A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Several hours later, Erik woke up again. This time, however, it was not because one of his beautiful wives was sitting on his crotch, but rather, because there was simply no more sleep in him.

'How novel,' he thought, as he remained prone, with his eyes closed. 'I woke up naturally.' Then he chuckled a little at his own joke.

"Laughing at your own jokes again?" a teasing voice suddenly sounded in his head.

"Good morning to you too, little Ember," Erik smiled and responded mentally. "Enjoy yourself last night?"

Elore sighed before responding. "Yes, yes. I can admit when I'm wrong."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about?" Erik grinned while raising a mental eyebrow in faked curiosity.

It remained quiet a moment, before Elora sighed again. "It felt good to be pampered after what happened in Frostvik… Getting fucked silly would have just been a crutch."

"Good," Erik smiled warmly. "I enjoyed it too."

"But next time we're back to the kinky stuff, you hear me?!" Elora then huffed in fake annoyance.

"Yes, yes. Whatever you wish, my love." Erik chuckled.

He finally opened his eyes and took in the soft morning light. Next to him, Emily and Astrid were still sound asleep. He could hear someone moving around, however, so he sat up and looked in the direction of the sound he heard.

In front of the large, slightly cracked windows of the room, bathing in the cold morning light, stood Alice. Her hand was placed on the glass as she looked into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

Erik sighed softly as he lamented the poor girl's fate, before he looked over at the bed and saw Emma was still asleep as well.

He looked over at Alice again and, after thinking it over for a moment, he got up and walked in her direction.

Soon, he stood next to her, and looked into the morning light as well.

If Alice was startled, or had even noticed his arrival, she didn't show it. She kept looking into the distance with a sad and thoughtful expression.

Erik said nothing, and simply stood next to her in a silent gesture of support.

"I've been thinking about what I want… and what I think my parent's would want for me," Alice's young voice suddenly sounded next to him. Her tone a little forlorn, but also full of determination.

"That's good," Erik nodded. "Did you come to a conclusion?"

"Partially…" she softly mumbled. "I still don't know what I want to do in the long term, or if I want to… stay with the people who are at least partially responsible for my father's death. Even though that was his wish… and assuming I'd even be welcome."

Erik was quick to reassure her. "You're welcome to stay with us for as long as you like, Alice," his tone was calm and warm. "For the rest of your life even, if you wish. I'd never try to replace your parents, but you'll have a home with us, if you want it."

They remained quiet for a moment while Alice seemed to struggle a little with her emotions. Finally, a slightly hoarse voice came from the girl. "T— Thank you… I'll remember that…"

Regardless of her feelings towards Erik and Elora for their part in her father's death, she couldn't help but enjoy the knowledge there was a place she could call home, if she wished.

Erik nodded in acknowledgment, and then continued their conversation. "So what about the short term?" he asked. "I assume it involves Victor's fate?"

"Yeah…" Alice nodded as her voice trailed off a little hesitantly, clearly unsure about what she wanted to say.

"Whatever you want to say, just do it," Erik chuckled. "I mean, where is the feisty little wereverine that attacked me the moment I entered your prison cell?"

"Hmpf," Alice snorted. "Fine then. I want… I want to go to Frostvik! I want to visit the place my father died. I want to bury him if his… body is still there, and I want to spill Victor's blood on his grave!"

She turned to Erik with a ferocious glare and an accusingly pointed finger, "And you're going to help me, because it's the least you can do after using him for your escape!"

Erik and Alice ended up in a staring contest, with Alice's eyes narrowed and stubborn, while Erik was relaxed and lightly smirking.

Finally, Erik broke the silence as he shook his head. "No, the least I could do is nothing. And regardless of your opinion, its a perfectly reasonable action. My deal with your father was to rescue you in exchange for his sacrifice. He fulfilled his end of the deal, and so did I. I don't owe him anything anymore."

Fury grew on Alice's face, even as small tears of despair and anger sprang up in her eyes, "You…!" she seethed, but was quickly interrupted by Erik.

"That said," he continued with a small smile. "I'm not opposed to bringing you to Frostvik as a favor to you… but you'll have to bear a little risk if we do this."

Alice blinked as the fury quickly drained away to be replaced by surprise and confusion. "What… What do you mean?" she asked, unsure how to feel about this. On the one hand, she felt Erik was too casual about her father's sacrifice, yet on the other, he was willing to do as she asked.

A thoughtful expression appeared on Erik's face. "There's little chance that Frostfang has remained in Frostvik, or even in its vicinity, but little chance is still to high for me. Thus, we need someone to scout the place out before we head there."

"You want me to be the scout?!" Alice looked at him in shock, thinking she had the wrong impression of him all this time.

"What?" Erik laughed softly. "No, of course not. That's not what I meant by risk. If we do this, I want to use Victor as the scout. His enslavement means he's in constant contact with Emily even if we're still several hours away at the time, so he's perfect for the job. But… if Frostfang is still around at that time, we'll lose Victor.

And you your chance to take revenge on him."

Alice's eyes went wide when she realized Erik's plan, before her expression quickly transitioned into a thoughtful frown.

Seeing her lost in thought, Erik decided to mention the other option. "Alternatively, you take your revenge here and now, and we visit Frostvik another time. We'll be confronting Frostfang within half a year or so anyway, so it won't matter at that point. Of course, the chance something happens to your father's remains in that time increases exponentially…"

"So what will it be?" he finished, curiously.