Catch, Curse, Release (Immortal Warriors #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Twenty-Three: Strip Speed Chess Anyone?

Strip Speed Chess Anyone?

Eric and Aiden stood just outside the study door, Viktor as silent as a spectre behind them. Viktor had been one of Eric’s own father’s most trusted warriors – he did not speak often but there weren’t many who would willingly tangle with the seasoned soldier. No one could stand against Viktor for long – even Aiden treated the old warrior with quiet respect.  

Aiden looked past Eric to the door where Lori slept inside. After he’d sent Lori to Eric’s study under Viktor’s watchful guard, he’d gone back to the dining hall and stepped into bedlam. It had been an age since he’d seen so many agitated wolves almost entirely out of control within their walls – though even now he wasn’t sure if it was because of what Lori had done or because she’d been removed from the hall that had caused such uproar among the Fenrir. Whichever, it mattered little to Eric as he lashed out with a tremendous amount of power to silence the violent mass at once. Randor, the most dominant of the group, had fallen with the other wolves as Eric brought them down into a prone position. Even Aiden had trembled under the sheer force Eric had unleashed as he used the wolves’ very own power to bring them to the floor. It was only the fact that he was an immortal and not a wolf that kept him standing.  

As Aiden watched his cousin take control of the situation, mere words were woefully inadequate to fully describe the sense of awe he’d felt at seeing Eric harness so much power at once. It was as if Ruairidh the Brave had come back from the Great Beyond. If he’d had any doubt about Lori being Eric’s destined mate, it had vanished the instant he’d watched the human female pour the large reserve of magic directly into his cousin. It was not something most immortals were able to see, but Aiden’s mother had been a seer from one of the purest and oldest bloodlines within their clan. Seeing the exchange between mated pairs was a gift Aiden inherited at birth, though he’d not seen such a thing since he was a boy. He’d never thought to witness such magic again.

There was no way the wolves would willingly leave Wolfgard without Lori, though he knew such a thing would never happen so long as Eric lived and breathed. Wolves respected power and dominance above all else, however they often failed to understand the reach and breadth of such magic. Only mated pairs could exchange power in such a fashion; Lori would not be able to do the same for any other male except Eric. Unfortunately, wolves tended not to care about the finer details of such things – they would take her so long as they could. It was up to Eric to show his dominance over each of the wolves inside the hall should they dare attempt that very thing.

With another large show of power, Eric had commanded the wolves to bring themselves under control. At that point Randor attempted to rise and face Eric, but the ruler of Wolfgard had swatted him down like an insect. If Aiden hadn’t been a little nervous about starting another war with the wolves, he might’ve laughed at seeing the belligerent wolf slapped down like an unruly cub. As it was, they had enough to deal with after tonight and trying to change thousands of years of immortal law on top of a bloody war would not make life easier for any of them.

As Aiden watched, Eric used his combined powers to bind the wolves into an allegiance to both him and all of Wolfgard. Their loyalty would remain with the Fenrir, but the assembled wolves could not willingly move against Eric, Lori or anyone else in his house without breaking through his binding first. This would be a nearly impossible feat for any creature not of equal or greater power than Eric himself. He’d made the wolves allies for the rest of their natural lives without shedding a single drop of blood. It had not been easy, but the combined powers Eric wielded this night made it possible for him to do so, even against the most stubborn of the wolves, Randor included. Aiden had not thought Eric possible of such magic, but it was clear his cousin was among the most powerful of any male born of his line.