Chapter 72 - 71. (Un)Welcomed

The two mates were lying on the frozen ground. Connor's eyes were still shooting daggers at the woman who just turned her back to him and ducked down to lay a hand on the big black and white wolf's fur. After watching him for a moment, she straightened up and took a few steps away.

"I thought we had to hurry, what are you waiting for?" The WIA agent said impatiently.

"I can't carry them on my own, I need help."

"I'm here!" Connor stated which earned him a contemptuous glance from the woman who looked him up and down before turning away without answering.

Alana lifted her head to the sky and let out a howl that startled Connor. Her voice sounded like a wolf's cry. A few seconds had barely passed when rustles were approaching from several sides.

The man strained his ears and heard the sound of the paws of several animals. There was no time to ask more questions when two wolves arrived.

Under Connor's dumbfounded eyes, the two wolves instantly transformed into two men of stature strong enough to take care of Glen. They exchanged a few short sentences with Alana and turned to the two mates and froze. Despite the darkness of the forest, the light brown-haired man saw the shock on the faces of the two staring at him. Connor, who was crouching next to his friend and his omega, met their gaze and raised an eyebrow, before responding impatiently.

"What?"

The two men flinched and turned their heads towards Alana as if to await her instructions which seemed to annoy the young woman deeply. She clicked her tongue and barked her commands again.

"Take care of the Warrior, I'll take care of ..."

"I'll take care of Eden," Connor cut her off as he stepped forward, then dropped to one knee to grab the body of the Omega that was coiled on his alpha. Slowly, he grabbed the young boy who was sleeping peacefully. His breathing had calmed as soon as he made contact with Glen, leaving both the agent and the Soul Healer puzzled.

Alana was about to protest, but the other two Skinwalkers were already stepping forward to grab the Two-Tone Wolf. She glared at Connor then at the old werewolf who was still sitting on the floor.

She gritted her teeth, then clenched her fists. Alana swallowed her anger and turned to lead the way.

They walked in the forest for several minutes. The agent had placed the omega on his back for more mobility and was following the two men who carried Glen the same, except that they had paired up to support his weight.

As the wolf was too big to be supported by one of them, they had simply stood side by side, and Glen, whose wingspan was much larger than that of a normal werewolf, had been placed so that he was resting on their two backs at the same time. If the alpha had been in his human form, the scene would have been like two friends supporting a dead drunk friend of theirs who was unable to walk on his own.

They walked like this for over half an hour when lights appeared between the trees. They continued, and soon the group, still led by the woman Skinwalker, arrived at the entrance to a village.

The place was much bigger than Connor had expected. At first glance, just as he scanned the space open to them, he could see over thirty houses scattered around and that was just the entrance. The agent knew there were many more houses behind.

Two children ran up and threw themselves into Alana's arms, who welcomed them with a smile. With a laugh, the younger boy asked the woman a question but Connor was too busy looking around to listen.

In front of the houses and the alleys, several inhabitants of the village froze as they arrived. At first, the brown-haired man thought they were detailing Glen. A wolf huge enough to be carried by two men of such stature, it's not something they had to see every day. Skinwalkers or not.

However, after the same pattern recurred five times the agent began to doubt that his alpha friend was the only source of these reactions. Every villager who watched them pass reacted the same way.

First, the eyes caught the wolf and widened. The face wore the same expression the woman Skinwalker had when she discovered Glen in the forest and saw his curse.

Connor being unable to see the energy canals piercing his best friend's body could only guess how horrible the sight was.

When the eyes finally broke away from the dominant supported by the two men, passers-by finally noticed Connor and froze in place.

Uncomfortably, the man didn't know what these reactions were and was starting to get annoyed. He gritted his teeth and fixed Eden's position on his back. He quickened his pace to close the distance between Glen and himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he observed the people of the village and the houses made of wood and stone. Much like the traditional pack, the Skinwalkers seemed to live very close to nature even though modernity had crept in. The village was lit with solar electricity, but the officer saw lanterns hanging from the porches.

The villagers also testified to this coexistence between nature and modernity. While the oldest wore clothes made of animal skin and exhibited ornaments carved in wood or stone, the young were dressed in natural fiber clothing worn with huge sweaters, woolen coats to protect them from the cold of winter.

All, without exception, were staring at Connor as he walked behind the men. A few steps ahead, Alana had also noticed the shock on the faces of the other villagers and the attention they paid to the man with light brown hair.

Again, her fist clenched and a lump formed in her throat. She ignored the looks and quickened her pace to walk up the path that ran right through the village to the house of the chief, her father.

Several curious people had followed them and when they arrived in front of the door, there were no less than thirty people behind them whispering, keeping their distance.

Alana ignored the whispers that were starting to swell and went up to the porch before standing in front of the door and knocking. Footsteps approached the door, which flew open and a woman in her late teens bared the Skinwalker's face and pouted.

"Alana! How many times do I have to tell you? Why do you insist on acting like a stranger in your own parents' house? I know you've come of age to have your own home and live on your own now, but… "The rest of her sentence hung in the air. The woman's eyes had just slid over the two men who carried the huge black and white wolf on their shoulders.

Without adding anything, she cleared the way and Alana walked in before turning to address the two men.

"Put him up by the fire, I'll get my father."

The men came in and did what the woman had asked them to do before leaving immediately. As they walked through the door, Connor hesitating on the threshold, finally made up his mind to go inside the house. He stepped inside the house and it was as if all the air suddenly froze for a second.

Alana's mother turned when she felt the unusual sensation and when she met Connor's gaze, she paled before pulling back her legs shaking.

"W-who are you?" She managed to articulate after a while.

The agent sighed silently. He didn't want to be involved in the Skinwalkers' affairs, but he wanted to save Glen's life and put his own in order. He walked past the hearth of the fireplace, where Glen had been put on the floor. Just when he was wondering where to put Eden, Alana returned with an animal skin blanket in her hand which the agent suspected was a bear.

Without saying a word, she spread the blanket on the floor and helped Connor place the omega on it. With Eden's head resting gently on it, Alana looked up at the agent.

"My mother asked you a question. Are you going to answer or are you going to do as you did with me and ignore her? "

The man rolled his eyes and looked at his friend and his mate, then the Soul Healer who had entered the room as well. The old woman gave him a brief nod and he sighed, annoyed.

"I'm Connor Everett, I think I'm related to your clan in some way."

"Did you say Everett?"

The voice that answered him was that of a man. The agent turned to find a man whose eyes were surrounded by wrinkles, though the rest of his face was still spared.

"Everett as in Mallory Everett?"

Connor frowned and shook his head.

"I don't know who you are talking about. I don't know any Mallory… "

"Liar! Don't try to deny it! I see the resemblance. The same eyes, the same cheeky expressions. You are his descendant! "

Connor sighed and ran a hand through his hair to calm his frustration. The situation pissed him off and after everything they had been through the past few days, the last thing he wanted to do was prove to someone already convinced of his guilt that he wasn't lying.

"I don't know who the hell is this Mallory Everett you're talking about. I'm the son of Laurent and Maria Everett. " He met the Soul Healer's gaze again. "M-My grandmother was called Autumn Everett and I heard from this Soul Healer here that she was from your clan."

The man I strode over to him and grabbed Connor by the lapels of his coat.

"How dare you …"

With a metal clatter, a blade pressed against the chief's carotid artery, who immediately stopped his movement and released Connor.

"Look, I don't know anything about you or your clan, but where I come from, that's not how you speak to someone." He pulled his knife away from the chef's skin and took a step back before smoothing out his clothes. The man glared at him.

"What did you come here to do? Claim the place of leader after your grandmother abandons her clan? "

Connor raised an eyebrow at the attitude of the man who was trying to make him feel guilty for something he wasn't responsible for. His grandmother had made her choices, it wasn't his responsibility at all. A smirk torn his face.

"I guess if I did, it would go against your plans, considering the little despotic attitude you adopt with me before you even hear what I have to say."

Before the man reacted, he continued.

"I have a life, a job but above all a lover that I adore, I have no intention of giving up on any of them to take the place of chief of a village that I didn't know about yesterday. Therefore, rest assured, your days as a dictator are assured.

You can continue to rule into your old age and hand over the keys of your beloved realm to your equally despotic daughter.

I came here only for you to treat my friend who has been cursed, but I got you'll take care of it without me having to lift my little finger, so as soon as it's over I'll be back to my life. "

He tucked the knife he was playing with back into its holster and glanced annoyed at the father and daughter pair in front of him.

"Unfortunately, it won't be that easy. Now that you've paraded the village, everyone in the village is aware of the existence of an unknown Skinwalker with an aura strong enough to restore everyone's powers. "

"Parade? Do I have to remind you that you're the one who brought me here through the main path? If my presence should have been unnoticed why not have made me take a more discreet road? "

Connor was starting to feel pissed by the absurdity of the accusations made by the chief and his daughter, which oozed animosity. A clapping sound echoed and all heads turned to the hostess who was still there.

A crease between her eyebrows, she gave her husband and daughter a hard look before turning to Connor, a softer expression on her face.

"You've come this far with the Warrior and the King so we want to express our gratitude to you. If I understood correctly, are you Autumn Everett's grandson?"

"Yeah, that's right," the agent replied.

"I see. My name is Silphie Crimson. I'm a witch and the wife of the leader of the Skinwalkers. Don't take to heart my husband and daughter's words, please accept my apologies for their inappropriate behaviors. "

Astonished by the change in the woman's behavior, Connor shrugged. "It's ok. I don't care. I'm only here for my friend.. Before we start, there is something that keeps bothering me. Why do you call Glen and Eden the Warrior and the King? What does it mean?"