“Okay, the paperwork has been done for businesses we need on the eastern side of our territory. We just need our chosen people to fill in the rest. So someone needs to find Clyde and you can pass these on to your wife,” Bodecker said, handing Shaggy a data slate.

Shaggy took the slate blindly as he used his other hand to carry a crate of foodstuffs. The Legion kept them well supplied while they were building. As he looked over what he was given, Shaggy noticed it was a half-completed business application for City Hall. He gave Bodecker a satisfied grunt as he set the crate down near the dorms.

“Not bad. Do we have construction workers lined up? We need these businesses built fast.”

“Yes, sir. I’ve got two messages out to the highest rated companies in Austin. But they haven’t returned my calls. So I also reached out to a… less savory company.”

Shaggy stared at the big alien, waiting for him to continue. Looking away from Shaggy, Bodecker adjusted his collar and coughed awkwardly.

“Hmph! I just mean they don’t have the best record with the police. They do good work, but they’ve been investigated four times for supposed ties to crime families.”

“The Raks?”

“No, sir. Nothing like that. One of the smaller families pushed to the fringes of Austin.”

“I didn’t think the Raks allowed other crime families to do business in their city.” Shaggy pondered as he started walking back to the portal. Bodecker, hot on his heels.

“Well, sir, they don’t. But the Sqwilliup Crime Family has been around for a long time. Almost since First Landing. It’s believed they bought, stole, and snuck their way onto the Arks as they were leaving the original alien’s home system.”

“So they are dug in like ticks and they use this third construction company?”

“Allegedly.”

Shaggy gave Bodecker a hard stare before finally asking. “What are the chances they’ll impose themselves into our deal with the construction company?”

“Not any higher than the Raks sticking their noses into things out here.”

“Good. See it done and assign yourself some security when you deal with them.”

Bodecker froze for a few seconds, making him fall behind Shaggy’s swift pace. “Uh, I already floated an offer to the company. They even said they would give us a group rate if we let them do all our construction work.”

Shaggy nodded. “Okay, that’s fine. But we still need to see if these people can be trusted. Before we meet them in person, have someone from Ephemara’s spies investigate them, clear?”

“Crystal, boss.” Bodecker said, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Ha! Relax, Bodecker! You’re doing swimmingly. I told you you’d be good at this. Was there anything else?”

“Uh, no, sir. Not tonight. We just need the paperwork into city hall before we start building. Also, we need someone to run the last store you want to set up. A robotic repairs shop? Did you have someone in mind?”

“Nope. That’s your job, Bodecker. Find someone in the files and send them to me for vetting. We need someone with enough business acumen to handle a store, who also can do the job, and who will not buckle under scrutiny.”

“Uh… right. I’ll see about finding someone… like that.”

“Just send them to me. If they’re good, I’ll send them back. If not…”

Shaggy left the end of his sentence hanging as he marched away. He felt Bodecker turn back into his and Levy’s cabin. The big man had been working nonstop since Shaggy put him in place. Already Shaggy was sure they were seeing a marked improvement in efficiency. Not to mention he didn’t have to deal with the boring side of the business anymore.

He felt a tug on his brain and looked around to see Seth, Rin and Vud waiting for him by a group of trees. Shaggy gave them a nod and checked the time. He whistled in astonishment. He’d been doing manual labor for hours now and he still felt fresh. It was already dark out and he promised he’d take the pups out for a run. He contacted the rest of the pack and called them in for protection as he headed toward Levy’s half-built wizard’s tower.

Most of the mages were sprawled out in the dirt, dead tired. But Levy was still waving her staff and hand around. Her purple magic was shaping, cutting and forming the blocks and then placing them in their correct positions. Already the brownish-gray tower was coming together fairly nicely. But Shaggy couldn’t help himself.

“Seems crooked.” He said, walking over with his head tilted.

Levy snorted. “Yeah. Nice try.”

But even as she doubted him, Levy tilted her head to the side and double-checked her work. When she found it was fine, she sent a bolt of magic into the dirt at Shaggy’s feet. He cackled loudly and hot-footed it over to his wife. She was back to directing her blocks, so he pushed the data slate into her side.

“Bodecker said you need to fill the rest of this out before we get started on your cafe.”

“Did you not tell him that we already started construction?”

“Nope. But he’s been in contact with some legitimate companies and they’ll be out here to give us a quote.”

Levy stopped what she was doing and checked the slate in Shaggy’s hands. Murmuring to herself, her fingers began tapping away at the electronic screen. Shaggy waited a few seconds for her to realize he had more to say. When she did, she looked at him, confused. He gesture over his shoulder at Seth and the Bug Brothers.

“I’m taking the pups on a night run.”

“Shaggy… you literally just escaped prison. Can’t you take a night and relax?”

“Sorry. I promised the kid. Besides, we have to log out in the morning, anyway. I’ll rest in the real.”

“I swear to the Gods of Gaming if you get arrested…”

Levy let the threat hang, But Shaggy simply shook his head. “The cops aren’t an issue, remember? We’ve got protection.”

“They were asked to look the other way, Shaggy. Not outright ignore us. Just be careful. If you get thrown back in prison, we have to break you out and it’ll slow down our timeline. We need our neighborhood in working order quickly.”

Shaggy nodded idly before biting his lower lip in thought. “Do you think I should call in the others? Maybe Slink or Vlad can help with some of the building stuff?”

“They are still fighting their little war in Under-Town, remember? They’ve got enough on their plate.”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Yeah… what’s going on with that?”

Levy shrugged her slim shoulders. “I dunno. Slink sent out an update saying things were going well, so I let it be. Our people say that Under-Town feels a little tense, but overall things are the same.”

“Well, so long as they keep sending us supplies and weapons, we’re golden.”

“Exactly. Now go off and play with your pups. You're distracting me from building my tower.”

Shaggy snorted and twisted his head again as he looked at the tower. Pretending it was still crooked. Levy sent another bolt at his legs, but he hopped away. Aiming back toward Seth and the Bugs. All three of them were waiting peacefully under a copse of trees. Although Shaggy could practically smell the excitement on Seth. The small blonde boy rushed Shaggy as soon as he got close and started asking question.

“So, where are we going? Are we protecting our turf or marching out? What about weapons? Should I grab something from the stock we have? Do I need a sword like Rita?”

Shaggy placed his hands on the kid’s shoulders and grinned wolfishly. “Calm down, Seth. We’re just patrolling tonight. I want to see what y’all can do. We might need some pistols or something if anyone tries to snipe us. But I honestly don’t think that’ll be an issue.”

Seth nodded vigorously as Rin and Vud twitched their antennae. Almost the exact same way. Shaggy felt the pack link go active, and he heard the Bug brothers’ voices resonating in his head.

“We are ready to defend the hive, Patriarch.”

Shaggy blinked at the force of the mental connection and its clarity. But he got the sense that this was how the two bugs fought, talked, and just generally went about their day. How they had sectioned off their own space in the pack link was a mysterious. But if it was this loud, he was grateful for it.

Seth pinched his forehead as Rin and Vud’s voices must have hit him, too. But he shook it off quickly as he nearly vibrated on the spot.

“Good. Then let’s get out there. We’re on patrol and extermination tonight. Anyone stupid enough to be on our turf at night gets capped. End of discussion. Clear?”

“CLEAR!”

The force of their reply made Shaggy jolt for a second. But he ignored it as he started moving toward the cave’s exit. They marched up the stairs and into the deli that was winding down for the day. Inside, patrons and Lackeys were milling about. Stein was walking around handing out bottled water as Chops stayed seated by the side door.

Shaggy waved to the pile of sentient meat and quickly got out of there before anyone asked questions. He didn’t want to have to take a bunch of Lackeys on a wolf run. Not only would they not be able to keep up, but Shaggy felt that pack time was a little sacred. At least to him. It was the time where he could get closer to his new NPC friends.

“Gosh, boss. That’s a nice thought.” Seth’s voice echoed in his head.

Shaggy kicked himself as he remembered his thoughts weren’t his own right now. His small little mini-pack marched northward away from the deli. The streets were dark and the odd lamppost cast long rays of light across the sidewalks. Shaggy planned to head north and then circle down in a clockwise fashion until they passed the deli again. Then they’d reassess.

Once they were at the end of the block, Shaggy turned to Seth and clapped his hands. “Okay, so, Seth? Care to find us some-”

Shaggy words were cut off by a sudden loud explosion. A pillar of fire shot into the air from the street to their east. Shaggy didn’t waste time giving orders, and he took off. Already his mind was alive with information from his pack. Rin and Vud were angry and ready to defend the hive. Seth was excited and running alongside Shaggy with a grin on his face. But something made Shaggy almost trip when he felt it over the connection.

“Seth!” Shaggy practically yelled over the link. “Don’t you dare slow up on my account. Push it, boy. Go, go, go!”

With his new go ahead, the blonde speedster tore into the asphalt. Dirt and rocks were kicked up as the young boy tore down the street, turning into a vague image. He wasn’t as fast as Vlad or Mr. White, but the kid could move. Shaggy grinned as he felt his feral instincts kick in. Shaggy was okay with one of his pack being faster, but the wolf felt threatened. He bent down and loped as Rin and Vud also put on a burst of speed.

Shaggy was nipping at Seth’s heels as they all reached the corner. Turning southward, Shaggy spotted a small group of people dressed in street clothes. One was standing on top of a car, blasting fire into the air with his hands. Just behind the fire-starter were four other guys, all hollering and shouting. They were shouting at a building and a young woman had her head out a window, shouting something back at them.

“Patriarch, the young male wishes to mate with the female. But she is warning her mate that we will be coming. She wishes for them to leave. But they will not. Shall we kill?”

“Yep. Rin, Vud, y’all take the grunts on the street. Seth, stick and move. In and out, ya hear me? I’ll take the leader.”

“Gotit!” Seth's excited voice came over the link at super-speed.

Shaggy chuckled to himself as he gave a howl as they charged. The noise brought the gangster’s attention toward them and Shaggy spotted the woman slam her window shut and duck back inside. Which was probably for the best. She didn’t want to see this.

The fire-starter hopped from the hood of the car he was on and sauntered into the streets. He looked ready to say something, but Shaggy would not give him the chance. He tapped his pounce ability and threw himself forward, growing out his claws. His body shot past the speeding Seth as the leader of the gang was starting to say something.

“So I hea-URK!”

Shaggy’s long claws scythed through the young man’s neck like butter. But instead of a fountain of blood, sparks and fire arched into the night sky. Shaggy stepped back as Seth and the Bug brothers hit the fire-starters companions. Rin and Vud were highly efficient fighters, taking apart their opponents with well-placed kicks and punches. The red and green exoskeletons already made them tough, but the added werewolf strength meant that they could break bones with a flick of their hand.

By comparison, Seth was a little sloppy. The boy had clearly never been taught how to fight. Instead of using his speed and new strength to batter his opponent. He got too caught up fighting one opponent at a time. He even took a guy to the ground and started flailing his arms into the man’s head. The scene made Shaggy think of elementary school students fighting with each other.

He shook his head at the boy and made his displeasure known through the link. But none of his young pack members acknowledged him until the fight was done. It seemed that only the fire-starter had any abilities worth mentioning. So Shaggy turned to loot the headless corpse. Behind him, he heard his pack panting slightly into the night air.

“Boss, I’m so-”

“Leave it, Seth. I get it. You got excited and your abilities are fairly new to you. Not to mention you haven’t been training.”

“I… uh, no, sir. I’ve mostly been helping get our weapons sorted and passed out.”

“It shows.” Shaggy said as he bent over and dug through the lead gangster’s pockets. “We need to fix that. But not tonight. Tonight, you just listen to what I tell you and keep behind Rin and Vud. And if you have to fight, punch as hard as you can, then run somewhere else.”

Shaggy’s hand came away with a few credit chips and a vial of white powder. Shaggy shook the vial and watched as the white powder shifted colors to blue, then red, and then back to white. Figuring it was some kind of drug, Shaggy flung the vial against the nearby car and watched it shatter. That done, he rubbed his hands together and took a sniff of the night air.

Almost immediately, the scent of blood filled his nose and judging from the direction he knew wasn’t any of the bodies at their feet. He smiled at the three newest members of his pack and flexed his fingers. There was a tension in the air somehow and Shaggy just knew that tonight was going to be extra fun.