The panic that had gripped Eden started to dissipate now that he had heard the explanation. He just had to take care of Light. The blond had a personal grudge against her so, as long as he was fighting the witch, he didn\'t have to worry about anything else. Better to focus on the confrontation against her and forget this king thing. His mate\'s life depended on it. For him, that was all that mattered.

Eden had no intention or desire to embark on any quest to become the leader of the werewolves when he knew for sure the hatred the omegas garnered from the other packs and the contempt with which he had been treated because of his fur.

The younger man\'s shoulders relaxed and he listened to the remaining of Silphie\'s speech with a distracted ear. The woman, too enthusiastic about the subject, didn\'t notice the lack of interest on the part of the main actor. However, it didn\'t escape his mate.

In the room where they had holed up to end the night before leaving at first light, Glen turned to him.

"Come here," he said, extending his hand.

The alpha tugged on the blond\'s hand to pull him onto the bed where he was already settled. The omega settled on the chest of his dominant who turned off the light of the bedside lamp.

Glen\'s fingers dug into his mate\'s hair to gently massage his scalp. After a few seconds, he felt Eden\'s body finally relax against his.

"What are you thinking about?" Eden paused before answering him.

"I\'m trying to figure out why I can no longer access your curse\'s information."

"Do you have any idea what\'s blocking you?"

The blond replied with a sigh that echoed in the now quiet room. The moonlight was streaming in through the window on the wooden desk.

"Not at all. Until now, when I couldn\'t access some information, the system told me that it was because the prerequisites weren\'t met. Now, access is completely denied. It\'s like the rules have changed."

"I see. Well, from the start, you didn\'t know much about this system. I mean, you told me it showed up when you woke up after your first few heats, right?"

"Yes," Eden answered in a half-drowsy voice. "I realize that I don\'t know much about it. Maybe I should talk to that woman, Silphie. She might have information."

"I doubt it," retorted Glen. "She probably would have told us if she knew anything. Better keep this information to ourselves and besides, I don\'t trust her yet. More precisely, I don\'t trust her husband. The Skinwalkers\' leader is hostile towards Connor. I\'m not sure of the intentions behind their desire to help us."

Eden\'s cheek pressed against the Dominant\'s pectoral.

"Do you think she didn\'t tell us the truth?"

"Who knows? Maybe everything is true, but what Silphie told us is mainly her feelings. After all, Skinwalkers have lived in Bloodhood territory for millennia. Not to mention the spell they cast so that the werewolves cannot find their village and approach them.

When I look at their behavior, they don\'t exactly resemble people who regret their separation from the pack."

"You\'re not wrong."

The omega\'s index finger casually caressed Glen\'s pectoral, circling the nipple that perked out. The alpha grabbed his mate\'s wrist to stop him and softened his gesture by kissing the tip of the finger that provoked him.

"For now, let\'s try to sleep. We\'re going to go back to the cave first thing tomorrow and from there let\'s think about a plan for Light and everything else."

Glen placed a kiss on Eden\'s forehead without giving him time to react and fixed his position. A few hours later, an unpleasant feeling of cold on his skin, right in the middle of his back, woke up the alpha. Glen\'s eyelids fluttered open, and when he realized what was causing that sensation, he frowned.

"Get your dirty foot off my back, Connor!" He whisper-yelled, hoping not to wake his mate.

"Get up, breakfast is ready!" The agent retorted without moving his foot, an evil smirk on his mouth.

"I said," the dominant tried to catch the foot that touched him with his free hand, but without visibility, he only caught air. "Back off!" The alpha got up and sat on the bed ready to jump when Eden moved. Connor who had put his foot back in the slipper, took a step back and looked at him with a smug face.

"Guys, if you want to fight, do it somewhere else. It\'s way too early." With a drowsy gesture, he grabbed the pillow his mate had slept on which was full with his pheromones to press it on his ear and block the sound.

Face to face, the two men stared at each other. The alpha glared at Connor who was grinning back.

"It\'s almost eleven. I said breakfast, but it\'s more lunch than anything else."

"What?" Eden straightened up suddenly.

"Hi, Blondie!" The agent greeted. "We have, or rather I have a long way to go, I\'d like to return to Red Creeks as soon as possible."

"What? You\'re going to chase after your hubby?"

"What if I do? You\'ve got a problem with that?" Connor clicked his tongue, annoyed.

"Not at all! You\'re finally admitting that you screwed up. I\'m more than good with that."

The agent rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"The truth is that the Bloodhood\'s fighters left this morning along with some Purple Eyes\' fighters to attack Grey Wolf. Alpha Silver had given Alpha Elma\'s pack a two-day delay to deal with the damage caused by Grey Wolf\'s attack on their territory.

The moment of the battle has finally arrived. I want to join them there as an official liaison agent and get back to Red Creek to report soon after."

"I\'ll come with you!" Eden cut him off.

"No!" Glen and Connor answered at the same time.

"It\'d be against the very purpose of this battle if you ended up taken hostage or injured. I don\'t want Alpha Silver to regret his decision to accept an agent into his territory for the first time. Plus, you two have things to do. The full moon is tomorrow night, right?"

Eden lowered his head. Sure. Nothing had changed. He was just an omega, his place was in the cave. Even though he had inherited a system that could make him stronger, it didn\'t change his blood rank and the way the rest of the world saw him. He bit the inside of his mouth and gritted his teeth.

Glen\'s hand reached up to rest on the back of his neck, but the blond got up to avoid the contact.

"Alright, let\'s go." He headed for the bathroom attached to the room, leaving the two men alone in the room.

"Did you two talk about what you found out last night?" Connor asked seriously.

"Yes. The problem is that there isn\'t much to say. We don\'t know anything about this system. I wonder if there is a way to learn more. There is a connection with magic so it would be nice to get in touch with witches so that they can help us, maybe also give us a way to counter this dark energy."

"Aren\'t you going to tell the Skinwalkers about this?" Connor.

"I don\'t trust them yet, or rather, I\'m very suspicious of their leader, Elias. I\'d like to contact another clan, but…" He ran a hand through his hair.

"There is little information about witches." The agent finished his sentence for him and the alpha just nodded silently. "Your biggest enemy right now is time. You have no idea when Light is going to show up again with her magic wolf and stuff. I think you should talk to them."

Glen looked up at Connor and watched him for a moment in silence. He didn\'t know if it was his loyalty to his best friend or not, but he didn\'t like the idea. He preferred to look for another lead and his instincts also told him that it was better to avoid the Skinwalkers for now. He would only turn to them if he had no choice.

The alpha shook his head to show his decision.

"We\'ll first look elsewhere. I may have an idea of ​​who could help us. I just need to find a way to talk to Silphie without the Chief or her daughter." Glen explained.

"It shouldn\'t be difficult. Elias is still missing since last night and as for the girl, when I got up she had already left to go and take care of the village business.

"Perfect then! Let\'s go. I\'m going to fetch Eden."

"No need, I\'m here."

The omega opened the bathroom door, a sullen look on his face. The dominant frowned wondering what could have upset his mate and followed him with his eyes as he walked towards the bedroom door. Feeling scrutinized, the blond turned around.

"There is no hot water. Let\'s go back to the cave. I need to go to the hot pool."

The three men left the room and a tantalizing smell greeted them. They walked into the living room and a voice called out to them behind the half-open kitchen door.

"Come this way. It\'s ready to be served. It\'s best to eat while it\'s still warm. Not that everyone needs to warm up, but the flavors come out when it\'s all warm."

"What is that ?" Eden asked. The omega walked directly towards the table, guided by the aroma escaping from a huge iron pot.

The smell was indeed appetizing and their stomachs, which had had nothing since the deer hunted the day before in the forest, were crying out for hunger. Silphie swirled a ladle in the pot and grabbed a bowl to fill it.

"A soup made from wild boar meat. It has been simmering since very early this morning and the meat pieces should be just right."

Eden sat down without taking his eyes off the bowl filled to the brim that the woman had just placed on the wooden table in front of him. Glen could practically see him drooling, just like the woman who chuckled, pleased with the effect of her cooking.

"It\'s a personal recipe. The mix of spices I braised the pieces of wild boar with before putting them in the vegetable broth is a jealously guarded family secret. Help yourself."

She continued to serve while the other two men took their places around the wooden table. Silphie glanced up as Eden grabbed his spoon to dip it into the rich broth, fishing out a large serving of winter vegetables and a rack of wild boar meat.

"You told us you weren\'t born here," Glen asked, taking the steaming bowl she held out to him. He thanked her politely with a nod and placed the container in front of him then reached for his spoon.

"No, that\'s right. I came to the Skinwalkers\' territory about thirty years ago. I guess you know why."

"Yes, The Elder told us that since Autumn Everett fled, the tribe member with the highest aura had to marry a witch to increase their chance of renewing the blessing activation."

"Exactly. I\'m an animist witch. My clan lives in the territory of White Stone. We are under the authority of the Earth Goddess, Talamh."

"Animist? Does that mean you are close to nature or something?"

"That\'s it. Our magic and our way of life are based on nature. We interact and use the vital force that exists in every living being whether human or animal, but also objects having a connection with Talamh."

"It wasn\'t a big change of scenery for you to come here then?" The alpha asked. He had practically swallowed half of his bowl and was amused by Eden\'s face, who eyed the pot with a hungry look without daring to interrupt the conversation.

"Not at all. The Skinwalkers and Animist Witches are very close to nature so I had no difficulty adapting here."

"Is there a difference with the powers you\'ve been using since becoming a Skinwalker or are they the same?"

"No. I would even say that being an animist helped me a lot to assimilate the magic of Skinwalkers. After all, we naturally have this ability to see the energies that emanate from living beings and objects related to Talamh."

The ringing of Connor\'s phone interrupted them and Eden took the opportunity to ask for a second service. The agent excused himself before getting up from the table to answer. He crossed the threshold of the kitchen and put the device to his ear.

"Hello, sexy ass! What…"

The sound of the front door slamming open interrupted him, and he turned just in time to see Elias glare at him. The man moved forward and turned to his right to enter a room where he locked himself.

Connor, seeing the scene, raised an eyebrow before resuming his conversation.

"Nah, it\'s nothing. What\'s up?"

________

When Silphie, Alana, and the Soul Healer returned after escorting the three men to their car parked near the wooden cabin, Elias walked over to his wife and daughter without giving the old werewolf a single glance.

"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."

The chief jostled his daughter and left the house without looking back.. Inside, The Elder stared at the back of the man storming away, a bad feeling weighing on her chest.