A Werewolf In Under-Town

Shaggy shook his hand in pain as he glanced at John. The were-porcupine was huddled on the ground, his spikes sticking out in all directions. He could see a bit of his blood on one of the quills and he grimaced in remembered pain. His skin was tough, and he healed fast, but Shaggy hadn't felt pain like that in a while.

Around the two of them, both packs stood, quiet and tense… mostly.

"Hahahaha! Oh my god! That is fucking priceless! A were-Porcupine! I would've never thought that was a thing." Levy cackled loudly, ruining the solemnity of the moment a bit.

Several of John's pack mates were glaring at her, but a quick growl from Shaggy made them turn back to him. Cekrass crossed his arms and glared down at the opposing Weres. The big lizard didn't seem to like people threatening his mistress. Shaggy knew he could leave his wife's protection to his pack in case things got out of hand. But at the moment, he needed to focus on the weird little conundrum before him.

The other Alpha wasn't moving from his spot on the street. He had literally curled into himself and was just sitting there. Shaggy walked over to John's curled up form and tried to poke a claw past all the quills. But the mass of spiky hair shivered and seemed to bunch up in his direction. There was a flash of sliver in his vision and Shaggy felt a sting in his hand. Drawing it back, he found a large gash healing along the back of his hand.

Not only were John's spikes sharp as hell, but they also apparently had a mind of their own. Shaggy crouched low next to John's body as he tried to think through the issue. The quill that stuck him didn't detach. Which was both good and bad. Normal porcupine quills detach from the animal and can work their way through the skin and eventually cause major damage. But John's were sturdier and seemed to have evolved into a hell of a defense.

Shaggy was contemplating shifting into a full were and chomping down on the giant porcupine, when the mass of quills shivered again. John's stubby little nose poked out from the beneath his mass of sharp fur. Shaggy thought he could see mirth in the little shit's eyes.

"Y'know, curling into a ball is more of a hedgehog thing, right?" Shaggy said in his guttural hybrid voice.

John squeaked at him and stuffed his nose back into the street.

"Hey, fuck you! It's a legitimate strategy!" said one of John's pack members.

Shaggy let the remark go because it felt like the pack mate was just translating for his Alpha. But he did scowl at the lanky-looking Were. As he stared at the fairly tall alien, a thought struck him. John's scent as a porcupine differed from each member of his pack. Which meant that John was the Alpha of a mixed pack. Each member was probably a different animal, which explained the confusing scents he was getting from them.

The lanky Were tried not to make eye contact with Shaggy as he waved a hand at John. "Hey, hurry and finish the challenge. A-and remember, you can't use any weapons. Alpha Challenges must be fought with tooth and claw."

Shaggy snorted as he dropped the thought of grabbing a lamp post and batting the little shit far away. Already his hybrid form was starting to wear on him. So he dropped it and instead focused on shifting his hands and feet. It was less effective, but didn't drain him as much. As he flexed his new limbs, he brainstormed ideas.

Option one was to just bite the bullet and throw himself upon John's quills. It would hurt like hell, but he was sure that his healing could keep up. Option two was to go full wolf and start batting the little bastard around like a chew toy. It would hurt less, and he would probably do a lot more damage. But again, those quills would stick and tear into his flesh. The last plan was to just wait it out. Shifting took a lot of stamina. Eventually, John would have to pop out of his little defensive dome and attack Shaggy.

His inner wolf snarled at the third option. John was prey. Prey should be eaten quickly and shared with the pack. Even if they would get stabbed into oblivion, the wolf in him wanted to rip and tear. Then it wanted to chase down the rest of the interlopers' pack and feed them to the pack pups. Shaggy snorted at the mental image that created and shook the feral wolf from his thoughts.

John had already said that he had defeated a were-bear. He wasn't sure how true that was. But if the fight went anything like this one, Shaggy could believe it. Especially if Mr. Krumb was being led around by his own inner animal. Shaggy stared at the bush of quills laying in the street and imagined them all stuck in a bear's face and body. It wasn't a good way to go. So, coming to a decision, Shaggy sat down on the street and shifted his limbs back to normal.

There was an audible gasp from John's pack. But Shaggy's were mentally cheering his decision. Well, some of them were.

"Boss, really?! Fucking ninja-kick the damn thing!" Tom demanded.

"No kidding, so you don't want to go through a little pain? Come on!" Sybil added.

"No, it's smart. Let the little shit run himself tired and then take him down. Exactly how a wolf would." Rita defended.

"Not enough blood in that for me. But I can see the sense in it." Ephemara added.

The conversation in his head continued as Shaggy enjoyed the night air. He grinned at Levy, who was giving him an odd look. Ephemara leaned over and whispered his plan in his wife's ear. Over on the other side of the circle, John's pack was also looking a little nonplussed. By the way they looked at each other and their pack Alpha, Shaggy knew they were discussing what he was doing. John's porcupine face stuck up from the street again and he gave Shaggy an indignant look. One that was more adorable than anything else.

Shaggy grinned at his opponent for a few seconds before lurching forward and pretending he was going to attack. John shoved his nose back into the ground and his quills quivered as they moved into position. Shaggy cackled as he sat back on the street. He stretched his legs out on the street and placed his palms on the ground behind him. Chuckling to himself, he calmed his inner wolf as he waited for the other shifter to do something.

His wolf was not happy and Shaggy felt a burning sensation in his chest as the beast roared in its little mental prison. Shaggy gave the wolf the mental equivalent of a boop on the nose and told it to be patient. His wolf stalked off into its cage and huffed angrily at him. But it stopped rampaging around its inner world. Shaggy was about to ask the surly thing to play catch when John's quills shivered again.

Shaggy waited as the quills clattered together noisily. To his ears, the noise almost sounded metallic as the sharp needles crashed together. The noise was joined by a louder crashing sound as a few of the quills fell to the street. Shaggy raised an eyebrow as the quills stopped moving and shrank instead. John got up on his paws and chittered in Shaggy direction. For his part, Shaggy just watched as the were-porcupine shifted back into a short man.

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John had a surly look on his face as he walked over to the pile of detached quills and picked two up. Shaggy grinned as he watched the chubby man wave the quills around like swords. He picked himself up off the street and brushed off his jeans.

"Done playing?" Shaggy asked.

John snorted as he weighed the two quills in his hands. "Pfft! Please. Most of you predators jump at the chance to chew on us lesser Weres. You just happen to be one of the few smart ones. No matter. I have contingencies for just such an occasion. Although it means I have to get my hands dirty."

Shaggy watched as the shorter man slashed the quills through the air. He shifted his hands into claws and glared across at the other Alpha. From the way John was wielding the two quills, Shaggy assumed the man knew what he was doing. At least somewhat. He was thinking about learning a weapon skill, when the Were dashed at him.

The little man was faster than Shaggy expected and he barely managed to get his arm up to defend himself. He felt the pull on his flesh as it was cut open, and then a sharp stab to his gut as John quickly backed away. The quill in his stomach got stuck, so the Were-porcupine left it in as he back stepped with his other weapon. Shaggy felt the wound on his arm heal as he reached down and yanked out the second quill. It didn't get deep into his skin, but it was enough to make it past his armor and draw blood.

He tossed the quill aside as John reached down and picked up another quill. He pointed the silvery-brown bit of hair at Shaggy and grinned. Shaggy rolled his eyes at the other Alpha's antics and pounced first this time, bringing both of his claws down on top of the shorter man. John raised one of his quills to meet Shaggy's claws and stepped to the side. A harsh clang resounded in the streets as claw met quill. The two clashed harshly and Shaggy overpowered John, to leave several gashes on the man's round face. Shaggy's claws had opened several wounds from John's forehead down to his chest. But the other Alpha merely stabbed his second quill into Shaggy's side and spun away. Shaggy winced as the quill went deeper this time. He reached down to take it out as John's face healed. It was slower than Shaggy's, but John clearly had his own healing ability.

Shaggy sighed. "Haaaaaaaa… another war of attrition then."

"You could give up and submit." John said, as he found another quill.

Shaggy's wolf roared indignantly at the thought and he found himself pouncing forward again. John looked startled as Shaggy barreled into him. Shaggy quickly slashed his claws across John's body as the other Were used his quills to block. The two danced across the street as they fought. Sometimes, John's quills would cut large gashes in Shaggy's body just as Shaggy's claws took large chunks from John's form. But the two quickly healed the damage and continued fighting. John's slower healing meant that they left small piles of blood in the street and the scent was driving Shaggy more and more feral.

Soon he stopped defending altogether and instead took every opportunity to cut into John. The shorter were-porcupine faltered under Shaggy's assault and backed toward his side of the street, toward the quill pile again. Shaggy and his wolf hurried before the tiny man could use any tricks and attempted to stab forward with his claws. One of John's quills snapped up and batted Shaggy's hands away, leaving him open as John stabbed a quill into Shaggy's throat.

A loud squelch filled the street and pain flared through Shaggy's nervous system. But he ignored it as he got his wolf under control and reached for the quill. Just as he did, John stabbed another quill, picked up from the street, into Shaggy's body. Shaggy grunted and used both hands to rip the quills out as the tiny John continued to reach down and stab more quills into Shaggy's body. Eventually, six of the damn things stuck out of Shaggy's torso at odd angles and John rolled backwards toward the curb.

Shaggy felt his body trying to heal injuries, but the quills were digging deeper into his body. He continued to pull them out as his hunger grew. Shaggy knew that the hungrier that he got, the smaller his 'healing pool' was going to be. He yanked out the fourth quill just as John's pudgy fist cracked him across the face and Shaggy stopped. He glared at John as the shorter man looked beleaguered and tired. Sweat had matted down his hair and his clothes were sticking to his body. Shaggy gave the porcupine a sinister smile and left the final three quills in. Instead, he lurched forward and grabbed the short man by his neck. With little preamble, Shaggy lifted the man off his feet and then slammed him back down. He used his claws to cut into John's throat as more punches hit him across his body. His muscles gave involuntary spasms as John struck the quills still in his body and Shaggy could feel his healing slowing.

Shaggy carved up John's face and chest before lifting him up again and throwing him onto the sidewalk. He followed the throw with a pounce and slammed into John's stomach. Stabbing his claws into John's belly, Shaggy ripped the opposing Were's guts out. He heard a gasp come from one of John's pack and glanced up. John's pack were glaring at him and John with equal parts hatred and sorrow. His inner wolf was roaring at him to bite the little shit for daring to infringe on their turf. But something in the way John's pack looked at him stayed his claws. John was slowly healing, the same as Shaggy. But the healing was clearly running dry. The were-porcupine was beaten, Shaggy was sure the Challenge had been sated or honored or whatever. He didn't need to rip the man's throat out and feed him to his pack.

"I… gasp… yield…" John wheezed out as soon as his face finished healing.

Shaggy's wolf roared with triumph and tried to force Shaggy to make the killing blow. But he held back. He shifted his claws back into hands and proceeded to rip the remaining quills out. Both packs around him stared in silence as Shaggy coughed up a little blood as he removed the final quill. Once that was done, he turned back to John's pack. He glared at each of them until they lowered their eyes. Once their unspoken submission was affirmed, Shaggy kicked John toward the frizzy-haired lady and the lanky man in John's pack.

"Get the fuck out of here." Shaggy growled as he ushered his inner wolf back into its cage.

The beast wasn't happy about things. But Shaggy wasn't going to rip an alpha from his pack. At least not one like John and his pack of misfits. His pack seemed mixed on his decision, but they quickly formed around him as Cekrass pushed Levy toward him. She put an arm around his shoulder as her hand glowed with purple magic. His wounds started healing quicker as Levy whispered in his ear.

"You old softie."

"That's…hmph!… me." Shaggy rumbled as the pain in his side made him grunt.

"You know you should've killed him, right?"

Shaggy grimaced. "A broken and defeated man is ten times better than a dead one."

"Shit. I know I've lost when you quote your dad. More bad memories?"

Shaggy blinked as he mentally went over the fight. Surprisingly, nothing reminded him of his past and no bad memories flared to life. He shook his head at Levy as his pack watched John and his Were's leave. Sybil and Tom were pissed that things hadn't ended properly. Rita and Ephemara understood but agreed with the sentiment. The rest seemed content with Shaggy's decision.

Not wanting to look at their loyalty scores. Shaggy stretched to work the pain out of his body. Maybe he'd been wrong to let the little bastard go. But his mind was already working on ways to spin things to his advantage. He'd just need some time to plan things out right… and food. He needed a lot of food right now.