Chapter 89 - 88. Wrong Choice

When he left the office where he had locked himself, Elias was alone in the house. He found neither his wife, nor his daughter, nor the werewolves and even less the outsider. The chef banged open the kitchen door, which was also empty.

The huge pot of soup had been emptied and meticulously washed, along with the bowls and cutlery.

The man ran out of the house hoping to catch up with them. They couldn't have been gone for long. He was lost in his thoughts when he had locked himself in his office to think, but he should have time to catch up with them if he hurried.

Elias strode through the alleys of the village, looking for unusual faces. Unfortunately, every face he saw belonged to a member of the tribe. Residents were going about their usual business.

Their smiles and chatter created a hubbub that fueled the dull anger that swelled inside Elias. When the man reached the entrance of the village, he looked at the path that led to the forest.

'No, they can't have left already, they must be somewhere else.'

The Chief continued to search in vain and returned home. His head spun and his breathing was heavy from roaming the streets without being able to find the one he was looking for.

A click sounded in the doorway and shouts echoed through the hall.

Elias nearly ran to the door and stopped when he saw only his wife, daughter, and the old werewolf. The three men. No, the Skinwalker, the outsider was no longer with them. Elias walked over to his daughter.

Alana was the one who had inherited the strongest aura among the villagers. She, therefore, had to take over the tribe. Nevertheless, the man feared that her aura wouldn't be sufficient, no matter how powerful the wizard she was going to choose as her spouse. After all, that's what happened to him. Without the Everett lineage, it was impossible to maintain the power of transformation in the tribe.

"Why did you let him go so quickly? The next renewal ceremony should be held this year. Alana if you do nothing…"

"Dad, please stop. I know what you're worried about, but the omega from Bloodhood told us that he was going to talk to his father so that the pack and the tribe could reconnect. We might finally be able to live with the pack after centuries of separation."

"We don't care about that!" Elias screamed, grabbing his daughter roughly by the shoulders.

"We need this man's power. Why didn't you try to get close to him?"

"What's wrong with you?" The woman pulled away from her father, shocked by his words.

"I have no intention of seducing this man if that's what you mean, I don't look at him in this way! Moreover, he already has a partner who he has marked. It's a man so there's no way he will ever look at me." Alana sighed then approached her father to grab his hand. "We finally have a chance to live like our ancestors. A chance to reconnect with the pack, Dad. Isn't that more important?"

With a slap of the hand, Elias pushed his daughter away.

"You don't understand. Since you don't want to do anything, it's up to me to take matters into my own hands. Whether he likes it or not, I will make sure this man uses his powers to restore our tribe's blessing."

He stormed out of the house and returned to the village. This time, the leader was no longer looking for the outsider and the werewolves, but for some of his men. He knew he could count on them in all circumstances and above all, they also felt concerned by the situation. They didn't want to lose their power either.

Blue Moon was the tribe blessed by the Moon Goddess so that they could transform and stand next to the werewolves as equals. How could it be good to reconnect with the werewolves, if it was as mere civilians?

Even though they remained able to see and manipulate energies, even though they still had their auras, without their ability to transform into a wolf, Blue Moon lost everything. They could barely be considered a tribe of wizards.

He had to bring this outsider back. One way or another, Everett's descendant was going to help them and restore their power.

His daughter had just said he had a mate. A partner he had marked. It means that this person, this man was his greatest weakness. The plan was easy. He would find this man and bring him back to the village. With his life at their mercy, the grandson Everett will have no other choice to listen obediently.

Elias was walking on the snow-lined path which with the many passages had become slightly muddy. He arrived at the house of the person he was looking for. The one in charge of the surveillance of the forest and the security of the village.

He walked over to the porch and came to the front door, where he started to knock loudly without any rest. The man was unlikely to be home, but it was still safer than scouring the forest for him.

The sound of his fists was deafening. He could see the hinges quivering with each of his knocks as the door swung open.

"What the... What's wrong with… Chief Elias?"

A woman's eyes widened, surprised that the person breaking down her door was the chief of the tribe himself. Without letting her recover from her surprise, Elias pushed Tara aside, forcing his way inside the wooden house that the young woman shared with her twin brother and their father.

"Where's your brother, where's Trevor? I need to speak to him right now."

"Chief?"

A man dressed in a simple woven tunic over his woolen trousers despite the cold arrived from the back of the house he had entered after hearing the commotion at the entrance. The garment was stained with sweat and the man immediately apologized for his appearance.

"Chief," he repeated, wiping his face on his sleeve. "Sorry, I took advantage of the lunch break to cut wood. What's the matter? I heard you tell Tara that you were looking for me. Is there a problem?"

Elias clenched his fists and stared at the man whose build made his mere presence fill the room.

"I need you for an important mission. It's... It's a question of survival for the village. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself and do what I ask?"

Trevor's attitude changed. Like everyone else, he had heard of the arrival of the werewolves and the unknown Skinwalker. The rumor going around since this morning is that he was the descendant of Autumn Everett. The true leader's only daughter who had run away after falling in love with a civilian.

Her escape had rolled the dice of the tribe's fate. Forced to find an alternative to perform the blessing renewal ceremony, the members of Blue Moon chose the one with the strongest aura and wed him with a witch.

The ceremony went off without a hitch and they believed for many years that Autumn's disappearance would have no impact on their clan.

But that was until Elias took over as head of the village. The man had chosen for his aura which, although less than that of his predecessor, was the most important among all the inhabitants of the village. With a powerful witch at his side, no one doubted the ceremony would be a success.

After all, there had been no problem last time, why, there would be this time? Unfortunately, the unthinkable happened.

When the renewal ceremony ended, only the members with the strongest auras had their blessings activated. Blue Moon was in danger. Without the lineage of the true chief, the legendary tribe would fall into decay and its members would become mere civilians.

Faced with this reality, when werewolves arrived last night along with a Skinwalker with an aura large enough to top over him by at least two heads and capture all the energy around him, the whole village was frantic.

News of his arrival spread inside every house. The outsider was Autumn Everett's missing grandson. The lineage of the true leader wasn't lost. It was back, which meant Blue Moon would survive. Their power would survive.

Trevor looked at the leader of his tribe. The man could only imagine how difficult it must be for Elias to meet all the expectations of the inhabitants who saw their power gradually declining.

Everyone feared that the next renewal ceremony would be the last their tribe would see before becoming helpless civilians.

"If I can help the village, I'm ready to do whatever you ask Chief. Just tell me what I have to do." Trevor answered honestly.

In this world where his people had survived through the ages only thanks to their power, if there was a way for him to help the clan, Trevor would do it without hesitation.

"This Everett refuses to use his powers to help the village. Just like his grandmother, he's just an egoist who only cares about his little life. He even dared to say that Light, our ancestor, this witch cursed by the Goddess of the Moon was right and that we don't need our powers to live. He is a threat.

If this Everett talks like that, who knows if he won't end up becoming like the cursed witch and joining her side. Our ancestors never knew why or how the one who was to become the protector of Blue Moon could have ended up cursed by the Goddess.

We have to use him as much as we can and make sure our powers come back to us, more powerful than ever."

Trevor exchanged a glance with his twin. He immediately felt her doubts. Elias was restless, his words extreme and it was far from what he imagined when the leader had spoken of helping them. Still, the man couldn't help but think he was right.

If the Everett's descendant didn't want to help them and restore their power, they had no choice but to force him.

Powerless wizards were far too easy prey to kill. If the powers of the Skinwalkers disappeared, the other clans of wizards might turn on them. They were going to end up hunted because of their aura which was the source of their power.

Tara looked at her brother lost in his thoughts, then at Elias. She felt that the man wasn't in his normal state.

She had run into Everett's descendant briefly that morning. The man didn't appear to be evil as their leader claimed. At least, that was her impression. Connor, as she had heard Silphie call him, was chatting happily with the werewolves and the chief's wife.

The scene was so natural that she couldn't help thinking that this was exactly the kind of daily life their ancestors must have had when they still lived among the werewolves. His closeness to the Warrior and the Bloodhood's heir seemed straight out of their past.

Yet the Chief was standing in front of them, saying that this man was a threat. What was the truth?

Tara snapped out of her thoughts as Elias explained his plan to his brother.

"Alana told me this man has a mate he already marked. I want you to help me capture him to bring him back here. We will use him and force him to hold the renewal ceremony."

The woman gasped, shocked by what she had just heard. Much like werewolves, the bond between a Skinwalker and their mate was strong. Using that bond to force the man to help them was the worst possible plan. All they would incur was the wrath of the only person who could save them, and she doubted the Goddess would like that. Tara was about to intervene when her brother's word.

"Okay. Tell me exactly what the plan is?"