Chapter 108 - 107. Focus

Elias stared in undisguised anger at Connor facing him. He understood when he saw the severed head of one of the men. The team he had sent before dawn into the forest had been decimated by the man.

The leader of Blue Moon glanced over to where the mates of these men were locked up with the others. He had taken them prisoner with others tribe members to force the men to cooperate. Elias needed them to obey until he have time to explain thoroughly what threat weighed on their tribe.

He thought the person who broke in was the wielder of that strange power he saw as he left the hospital's parking lot and he wanted to get rid of that threat as soon as possible.

However, it was the outsider who came in person and his plans were ruined. Now that the captives were grieving the loss of their mate, they weren't going to want to listen to him.

The man gritted his teeth. How was he going to make them listen to reason? How to explain that what he was doing was for their good and their survival now that they were experiencing the greatest loss a Skinwalker could know?

His eyes were shooting daggers at Connor who raised an eyebrow to show him that he was waiting for his answer. Elias decided to go straight to his goal. There had already been losses with Ysolt. He can only hope that when they understand what is at stake, they will forgive him.

"You know what we're expected from you, Outsider."

"Yes, but I'm not exactly sure I like the way you ask. I may be old-fashioned, but I like to hear 'please'."

"Like I'm going to belittle me and ask nicely when I'm talking to someone who isn't even a real Skinwalker. You don't know of our life or our customs."

"Stop the bullshit, old man. I learned of my origins and my connection to your tribe a little over twenty-four hours ago. And frankly, given the welcome I received, I don't want to know more.

If it was already like that back in her time, I understand why my grandmother left without ever looking back as soon as she had the opportunity."

"Autumn Everett was just selfish. She condemned the whole tribe for a civilian and stained the chief's lineage with impure blood."

"It's funny to hear you say that, because from what I understand my impure blood gives me far greater power than you 'true Skinwalkers' have." The man with light brown hair grinned. "If you need the help of someone with impure blood to save you, just how low is your worth, hm?"

The words spoken in a low, defiant voice made Elias' blood boil. They were the Skinwalkers, children of the Moon Goddess. He wouldn't let anyone mock his tribe and his heritage.

Dark energy whips rose around Elias menacingly, their tips pointing up at Connor. The agent was still staring at him and he was internally exulting. Raised among the civilians, Connor hadn't received the training that all Skinwalkers receive and which allows them to perceive and control the energy around them.

Even though he could see the streams, he was defenseless because he didn't know any spell. Capturing him with his dark energy whips and subduing him was going to be a piece of cake.

Elias hurled whips at Connor, who stood still, staring at him. As he did for Silphie, he was going to lock him in a cocoon of black energy. It was going to disturb his aura and make him lose consciousness. Once unconscious, he would only have to set everything up for the ceremony and end it once and for all.

That's it. Once the ceremony is over, everything will be back to normal and the members of the tribe will understand that he did all this for their good. The return of the blessing will help them mourn their loss with a less heavy heart.

The whips were starting to expand around Connor to form the dark energy chrysalis and the agent was still standing facing Elias, motionless. Suddenly, Connor sighed.

"Okay, I'm not in the mood to wait and see what your next move will be." He had barely finished his sentence when Connor's aura suddenly grew bigger and a halo formed around the man. The unfinished cocoon exploded and dissipated into the air around it. Elias' eyes widened before he took a step back and bent under the force he felt.

When Connor had arrived in the village, his aura, which towered over the man by two heads, was already the largest of any he had seen. The leader of Blue Moon painfully raised his head to stare at the agent who was still standing in front of him. The aura he had just deployed was well over seven feet tall, and the pressure emanating from him was so intense that the Blue Moon leader felt his body being crushed on the ground by an unseen force.

What had happened to this man? How could the power of his blessing have increased further? Elias felt the pressure intensify and his knees began to bend. He was about to crash into the ground.

Connor meanwhile stared at Elias who was overwhelmed by the force of his aura and he thought back to when he had left the hospital.

________

Sitting on the bed, Sora rubbed her eyes to drive away sleep. Connor fixed his winter coat and walked over to her. He leaned down to look her in the eye.

"Yes, I'm leaving, little one. Were we too loud?"

She shook her head in denial and her small voice whispered.

"Are you going to bring back Big Brother Greg?" Connor nodded and the little werewolf continued. "Then I'll give you a gift." Sora reached up and grabbed Connor's face before pressing her forehead to hers and she closed her eyes.

Connor smiled for a moment, intrigued by the behavior of the little werewolf, and the next moment he felt an overwhelming force flowing into him. The man widened his eyes and gasped for air to get back to his lungs. He heard the voice of the little omega address him calmly.

"It's okay, Big Brother. Just stay still."

The agent controlled himself to regain control of his breathing and inhaled gently before calming down. Gradually, Connor started to see several swirls of color dancing and circulating in the room around them.

"What…"

Sora concentrated one last time and he felt a new influx of strength. Eden and Glen who were behind Connor, saw the palms of the little werewolf's hands which were glued against Connor's cheeks start to shine. The same halo emanated from the agent's body and the next moment his aura began to grow up to the ceiling.

"What the… I understand why your system fails to assess her level. She is completely out of league," Glen commented as he leaned into his mate's ear.

Eden observed the scene just as fascinated as his dominant was. He didn't answer and just nod. The teen didn't want to miss any detail of what was unfolding before his eyes and had opened his system to see Connor's information.

[Connor Everett, level 37.

Race: Human.

Type: Skinwalker

Class: Assassin

Code name: Red

Stats: strength: 1545/10000

Speed: 1725/10000

Agility: 1615/10000

Intellect: 1630/10000

HP: 620/620

Skills: Martial Arts, Swordsmanship

Items: Wolfsbane choke lace, high grade.

Wolfsbane daggers, high grade.

Wolfsbane knuckleduster, high grade.

Wolfsbane sword, Artifact.]

The man was already impressive with his former stats, he couldn't wait to challenge him and see the difference. He paused, remembering that, he too, had leveled up a lot. The male omega smirked at his new strength. Glen glanced at him and scoffed slightly. No need to link to know what his mate was thinking when he made this face.

A few seconds passed and the glow of the halo in Sora's palms and around Connor's body started to fade. When it disappeared, Sora pulled her hands away and opened her eyes. The omega girl was waiting for Connor's reaction with a wide smile on her lips.

"What… What was that, Sora?"

"A gift!" replied the werewolf. Her smile had widened.

Sora's little canines were planted slightly in her lower lip and the agent saw her tail wagging behind her. He could almost see her twinkling eyes as she waited to be praised.

"I think she…."

Eden fell silent immediately when he received a nudge from his mate. The next second, the werewolf heard Glen's voice in his head.

[Don't tell him in front of Bradley that he has power now. They might fire him for good.]

The male omega's mouth opened and closed as he considered how to finish his sentence.

"She wanted to show you her affection?" He showed an awkward smile and Connor turned to look at him, frowning at the lame explanation. He froze when he saw Eden and Glen.

Just behind the two werewolves, there were two big golden wolves. He turned towards the bed where Sora was and he saw behind her, a golden cub rolled up in a ball. The agent smiled, because he understood what had just happened and moved towards the omega to put his hand on her head.

"Thank you for your gift, Sora. I'm very happy. What would you like in return?" He asked her and immediately her eyes lit up.

"Come play with me again. I want to do human games again." Sora said, her tail swaying to show her enthusiasm. Connor looked at Greg's scarf around her neck and he answered.

"How about I take you shopping? You like cute things, don't you?

________

Elias succeeded to lift his head despite the pressure and glared at Connor. The latter was staring at him, unbothered to pick up his animosity. The man gritted his teeth. He refused to let it end there. He couldn't fail. Not after all they had been through. Not after all the sorrow.

He fought the pressure and managed, somehow, to straighten his chest. While his legs were still shaking, he covered his body with a thin layer of black energy. The shield he had thus formed diminished the effects of pressure. Elias smiled smugly at Connor.

"You thought you were the only one with a secret weapon?" As he talked, black swirls escaped from his body and grew bigger and bigger until they formed a thick black cloud. Purplish reflections streaked across the surface of this mass of energy and Elias sniggered. The ends of the mass twisted into whips that once again pointed at Connor.

The leader of Blue Moon glared at Connor, but something caught his attention. Several werewolves emerged from the forest led by two silhouettes of men. When he saw the cherubic blond hair of one and the deep black of the other, he understood who they were.

Connor felt the movements behind him and sighed as the two men stopped, one to his left and the other to his right. His aura returned to its original form as he addressed Eden and Glen.

"I told you not to come."

"Why would I listen to you? I'm the older one. There's no way I'm getting an order from my baby brother!" Glen retorted offendedly as the other werewolves fell into place behind them.

In front of them, a few of Elias's men had also just arrived and glared at the new arrivals as Glen and Connor continued.

"Baby Brother?" The agent repeated as his eyebrow was twitching and displaying his annoyance. He decided to brush off the remark and turned to the long black-haired werewolf before pointing his index finger at his pecs, marking his words. "I said it for your sake, you dummy. Have you forgotten what Eden saw? What is it? Do you crave heroism? What are you going to do this thing touch you…" A cough cut him off and Eden's voice rose.

"Um… Guys. Can you please focus?"