A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"Master!" Emma yelped, and quickly sprinted up to Erik to see if he was alright.

She fussed over him for a moment, while Erik scratched his head and chuckled, ensuring Emma that he was fine.

A few meters away, some orange-colored runes were just in the process of fading from Astrid's skin. She had likely used some kind of speed or body-enhancing ability, making that her second skill, after the beam attack she used earlier.

When Emma found nothing wrong with Erik, she turned around to pout angrily at an awkward-looking Astrid. "That was mean!" she said, angrily. Unfortunately, even her angry face was more cute than anything.

'Although I wonder what she would look like if she were truly angry, and not just projecting,' Erik thought, as he placed a hand on Emma's shoulder with a smile. "It wasn't your fault, Emma."

Since he could sense her emotions, he knew she felt more sad and annoyed at herself than angry at Astrid. Clearly, she blamed herself, thinking she had caused Erik harm.

When she witnessed some of their fights earlier, she wasn't happy that Astrid was attacking Erik either, yet she could still somewhat understand. But now? Ambushing him when he was talking to her had made her feel guilty.

When Erik so easily revealed her true feelings, Emma quickly deflated and poked her fingers together. His words soothed her, but she still felt sad. Erik laughed warmly, turned Emma towards him, took her chin, and lightly kissed her lips.

"You'll have to get used to these things, Emma," he then said, with a grin. "Astrid and I enjoy fighting, and sometimes, we'll ambush each other. But it's all part of the game. She would never actually hurt me. Right, Astrid?"

He turned to the vampire woman, who was now looking at them and scratching her head. 'I never expected her to react that way,' she thought to herself.

Seeing them both looking at her, Astrid quickly nodded, "Y- Yeah. Of course not."

Sensing that she was perhaps overreacting, Emma panned her gaze between these two and then sighed, before turning to Erik. "Are you really alright, Master?" When she saw him nod, she turned to Astrid with a cute glare, "Just don't do it anymore when I'm talking to him, alright?"

Despite Emma being not only weaker than her, and her look really not being particularly threatening, Astrid still couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. Emma's gaze contained a fierce protectiveness and deep devotion to Erik, making Astrid wonder exactly what this girl wouldn't do for him.

So, she nodded. "Y- Yeah, sure."

Immediately, Emma's signature bright smile returned and she walked back into the house while saying, "Good! Come on, food is ready!"

When she was gone, Erik chuckled at Astrid's baffled expression and walked closer to her. "It's hard to deny her anything, isn't it, sister?" he asked her.

Astrid had no apparent reaction to being called sister by Erik. Instead, she had a complicated look on her face and nodded, "Yeah… she's a strange combination of cute, intimidating, mature, and immature."

Erik frowned and appeared thoughtful as he answered, "It's a consequence of what she endured in the last seven years. In some ways, she grew up quicker than most, in others, she is lacking behind a little." Then he shrugged, "Only time will help her."

"Yet, you still married her?" Astrid asked, with a raised eyebrow. Her thoughts were unclear. brought to you by NovelFire-empyr

Erik nodded with a smile, despite the hint of an accusation in Astrid's voice. "Of course. She passed Elora's test, and even now, I can feel her love for me is genuine. That won't change with time, dear sister. Even if she does still have some growing to do."

Astrid's eyebrows twitched when Erik called her that for the second time. "Just quit it with the sister stuff. That last hit barely counted anyway, and I'd rather not have that girl angry at me." She turned to him with a grin, "I'll just work towards the final goal of Big Sister."

"Sure, Astrid." Erik laughed, "I look forward to it", before walking inside. Astrid remained standing for a moment longer and narrowed her eyes. 'That's one point in your favor, Erik. But I'm not done with you yet.' She thought, before following Erik.

Meanwhile, the group of Viljar, Olaf, Anne, and Björn had already disappeared and gone back to Viljar's house to rest. Tomorrow would be another day of training.

*****

About an hour later, a group of one man and five women was gathered in the living room. Nora had stayed for dinner but was now about to leave. She kissed her master, Erik, and whispered in his ear, "Remember what you promised me about tomorrow!"

Realizing she referred to his promise about making her see stars again, he grinned and groped her bountiful ass a little, "We'll see if I'm in the mood," he whispered back, causing Nora to pout.

Unfortunately for Nora, she was unceremoniously thrown out of the house with a resounding slap on her bottom. When she walked home, she trembled slightly as her lower body gushed and a lustful smile hung on her lips.

Somehow, Erik's dismissive attitude towards her had started to turn her on.

Back at the house, Astrid looked a little awkwardly around the group and scratched her head. "So, uh," she began. "What are the sleeping arrangements like? I mean, I can easily go a few days without sleep, which I would honestly prefer over sleeping in a pile with all of you…" she coughed. "No offense, of course. "

The fact that Elora and Emma were Erik's wives, while Emily was not, but Elora could also merge into Erik's body, caused Astrid to wonder about the logistical issues of having a single bedroom available.

Since she had made sure the other bedroom wasn't really usable anymore. And neither was the bed coincidentally, as it, along with most of the furniture in Erik's old room, had not survived their reunion.

Elora chuckled, "Don't worry, Astrid. You'll come to enjoy piling up onto Erik together with the rest of us." Seeing Astrid's conflicted gaze, she grinned before waving her hand, causing the red storage jewel on her forehead to flash. "But we won't force you to."

Suddenly, in the middle of the room, an ornate and luxurious, one-person bed appeared, causing everyone except for Erik and Elora to yelp and jump back a little.

She had already discussed this with Erik, and they agreed that trying to get Astrid to sleep in the same room as them would only backfire for now.

"Wait just a second!" two voices suddenly yelled out at the same time. "You can just conjure beds out of thin air?!"