A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

So, Erik simply smiled sadly. Then, he crouched down in his spirit form and looked gently in her icy-blue eyes. As soon as he did that, Alice's frustration already began to waver.

"I'm sorry about that, little Alice…" he told her softly, while stretching out his hand to try and caress her cheek, only to remember that he couldn't touch her in his projected form. A little disappointed, he pulled back his arm, "I know it's not what you want to hear, but I was trying to protect you…"

Alice snorted and looked away, although her indignance had already weakened by quite a bit. "Yeah, well… I don't want your protection," she pouted softly, then turned her head back towards him with determination. "I want to fight by your side!"

"I know you do," Erik sighed gently. "But you can't rush your way to power, little Alice. If you do that, your foundation will be built on loose sand, and you'll only be able to enjoy your power for a little while, before it all comes crumbling down again. I want you to fight by my side for a long time, Alice, even if that means it takes a little longer to get there. Don't you?"

Alice didn't look entirely convinced as she clearly didn't think rushing was that bad. But she still nodded with a pout and grumbled an agreement.

"Good!" Erik smiled sincerely, despite knowing this wasn't over. "Now will you please get some rest and come sleep with me and your mothers? I can't enter the dimension right now, but I can pull you out."

Alice narrowed her eyes at him, before looking back doubtfully at the weights behind her. Her body was still trembling slightly, and she felt the exhaustion crushing her soul. Plus, she actually desperately wanted to feel the comforting presence of her new family, even if she'd vehemently deny that fact at every opportunity.

So, she nodded, still pouting and looking away from him, "F— Fine… if that's what you want, Father…"

Erik grinned with some relief, and then snapped his fingers.

In the outside world, he opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to the side. There, he found Alice, who he'd deposited next to the bed, and smiled weakly at her.

Alice blinked for a moment as she looked at him. He was in his werewolf form, but she could see the pale skin beneath his fur, the pained weakness in his eyes, and the large, slowly healing wound on his chest. These were things his projection didn't show. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

Instantly, tears began to appear in her eyes, and she opened her mouth, but Erik quickly shook his head and pursed his lips in a shushing gesture. This was the time he realized he really needed to create a telepathic bond with his adopted daughter as well.

Fortunately, Alice got the hint and closed her mouth again, even as her eyes were now filled with pain and sadness, rather than the earlier anger and frustration.

Then, without a word, she changed to her wereverine form for some reason, and crawled onto the bed, where she placed her furry head on Emma's thigh, next to Erik's, and placed a trembling hand on his shoulder.

For a second, they looked at each other... but then Alice's eyes suddenly fluttered closed. Within moments, she was already asleep, causing Erik to smile.

After that, his own eyes suddenly started getting heavy again. He still had plenty of healing to do, and there was nothing for him to do right now. Since his wives were sleeping soundly, he had to assume they were in a safe place and there was no reason to be vigilant.

Thus, he slowly drifted off to sleep again.

* * *

Some hours later, his eyes fluttered open again, and this time he was met with the wide-open eyes and happy expressions of his family.

His head was still resting on Emma's lap, but Emily and Astrid were now kneeling next to him on the bed, rather than clinging to his arms as they slept. Fairy-sized Elora was still sitting on his chest, however, and smiling at him gently.

Alice was also still with them, but she remained asleep in the same pose as before. Clearly, she'd truly been exhausted.

Instantly, he too felt compelled to grin. "Hey girls," he groaned softly, quickly discovering that he probably shouldn't talk too much, as pain shot through his chest.

"Finally decided to stop lazing around, huh?" Astrid grinned widely, her relief practically overflowing. "I was just about to drag you out of bed by force!"

"Oh, don't listen to her, Master," Emily grinned mischievously without taking her eyes of Erik. "You should have seen her in the last few days. She practically refused to even take her eyes off you and trashed half the room while doing it!"

Although Erik felt forced to question exactly what she meant by that, his thoughts were quickly pulled away by Emma, who was gently caressing the fur on his head. "I'm glad you're back with us, Master…" she said softly. "It's been a long ten days without you."

"Ten days, huh?" he croaked slightly while finally returning his body to human form—something he quickly regretted as his face grimaced in pain. "Ah fuck, that was a mistake!" he cursed loudly as he balled his fists and endured it.

Kneeling on his chest, next to the wound, Elora nodded wryly, "Yeah, it's gonna hurt for a while longer, my love. Please try not to get anymore holes in your chest, alright?"

"I'll try," Erik chuckled, despite the pain that caused him. Technically, he could just talk to them all through his bonds with them, but he knew that exercising those muscles a little would only speed up their recovery. Plus, he was never one to shy away from a little pain.

Unsurprisingly, his suffering caused varying gazes of sympathy to cross the faces of his loved ones, but they didn't say anything, knowing he wouldn't want them to.

With a little hesitation, he then asked the questions burning inside him. "So… can you girls tell me where we are? Are we safe, and is everyone alright?" A worried frown adorned his brows, "And… what about my mother?"

His wives panned their gazes between each other, before Elora was the one to begin telling their story.