Chapter 11: Hidden Intentions

Peter Hale leaned against the hospital wall, his sharp eyes watching his nephew, Derek, from a distance. Derek was tense, his gaze flickering nervously as they left the play area. Peter smirked to himself, running over the events that had just unfolded in his mind.

That boy... Peter's thoughts swirled with excitement. He had heard stories—whispers from his sister Talia—about people like this. Extremely rare, she had said. Not supernatural creatures themselves, but humans who channeled supernatural power in a way that was dangerous, chaotic. Most of them couldn't control it. It drove them mad, tearing their minds apart before they could even understand what they were capable of.

But this boy, Eli, was different. He was functioning—alive and aware. And he had awakened his powers as a child.

Peter's mind raced with possibilities. If I can bring him into my pack, he'll be valuable when I become Alpha. But first, he needed to make sure Derek didn't say anything to anyone. The last thing Peter wanted was to alert the wrong people.

He glanced at Derek, who still looked uneasy. His nephew had noticed something was off about the boy, too.

"Hey," Peter said, his voice low and commanding. "Don't mention any of this to your mother."

Derek turned to Peter, frowning. "But... he knows we're werewolves. What if he tells hunters?"

Peter's sharp eyes narrowed, and he let out a short, humorless laugh. "Be quiet. The only way he could know anything about us is if he's supernatural himself."

Derek hesitated, his mind still racing. What was that boy? It wasn't just the fact that Eli had seen the wolf in him—it was the way he looked through him, like he was reading Derek's very soul. It was unsettling, like Eli had weighed him, judged him.

"I shouldn't have been playing with those kids anyway," Derek muttered, more to himself than Peter. "What's Mom going to say when she finds out?"

Peter rolled his eyes, dismissing the concern with a wave of his hand. "She won't find out if you keep your mouth shut."

But Derek was still thinking about Eli. "What do you think he saw in me?" he asked, his voice quieter now. "Did he... like what he saw?"

Peter chuckled darkly, the sound echoing in the hallway. "Probably not."

Back at the hospital, Eli was sitting quietly, turning the ring over in his hand. He had been thinking about the strange encounter with Derek and Peter, but now his mind was focused on the ring. Something had changed.

The stats had shifted again. The ring now showed:

Attack: 3/6

Defense: 4/5

Eli frowned, trying to make sense of it. He had thought that 6/6 would be the limit of the ring's attack power, but now it seemed more like a load bar—it filled with energy over time, and when it was fully charged, the ring would complete its evolution. The defense would reach 5, and the attack would hit 6 once it was done absorbing energy.

It's not losing energy anymore. It's taking it from somewhere else. Eli glanced around the room, half expecting to see threads of essence flowing into the ring again, like before.

Curiosity surged through him. He wanted to know more, to understand how this energy worked. But today, he was too tired to try upgrading the ring again. Maybe tomorrow. For now, he'd play with his other powers. Maybe he could find more strange people like Derek and his uncle.

Eli wandered around the hospital, observing the people in the halls, the doctors and patients going about their routines. He switched on his Pure Eyes, hoping to see if anyone else had the same strange energy around them. But no one stood out. Everyone seemed normal—at least, more normal than Derek and Peter.

As Eli moved through the halls, he spotted the boy who had woken him up earlier—the annoying one. The boy was with another kid now, and they were talking loudly, joking around with each other. The loud boy, the one who had interrupted him, was Scott, and he seemed a little more cautious now, glancing nervously around as he talked to the new boy.

"What's your name?" Scott asked the other boy.

"Mieczysław," the boy replied, sounding out each syllable carefully.

Scott blinked in confusion, his face scrunched up. "What?"

The boy sighed dramatically and said, "Just call me Stiles."

"Stiles is much nicer," Scott muttered, nodding in agreement. "I'm Scott."

Eli approached, feeling his irritation bubble up again. These two were messing around like everything was a game. He couldn't help it—he walked right up to them, his anger simmering beneath the surface.

"Hey," Eli said sharply, glaring at Scott. "Not everything's a plaything!"

Scott blinked in surprise, stepping back slightly. "What?"

Eli crossed his arms, his voice filled with childish anger. "What if you had pulled out my IV when you woke me up?"

The suddenness of Eli's outburst startled Scott, and Stiles immediately took notice, a curious smirk playing on his lips. A few nurses passing by chuckled quietly at the scene, recognizing Eli as the hospital's little troublemaker.

"Careful, Scott," one of them said, her voice light. "Looks like you've met your match."

Scott, clearly embarrassed, shifted nervously and took a puff from his inhaler. "Sorry," he mumbled, his voice soft. He looked genuinely apologetic, which cooled Eli's temper a bit.

"It's fine," Eli said grudgingly, though his eyes still flashed with annoyance. He didn't like the feeling Scott gave him—the air around him tasted like a kicked puppy. Eli didn't know how else to describe it, but it made him feel a little bad for snapping.

But before Eli could fully relax, Stiles jumped in, clearly enjoying the drama. "I don't see you with an IV now," he teased. "Where's your evidence that Scott could've hurt you, huh?"

Eli narrowed his eyes at Stiles, recognizing the boy's mischievous nature immediately. This one was a troublemaker, too. Stiles grinned, clearly not fazed by Eli's angry look. Eli was about to respond when Scott nudged Stiles, signaling him to cut it out.

"Leave him alone, Stiles," Scott muttered.

Stiles held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. I'll stop. No need to get all serious."

Eli watched the two boys, realizing that despite Stiles' teasing, there was something warm and genuine between them. He could feel it in the air around them—a bond, like the taste of friendship, strong and deep.

Eli huffed and turned away. "You're both weird," he muttered, though his tone had softened.

As Eli walked away, leaving Stiles and Scott behind, he couldn't help but smile a little. The interaction had lightened his mood, and despite his frustration, he found the two boys interesting. Maybe he would run into them again.

For now, though, his mind was buzzing with other thoughts. Derek and Peter. The strange wolf-like shapes he had seen around them. The way his ring was absorbing energy, growing stronger. Everything felt connected, and Eli had only begun to scratch the surface.

He looked down at the ring on his finger again, its faint glow still present. Whatever this power was, it was only going to grow. And Eli knew he needed to understand it before it became too much for him to handle.

Somewhere in the depths of his mind, a whisper stirred—a voice he couldn't quite hear yet but felt coming closer. Something was coming.