lips and Shaggy could see multiple ideas already forming on the boy’s face. But then Seth’s face fell, and he worriedly started wringing his hands.

“But I’m going to need equipment. Expensive lab equipment and furnaces. As well as my own power generator and-”

Shaggy raised a hand to cut the boy off. “Get with Rita or Ephemara and tell them what you’ll need. The pack will move out and get it tonight. You just describe what it is and they’ll go get it.”

“What about me?”

Shaggy raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t I part of the pack now? Besides, they are going to need me to identify the equipment.”

“Good. Then you can go with them? Honestly, kid, I was more worried you’d want to stay sheltered down here than run with us.”

“No way, Boss. You made me part of your pack. I’ve got to pay that back somehow. Also, I am kinda excited to see what the mark did to me.”

“Well, you should be tougher, faster, stronger and, just overall, more badass. In fact, why don’t you run around the Cavern a little and get a handle on your new abilities?”

Before Shaggy had even finished speaking, Seth was off like a shot. His body blurred, and he became a fuzzy oblong rushing toward the trees. The image zigzagged through the trees until the blonde boy hit one, falling to his ass. The thick tree cracked loudly and Seth stood up, holding a bloody nose. He gave Shaggy a thumbs up and rushed off again. His limited super-speed making it easier to see him dash off into the cave.

Shaggy turned and went back into his house, intent on planning out more buildings. But a thought occurred to him. How far did his pack’s new mental link work?

“Check. Check. Can anyone hear me? Our pack link got an upgrade and I’m checking the distance.”

“Well, it works in the fucking dorm bathroom, boss. I just got piss on my pants.” Tom whined.

“Works at the pack lodge too.” Said Vick.

“Building the new training area. Link Works.”

“This is the Number One Wolf. It works topside.”

“Sybil. On our way back to the auto-shop. It works. Rin and Vud say it’s not normal for their communication to work this far. Must be the mark?”

“Very likely.” Said Rita. “This is Rita in Under-Town. This new Link is going to make checking in a lot easier.”

“That’s halfway across the city!”

“No shit, boss.”

“Yeah, we know.”

“My pants!”

“Fighting pit being dug!”

Shaggy cackled at his pack’s antics, but then an annoyed voice echoed over the Link.

“Hey! Can you guys keep it down? I’m trying to get ready for my GED test. Also, like piss-pants said, it works in the dorm.”

Shaggy added his own apology to the voices, saying sorry to Stanley. Apparently, the boy was taking his new direction seriously. Shaggy cracked his knuckles and wandered back to the building terminal. There was still so much to do before tonight. But with a pack made up of ten members, Shaggy was willing to bet he could get a lot done. He and Levy would do the neighborly thing, while the rest of his pack went robbing. Then, when he was done schmoozing, the pack could hunt. All he needed to do was wait for night to fall.