Wolf you Up!

In the village, the ordinary atmosphere had given way to a mixture of fear and tension. About an hour ago, a little before dawn, men, women, children, it didn't matter, they all had been awakened and then separated. Several people were gathered in an empty barn, where they were now huddling together. Fear in their stomach, the prisoners were waiting for whatever would happen after, under the watchful eye of Trevor and Wyatt.

The latter had been showing a grim expression since he had returned with Elias and his other companions from their capture mission. The man was mourning the death of his mate, whose head had been severed by the WIA agent at Grey Wolf.

He was still halfway to Red Creek when Elias had without any emotion informed him of the death of his other half, but also of a change of plans. The man had demanded his return so, while he hadn't yet taken the time to shed his first tears, the Skinwalker turned the wheel to take the road in the opposite direction towards their territory.

When he arrived at the meeting point, the wizard was consumed with grief and anger. Among his companions, Wyatt discovered in amazement a man with ash-blond hair who fixed his indifferent ultramarine gaze on him.

"Who's that? He's not the Outsider. What happened?"

"We had some bad luck at Grey Wolf, but it seemed like things turned to our way," Elias replied with a grin. "This man is the outsider's mate."

He kicked the back of Greg's legs who could only give in to the violent order. He fell to his knees on the ground and raised his head to glare at his captors. A hand jerked his head to the side exposing the base of his neck and he tugged the coat and shirt he was wearing away from the skin.

Wyatt's eyes narrowed at the golden mark on the man's neck and his fists clenched as he thought of his Ysolt being decapitated.

"What a strong and beautiful mark that you have. He must deeply love you." Wyatt said addressing Greg before turning to Elias, his gaze was icy. "When the time is right, I want to be the one to take the civilian's life. It's only justice. His mate killed my wife. I will take great pleasure in taking the life of this outsider's lover."

The Skinwalker dropped to one knee so his face was level with Greg's and he grinned viciously.

"I will take all my time to finish you off. I'm going to show that outsider the pain a Skinwalker goes through when they lose their mate."

He smiled, glaring at Greg to scare him, but a spit landed on his cheek and the scientist glowered at him, fierce and proud.

"You have no idea who you dared to provoke. My man will beat every one of your idiotic and weak asses. You signed your death warrant…"

The back of Wyatt's hand slammed into Greg's cheek, forcing him to turn his head from the impact. The blow left only a faint, barely visible mark on his cheek. Greg simply turned his head back to his starting position to stare at the Skinwalker who was glaring at him.

"See? Weak!"

Wyatt snapped and was about to pounce on Greg who continued to smile without lowering his gaze, but Trevor stopped him.

"I'm going to wipe that cocky smile off your face, you little shit!" He shouted, pointing at Greg who smirked when he saw him get angry.

"That's enough! We need him for now. If he's too hurt when the outsider comes, he might not cooperate."

Wyatt stopped struggling to extricate himself from Trevor's grip. He turned on his heels before heading towards the village, leaving the rest of his companions.

"Okay, now that's settled, let's move on," Elias announced.

With one hand, he grabbed Greg's hair and tugged on it to force him to stand. The man complied and started walking through the forest.

When the door to her house swung open in the middle of the night, Silphie didn't know what to expect. The village was protected against the entries of the werewolves, but civilians and wizards could easily come on their territory.

However, it had never happened that wizards landed in a clan unannounced. Witches and wizards have also rules in their world and passing away could only mean a declaration of war. They already went through a wizard's war once and nobody wants it to happen ever again.

Since the peace regained after this bloody war, the clans had closed in on themselves. They live more than ever cautious of each other's territory. The only contacts they had were due to the connections before and after the marriages which had become common things with the modern world.

Silphie got up and hurried out of her bedroom, before lighting up the living room to reveal the intruders, ready to attack. She saw her husband and several other people standing in the room and her shoulders relaxed just before she spotted a man she had never seen before framed by Elias and Trevor. Behind them, Tara and Ulicia stood aside and looked at the chief's wife with a frightened expression.

"What's going on Elias? Why is everyone home in the middle of the night? Who is that man ?" She asked in a low voice so as not to disturb the calm of the night any longer. Alana had gone home, but they still had a guest and their wooden house let easily noise escape.

Elias replied with a smile that made the witch frown. Before she opened her mouth, Silphie noticed a golden mark on the man's neck which was exposed because of his unstitched clothes. The woman's lips parted as she gasped at the realization of who the man in front of her was.

"Please don't tell me you did that!"

Elias approached his wife, who took a step back, frightened. Even though his mate's reaction hurt him, Elias brushed it off. He was sure she would understand once he explained everything. Tonight was the time when he was going to reveal to Silphie, to her, and the whole village what had happened that night twenty-one years ago.

Once they knew, most would rally to his cause. If some opposed his plan, he had only to compel them. After all, he was doing this to save them all.

"Yes, I did it. I had no choice."

"But that's insane. How can you do that to a boy who is old enough to be your son? If Alana had a mate and someone went after him, how would you react? You know how painful it is for a Skinwalker to lose their mate! You can't! You have to free…"

"I won't!" Elias yelled to stop her ranting.

He took another step to erase the distance between them and the leader of Blue Moon put a hand on her cheek to calm her down. The witch was panicking and fidgeting and he needed her to calm down. She needed a clear state of mind to understand what he was about to reveal.

"I'm sorry, Silphie. I know how much you came to love our tribe and our Goddess, but I really can't go back. I'm doing this for you, but also Alana and all the rest of the tribe. I'm doing this to save you all."

The woman looked at Elias as if he had lost his mind. Those words made no sense to her. Why go so far to renew the blessing? They had only to lose her if that was the will of the Moon Goddess.

Skinwalkers would once again become wizards and witches only able to manipulate lunar energy. They would be much more vulnerable after that, but it was a thousand times better than angering the Goddess.

As she was about to retort, her husband put a hand on her shoulder and mumbled a spell she had never heard before. When he finished, she blinked. Then she noticed. The usual golden streams of energy that swirled around her husband were now an almost menacing dark black. She recoiled, frightened, ready to ask for an explanation when the man motioned for her to look at her hands.

The woman looked down at her own body, her hands outstretched to observe them, and she froze before she began to tremble. Streams of dark energy danced around his fingers and arms. She tried to brush it off by rubbing her forearms but soon realized there was nothing she could do about it. Silphie looked up tearfully at Elias who gave her a sad look.

"Light cursed us. Twenty-one years ago on the day of the renewal of the blessing, she cursed the whole tribe. You, Alana, everyone is like that. I... I never dared to tell you. I'm sorry. We need that boy's aura to renew the blessing of the Goddess."

"You don't even know if this will work. And even if it's the solution, I'm sure that if we ask him, the man will agree to the renewal ceremony. No need to pick on his mate."

"We need an heir, Silphie."

"What do you mean?" She looked Elias in the eye to chase away her bad feeling.

"Once the outsider has completed the ceremony. I'm going to kill his mate so he's free to bond with someone else. Alana will give birth to his children to ensure a lineage and the survival of future generations."

"You're insane! I won't let you!" cried Silphie, pushing her husband away.

When she rejected him completely, Elias sighed and his shoulders slumped slightly. He knew he was going to have to take his wife prisoner. He would have preferred her to join him, but if he had to oppose her too. He would. Their life was at stake.

"I'm sorry, Silphie." Dark energy whips rose above him before pointing at the witch who widened her eyes. "I'm truly sorry."

The whips swooped down on the woman, then, enlarged to encase her in a cocoon.

Standing at the entrance of the room where she had settled for the night, The Elder had crossed her arms. There was nothing she could do except witness the events if she didn't want to be killed on the spot. She looked at the chrysalis of dark energy that imprisoned Silphie then stared at Elias and his clique.

"So you decided to reveal your true face?"

"Oh… That's right. You're still here. Yes. That's my true nature. I don't mind it if it means I can save my family and my tribe."

New whips rose above Elias and turned on the old werewolf.

When he was warned by the magic runes they had placed in the forest that someone had intruded on their territory, Elias sent several of his best fighters to bring them back. He thought it would be the person with that energy he saw back when their car was leaving Black Moon's parking lot. But he was wrong.

His boots trampled the ground in rhythm with the melody he was whistling. The day was completely up now that he had walked through the forest to the village. Despite the walk and the cold, the man was at his peak.

Adrenaline was running through his veins since the end of his fight and anger made him more excited than ever, now that he had reached his destination. The whistled melody rose in the silence as he reached the entrance to the village. Connor spotted a figure in the distance and stopped, just continued to whistle the childish tune that took on a mournful tone from the atmosphere.

"How could you be… You were hurt… I saw it…"

"Hm, that's true but, my boyfriend is pretty fussy when it comes to my well-being. I know that I can't be hurt, or he will be sad. I don't like to upset my man. So…" Connor tossed the object in his hand.

A man's severed head rolled from a makeshift bag and the Blue Moon leader's eyes widened before he looked up at Connor in anger. The agent, unfazed, crossed his arms.

"How do we proceed now?"