A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Erik shrugged in response. "It\'s fine. She likely won\'t wake up for quite a while as her body is exhausted. And even if she wakes up sooner than expected, she should recognize my room. She\'s never been in there, but we\'ve had video calls. She probably won\'t freak out, and even if she does, I\'d rather that than have her find herself chained up."

Emma nodded in acceptance but still offered her opinion. "I think she would like it if she woke up with you beside her, Sir."

"You\'re probably right. And perhaps I\'ll keep a vigil later, but for now, I\'m exhausted from having my body sucked dry and refilled a couple of times after an already emotionally heavy day." He answered while smiling lightly.

They reached his parent\'s bedroom and went inside. Since Astrid occupied his bedroom, Erik decided to sleep there instead. The bed was also bigger, so he would be able to fit together with the girls.

The room was a little larger than his and had no computer or posters. Instead, it had a few hunting trophies, furs, and rugs. There was also a large wardrobe and various pictures of his parents together, some with him, some without.

The bed was king-size, making it large enough to fit three people. Not that his parents were particularly adventurous; they were just large people. Erik had to get his size from somewhere, after all.

He turned to Emma and gave her another kiss before producing some rope. "We\'re going straight to sleep this time. Do you still want to be tied up?"

Perhaps it wasn\'t the best habit for Emma to have in this dangerous world, but it didn\'t matter too much. At least as long as Erik was right next to her. Besides, Emma could quickly burn through her ropes in a second, using her light affinity.

A shy yet slightly perverted smile appeared on Emma\'s face as she nodded almost imperceptibly. Her mind was a happy jumble as she thought about lying helplessly next to Erik, even just to sleep.

She quickly undressed to be in her underwear for comfort. After everything she had already done with Erik, this was minor.

\'I\'m becoming a pervert.\' She thought. \'And I don\'t care.\'

While Erik tied Emma up, Emily was pacing in light, frantic circles back in Erik\'s old room as she tried to resist the urge to follow Erik. \'Damn that deliciously tasting, controlling asshole and his bitch of a partner!\'

She came to a halt and sighed. \'At least I can still swear at her in my thoughts.\' She stood still for a moment and then walked out of the room. \'Whatever. It\'s not like he\'s that bad…\'

When she entered the other bedroom, she wore an expression that said a lot about her turbulent thoughts. \'Damn. I can\'t believe I followed him.\' She looked at what Erik was doing to Emma and almost groaned. \'I shouldn\'t have expected any different.\'

\'They\'re both perverts!\' She thought but quickly scolded herself. \'Yet I can\'t even blame Emma, as it\'s partly my fault.\'

When Erik was done and looked up to notice Emily\'s squirming uncomfortably in place, he grinned and stepped closer to her. "Decided you wanted your reward after all?"

Emily glared at him but didn\'t move as Erik came closer. Soon, his face was right in front of hers with an infuriating, teasing grin on his lips. He grabbed her chin, looked deep into her black pools, and kissed her deeply.

Immediately, Emily couldn\'t help but moan a little, even as she scolded herself inwardly. It wasn\'t even so much about the delicious taste anymore or Erik\'s tongue marking every inch of her mouth as his tongue wrestled with hers.

Instead, she could feel her pleasure being enhanced by her growing affection for Erik despite her desperate attempts to ignore or deny it.

After he had his fill, Erik released her with a confident grin. He turned around, removed his armor until he wore only underwear, and walked to the bed before lying down in the middle, where he pulled a happily squealing and tied-up Emma against his chest.

He then extended his arm to the side in a welcoming gesture as he looked at a still slightly dazed Emily. "You can sleep on the couch, or even with Astrid, if you like, but if you sleep here, I\'ll kiss you again. No perverted business tonight, though. It\'s been a long and emotional day."

Emily gulped nervously. This would be the first time she would actually sleep in the same bed as him. Yet, before she could even really think about it, her feet were already moving as she gingerly lay down on the bed and immediately got pulled against Erik\'s body.

Unlike Emma, she still wore all her clothes.

While Emma\'s mismatched eyes beamed with happiness at her sister\'s decision to join them, Erik kissed them both, though, with Emma, he had to remove the gag for a second. Then he closed his eyes before drifting off to sleep, sandwiched between two beautiful sisters.

At this point, Emily couldn\'t escape anymore, as she was firmly held in Erik\'s embrace. Yet, as she looked at Emma\'s overflowing happiness, felt Erik\'s strong arms around her, and smelt his calming scent, she couldn\'t bother to care.

Soon, both Ashcroft sisters were mired in a deep sleep.

******

At the same time, five men and women appeared on top of the cliff overlooking Frostvik and gazed down with various gazes—some complicated, some menacing.

It was nighttime now. The moon stood high in the night sky and illuminated the five of them with its radiance, making the scene quite beautiful as the snow glimmered on the taiga forest\'s pine trees behind them.

Naturally, these were the shapeshifters, Nora, Anne, Björn, Olaf, and their boss, who were following Erik and the others. Currently, they were in their human form.

"Turns out they really did go to Frostvik," Björn said as he crouched down and looked around. "At least, their smell definitely leads here and doesn\'t seem to leave again, but I can\'t see any sign of them in town."

The big man with Viking braids in his beard nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed, but I can\'t figure out why. There\'s nothing here unless they\'re just looking for shelter, but, as you said, there\'s no sign of any houses being occupied."

Naturally, Elora\'s sigils kept any kind of light and sound from escaping their current residence.

Suddenly, Nora spoke up with glittering eyes as she nearly jumped up and down in excitement, "Aren\'t you guys ignoring the obvious possibility? What if she\'s back?!"

In response, she received a slap on the back of her head by Anne. "Stuff your lady boner, Nora. There\'s no way she would just run to Frostvik without coming to visit the boss. Besides, Björn\'s description didn\'t sound anything like her."

The scolded, platinum-blond werewolf rubbed her head with an aggrieved expression, "One can hope, right?"

But the boss shook his head as he continued to stare at Frostvik with a complicated expression. "No, Anne is right; there\'s no way it\'s her. Besides, there\'s no reason we wouldn\'t be able to smell her. This werewolf we\'re chasing is still covering his scent somehow.

Besides, Björn might not have recognized her from that distance, but he could surely see the difference between a male werewolf and a female."

Just as in their human forms, female werewolves had a thicker chest and more slender build.

The wereverine with brown hair nodded. "It was definitely a guy, no doubt about it."

Suddenly, Anne spoke up. As the only werelynx in the group, her night vision was by far the most advanced among them. "Can you guys see that blue glow over there?" she said, pointing towards the graveyard in the middle of town.

They all moved their gazes in the direction she was pointing, but only their boss managed to find anything. "You\'re right… What is that?"

But Anne shook her head. "No idea, Boss. We\'ll have to get closer to find out."

The boss nodded. "Then that is what we will do." He looked behind him. "Be careful, everyone. From here on out, we are entering enemy territory. There is no way to know if they prepared any traps nor where they are, which means a fight can start at any moment."

The members of his group nodded sternly before they began their descent along the same path to the right that Erik and his group had followed.

What they didn\'t notice was that a small sigil lit up on some rocks to the side every time a member of their group passed it.

Back in the house, inside Erik\'s soul, Elora suddenly opened an eye as all five faces passed through her mind. But instead of warning Erik, she grinned and thought, \'interesting,\' before returning to sleep.