“What do you mean they’re gone?!” Shaggy growled.
The lanky teen he was shouting at back away hurriedly. Several of the boy’s friends stepped forward around him. In case Shaggy attacked. They all looked terrified, but Shaggy didn’t care. They had spent the last hour and a half watching the damn grocery store and when it came time to start things, Mari had gone missing. Along with three other kids. Shaggy felt a low rumbling in his chest and he was sure he was growling like a pissed off wolf. A hand on his shoulder brought him around to Rita and the others.
“Ease up, boss. They don’t know where she went.”
“Besides, you know Mari. Damn girl is young, angry, and looking to prove herself.”
“Which probably means she’s trying to rob the place right now.”
Shaggy groaned as he listened to his pack discuss the situation. He took a breath and slowly let it out. He was already pretty angry when none of his pack could master the Partial-Shift. Even though Vance had said it was pretty hard, even for pure Weres. But Shaggy had been sure his pack would master it, no problem. What followed was an hour of scrunched eyes and minor headaches. Then the kids come back and explain about Mari. Maybe he blew a gasket.
Blinking, he brought his gaze back to the teenagers. Luis was still out and about with a few others. But he was on his way back. They were literally minutes away from assaulting the store. But if Mari and her friends were about to try something. They would have to move even quicker. Shaggy pinched the bridge of his nose as he waved a head toward the fire escape.
“Come on, everyone. We have to go now. I don’t know what Mari is planning, but when or if she fucks up, we are going to want to be in position.”
“What about the Bunch?” Vick asked.
Shaggy groaned. The jackass human-animal hybrids were still in the parking lot. Even after the parking lot had cleared out. The bastards stuck around drinking and using whatever was left of the drugs they had been selling. There were about seven of them, around two cars, all cackling like a bunch of hyenas. Shaggy continued toward the edge of the roof as he called over his shoulder.
“I’ll deal with it. Get everyone in position.”
There was a scrambling of footsteps behind him as people moved to follow his orders. Shaggy threw himself over the edge of the roof and onto the lower fire escape platform. Ignoring the stairs down to the next platform, he jumped over the edge and caught himself on another lower platform. He did it again and again until he was low enough to jump to the ground. Rapid healing or not, he didn’t want to break and heal his knees right before he had to fight a bunch of thugs.
He glanced upward to see several teen faces staring at him. But it was the dark mass flying toward him that made him move. Vance slammed into the ground with an ungodly thud. Shaggy had to catch himself as Vance made a gigantic crater in the ground. The old man brushed himself off and started walking with barely a problem. Shaggy wondered if he could’ve done that, but he didn’t think so. He followed Vance toward the end of the alley and was about to ask a question when Luis rounded the corner. The teen mutant almost collided with Vance, but he side-stepped at the last moment. Luis grinned at them, but the smile went away as Shaggy and Vance passed him by.
“Where’s everyone?” Luis asked cautiously.
Shaggy pointed upward at all the kids descending the fire escape. He kept moving. He honestly didn’t want to explain what he suspected Mari was doing. Shaggy would leave that for the other teens. Right now, he wanted to bite something. The Bunch in the parking lot were a ready-made target for his aggression. Vance tapped his shoulder as he walked.
“Don’t be mad at your pack. I told you that is some high-grade shit you were trying to get them to do. Especially since they haven’t had their first shift. Seriously, they are babies that haven’t begun to crawl and you want them to do gymnastics? Manage expectations.”
“But it was so easy for me?” Shaggy groaned.
“Was it?” Vance raised an eyebrow.
Shaggy thought back. When he had first entered the game, he thought his powers were broken. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t get the Wolf part of his power to work. It was the Professor that helped him figure it out. But only when he was getting his ass kicked by a certain cat lady. Then there was the fight with the Quinica boss guy. Once he had gotten the feeling down, it had become easier and easier. But getting to that first state wasn’t really easy.
Shaggy sighed. “No. No, it wasn’t. Still, I can feel their desire to shift, not to mention their disappointment. They all feel like they are failing me every time they can’t shift. It’s a lot to take in.”
“It also quintuples the anger when you are all mad about the same thing at the same time.” Vance said.
Shaggy snorted, but nodded as they continued up the street. The grocery store parking lot was just over the small grassy hill. They couldn’t see the punks yet, but Shaggy was sure they were still standing around getting high and yammering on. He took a deep breath and tried to center himself. His pack disappointment still hovering in the back of his mind. Muted footsteps told him that the others were all following along quietly.
As they cleared the hill, Shaggy moved to a spot away from the closest parking lot light. Several of them dotted the lot, and Vick had confirmed that a few had cameras. They waited for the others to catch up and Shaggy formulated a plan. A stupid plan, but a plan nonetheless.
“So, can I help them crawl at all?” Shaggy asked, taking off his shirt.
His clothes would sometimes shift with him. But not always. He figured better safe than sorry. Vance snorted and smacked Shaggy on the back of his head. The blow came as his shirt was in his face. So it nearly sent Shaggy to his knees. Vance ignored him.
“You’re their Alpha. Not only can you, but you are damn near required. You have to help them handle the change and manage whatever bloodlust they have.”
“Bloodlust?”
“Yeah. You lucked out. Probably cause your shifting emotion was the lack of emotion. But if one of your pack is a Rager? Things can get sticky.”
“I don’t think any of my pack shifts with anger. Otherwise, that roof we were standing on would’ve collapsed under the weight of five werewolves.”
“Mad with your friends is one thing. Pissed off at an enemy is a different beast altogether.” Vance put a hand on Shaggy’s bare shoulder and shook it. “But don’t worry about that stuff for now. You have food to grab and enemies to hunt. Hop to, oh mighty Alpha.”
Shaggy tried to suppress a laugh and turned to the teens and his pack. They were all standing in the grass that ringed the grocery store parking lot. Some teens looked at him weirdly, but he didn’t blame them. He was standing shirtless in the dark. Thankfully, it wasn’t a chilly night. He straightened up and plastered a grin on his face. Several teens took a few steps back, but he ignored them.
“So Mari is probably off somewhere about to trigger an alarm. So this quiet theft has become a snatch and grab. I will deal with the Bunch in the parking lot. The rest of you try your best to avoid the cameras and get to the building. If you can disable a camera, do it, then keep going. Our goal is at least one truck of food tonight. So once we are inside, we need to hit the warehouse and steal a truck. Once we are inside though, that means the cameras are going to see us and we are problem going to raise an alarm. So move fast and grab what you can.”
“What about Mari?” Luis asked.
“I do not know what she is planning. But unless we know where she is, we can’t do anything about it. So keep an eye out and leave any scolding for later.”
“What are YOU going to do about the cameras, boss?” Sybil asked.
Shaggy grinned and waved a hand down his shirtless body. “I’m going to get changed and do some hunting. A big-ass wolf is going to be a lot harder for them to track down.”
“Unless they get the mages on things.” Vance muttered, but Shaggy ignored him as he felt the shift take him.
Several of the teens gasped in alarm as Shaggy body started to twist and reform itself. Shaggy tried to focus his mind on what he was feeling. But the shift had become so smooth that he barely recognized when one became the other. The Wolf reared up in his mind, pounding at the cage in his mind. Eager to hunt and kill. Shaggy wrangled the feeling and turned toward the drug-addled gang members. They still hadn’t seen him or the others. Shaggy sent orders to wait a few seconds before following him and rushed off.
He felt his claws dig into the pavement of the parking lot, and his inner wolf was elated to be running free. Even if it was a quick sprint toward the Bunch and their two cars. Shaggy ignored all thoughts of creeping up and surprising the Bunch and instead barreled forth. As he passed under the parking lot lights, Shaggy vision shifted between color and the gray of his night-vision. It was almost distracting, but when as he pounced and the Bunch noticed his presence, the parking lot went dark and his vision stayed gray.
Shaggy ignored the sudden change and focused on attacking the gang members. His front paw slapped a tiger-man into his own car. Shaggy snapped his jaws around a bird-man and tossed him aside. Loud cracks and shouting told Shaggy that the low-level thugs were shooting at him. His wolf laughed and he dove in, clawing and biting. Their flesh tore easy and Shaggy had to staunch a howl before it bellowed from his throat. Blood poured over his fangs and he could feel it sliding down his throat. But Shaggy ignored it as he bit and clawed the nearest enemy.
It was a short and brutal fight. One which Shaggy did not remember fully when he came back to himself. The wolf had taken over and he was not even a passenger to what had occurred. He was caught in a lucid dream, where he was barely aware of what was happening. He shook the feeling from his lupine form. It was disconcerting, but not as alarming as the parking lot suddenly falling into darkness. Shaggy could see the teens and the members of his pack rushing toward the front door of the grocery. Vance, however, stood stock still in the parking lot, staring open-mouthed at Shaggy.
Shaggy twisted his head quizzically, but ignored the old man as he ran to catch up with everyone. Vance ran to catch up, but when he did. He remained silent and merely studied Shaggy’s demon-wolf form. They caught up with the others easily enough, and their group seemed ready to crash through the front of the store. But a figure swung the form open for them as they approached. Mari grinned widely and waved an arm as if inviting them inside.
“Don’t get distracted! Finish the job as planned!” Shaggy sent down the pack link.
Rita and the other members of his pack charged past the small girl as her friends shouted in amazement and surprise. Luis hugged Mari and was about to say something. But Shaggy shifted and marched toward the pair. He felt his wolf roar at being caged, and he stumbled a few steps. Shaggy shook it off again and admonished his inner wolf.
“See, Jefe. We are in and the security is down. We have no…”
Her voice fell as Shaggy glared at her. He said nothing, merely looked between her and the others. His inner dialogue with the wolf was still raw in his mind. The angry and raw power pulsed through him and Shaggy almost felt like he was going to shift again. Instead, he walked around the mass of teens.
“Get moving. We have work to do.”
Shaggy could hear the growl in his voice, but he couldn’t control it. His rage was roaring through him and he tried to get a handle on it. He marched into the grocery store. The scents of meats, vegetables, and other various sundries assaulted his sense. Shaggy had to stop as the smells made it even harder to quell the Wolf. Suddenly, a cool hand fell on his shoulder and Shaggy realized he was still shirtless. Turning, he saw Vance glancing at him worriedly.
“What the hell was that?”
Shaggy grunted and smiled. “Demon wolf form. Hell of a ride. HA!”
Shaggy cackled at his own joke as he tried to wrangle his feeling. Vance gripped Shaggy’s head hard and stared deep into his eyes. Shaggy’s new blue ones met Vance brown and the old werewolf looked actually concerned as he studied Shaggy’s face. He twisted Shaggy’s head back and forth until he either found what he wanted or grew bored. Vance released him and continued to stare at Shaggy. Finally, he muttered.
“You got something riding shotgun, kid. You are going to have to deal with that before you do anything wolf related again.”
“Please. It’s just a little demon blood.” Shaggy snorted.
“Maybe. But whatever those punks outside were snorting got into you. I don’t know if your new passenger loved it or hated it. But it got a response.”
“It’s just the Wolf, Vance. Nothing to be worried about.”
Vance raised an eyebrow? “Damn it! You have a wolf?”
“Yes?” Shaggy said, confused. “Don’t all werewolves?”
“No! Goddammit! I told you. All Mutts are different! If you have an inner beast, then you are closer to a pure bred Were then I thought. If that’s the case, we have to get you back to someplace safe where you can tame the damn thing!”
Vance grabbed Shaggy by the arm and almost dragged him back out the front doors. Shaggy had to drag his feet into the tiled floor of the grocery store. Vance groaned and turned to glare at Shaggy, but he kept trying to yank his arm out of the old man’s grip. With little success.
“Food first Vance! Wolf stuff can wait till after! We need to get all of this settled and then we can leave.”
Vance stepped right into Shaggy’s personal space and stared down at him. Shaggy wasn’t that much shorter, but with how close they were, he had to look up a little. Vance studied his face again and Shaggy realized the wolf was gone? Asleep? He wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t as near to the surface as before. Vance must’ve seen the same because he blew out a breath and slapped both hands on Shaggy’s shoulders. Staring at him, Vance spoke gravely.
“You have an inner Wolf inside you. Same as a pure blood Were. But yours has been amplified by whatever that Blood God did to you. You NEED to tame it and fast. As soon as possible. If that inner wolf gets loose, I’m going to have to put you down, son. I don’t want to know what an uncontrolled Blood God Champion Werewolf can do. That’s just terrifying.”
Shaggy nodded slowly, taking in the old man’s words. He briefly wondered how all of this worked game mechanics-wise. Had other Weres gone through something similar? What would it be like to tame his inner wolf? At the thought, he felt his inner wolf huff and practically chuckle at the notion. Shaggy raised an eyebrow at his inner wolf and wondered if it was a completely foreign being or a part of him the game had created.
He was brought out of his musings by the sounds of the teens running up and down the aisles. They had grabbed several shopping carts and started zooming down the aisles on them. He didn’t see his pack anywhere, but he felt them off toward the back of the store. Growling, he nodded at Vance and then wrangled the kids.
“Come on, people! We need to get this stuff out to the trucks in the back! We need to hurry!”
Mari giggled from nearby. She was standing near a check-out counter playing with the scanner. “Relax, Perrito. We have plenty of time. We disabled all the cameras and alarms.”
Shaggy marched over as he asked. “Who exactly is ‘we’?”
“Me, Rue, and Dee. We came in when the place was open and hid in the bathrooms. Once we were sure that the place was empty, we moved into the control room. Rue sent a shock down into the main computer and BAM! All the lights went off, and the system went down. Meanwhile, Dee started packing pallets in the back. We are golden, Jefe.”
Shaggy slapped himself in the face and tried to remain calm. “What about the cops that patrol this area?”
“We’ll be fine. No cops come by here, even if they are supposed to.”
Suddenly, sirens squawked from outside. They turned to see a cop car in the parking lot as a door behind them slammed open. A young boy with bright red hair came skidding out of an office room looking panicked.
“Mari! I think we hit a silent alarm.”
Mari groaned as Shaggy started shepherding everyone toward the back. “Sonofabitch!”
“We were fine a second ago!” Mari shouted as she and the other teens grabbed what they could and sprinted.
Shaggy let the kids go and ran toward the office where the red-head boy had come from. On the way, he grabbed said boy and walked him inside. The office was the grocery’s main control room. A large row of monitors sat embedded in the wall above a large master control board. A knocked out security guard dressed in a white shirt and blue pants lay on the floor of the room. Seated at the terminal was a short, mousey, brown-haired girl who was worriedly tapping away. Shaggy tried to examine the information scrolling by on all the monitors, but it was all nonsense.
“The system is coming online. The cameras are still down, but I think the alarm system came on first.”
“Hit it again Rue!” the red-head shouted.
“I tried that! But it just keeps rebooting faster and faster. It’s like someone from outside the system knows we keep trying to turn it off!”
“Well DO SOMETHING!” The boy, Dee, shouted.
Rue turned to scream at him, but saw Shaggy, and her voice stopped. Dee seemed to realize who had a hold of his collar and hurriedly tried to stammer something. Shaggy though ignored the two teens. Instead, he released the boy and grew his claws. With little thought, he dove into the computer terminal with both claws. Shredding metal and glass until sparks flew. Shaggy checked his work and then turned toward the kids.
“Go! Grab what you can and get to the back of the store!”
Rue and Dee stared at him until he shooed them away roughly. Shaggy followed the pair and ran toward the back. Outside, he could hear the sounds of someone banging on the front door. Luckily, whoever was in last remembered to lock it. Shaggy did a quick scan around before he dashed into the back of the store. But it didn’t look like anyone was left.
As he entered the warehouse attached to the store, Shaggy was happy to see two trucks backed up to the loading docks doors opened. Teens were hurriedly throwing stuff in as his pack was lifting and moving pallets. Vance was grabbing two pallets at a time, and the trucks were filling up nicely. But a loud crash from the front of the store stopped everyone. Shaggy rushed forward and shouted.
“Okay, that’s it! We’re done. Everyone into the trucks. Vick, I want you in the tailing truck in case they send drones at us. If you see them, shoot them down. We can’t have them following us.”
“We can help!” Mari shouted, summoning a fireball into her hand.
Shaggy wanted to argue, but he ended up shaking his head. “Fuck it! Go ahead. Anyone with long-range powers or magic make sure to get in the same truck.”
“Cover your damn faces somehow!” Rita shouted from the other truck.
The kids immediately started taking off their jackets and ripping their shirts, making impromptu face masks. Shaggy shook his head as he got into the first truck. Sybil and Rita moved toward the truck’s cabs as everyone piled in. The large double doors leading into the grocery store burst open as two cops came running through them. Shaggy gave a jaunty wave as the two trucks pulled away from the M-Mart.
They weren’t going quick, but as they rounded the corner of the building, Shaggy didn’t see any other cop cars. He briefly wondered how fast the cops would be as Sybil turned their big truck toward home. Shaggy kept an ear out for drones. But so far, everything seemed to go fine. He sat back on one pallet as the teens struggled to roll down the truck’s back door. It was tricky now that they were moving, but they all agreed it would make them less conspicuous. Vance sat on a pallet opposite Shaggy and grimaced.
“We gotta get that wolf of yours under control.”
Shaggy raised his hands in capitulation. “I get it. But can we get home first?”
Vance just snorted as a low cheer went up from the teens. Shaggy let them have it. It wasn’t the cleanest of operations, and he was going to give Mari an earful. But for now, they got their food, and their new hideout was under construction. It was time to sit back, relax, and go to war with his inner demon.
“What do you mean they’re gone?!” Shaggy growled.
The lanky teen he was shouting at back away hurriedly. Several of the boy’s friends stepped forward around him. In case Shaggy attacked. They all looked terrified, but Shaggy didn’t care. They had spent the last hour and a half watching the damn grocery store and when it came time to start things, Mari had gone missing. Along with three other kids. Shaggy felt a low rumbling in his chest and he was sure he was growling like a pissed off wolf. A hand on his shoulder brought him around to Rita and the others.
“Ease up, boss. They don’t know where she went.”
“Besides, you know Mari. Damn girl is young, angry, and looking to prove herself.”
“Which probably means she’s trying to rob the place right now.”
Shaggy groaned as he listened to his pack discuss the situation. He took a breath and slowly let it out. He was already pretty angry when none of his pack could master the Partial-Shift. Even though Vance had said it was pretty hard, even for pure Weres. But Shaggy had been sure his pack would master it, no problem. What followed was an hour of scrunched eyes and minor headaches. Then the kids come back and explain about Mari. Maybe he blew a gasket.
Blinking, he brought his gaze back to the teenagers. Luis was still out and about with a few others. But he was on his way back. They were literally minutes away from assaulting the store. But if Mari and her friends were about to try something. They would have to move even quicker. Shaggy pinched the bridge of his nose as he waved a head toward the fire escape.
“Come on, everyone. We have to go now. I don’t know what Mari is planning, but when or if she fucks up, we are going to want to be in position.”
“What about the Bunch?” Vick asked.
Shaggy groaned. The jackass human-animal hybrids were still in the parking lot. Even after the parking lot had cleared out. The bastards stuck around drinking and using whatever was left of the drugs they had been selling. There were about seven of them, around two cars, all cackling like a bunch of hyenas. Shaggy continued toward the edge of the roof as he called over his shoulder.
“I’ll deal with it. Get everyone in position.”
There was a scrambling of footsteps behind him as people moved to follow his orders. Shaggy threw himself over the edge of the roof and onto the lower fire escape platform. Ignoring the stairs down to the next platform, he jumped over the edge and caught himself on another lower platform. He did it again and again until he was low enough to jump to the ground. Rapid healing or not, he didn’t want to break and heal his knees right before he had to fight a bunch of thugs.
He glanced upward to see several teen faces staring at him. But it was the dark mass flying toward him that made him move. Vance slammed into the ground with an ungodly thud. Shaggy had to catch himself as Vance made a gigantic crater in the ground. The old man brushed himself off and started walking with barely a problem. Shaggy wondered if he could’ve done that, but he didn’t think so. He followed Vance toward the end of the alley and was about to ask a question when Luis rounded the corner. The teen mutant almost collided with Vance, but he side-stepped at the last moment. Luis grinned at them, but the smile went away as Shaggy and Vance passed him by.
“Where’s everyone?” Luis asked cautiously.
Shaggy pointed upward at all the kids descending the fire escape. He kept moving. He honestly didn’t want to explain what he suspected Mari was doing. Shaggy would leave that for the other teens. Right now, he wanted to bite something. The Bunch in the parking lot were a ready-made target for his aggression. Vance tapped his shoulder as he walked.
“Don’t be mad at your pack. I told you that is some high-grade shit you were trying to get them to do. Especially since they haven’t had their first shift. Seriously, they are babies that haven’t begun to crawl and you want them to do gymnastics? Manage expectations.”
“But it was so easy for me?” Shaggy groaned.
“Was it?” Vance raised an eyebrow.
Shaggy thought back. When he had first entered the game, he thought his powers were broken. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t get the Wolf part of his power to work. It was the Professor that helped him figure it out. But only when he was getting his ass kicked by a certain cat lady. Then there was the fight with the Quinica boss guy. Once he had gotten the feeling down, it had become easier and easier. But getting to that first state wasn’t really easy.
Shaggy sighed. “No. No, it wasn’t. Still, I can feel their desire to shift, not to mention their disappointment. They all feel like they are failing me every time they can’t shift. It’s a lot to take in.”
“It also quintuples the anger when you are all mad about the same thing at the same time.” Vance said.
Shaggy snorted, but nodded as they continued up the street. The grocery store parking lot was just over the small grassy hill. They couldn’t see the punks yet, but Shaggy was sure they were still standing around getting high and yammering on. He took a deep breath and tried to center himself. His pack disappointment still hovering in the back of his mind. Muted footsteps told him that the others were all following along quietly.
As they cleared the hill, Shaggy moved to a spot away from the closest parking lot light. Several of them dotted the lot, and Vick had confirmed that a few had cameras. They waited for the others to catch up and Shaggy formulated a plan. A stupid plan, but a plan nonetheless.
“So, can I help them crawl at all?” Shaggy asked, taking off his shirt.
His clothes would sometimes shift with him. But not always. He figured better safe than sorry. Vance snorted and smacked Shaggy on the back of his head. The blow came as his shirt was in his face. So it nearly sent Shaggy to his knees. Vance ignored him.
“You’re their Alpha. Not only can you, but you are damn near required. You have to help them handle the change and manage whatever bloodlust they have.”
“Bloodlust?”
“Yeah. You lucked out. Probably cause your shifting emotion was the lack of emotion. But if one of your pack is a Rager? Things can get sticky.”
“I don’t think any of my pack shifts with anger. Otherwise, that roof we were standing on would’ve collapsed under the weight of five werewolves.”
“Mad with your friends is one thing. Pissed off at an enemy is a different beast altogether.” Vance put a hand on Shaggy’s bare shoulder and shook it. “But don’t worry about that stuff for now. You have food to grab and enemies to hunt. Hop to, oh mighty Alpha.”
Shaggy tried to suppress a laugh and turned to the teens and his pack. They were all standing in the grass that ringed the grocery store parking lot. Some teens looked at him weirdly, but he didn’t blame them. He was standing shirtless in the dark. Thankfully, it wasn’t a chilly night. He straightened up and plastered a grin on his face. Several teens took a few steps back, but he ignored them.
“So Mari is probably off somewhere about to trigger an alarm. So this quiet theft has become a snatch and grab. I will deal with the Bunch in the parking lot. The rest of you try your best to avoid the cameras and get to the building. If you can disable a camera, do it, then keep going. Our goal is at least one truck of food tonight. So once we are inside, we need to hit the warehouse and steal a truck. Once we are inside though, that means the cameras are going to see us and we are problem going to raise an alarm. So move fast and grab what you can.”
“What about Mari?” Luis asked.
“I do not know what she is planning. But unless we know where she is, we can’t do anything about it. So keep an eye out and leave any scolding for later.”
“What are YOU going to do about the cameras, boss?” Sybil asked.
Shaggy grinned and waved a hand down his shirtless body. “I’m going to get changed and do some hunting. A big-ass wolf is going to be a lot harder for them to track down.”
“Unless they get the mages on things.” Vance muttered, but Shaggy ignored him as he felt the shift take him.
Several of the teens gasped in alarm as Shaggy body started to twist and reform itself. Shaggy tried to focus his mind on what he was feeling. But the shift had become so smooth that he barely recognized when one became the other. The Wolf reared up in his mind, pounding at the cage in his mind. Eager to hunt and kill. Shaggy wrangled the feeling and turned toward the drug-addled gang members. They still hadn’t seen him or the others. Shaggy sent orders to wait a few seconds before following him and rushed off.
He felt his claws dig into the pavement of the parking lot, and his inner wolf was elated to be running free. Even if it was a quick sprint toward the Bunch and their two cars. Shaggy ignored all thoughts of creeping up and surprising the Bunch and instead barreled forth. As he passed under the parking lot lights, Shaggy vision shifted between color and the gray of his night-vision. It was almost distracting, but when as he pounced and the Bunch noticed his presence, the parking lot went dark and his vision stayed gray.
Shaggy ignored the sudden change and focused on attacking the gang members. His front paw slapped a tiger-man into his own car. Shaggy snapped his jaws around a bird-man and tossed him aside. Loud cracks and shouting told Shaggy that the low-level thugs were shooting at him. His wolf laughed and he dove in, clawing and biting. Their flesh tore easy and Shaggy had to staunch a howl before it bellowed from his throat. Blood poured over his fangs and he could feel it sliding down his throat. But Shaggy ignored it as he bit and clawed the nearest enemy.
It was a short and brutal fight. One which Shaggy did not remember fully when he came back to himself. The wolf had taken over and he was not even a passenger to what had occurred. He was caught in a lucid dream, where he was barely aware of what was happening. He shook the feeling from his lupine form. It was disconcerting, but not as alarming as the parking lot suddenly falling into darkness. Shaggy could see the teens and the members of his pack rushing toward the front door of the grocery. Vance, however, stood stock still in the parking lot, staring open-mouthed at Shaggy.
Shaggy twisted his head quizzically, but ignored the old man as he ran to catch up with everyone. Vance ran to catch up, but when he did. He remained silent and merely studied Shaggy’s demon-wolf form. They caught up with the others easily enough, and their group seemed ready to crash through the front of the store. But a figure swung the form open for them as they approached. Mari grinned widely and waved an arm as if inviting them inside.
“Don’t get distracted! Finish the job as planned!” Shaggy sent down the pack link.
Rita and the other members of his pack charged past the small girl as her friends shouted in amazement and surprise. Luis hugged Mari and was about to say something. But Shaggy shifted and marched toward the pair. He felt his wolf roar at being caged, and he stumbled a few steps. Shaggy shook it off again and admonished his inner wolf.
“See, Jefe. We are in and the security is down. We have no…”
Her voice fell as Shaggy glared at her. He said nothing, merely looked between her and the others. His inner dialogue with the wolf was still raw in his mind. The angry and raw power pulsed through him and Shaggy almost felt like he was going to shift again. Instead, he walked around the mass of teens.
“Get moving. We have work to do.”
Shaggy could hear the growl in his voice, but he couldn’t control it. His rage was roaring through him and he tried to get a handle on it. He marched into the grocery store. The scents of meats, vegetables, and other various sundries assaulted his sense. Shaggy had to stop as the smells made it even harder to quell the Wolf. Suddenly, a cool hand fell on his shoulder and Shaggy realized he was still shirtless. Turning, he saw Vance glancing at him worriedly.
“What the hell was that?”
Shaggy grunted and smiled. “Demon wolf form. Hell of a ride. HA!”
Shaggy cackled at his own joke as he tried to wrangle his feeling. Vance gripped Shaggy’s head hard and stared deep into his eyes. Shaggy’s new blue ones met Vance brown and the old werewolf looked actually concerned as he studied Shaggy’s face. He twisted Shaggy’s head back and forth until he either found what he wanted or grew bored. Vance released him and continued to stare at Shaggy. Finally, he muttered.
“You got something riding shotgun, kid. You are going to have to deal with that before you do anything wolf related again.”
“Please. It’s just a little demon blood.” Shaggy snorted.
“Maybe. But whatever those punks outside were snorting got into you. I don’t know if your new passenger loved it or hated it. But it got a response.”
“It’s just the Wolf, Vance. Nothing to be worried about.”
Vance raised an eyebrow? “Damn it! You have a wolf?”
“Yes?” Shaggy said, confused. “Don’t all werewolves?”
“No! Goddammit! I told you. All Mutts are different! If you have an inner beast, then you are closer to a pure bred Were then I thought. If that’s the case, we have to get you back to someplace safe where you can tame the damn thing!”
Vance grabbed Shaggy by the arm and almost dragged him back out the front doors. Shaggy had to drag his feet into the tiled floor of the grocery store. Vance groaned and turned to glare at Shaggy, but he kept trying to yank his arm out of the old man’s grip. With little success.
“Food first Vance! Wolf stuff can wait till after! We need to get all of this settled and then we can leave.”
Vance stepped right into Shaggy’s personal space and stared down at him. Shaggy wasn’t that much shorter, but with how close they were, he had to look up a little. Vance studied his face again and Shaggy realized the wolf was gone? Asleep? He wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t as near to the surface as before. Vance must’ve seen the same because he blew out a breath and slapped both hands on Shaggy’s shoulders. Staring at him, Vance spoke gravely.
“You have an inner Wolf inside you. Same as a pure blood Were. But yours has been amplified by whatever that Blood God did to you. You NEED to tame it and fast. As soon as possible. If that inner wolf gets loose, I’m going to have to put you down, son. I don’t want to know what an uncontrolled Blood God Champion Werewolf can do. That’s just terrifying.”
Shaggy nodded slowly, taking in the old man’s words. He briefly wondered how all of this worked game mechanics-wise. Had other Weres gone through something similar? What would it be like to tame his inner wolf? At the thought, he felt his inner wolf huff and practically chuckle at the notion. Shaggy raised an eyebrow at his inner wolf and wondered if it was a completely foreign being or a part of him the game had created.
He was brought out of his musings by the sounds of the teens running up and down the aisles. They had grabbed several shopping carts and started zooming down the aisles on them. He didn’t see his pack anywhere, but he felt them off toward the back of the store. Growling, he nodded at Vance and then wrangled the kids.
“Come on, people! We need to get this stuff out to the trucks in the back! We need to hurry!”
Mari giggled from nearby. She was standing near a check-out counter playing with the scanner. “Relax, Perrito. We have plenty of time. We disabled all the cameras and alarms.”
Shaggy marched over as he asked. “Who exactly is ‘we’?”
“Me, Rue, and Dee. We came in when the place was open and hid in the bathrooms. Once we were sure that the place was empty, we moved into the control room. Rue sent a shock down into the main computer and BAM! All the lights went off, and the system went down. Meanwhile, Dee started packing pallets in the back. We are golden, Jefe.”
Shaggy slapped himself in the face and tried to remain calm. “What about the cops that patrol this area?”
“We’ll be fine. No cops come by here, even if they are supposed to.”
Suddenly, sirens squawked from outside. They turned to see a cop car in the parking lot as a door behind them slammed open. A young boy with bright red hair came skidding out of an office room looking panicked.
“Mari! I think we hit a silent alarm.”
Mari groaned as Shaggy started shepherding everyone toward the back. “Sonofabitch!”
“We were fine a second ago!” Mari shouted as she and the other teens grabbed what they could and sprinted.
Shaggy let the kids go and ran toward the office where the red-head boy had come from. On the way, he grabbed said boy and walked him inside. The office was the grocery’s main control room. A large row of monitors sat embedded in the wall above a large master control board. A knocked out security guard dressed in a white shirt and blue pants lay on the floor of the room. Seated at the terminal was a short, mousey, brown-haired girl who was worriedly tapping away. Shaggy tried to examine the information scrolling by on all the monitors, but it was all nonsense.
“The system is coming online. The cameras are still down, but I think the alarm system came on first.”
“Hit it again Rue!” the red-head shouted.
“I tried that! But it just keeps rebooting faster and faster. It’s like someone from outside the system knows we keep trying to turn it off!”
“Well DO SOMETHING!” The boy, Dee, shouted.
Rue turned to scream at him, but saw Shaggy, and her voice stopped. Dee seemed to realize who had a hold of his collar and hurriedly tried to stammer something. Shaggy though ignored the two teens. Instead, he released the boy and grew his claws. With little thought, he dove into the computer terminal with both claws. Shredding metal and glass until sparks flew. Shaggy checked his work and then turned toward the kids.
“Go! Grab what you can and get to the back of the store!”
Rue and Dee stared at him until he shooed them away roughly. Shaggy followed the pair and ran toward the back. Outside, he could hear the sounds of someone banging on the front door. Luckily, whoever was in last remembered to lock it. Shaggy did a quick scan around before he dashed into the back of the store. But it didn’t look like anyone was left.
As he entered the warehouse attached to the store, Shaggy was happy to see two trucks backed up to the loading docks doors opened. Teens were hurriedly throwing stuff in as his pack was lifting and moving pallets. Vance was grabbing two pallets at a time, and the trucks were filling up nicely. But a loud crash from the front of the store stopped everyone. Shaggy rushed forward and shouted.
“Okay, that’s it! We’re done. Everyone into the trucks. Vick, I want you in the tailing truck in case they send drones at us. If you see them, shoot them down. We can’t have them following us.”
“We can help!” Mari shouted, summoning a fireball into her hand.
Shaggy wanted to argue, but he ended up shaking his head. “Fuck it! Go ahead. Anyone with long-range powers or magic make sure to get in the same truck.”
“Cover your damn faces somehow!” Rita shouted from the other truck.
The kids immediately started taking off their jackets and ripping their shirts, making impromptu face masks. Shaggy shook his head as he got into the first truck. Sybil and Rita moved toward the truck’s cabs as everyone piled in. The large double doors leading into the grocery store burst open as two cops came running through them. Shaggy gave a jaunty wave as the two trucks pulled away from the M-Mart.
They weren’t going quick, but as they rounded the corner of the building, Shaggy didn’t see any other cop cars. He briefly wondered how fast the cops would be as Sybil turned their big truck toward home. Shaggy kept an ear out for drones. But so far, everything seemed to go fine. He sat back on one pallet as the teens struggled to roll down the truck’s back door. It was tricky now that they were moving, but they all agreed it would make them less conspicuous. Vance sat on a pallet opposite Shaggy and grimaced.
“We gotta get that wolf of yours under control.”
Shaggy raised his hands in capitulation. “I get it. But can we get home first?”
Vance just snorted as a low cheer went up from the teens. Shaggy let them have it. It wasn’t the cleanest of operations, and he was going to give Mari an earful. But for now, they got their food, and their new hideout was under construction. It was time to sit back, relax, and go to war with his inner demon.
