Chapter 90 - 89. Too Late

Tara took a step back and stared at her twin. She had never seen such an expression on the face of the man she had shared her whole life with. Her gaze passed between the two men and stopped on the Machiavellian smile that distorted Elias's features.

This man wasn't in his normal state. She had to tell someone. Silphie would probably know how to reason with her husband. She had to find her before these two men ventured further into this idea born from ​​madness.

She took another step back and Elias's voice startled her. He turned his head in her direction and narrowed his eyes.

"Tara, you're coming with us too."

"What? No! I won't. I won't and you shouldn't too. It's wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to start."

"Wrong? How come? Am I wrong to try, as the Chief, to protect my tribe and its member? Explain, Tara!"

"It's wrong because you want to use an innocent person, you want to threaten the life of his mate to force him to participate in the ceremony."

"Oh, but I'm not just going to threaten his life, I'm going to kill him."

"What?"

"Our tribe is threatened, Tara. What don't you understand in this statement? If we do nothing, the chances are high that at the next renewal ceremony, no one not even those with the greatest auras will see their blessing activated.

We need the Everett's descendant, not only for the ceremony but to establish a lineage so that the future of the tribe is assured for the next generations. The existence of his mate would only be a hindrance in the process."

"But it's a crime!" Tara protested in shock, then looked to her brother for support.

The man looked away in shame but crossed his arms to show that he had chosen his side and wouldn't change. Seeing this, the woman also made up her mind. She was going to warn someone before the leader executes his plan and incurs the hatred of their Goddess. If the deity of the Moon had chosen to bless this man with such an aura when she turned her back on their tribe, there was a reason.

The fact that Elias is capable of such thoughts and that others plan to follow him must have been the reason. After all, which God would grant protection to a tribe whose leader has the heart of a murderer?

"I won't help you!"

Tara turned away and strode towards the front door. She didn't see the sign that Elias made to his twin to tell him to stop her at all costs. The next moment, she heard footsteps behind her and she thought Trevor would only try to convince her. It was her mistake.

With a knock behind her head, Trevor hit his sister and caught her body just before she collapsed to the ground. He then turned to the leader.

"What shall we do now ?"

"We're taking her with us! You and Tara have the same aura. We can't afford to let this plan fail. We need her."

"But she will never help us! She…"

"Then she's no use to us," Elias muttered to himself, but Trevor heard him. The leader then resumed in an audible voice. "Those who try to oppose the survival of the tribe are enemies, and whether they are outsiders or not. Don't worry, I'm sure once she realizes it's in her interest to cooperate, Tara will side with us on her own."

Trevor wasn't naive, he knew the boss had just threatened his sister's life and he would probably do the same if he tried to get in his way. But the man had no intention of going back on his decision. As cruel as this plan is, it would ensure their survival for all. He couldn't go back. It was too late.

The man lifted the body of his twin and listen to Elias.

"I'll gather other fighters. If I got it correctly, his partner is only a civilian but we can't be careless. It's better to have some back-up. We'll outnumber him. He cannot transform so he is no match for us.

Trevor nodded reluctantly. He had already given his agreement, He can't start protest now against the methods of the leader, even if they were unfair.

He let the chief go and walked out the back door, his sister in his arms, towards the barn that was used as a warehouse. This is where the vehicles used by the tribe for all their trips outside their territory were parked.

Trevor chose the car best suited to their mission and settled Tara in one of the back seats before buckling his seatbelt to hold her body in place.

His fingers brushed the stray strands away from her forehead and a sigh escaped his lips. Trevor swallowed the lump of guilt that was trying to force its way into his throat and closed the door. He then climbed and sat behind the wheel.

He waited like this for more than an hour and a creaking sound came from the entrance of the barn telling him that someone had just entered. He spotted three figures against the light and shielded his eyes with his hand to guess who the two silhouettes next to Elias belonged to.

His eyes widened slightly when he recognized the two people walking towards the car. When the back door opened on his side, the man couldn't help but yell.

"Ulicia, what are you doing here? Go back to the village…"

"It's not up to you to decide who gets to go on this mission, Trevor." Elias climbed into the front passenger seat and slammed the door shut.

He didn't even bother to look at the man he was talking to and Trevor bit his bottom lip. Ulicia didn't have a great aura. She was even among those who had the weakest aura among those who had been lucky enough to have their blessing activated.

Trevor could have recommended at least ten other fighters, more suitable than her if Elias had asked his opinion. Only the chef had chosen the young woman, not for her aura, but because she was Trevor's mate.

Her presence was a silent threat directed at him in case he decided to listen to his sister and stop following the plan. He knew it the moment he laid eyes on her. In the back of the vehicle, Ulicia had settled down near Tara. She placed her cold palm on her sister-in-law's cheek. Tara moaned before fidgeting weakly in her seat.

"Let's go," Elias ordered, his eyes locked straight ahead.

Trevor started the engine as the last person got into the back seat. He glanced in the rearview mirror and recognized Ysolt. If she was present, that only meant one thing. Wyatt had also joined Elias' plan.

By hook or by crook, Trevor couldn't be sure, but he knew the man would never let his mate engage in a manhunt that could put her in danger if he wasn't by her side. Even though Ysolt was strong in battle and had a great aura, her mate would never leave her alone.

"Take the direction of Grey Wolf pack. We traced the outsider trail to Bloodhood's Cavern. He brought the werewolves back, then he left to Grey Wolf where the pack must be in the middle of their battle.

We'll pick up Wyatt on the way and take the road that goes through the human territories. We need to be on the battlefield as quickly as possible."

"We can never be there before him, he is already more than an hour ahead of us."

"Our goal is not to get to Grey Wolf before he does, our goal is to get there and mingle with the ranks of Bloodhood. We will use them as a shield and as pawns. We are going to set a trap for this outsider to keep him occupied while we discover the identity of his mate.

Once that's done, all we have to do is bring him back to our camp. We'll let Everett know, so he'll come back obediently, and we'll force him into the renewal ritual. Once that's done, we'll get rid of the mate and Everett will marry my daughter to produce an heir."

"Y-You want to use the pack? Bloodhood is going to resent us. Now that their heir and the Warrior know about us, they can easily come for revenge once they know that we have used them. Besides, don't we risk incurring the wrath of the Goddess?"

Now that Trevor was listening carefully to Elias's words, he was increasingly aware that their leader was talking nonsense. He should never have followed him, but how to back out now that the man had implicated his mate and threatened his sister? If Elias decided to transform and fight them, even he wouldn't last long against him.

Elias sneered, snapping him out of his thoughts and Trevor glared at him.

"You know, ever since that day the ceremony failed, I've been wondering. Hasn't the Goddess decided to abandon us? In that case, we're on our own, Trevor. It's more than legitimate for us to seize this chance that is offered to us to regain this power that escaped us when Autumn Everett fled the village.

I can promise you that I will do whatever it takes to ensure that our tribe doesn't disappear. Bloodhood can't do anything against us if they can't enter our territory.

Last night, we found out what Light did to the Soul Healers. She altered their memory. We have in our possession the only person capable of preparing the potion allowing the werewolves to cross our magic barrier. We are untouchable." The sound of his voice was arrogant.

Trevor's hands clenched around the steering wheel as the car rolled down the bumpy road through the forest. Elias's words had confirmed his fears and a lump formed in his throat.

This plan would alienate the pack and the true leader of their clan. Could they still be called Children of the Moon Goddess at this rate?

His gaze hardened. He couldn't back down, it was too late. Trevor looked in the rearview mirror and met his mate's gaze who was glued against Tara. Beside her, Ysolt remained silent. He couldn't tell if the woman was following Elias of her own accord or if she was a hostage like Ulicia.

He focused his attention back on the road and thought about the plan Elias had just outlined to them.

Fooling the werewolves from Bloodhood was easier said than done. Unlike werewolves, skinwalkers had no scent and couldn't use a link, so stepping onto the battlefield of a pack fight and trying to infiltrate their ranks was a suicidal plan. Especially since he couldn't see how involving Bloodhood was going to allow them to discover the identity of Everett's mate.

What deceitful and Machiavellian plan could Elias have hatched to trap the man who had done nothing to deserve this, except being an Everett?

________

After nearly fifty minutes of drive, Connor saw the sign telling him it was nearly eighty miles to Grey Wolf.

The man had taken a monumental scold when he had called his manager to inform him that he was only going there now. No matter how hard Connor tried to explain that unexpected events related to the Bloodhood's omega and his mate had required his presence, he hadn't escaped the nearly ten-minute reprimand speech. That was his superior, Bradley Stevenson, greatest specialty.

Connor had endured his lecture in silence and let out a sigh as soon as the communication was cut off. He looked away from the road for a second and looked at the phone screen that hung on the dashboard.

With a touch of his finger, he pressed the Bluetooth control on the steering wheel. All he had to do was to say Greg's name and the call would go out, but the agent held back.

Since they had separated the day before over a misunderstanding, he had had time to think things over. Connor had read and re-read the message his boyfriend had sent him after his discussion with Glen and he knew what he had to do.

He wouldn't run away, he had made up his mind. After all, he had marked him.. It meant that his decision about their relationship had been made long ago and now was the time to confront him.