A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Silence fell, as Seraphina panned her gaze between Emily and a softly grinning Erik, before she started looking at Astrid and Emma as well, and noticed they were throwing loving looks at Erik, too. Meanwhile, Elora was smirking at her with amusement from her perch on Erik's shoulder.

Only Alice was just fidgeting impatiently in the corner instead. She didn't care about any of this, and just wanted to get to the point. She'd been looking forward to this day for a while now.

But Seraphina focused on the others, and finally came to a realization. Her eyes widened in shock, and she pointed at all of them, "You…?! All of you?! With him?!"

Then, she focused on Erik, "You really are an asshole! What, you're creating a harem, and marking them all as yours?!" before going back to Emily, "And you're going along with this?! You of all people?! What happened to the Emily who hated people like him?! You all need to snap out of it!"

Her voice was filled with indignation and shock, as she pointed at Erik and his four wives almost accusingly. As if she was judging them.

And that naturally didn't go over very well.

When they noticed her look, they all had different reactions. Elora simply looked at her with indifferent amusement, of course. Seraphina was outside her family bracket, and she simply didn't care about her judgement.

Emma, too, didn't really seem to care. Why would she? Ever since her seven years of hell, the number of people whose opinion she cared about sank to just about two, Erik and Emily, with Alice, Astrid, and Elora beginning to slowly work their way in as well.

You didn't have to be a generally kind person to care about someone's opinion, after all.

But Emily and Astrid were somewhat more emotional people, so they didn't react so calmly to Seraphina's judgement. Anger flared in Emily's eyes, and even her bloodthirsty nature started rising. If it wasn't for her past with Seraphina, she might have already attacked.

"I don't need your judgement, Seraphina," she said coldly. "I suggest you calm down if you want our friendship to have a future."

Astrid had no qualms about past friendships, however, so she instantly pulled her swords out of her storage ring and pointed them at the shocked vampire. "You'd best get that finger out of my face before I cut it off, bitch," she growled furiously.

As for Erik, he just watched the chaos unfold with a mixture of pride, amusement, and love. He enjoyed seeing the main fighters among his wives defending their relationship with him.

Seraphina blinked, as she clearly hadn't expected this level of pushback. She didn't much care about this other vampire she didn't know, but Emily was important to her. "Emily, I—" she began as she turned to her old friend but found only barely suppressed anger.

"Lower your finger first," Emily interrupted her with a growl.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

As if only now realizing she was still pointing in their general direction, she looked at her own finger, and slowly lowered it. "Right…" she mumbled with a frown.

Regardless of her own feelings regarding this situation, she wasn't a little girl who didn't realize when she was outmatched, outvoted, and outnumbered.

After she appeared to take a step back, Astrid snorted and made her swords disappear again, although she continued looking at Seraphina with hostility.

At the same time, Emily, who continued working to suppress her own hostility, said this: "I know I've changed a lot since we last spend any real time together, but that was eight years ago, before the awakening. We didn't get much time last year, and I wasn't in a good place. Is it really so surprising I've changed?"

But Seraphina wasn't entirely ready to give up yet. She looked at Emily with some concern. "You haven't just changed a little, though. You've changed a lot," she started, carefully.

Then, she pointed at Erik and Elora, "I already know those two have the ability to affect people in mysterious ways, so how do I know you and Emma are actually with him of your own free will?"

Before pointing down at Emily's tattoo, and waving around the covenant mark that still graced the back of her hand, "How do I know that's not some advanced form of this covenant thing?"

Emily let Seraphina finish, before simply shrugging nonchalantly, "You don't. But that's not my problem," her tone was harsh, making the vampire flinch a little. "We were friends once, and I'd like to be so again, but don't bring accusations you have no proof of."

Obviously, neither Erik nor Elora had done anything permanent to Emily's mind, and she knew that. She trusted Erik.

But whatever the case, she didn't have a way to prove it. Proving you are or aren't being controlled by another was a classic catch-22, anyway. If she was being controlled, she'd never be allowed to realize the truth, and any evidence she'd give to the contrary would be tainted.

In the end, anyone anywhere could only take their independence on faith, because believing otherwise would drive you insane.

So, finally, Emily closed her eyes and breathed a deep sigh as she got the bloodthirst and hostility under control. Then she opened them again, and looked at her old friend with determination, "So what will it be? Is this going to be a thing, or will you accept the situation as it is and be my friend again?"

Seraphina gazed back at her with a complicated expression. But finally, she sighed and nodded slowly, "Fine… I'm sorry. I suppose I shouldn't assume things I don't know anything about. Regardless of anything else, I'd love to be your friend again."

While Emily nodded appreciatively, and with a bit of relief, Seraphina then looked at Emma and Astrid, "And I apologize to you two as well." To which Emma nodded kindly, and Astrid scoffed dismissively.

But then she turned to Erik, pointed her finger at him, and narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "But I still don't trust or like you, or that fairy of yours!"

In response, Erik grinned mysteriously and wiggled his eyebrows, "Oh, don't worry. I have ways to change your mind."

"You…!" Seraphina exclaimed while taking a step back, entirely caught off guard by his insinuation. She wasn't sure if he was kidding or not, so she quickly looked around at the others, to see their reactions.

But rather than get any support, everyone was giggling, including Alice, which quickly caused her to realize he was kidding. Seraphina pursed her lips and huffed, "That's not funny."

"I disagree," a grinning Astrid responded, while she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "That was very funny." Which caused Seraphina to narrow her eyes, and Astrid to respond in kind.

Soon, fighting intent was sparking between the two vampires, and it appeared a small rivalry had formed. Astrid felt threatened and a little jealous by having another fighting-focussed vampire so close to her new husband. A vampire that Erik was clearly interested in.

Naturally, Erik felt her emotions through their bond, and grinned. In response, he interrupted their glaring at each other, by grabbing Astrid's waist, pulling her against him, and kissing her passionately.

Instantly, Astrid's worries retreated into the background as she moaned and melted into his arms. On the other side, Seraphina's eyes twitched when she saw Emma and Emily looking at Astrid with envy at their display. 'What am I getting into here?' she groaned inwardly.

Meanwhile, one member of their group had waited long enough. "When can we finally get to the fighting?!" Alice complained out loud with eyes turned to the sky and arms spread wide in helplessness.

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to her.