A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

In the living room of Erik's dimension, its owner blinked at his future mother-in-law, a little surprised. Then he chuckled, "I'm glad you're feeling better, Miss Liv."

Meanwhile, Astrid was glaring at her mother, "Mom! This is my decision, not yours! Besides…" she suddenly laughed victoriously while looking at the man on the sofa, "Erik has already admitted his idiocy!"

Immediately, Liv raised a questioning eyebrow without taking her eyes of Erik, as if wanting him to confirm that.

Erik rolled his eyes, but he couldn't deny he really was a dense little shit back in his younger years. So, after glaring playfully at Astrid, he turned to Liv and nodded with a sigh, "Yes I did. I wasn't the only one who didn't see through Edda's bullshit, but I should have at least realized Astrid's feelings for me, and done something about it."

Then, he winked at Asrid, before continuing with a cheeky smile, "Luckily, I've come to my senses, and I can finally see beyond Edda. In fact, my view has widened considerably…"

Suspicious of hist last words, Liv narrowed her eyes even more, "Exactly what do—"

"Cough, cough," Astrid quickly interrupted her mother. "Anyway, Mom. Didn't you have some other questions for him? Our marriage can wait until we've dealt with the more immediate issues."

Immediately, Liv's suspicious gaze moved from Erik to her daughter, wondering what she was trying to hide form her.

Regardless, after a moment of making Astrid nervous with her focused gaze, Liv snorted, "Fine," and decided to move on. She had to admit that Astrid was right. Clearly, a lot had happened in the past year, and she needed to know everything.

Relaxing her expression a little, she turned back to Erik. "My little angel has told me a little of what is going on, but she wouldn't say much without you present. So can you tell me the current situation? Where is Sigurd, and how is the Dominion? Also, where even are we?"

Erik grinned, looking forward to her reaction. "This is my home, and soon to be Astrid's as well. It also happens to be a dimension inside my body."

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Liv blinked and slowly turned to her daughter with a deadpan expression. But rather than alleviate her clear disbelief, Astrid just shrugged with a wry expression. "I don't know how it works either."

Sighing, Liv rubbed the ridge of her nose, "Alright, let's drop that for now. Can you answer my other two questions?"

Erik chuckled, "Sure, but come sit down first. There's a lot to tell you, and some things we need to discuss as well," he continued while extending his hand invitingly towards the sofa across from him.

Still not entirely comfortable around Erik, Liv hesitated a moment, but then nodded and moved to sit down. At the same time, Astrid grinned, happy that the two most important people in her life were getting along.

But then she was suddenly faced with an unexpected decision. With Erik and Liv sitting in front of each other, they now both stared at Astrid. Erik with confident amusement, Liv with expectation.

For a moment, her eyebrows twitched as her gaze panned between the two of them, but then she sighed and send an apologetic glance at her mother, before sitting down next to Erik.

Immediately, Liv's face fell, and she pouted unhappily.

"Don't pout like that, Miss Liv," Erik smirked. "You just had an hour with her!"

At the same time, he tried to drape his hand around Astrid's shoulders, but the young vampire pushed his arm away before glaring at him, "Uh uh! I chose you to sit down next to, don't rub it in!" Then she crossed her arms with a huff.

Now, Erik's face fell a little, and it was Liv's time to smirk.

Thus, balance was restored.

Erik sighed, deciding to quickly move on. "Anyway, Miss Liv. Le—"

But he was interrupted by Liv, who waved an arm and rolled her eyes, "Just call me Liv…"

Erik felt a little relieved. He preferred to be informal, but despite his otherwise casual attitude so far, he wanted to be a little respectful towards this soon-to-be-mother-in-law.

So he nodded, "Alright, Liv. Let me explain the current situation…"

Thus, he told her how Sigurd's ghouls were currently under control of his allies and guarding the thousand remaining vampires, while Sigurd was in the Kirkenes square getting pelted, beaten, and humiliated.

At the mentioning of Sigurd's fate, Liv immediately grinned viciously, "I want to see that."

Astrid, who also heard this for the first time, had much the same reaction.

Unfortunately, Erik had to put the brakes on for now. "Later," he chuckled. "I've made sure you and Astrid have the right to do with those vampires as you like, but I have promised the ones most responsible would be punished, and I expect you to honor that."

"Hmpf," Liv snorted as her face fell again. "And how do you expect to enforce that promise? I mean, I'm not saying I won't punish them, but who are you to determine appropriate punishment for my vampires?" Find exclusive stories on empire

"Are they even really your vampires anymore?" Erik smirked tauntingly. "Most of them betrayed you after all."

Liv's eyes narrowed, "I may or may not put them to death for their crimes, but every single vampire in the Dominion remains mine."

Erik smiled slightly, "I can respect that…" But then his smile turned into something more vicious, "Either way, I have the right to dictate terms to both you and Frostfang, because the biggest fist rules, and neither you nor Frostfang can beat me."

"Yeah, so you've said…" Liv suddenly grinned, fighting intent rising in her eyes. "But before I let you decide anything for me, I'm gonna need you to prove that. Do that, and I'll follow your lead."

Erik raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but not surprise. This was Astrid's mother, after all. "Are you sure? You're still weakened and recovering. Beating you now proves very little."

"Hmpf," Liv snorted sceptically, "Even in this state I can defeat any second ranker!" Then, remembering how even her daughter claimed Erik could beat third-rankers, Liv retracted a little, "But even if you manage to beat me, I'm confident I'll be able to tell if you could beat me at my full power. Just don't hold back…"

"I can do that…" Erik grinned, eagerly.