A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Some hours later, Erik began waking up but had yet to open his eyes. The first thing he felt was a pair of hands and feet clinging to him like a koala. He smirked inwardly, 'I guess Emma burned through her ropes and wanted to hug a little tighter.'

Then he frowned. 'Wait, that doesn't make sense. These limbs are grabbing me from the other side.'

So he finally opened his eyes, only to see that it was Emily, snoring surprisingly cutely while hugging his body closely. He couldn't help but chuckle softly at the usually defiant girl for sleeping this way. Her head was on his shoulder while his arm was wrapped around her, and all four of Emily's limbs were wrapped around him.

Next, he looked to the other side and noticed Emma had already disappeared and left behind some burned ropes. 'I really need to figure out where all these ropes are coming from someday.' He thought.

Next, the door opened, and Emma walked in, wearing her maid outfit and carrying a tray with breakfast, including a cup of coffee.

She smiled when she saw Erik awake and quickly put the tray on the bed beside him. "Good morning, Sir! I made breakfast!" Having handed the food off, she looked a little uncertain as she poked her fingers together cutely. "I hope it tastes good. It's just some leftovers from last night since the only food that hasn't gone bad is in your storage.

But I found some instant coffee that hadn't passed its expiration date yet!"

Erik grinned as this girl's cute and service-minded attitude once again delighted him. "I'm sure it tastes great, but, as you can see, your sister is keeping my right hand occupied, so you'll have to feed me."

Immediately, the girl went red in the face. "O- Oh. I- I- uh, o- of course, Sir."

As she brought the first spoon to Erik's mouth, her feelings were apparent on her face. 'Hehehehe, I'm feeding Sir!' she thought.

The food was decent, but mostly, Erik loved getting pampered while he watched Emma's ashamed happiness and couldn't help but keep a grin on his face.

"It's delicious. Mostly because it's you feeding me." He said, causing Emma to nearly faint. "T- Thank you, S- Sir."

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While she continued to feed him, she reported some things. "I checked up on Miss Astrid, and she appears to be doing well, but she hasn't woken up yet. There's, uhm, there's also some people outside, but Miss Elora told me not to worry about them."

This last news caused Erik to raise an eyebrow. "People, huh?" But then he shrugged, "Well, if Elora said not to worry about them, then there's nothing to worry about."

To which Emma shyly nodded. "Y- Yes sir," while she prepared his next bite.

Meanwhile, he did ask Elora, who was currently in his soul, about those people. "Anything I should know?"

The fairy answered with a casual mental shrug. "Not really. There's someone interesting among them, but you'll see soon enough. Either way, there's no hurry. They'll wait where they are like good little pets."

Erik returned a mental nod, "Fair enough." He wasn't really bothered with the specifics. Since Elora said there was no hurry, then that was good enough for him.

Soon, the food and coffee were gone, so Erik pulled Emma into a kiss, "Thank you, Emma. I already don't know what I'd do without you."

Emma smiled bright enough to blind the sun. "I'm glad, Sir! I wouldn't want to be without you, either."

Meanwhile, next to Erik, Emily finally began to stir. She shifted and sniffed Erik's smell with a smile on her face before tightening her grip on his body, causing Erik to chuckle.

Unfortunately, his chuckle seemed to fully wake her up. She suddenly opened her eyes wide and slowly looked between Erik's teasing grin, Emma's happy smile, and her own limbs wrapped around his body.

Her face reddened, and she quickly scrambled to untangle herself and stand up. Soon, she stood beside the bed, still with a clearly embarrassed expression, and huffed. "I'm sure you're hoping I'll be embarrassed; well, forget it!" She said. "Y- Your body smells nice, a- and it's warm. This is a natural reaction."

She pointed her finger at Erik accusingly. "Don't read anything into it!"

Erik nodded thoughtfully, but with a teasing glint in his eye, "Sure, sure. Natural reaction," while Emma gave her big sister a thumbs up and a bright smile.

Emily palmed her face and groaned. "Whatever. I'm going for a shower."

Erik watched the beautiful black-haired girl walk away with a grin on his face. 'She'll come around soon enough.'

Meanwhile, beside him, Emma seemed to have the same idea. "Don't worry, Sir. You'll get her soon." She said with an encouraging smile.

Erik raised an eyebrow at Emma's words and shook his head before patting the girl's silky white hair. "Never change, Emma. You always manage to surprise me."

"That said," he grinned and grabbed Emma's chin, "I haven't forgotten that I'm still supposed to punish you at your request."

Emma trembled as a silly smile appeared on her face. "I'm ready, Sir!"

Smirking and standing up from the bed, Erik nodded. "Good, we'll do that tonight then. For now, I have some guests to greet, apparently."

Immediately, Elora appeared on his shoulder. "Finally done playing with the girls?" She asked with a smirk.

Erik chuckled. "Don't give me that. You love watching me embarrass them while getting pampered."

The fairy giggled. "Guilty as charged. Now, come on! Get your armor on and change to wolf form before you look outside."

Despite being a little confused about the why, Erik didn't see a reason to refuse and did as she asked. He put on his still-damaged armor, changed to wolf form, and moved to the living room while Elora returned to his soul. He looked out the window next to the front door and noticed the five visitors, who noticed him in return.

The five people outside quickly scrambled to their feet and watched Erik through the window with wary gazes while beginning to talk amongst each other.

Only one of these men and women actually drew his attention, however, causing him to smile warmly as a wave of relief flooded his body.

"I see…" he chuckled, "you want me to mess with him, don't you?"

Elora giggled. "Kind of, yeah. You're pretty unrecognizable in werewolf form, after all. Your new bloodlines have made your fur white instead of silver-gray and given you several black lightning marks. Plus, I'm masking your scent. He should have no idea who you are."

Erik raised his eyebrow. "Don't you think he's figured it out by now, though?"

The fairy shrugged mentally. "Only if he actually thinks you are still alive somewhere like your mother might. If he's thought you dead for seven years, he probably won't even consider it."

Then, Elora got a little more serious. "But that's not the only reason. The fact is, it's been seven years, and you don't know if he's still the same guy you knew.

Not to mention that we're outnumbered here. If they actually decide to forget the diplomatic option, that barrier will maybe hold for a few hours, and then it will be you, Emily, and my sigils against five second-rank Runebound. Even if we put Astrid's recovery at risk by waking her early, those are not ideal odds.

Therefore, I think we should even the playing field before doing anything else. Just to be sure."

Chuckling, Erik moved away from the window, under the wary eyes of the five people outside, and walked to the front door. "Well… I have always wanted to fight him and win."

He moved his hammer from his storage to his hand and swung it over his shoulder before closing his eyes for a moment. Lightning then began to run across his body. About a minute later, he opened his eyes again and went through the door, swaggering outside.

He took a deep breath of the crisp morning air and walked up to the barrier with a smug grin on his wolfish face.

The five visitors had stopped talking and watched Erik approach with various gazes. It stayed surprisingly quiet as he came closer since the sight of Erik in his black armor and large hammer was a little intimidating.

Luckily, the armor's damage was barely noticeable.

Yet, they couldn't help their gazes turning to surprise when they noticed Erik walk through the barrier unhindered and take a stand in front of them.

Not because he could do that but because he did. It was five against one, after all. No one would have blamed him if he stayed on the other side of that barrier.

"You're pretty cocky, aren't you?" Olaf growled.

With his voice morphed from the transformation, Erik chuckled. "The only difference between cocky and confident is the ability to pull it off. So which am I?"

He actually had no confidence in fighting all five of these people on his own, but he didn't expect this to end up in an all-out brawl. That said, he still had to be careful and see if he could get an advantage or even the odds.

While Olaf scoffed at what he thought was apparent arrogance, Erik panned his gaze between the others gathered there. "Anyway, what can I do for you, gentlemen and ladies."