A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"Smart man…" Elora mumbled in Erik's mind. Both their eyes were locked onto Sigurd. His clothes were ragged and his body was caked with things that neither of them wanted to think about. His eyes remained defiant and angry, but also helpless. He runes were locked away, and his body was unable to break Erik's chains.

"With the ghouls guarding the bulk of the vampires, and knowing he can't kill Sigurd, he found a way for the Enclave to vent some of their emotions anyway," Elora continued, amusement and appreciation in her voice.

Erik chuckled, and could only agree with his partner, "You're right. And judging by that line, it's gonna be a while before the entire Enclave has had its turn… so I guess there's not much for us to do here."

Just as he was about to move back to his dimension, he was stopped by the arrival of two women: Nora and Anne.

"Master!" Nora exclaimed happily. Before Erik could respond, she wrapped her body around his and started grinding against him while chuckling lewdly, "Hehehe."

Once again, Erik couldn't help but smirk at how quickly and naturally this woman had taken to being his and Elora's slave. Making use of the situation, he wrapped his arm around Nora and started groping her.

"Ugh," Anne groaned and palmed her face, but didn't stop approaching them. "Seriously, what happened to my domineering friend? It's like he swapped your brain with that of some servile bimbo."

"Hehehe," Nora continued chuckling as she rubbed herself against Erik's robust body. "I just realized there's far more pleasure to be found in submission. You should try it!"

That wasn't untrue. The Bond of Service that bound her to Erik and Elora only forced her to obey them and instilled a certain sense of reference, but didn't alter her mind in any way. She really did prefer her current life to what it was before.

Even if she knew Erik didn't love her. Not like he did his wives.

"She's starting to grow on me," Erik chuckled at Elora as he felt up Nora's voluptuous body.

"Please don't tell me you're planning to marry this one," Elora groaned back at him. "I'll use my veto! She's not worthy of being my sister-wife!" the fairy threatened.

"Don't worry," Erik smiled softly. "I just like her a little."

"Yeah, yeah… whatever," Anne scoffed at Nora, before turning her attention to Erik. The only reason she didn't suspect Erik of having forced Nora into anything was that he hadn't tried anything like that with her, despite his clear interest.

For a moment, she and Erik stared at each other, before Anne finally sighed and lowered her head, "Thank you… You promised to save the Enclave, and you did. I'm sorry for any… grievances I may have caused you in the past."

Erik grinned at her behavior, and his earlier thoughts about convincing Anne to serve him alongside Nora came back. So he leaned forward.

Before Anne could react, he had grabbed her chin, and planted his lips on hers, forcing his tongue inside.

"Hmmm!" Anne mumbled, eyes snapping open. With surprise and anger, she pushed against Erik's chest in a bid to get away.

She didn't have the strength to do so technically, but Erik wasn't planning on forcing her, so he released the woman, a smirk on his face.

Now released, Anne panted and looked at Erik with confusion. Her brain was trying to think of the right way to respond to this man who was far more powerful than her and had just saved her people. All the while, her mouth was still smacking a little from the taste he had left behind on her lips.

"No need to think about it so hard," Erik laughed softly. "Just consider what Nova's been telling you, huh?"

With that, Erik spanked Nora's ass and disappeared. Since the Enclave would be busy for a while, and the vampires were guarded by the ghouls, he had nothing to do until Liv woke up.

So instead, he went over the forge. With Astrid otherwise occupied, this was the perfect time for him to start working on her wedding gift.

Meanwhile, outside Nora noticed Anne's dumbfounded expression. "Let me tell you all the benefits of servitude!" she grinned widely, fully intend on convincing her friend to join her.

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For a little while, Erik's dimension was quiet. Erik worked in the forge, Astrid kept her resting mother company, and Alice trained. Sometimes, the young wolverine would keep Erik or Astrid company while asking for advice. Occasionally, Erik came to check up on Liv.

Finally, one and a half days later, just as he was putting the finishing touches on his work, Elora's voice echoed in Erik's mind, "She's waking up."

"Good," Erik smiled, happy for Astrid, even while there was a sliver of anxiety as well. Despite his own confidence, this was the first time meeting a mother-in-law, after all. He hadn't even met Elora's mother again since that fateful day he arrived on Söl. "Is she alright?"

"She's still only barely conscious, but my senses are telling me she's fine." Elora assured him.

After getting a positive confirmation from her, Erik put down his tools, and moved towards the living spaces.

A few moments later, he entered Astrid's room, but was surprised to find that, while Liv was sitting up, Astrid had now fallen asleep.

With overflowing love, Liv looked at her cutely snoring daughter while caressing her hair, seemingly lost in thought.

'I guess she's probably slept very little even before the battle, and then with the fight against Sigurd, it's not a surprise she fell asleep,' Erik thought to himself.

The moment he entered, Liv's eyes swiveled in his direction. Now her, eyes narrowed. She looked at him with caution and a hint of danger. She could feel her body was still very weak after having recovered from it's ghoulified state, and despite knowing this man was a second-ranker, she felt unprecedented danger from him.

Meanwhile, Erik stared back at her, a confident, slightly playful smile hanging on his lips.

For a full minute, neither of them spoke a word. Liv was trying to assess him, and Erik was letting her, wondering what she would come up with.

Finally, her gaze turned back to Astrid, and her expression broke a little. "Is this… real?" she finally asked, her voice hoarse.