The battle had been raging for a while now and Connor was meeting fewer and fewer opponents. No wonder, knowing the size of the Grey Wolf pack. And that made sense given that many of their fighters had been killed during their forced marking failure at Purple Eyes.
The man narrowly dodged a clawed hand that slammed into him and delivered a rising slash with his sword that backhanded into a werewolf's throat. The sound of flesh scorched by the wolfsbane-soaked blade mingled with the sound of gurgling blood that swirled up the werewolf's throat and spilled out of its maw.
Connor's opponent slumped heavily to the ground and the agent walked toward the body, his hazel eyes utterly indifferent, to finish the job. He properly beheaded his opponent with a clean blow. A smirk was creeping on his face when a voice called out to him.
"I guess you think you're invincible."
Connor turned around and was face to face with a woman. He had no recollection of meeting with the woman before. However, a single glance is enough for the man to recognize the clothes she was wearing.
After all, he had just left the Blue Moon Tribe before coming here. His profession as an assassin had conditioned him to pay attention to every detail, and this with the sole purpose to leave no room for chance when he went in pursuit of prey.
His gaze hardened as he stared at the woman who studied him from head to toe.
"It pissed me off! How come the Moon Goddess granted you such a great aura. You're not even a real Skinwalker. Your blood is stained with that of civilians!"
"What can I say? The Moon Goddess might like me. Everybody loves me once they get to know me," the man replied with a jaded shrug. "I can't prevent them from doting on me!"
"You won't be arrogant anymore when I'll be done with you, outsider!"
The woman transformed before his eyes into an ivory-white wolf who bared her fangs and barked to threaten Connor. Three other wolves came out of hiding and the agent's hand tightened on the handle of his dao. He was surrounded.
His jaw clenched surreptitiously and his eyes fell on each of his opponents one after the other. There were three white wolves of different shades, as well as a wolf with brown shaggy fur. All bared their fangs and watched for the slightest opening, the slightest weakness.
The ivory-white wolf that had transformed before Connor's eyes charged first, immediately covered by the brown wolf who darted forward with a delay. She ran and jumped open-mouthed at the agent, who dodged.
This was exactly what the brown wolf was waiting for and took the opportunity to attack him, his fangs aimed at the arm of the agent holding his weapon. Fortunately, Connor wasn't fooled. He blocked the attack and the wolf's mouth closed on the blade of his dao.
He gripped the blade with the whole hand without worrying about the edge and spun it to repel his opponent. The wolf fell to the ground and stood up before shaking his head to chase away the dizziness caused by his fall.
"I have no intention of fighting you," Connor announced under his breath. The white wolf and brown wolf glared in response to his words and barked to signal the other white wolves to attack as well.
The two Skinwalkers who had stayed behind so far exchanged a look and Connor could feel the hesitation in their demeanor. Whoever those wolves were, they weren't there of their own volition.
Knowing this made things even more difficult for the agent. The two wolves who had charged him without warning were ready to fight, but if the other two were forced to act by one means or another. He needed a plan and for that he had time. He had to get out of this ambush.
"Are you sure you have the luxury of choosing the pacifist path?" Elias came out of his hiding place. The man walked and stopped next to the brown wolf. Elias waved his hand to command him to wait.
The brown fur Skinwalker snarled but obeyed the order of his leader who paddled, a smirk on his face.
"Why would I lower myself to your level and play your little game to find out who has the biggest one when I already know it's me?" Connor retorted and watched Elias's face contort in anger before adding. "I was talking about my aura, okay? I wouldn't dare to mention anything else, I know it can be a sensitive subject for some." He taunted by taking a falsely contrite tone which had the effect of making the Chief of the Blue Moon tribe fume.
That's what he needed. To destabilize his opponent and find a loophole to get away from them. If he succeeded, he could think of a way to counter them without killing them all.
If he had read the situation correctly, only Elias and the two wolves that attacked him were a real threat. The two others would probably surrender without a fuss. At least, that's what the agent hoped.
That said, even then, he had no desire to kill Elias or the other Skinwalkers.
Even though he didn't quite understand their situation since he had only learned of their existence twenty-four hours ago, he guessed that their plan was made out of desperation. Moreover, he couldn't picture himself disemboweling the husband of the person who had happily fattened him up a few hours ago. He was certainly an assassin, but he had a compassionate heart.
"You look like you think you have a choice, but you don't. You know, while we're speaking, one of my men is on his way to Red Creek to find someone called Greg Douglas. Does this name ring a bell?"
"What did you just say?" Connor's hands tightened around the hilt of his sword until his knuckles whitened.
Elias savored the features of the man cursing him silently and a shiver of excitement ran through his spine. Now they were on the same level of contempt. Now he could have fun. He was going to take unimaginable pleasure in breaking the man who had looked down on his tribe.
Blessed by the Moon Goddess or not, Elias didn't care. The very existence of the descendant of Everett repelled him. He couldn't bear to know that this outsider, with yet impure blood, had been chosen by the Goddess to harbor such power, while his tribe was barely alive. He wouldn't allow it.
He was going to make that aura his own and establish a bloodline so that the Skinwalkers' ability would never again be threatened ever again.
Elias met Connor's gaze, which had filled with anger and hatred the moment he heard his boyfriend's name. The agent was enraged. How could Elias have known about Greg? Even in front of Silphie, he had never mentioned his lover's name, and aside from the incident where Alana had overheard him on the phone, he had no recollection of exposing his personal life and Elias was nowhere near.
The man held his breath for a second and released the air through his nose slowly to calm down. He wouldn't gain anything by getting upset. If Elias had said that it was to provoke him. He left the village less than five hours ago. He doubted that the Skinwalkers would travel by plane so it is very likely that they would drive to Red Creek.
Greg is a member of the WIA even though he's only a scientist, he has basic combat training and is an excellent shooter.
If he managed to warn his man, the doctor should be able to defend himself and warn the agents. Wait. Could the WIA act when Skinwalkers were shape-shifting wizards and not werewolves? More importantly, was wolfsbane effective against them? Connor glanced at the blue blade of his weapon and gritted his teeth.
He realized how little information he had regarding the wizarding tribe. The WIA was unprepared against wizards.
No clan of wizards had ever threatened the security of civilians, so the latter never felt the need to learn about them or to prepare for a confrontation.
The discretion of the wizarding clans was such that even their existence was reduced in certain parts of the world to a mere myth. In other words, he had no idea what their weak points were, or how to kill them. Beheading should do, right?
The agent continued his silent war of nerves with the leader of the Skinwalkers, whose smile had twitched slightly when Connor had regained control of his emotions. Elias broke the silence and resumed his provocation.
"No reaction? Guess you're not a Skinwalker. A real one wouldn't let a threat against his mate slide. Just like werewolves, they are viscerally attached to the person they have chosen as a partner."
"What do you expect from me?" Connor simply asked Elias, glaring at him.
The palms of his hands were starting to ache from clenching his dao's hilt. He had to decide right now what he was going to do. Shoot them down right away and run to his car to call Greg or wait to hear more about those who left after him.
"Nothing big, you follow us very obediently back to the village and you submit without protest to the ritual to renew the blessing."
"Why do I feel that even if I do everything you say, I would still have you on my back?"
"Well, I guess you will also have to give my daughter an heir so that the tribe can survive in the next generations."
"You're insane. There's not something that hit you when you dug up my information, you brainless stalker! I'm gay and I have a marked partner! There is no way I can give your daughter an heir and I also don't fucking want to."
"How unfortunate. I guess it will dramatically shorten this poor man's lifespan. His only crime will have been to have crossed your path, outsider. Well, I had only planned to let him live long enough to let you say goodbye to him, but I guess you don't need it if you're acting this rebellious."
When he heard Elias' words, Connor let his anger overwhelm him and, weapon clenched between his palms, sped up to strike a blow.
________
Christopher stared like everyone else in the cave at the head of the woman who had been decapitated by Connor a few hours ago and his heart started to pound. He felt Glen and the leader of Bloodhood's anger rising and the werewolf had no explanation to give.
After all, when he saw the agent's blade separate the head from the body, it was without any doubts a white wolf in front of him. In other words, an omega. How could this white wolf turn into a woman when everyone knows that their kind returns to their werewolf form when they die?
The fighter looked at the head again then at Connor whose face had turned several shades of blue after being beaten up. The human hadn't done anything to defend himself against them when he could have to retaliate easily.
After all, when Silver had proposed the agent as a liaison officer, he had made his fighters and insiders aware that Connor was one of the best assassins in the WIA. He could have hurt them, however, the man hadn't fought back and he ended up beaten into a pulp. Christopher was starting to see the extent of his mistake and gulped.
"Alpha, I swear…"
"Shut up!" Eden mumbled and Chris' head snapped at him. His whole body froze when he laid eyes on the omega. His instincts were telling him to run, but he couldn't move.
"You didn't even try to listen to him just because he's a human?"
"No, I swear, it was… I saw… The white wolf… There were w-…" Chris was slowly curling up trying to escape the pressure of the aura crushing him. Around them, except for Silver and Glen, all the werewolves had retreated by instinct to get as far away as possible from the increasingly threatening omega.
"I said, SHUT UP!" Eden yelled out.
A screaming silence answered the young werewolf's command. The blond turned his head to see all the werewolves in the cave, even his father and his mate, one kneel on the floor before him. A translucent blue screen poppep up before his eyes.
[Congratulations! You've obtained the item 'Command of the King']