A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"She'll be fine," Elora reassured Erik with a chuckle. "Her body is simply not as prepared for the changes during transformation as a full shapeshifter is, making the entire thing a little harder for her. Still, there shouldn't be any actual danger for the girl, so you can rest easy."

Erik's response, "Shouldn't be?" came as a reflex, picking up on the subtle hint of uncertainty in Elora's previous assurance.

"Well, I still have to conduct a bit more analysis and testing," Elora admitted with a mental shrug. "There's always the possibility of discovering something unexpected. I may be awesome and amazing, but I'm not infallible!" The tone in her voice was filled with so much pride that most would doubt if she actually meant those last words.

"Anyway," she continued, shifting the topic slightly. "The data from those Council scientists wasn't particularly helpful, but I think there might still be some interesting findings in Alice's genetic makeup that are worth exploring. I just need a little more time to study her."

"Alright," Erik nodded, signaling his understanding and agreement. "Just don't make her uncomfortable, and try to figure out a way to make her transformation less painful and stressful."

"Of course, of course," Elora chuckled mischievously. "Wouldn't want your new daughter to be uncomfortable."

Groaning at Elora's jokes, Erik finally pushed himself up from the cold snowy ground and stretched his body. Beside him, Astrid and Emily were resting their eyes for a moment until they were ready to move on, while in front of him, Emma was giggling and whispering with Alice.

'Do I really want to be a father-figure to that girl?' he thought to himself as he looked at the little girl who seemed so resilient in the face of the curve balls life had thrown her so far. 'Well, whatever,' he thought after a few moments of contemplating his future role in Alice's life. 'If it happens, it happens.'

He stepped up to Emma and Alice, before grabbing his second wife and planting a soft kiss on her lips. "That's for being so great to Alice," he told her through their link with a warm smile on his face.

Emma giggled happily and responded, also through their link, "She's a cute girl. I'd love it if she stuck around."

Erik smiled and turned to Alice who was looking at them curiously. "So Alice," he began with some concern in his voice. "How does it feel for you when you transform? It looked like you were in discomfort just now."

"Ah," Alice exclaimed, being momentarily taken aback by Erik's question. She had hoped no one noticed. "It's no big deal," she mumbled a little awkwardly as she scratched her head. "It just hurts a little when I transform. But I've had that my whole life already, and I've gotten used to it. I just try not to transform to often, and usually prefer to stay in beast form."

It was no surprise the girl preferred her wereverine form to the human one. The only link to her human side was her mother, and she was just three-years-old when that link died. To this day, she had very little to no memories of the woman, while most of the important people in her life were shapeshifters.

Naturally, the wereverine form wasn't exactly practical in a lot of day-to-day activities for adults, but Alice was still a child. She had been getting away with this for as long as she could remember.

"You should have said something!" Emma exclaimed, a little frustrated. "You didn't have to transform if you didn't want to!"

"No, no! It's fine!" she hurriedly explained, somehow not wanting to disappoint the woman in front of her. "I wanted to do it! Besides, I would have had to show my human face at some point, anyway."

"I'm glad you two are getting along," Erik smiled. "But we should be getting to the hotel now. We need to rest on something better then the snowy ground," he chuckled as he looked at Astrid and Emily. The two exhausted women were already in the process of falling asleep despite the cold ground they were lying on.

"Come on, you two. Get up. This is no place to sleep," he grinned as he softy kicked their legs causing them to groan and glare at him, even as they stood up and stretched.

"Fine, fine. Let's go," Astrid mumbled, groggily.

As they turned around and were about to move deeper into town, they were stopped by a young voice that sounded uncertain, yet filled with a desire for vengeance. "W— Wait! What about Victor!"

Erik turned around to see Alice glaring at the dull-eyed Victor. Their arrival here, her falling asleep during the journey, and Emma's conversation combined with her aura had distracted the girl for a while, but not anymore.

Just before she was about to follow Erik and the others, she suddenly saw Victor from the corner of her eye, and all her feelings of hatred, fury, and sadness came flooding back again.

"You— You promised me his head!" Alice seethed, despite some uncertainty in her voice, and small tears in her eyes.

"I did," Erik said with a stern frown and a nod. "And you'll have it. Tomorrow, first thing. But not now."

But Alice's fury wouldn't be quelled so easily. Not after having been, somewhat magically, suppressed for nearly 24 hours, through a combined effort of Elora's magic and Emma's instinctual aura.

She shook her head wildly. "I don't want to wait! He caused everyone I cared about to die, and he needs to pay!"

The only thing stopping her from simply assaulting Victor right here and now, is that she wasn't in wereverine for anymore, and she was afraid Erik would stop her.

Erik stepped up to Alice carefully and caressed her small head. "I know, Alice. And he will. But tonight, there's something else I want to give you. Something perhaps even more important."

Uncertainty shone in the young girls eyes as she panned her gaze between Erik and Victor. Fury was still flooding her mind, but the respect and trust she had gained for Erik after his rescue, and his extraordinary abilities, tempered her feelings, ever so slightly.

"W— What's that?" she finally decided to ask, with some skepticism.

"A message from your father," Erik said softly. "He created it just before he died."

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