Erik spent a week preparing himself and Sassy to combat the forces they would soon face. During that time, Erik was pleasantly surprised at Sassy’s grasp of magical combat. ‘Well, at least she seems to be able to hold her own for the most part. We''ll see how she handles herself when shit hits the fan though.’ Erik thought. Alastair remained silent, and Erik took notice of this. ‘What the hell is wrong with you. No snarky comebacks, no doomsaying, no taunting. You''ve been like this for the last week now. Very much unlike yourself.’ Alastair ignored him. ‘You can''t ignore me forever, and you can''t hide this shit from me forever. Eventually, you''ll have to tell me what''s going on.’ Alastair finally spoke up. ‘You and I need to have a conversation. Something has come up.’ Erik took this seriously, as Alastair has never acted this way. ‘And the girl needs to be included. We have things to discuss with her as well.’ Erik''s eyes shifted to Sassy, who was practicing to maintain control of a higher level spell than she was used to. ‘Is it that serious that we have to reveal intimate details of our life to someone we know very little about?’ Erik thought. ‘To put it bluntly, deadly serious. It''s a bit of an unexpected side effect of our bond, but she has to know.’ Erik sighed to himself. ‘Fine. I have an inkling of what it is you are talking about. I''ll ask her to speak with me later tonight, and then we will discuss this further then. For now, go back to being your surly self.’ Alastair grumbled to himself, but didn''t retort. Erik watched as Sassy finally released the casting of the spell, and then walked over to her. “I have something vitally important I need to discuss with you Sassy.” She looked at him, slightly out of breath from the spell channeling. “Um, okay. What is it?” “It''s not something I wish to discuss in front of others. After supper tonight, please visit me in my quarters. I don''t want anyone else coming with you.” Erik turned and walked off, leaving Sassy clueless and stunned.


    Later that evening, after everyone had eaten and retired for the evening, Sassy knocked softly on Erik''s door, slightly nervous as to what it was that was so important that Erik had requested to speak to her in private. The door opened, and Erik stepped out, tucking a pistol he had acquired from the armory into his waistband, letting the back of his shirt fall over it, concealing it from view. Sassy watched the movement, eyes wide. “Don''t worry, it''s only for emergencies. Follow me, we''re going to do a patrol of the area, and then we will discuss what needs to be discussed.” Sassy nodded, and silently followed behind him. They made their way up the hidden stairs, and eventually stepped out into the cool evening. It was almost pitch black outside, and they both moved silently, eyes watching the darkness carefully for any unwelcome visitors. They followed a patrol route that had been determined by Erik, and ended up several blocks away from the hidden entrance of the underground base. Finally, after almost an hour into the patrol route, Erik stopped, and turned to Sassy. “This will be a good enough place for a short discussion.” Sassy hopped up onto a short wall to sit, as Erik shifted around, listening for any nearby sounds. When he was satisfied that no one was going to interrupt them, he shifted his eyes to Sassy. “What we are going to tell you doesn''t reach anyone else. This stays between us.” Sassy raised her eyes to meet his. “What do you mean ‘we’? There''s only the two of us here.” Erik leaned back against the wall next to her. “When I was young, much younger than I am now, I was the leader of a warrior clan that contained about seventy-five men, women, and children. We were self-sufficient, not needing to trade with others to survive. I was born ulfa blood, or wolf-blood, which is why I was given the title of Clan leader. I was named Erik Ulfvaldr, or wolf-leader. Due to my wolfblood, I was stronger, faster, and more deadly than any of the other warriors in my clan. I never sought battle like other clan leaders, but I was not afraid to fight, and fight viciously, to protect my own. Eventually, other clans learned to avoid us. Some made the claim that I was a descendant of one of Odin’s wolves, and that made me somewhat special. I never paid any attention to these claims, but they were made nonetheless. After twenty years of prosperity and peace, my clan was targeted. My people started disappearing in the middle of the night, without a trace. I couldn''t even track them. I learned that a very old, very powerful cult was kidnapping my people, to lure me into their trap. They knew of me, and that I was a very powerful, very dangerous foe. I hunted them down, and managed to kill a few of them before they overpowered me. I was taken to their lair, as were the rest of my clan. Their leader told me they needed me for a ritual, and if I didn''t cooperate, they were going to slaughter everyone I held dear to me. I agreed to be a part of his ritual. They were attempting to summon a powerful demon lord, an Incubus by the name of Alastair, and they wanted my body as the vessel for the demon. Something went wrong with the ritual though. As far as I can tell, they didn''t account for me being wolfblood. The next thing I remember was waking up, covered in blood. The lair of the cult was littered with bodies. Bodies everywhere. Bodies of cult members, as well as the bodies of my people. When the ritual malfunctioned it caused the two of us to be bonded, fused into one singular being, who then went on a rampage. We slaughtered everything within reach. Men, women, children, all dead.” Erik stopped for a moment, rage, hate, and sadness etched in his face. Sassy placed a hand on his shoulder. Erik continued with his story. “With the botched ritual, I became bound to the demon, his symbol seared into my skin. The bonding created complications. We have yet to figure out a way to separate from each other. We have to coexist to stay alive. There was conflict, at first. We learned to live with each other.” Sassy felt sadness at his story. She looked at him. “Why are you telling me all of this? This doesn''t seem like something that is easy for you to talk about.” Erik shifted his eyes to her. They were slightly damp with the painful memories that had been drug up. “One of the complications of being bound to Alastair, the demon, is that some wires got crossed. My eyes turned red, I am virtually immortal, and I don''t get tired, or grow hungry. On the other hand, Alastair has inherited some of my qualities. One of those is what we call imprinting. When a wolfblood meets their mate, they imprint on each other. Usually this only happens between two wolfbloods, but in very special circumstances, it can happen with other creatures. In this case, with things being crossed, it happened. The reason that we''ve been drawn to each other is Alastair, and by extension myself, has imprinted on you. He''s become bonded to you in a way that makes it impossible for either him or myself to ignore. The longer we are around you, the stronger it becomes. For now, whatever magical ability you have is fending it off from your side, for now. It''s shielding you from it. Eventually though, it will become overwhelming, and you will begin feeling the effects as well. The longer we are together, and the closer we are, the more overwhelming it will become.” Erik finished his statement to a shocked Sassy. “Hold on, what do you mean imprinting?” Erik took a deep breath before explaining. “Imprinting is something that happens with mates. They bond. Not the same type of bond that Alastair and I were forced into mind you, but a bond nonetheless. There is a limited connection. Emotions, certain other feelings, things like that. It becomes shared.” Sassy looked down at the ground, speechless. Erik stood there, letting her process all of this information. He gave her some time, waiting for her to speak. When she finally did, her voice came out almost at a whisper. “So ... .so what does this mean? Does this mean that we''re stuck together?” She finally looked at him. “Um, I mean…..that sounded worse than I meant it to sound.” Erik smiled a little bit. “I know what you meant, and no, it doesn''t mean that. From this moment on, you have a choice to make. A choice I am not going to force on you.” “What choice do you mean?” Erik took another deep breath before proceeding. “Well you can do one of two things. You can forget about all of this. The entire conversation never happened, and you know nothing about it. We continue on how we were, take care of this little problem in front of us, and I do my best to avoid being in proximity to you, so as to not force the feelings that come with this on you.” Sassy listened closely, contemplating. “The second option is, you embrace what this connection means. Not fully, all at once. Bit by bit, we can teach you what you need to know.” For the first time since she met him, Sassy saw hesitation in what Erik was going to say. “Sassy, I''m not going to lie to you. The last week, things have been developing. I''ve had to reevaluate exactly what I think of you, and how I feel about you. But, I''ve been alive long enough to know how to separate my feelings from getting the job done. This decision is totally yours to make, and I don''t expect you to make it right now. But, you deserve to be informed enough to make the decision properly.” Erik glanced at Sassy, trying to read what was on her face. What he saw startled him. Erik expected anger, or fear, or something other than what he did see. “Sassy, is your face red from embarrassment? What are you embarrassed about?” Sassy looked up at him, her face turning an even brighter shade of red. “Fucking Saphielle was right, and I absolutely hate her for it.” For the first time since they had met, Erik had to laugh. “I understand now why she''s been laughing every time I see her. Now that I''m in on the joke, I see the humor in it.” Sassy looked up at Erik, and the two shared a moment of understanding with each other, before Erik spoke. “So, there you have it Sassy. Everything is out in the open. It''s your decision to make. I''ve already told you I won''t force you into anything.” Sassy was lost in thought for a few moments. Erik watched her closely, wondering what she was thinking. Suddenly, Sassy leaned close to Erik, kissing him softly on the lips. When she didn''t pull back from him, Erik leaned into her, kissing her back, keeping his lips pressed to hers. They both withdrew slightly, but kept close to each other. Sassy was the first to speak. “Um, well, I''d say that answers your question, doesn''t it?” Erik laughed softly. “Yes, yes it does. I''m sure you have a lot of questions. I promise I''ll answer them when the time comes. For now, we need to get back to the compound. We have been gone for too long.” Erik wrapped his arms around her waist, and helped her down from the wall. They started back toward the compound, hand in hand as they walked.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.