With Emily and the fake Elora's addition to the field, Frostfang paused his advance toward Erik and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Erik, still in his formidable wolf form, turned to them and faked surprised outrage as best he could. "Elora! Emily! What the hell are you two doing?!" he barked, his voice laden with desperation.
"We refuse to let you get hurt for our sake," 'Elora' yelled angrily. "What's the point, anyway? It's not like you're going to defeat a third rank!"
Astrid felt disgusted saying such defeatist words. As soon as Erik wanted to settle this matter in a fight, she'd gladly stand by his side, come what may. Even so, she knew the value of strategy and did her best to make it sound convincing.
Emily and 'Elora' soon ended up flanking Erik on either side in a show of unity and support. They took defiant stances while glaring at Frostfang and Victor.
Thank you for reading! I truly appreciate your time and hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like to show your support, sharing the novel, voting, or leaving a kind word means the world. Every bit of encouragement helps keep me going.
Alternatively, I've created a new novel: Born of Blood and Moonlight. It follows a character who is focused more on charm and manipulation in a fantasy/sci-fi setting, with some sprinkling influence of 40k and Stargate. But, still, with vampires and werewolves.