I stepped back into the room where Amber, Azura, and Zoe had just heard my argument with Tori.

  While Amber was looking at me with a soft smile, my attention shifted to Zoe, who, with a wide grin, was bouncing on the bed excitedly.

  “Master! I know a perfect way to let out your frustration. And rex,” Zoe said cheerfully.

  “Yeah?”

  “We can fuck Amber until she passes out, then do the same with Azura. We’ll put them together, cuddling cheek to cheek, and I’ll jerk you off until you cover both their faces with your cum,” Zoe replied passionately.

  I snorted, hearing her exaggerated idea, but then stopped, as I realized that I actually could do that. Or maybe add her to the cuddling group and fuck all three of them hard. But then they would fall asleep covered in my cum, and I wouldn't be able to cuddle with them, so…

  I realized that her suggestion had already calmed me down. At least a little. I still didn't want to see that bitch, Tori, but thinking about sex was very distracting.

  “Actually,” Amber said. “We can celebrate,” she added, stepping closer to me and putting her hands on my chest.

  “Celebrate?” I asked.

  “One bitch less,” she replied, shifting closer, our lips almost touching.

  “Be careful who you call that,” I warned.

  “I assumed she’s one, after you called her that a few times,” Amber replied, staring into my eyes.

  “Don't get too cocky or I’ll need to show you where your pce is again,” I said quietly, and leaned forward. But just before our lips could touch, I stepped back and turned toward Azura.

  I grabbed her hand and lifted her chin so our eyes met. “Are you okay?” I asked, afraid that after the argument with her mother, Tori’s insults had only made things worse.

  “I don’t care that you aren’t a wolf,” she murmured. “But I’d hoped she would like you.”

  “Maybe she will, someday,” I said, though I knew it might never happen. “What matters is that she’s safe here with you. And you’ve got two younger sisters.”

  Azura hummed softly and rose onto her toes, grabbing my shirt.

  I leaned down, meeting her in a gentle kiss - slowly brushing my lips against hers as she pressed her lean body to mine.

  “We can make it slow and gentle too,” Zoe said, now standing beside us, with her face just inches away. “Any way your cock ends up in our pussies is good by me.”

  “Someone’s horny?” I snorted, looking at her.

  “I haven’t had your cock inside me in, like… a century or something,” she gasped, dramatically flopping back onto the bed.

  It hadn’t even been a full day since I’d fucked her the night before, but when I noticed her pink eyes had turned purple, I checked her status and found the reason for her horniness. She was hungry. With only a few points of her own mana left, she was running on just over thirty points of mine.

  The problem was, while she craved my cock and mana, I was hungry. For real food. The st meal I’d eaten was in the morning, and after spending most of the day in the dungeon, my stomach was empty.

  “Let’s find something to eat first,” I said, assessing she would be fine waiting a moment longer. “Then we can take care of all your other needs. And someone was behaving today,” I added, turning toward Amber. “Maybe that was all you needed to behave. One good fuck.”

  “It was decent,” she huffed.

  I snorted and stepped closer. “You couldn’t walk and had to stay in bed all day. I’m worried your amazing body might break if I give you more,” I said, brushing her white hair behind her long ear. As my fingers grazed it, a visible shiver ran through her.

  “You didn’t do it alone,” she murmured, her voice breathy.

  “So you liked that Zoe was with us?” I asked.

  “Let’s find food,” Amber replied, moving to the door. “I’m hungry.”

  I chuckled as we moved after her. On the ground floor, we headed to the kitchen, where Mari was sitting at the table, actually eating something.

  “Is there anything to eat?” I asked.

  “Sage prepared it for everyone,” she replied, gesturing to the pot standing on what looked like a stove, but with bck mana stones embedded in it. Inside was something that looked like a stew.

  As I searched for bowls, I wondered when Sage had prepared it. We’d only arrived in Ortas not long ago. Maybe she’d used her css for it somehow, but I wasn’t really sure how that would work.

  “Happy that your healing starts tomorrow?” I asked Mari as I was serving the food.

  She lifted her gaze from the meal to me, holding it for a moment before giving a small nod. “Thank you,” she murmured.

  “You don’t need to,” I replied. “It’s part of our deal.”

  She didn't answer, focusing again on her food. I wondered if that would ever change, or if she would behave like that always. Perhaps after healing was done, she would start to recover mentally too. Or maybe she had always been like that, and nothing would change.

  When our food was ready, we moved to the living room, which for me seemed more like a dining room, with only a rge table in the middle and chairs around. But that was all we needed, and as I sat by the table, Zoe climbed into my p, cuddling against my chest, with her tail wrapped around my waist.

  Amber was giving us a strange look as Zoe and I fed each other, but I ignored her and focused on eating in peace. At least until Zelda peeked into the room.

  “Oh, here you are,” she said, stepping inside. “How does it taste? I’m not sure if anything Sage makes is even edible.”

  “It’s actually great,” I replied.

  “I may even give it a try,” Zelda said. “But I want to talk about Hannah and the green substance that stuck to her body,” she added, gncing at Azura. “I took another look at it, and I still have no idea what it is. I’ll contact the people investigating the boratory. Maybe they’ll find something about it. It doesn’t seem to have harmed your mother in any way. I thought it might be a parasite, but she hasn’t shown any concerning symptoms.”

  “So why would it even stick to her?” I asked.

  “Hard to say. I’ll examine it further and keep Hannah under medical observation. At first, I thought it was some kind of fungus, but it behaves more like an animal. It moves around her body, trying to avoid examination, but… I got the impression it was actually curious about what I was doing.”

  “So, it’s intelligent?” I asked.

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Zelda replied with a frown, which, on her young face, actually looked rather cute. “It’s more like… it follows basic instincts, but aside from the fact that it won’t get off Hannah, I’m not even sure what those are.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Let me or Azura know if you find out anything more about it.” Despite Hannah’s aversion toward me, she was still Azura’s mother, and I didn’t want Azura to lose her so soon after finally getting her back, after so many years apart.

  “Of course,” Zelda said. “About Mari’s healing, I’ll be ready to start tomorrow evening, so you can head into the dungeon beforehand, but it would be best if you came back a bit earlier than you did today.”

  “Okay, we’ll be back in time,” I replied, though I wasn’t even sure if we would go to the dungeon at all, as we had lost Tori. But we didn’t need that bitch. Cassia and Mari were both strong, and we could just train on a lower level instead.

  “Good night,” Zelda said, stepping out of the room.

  But we didn't have a moment of peace even for a second, as Hannah entered the room.

  “Azura, can we talk?” she asked. “Alone,” she added, with her gaze locked on her daughter.

  Azura turned to me, asking for permission with her eyes. I gave a slight nod, and she picked up her food and left the room with her mother. Even then, we couldn’t finish our meal in peace, as Sage stepped inside.

  “Is there a line outside waiting for their turn?” I joked.

  “A few women are ciming you promised to fuck them today,” Sage replied.

  “What?!” Amber gasped, smming her fist onto the table.

  Sage giggled. “You could chase them away before they get to him. Then you’d have him all to yourself,” she said to Amber. “Or… mostly to yourself,” she added, gncing at Zoe, who was still sitting in my p.

  Amber looked at me, tense, and for a moment I thought she might actually get up to check the corridor. But in the end, she stayed in her chair, gring at Sage as she picked at her food.

  “You talked with Tori?” I asked, guessing what Sage really wanted to talk about.

  “I expined that it was better to hire you, rather than just observe,” Sage replied. “She mostly was, and still is, angry for the same reason she told you not to trust me,” she said, pointing at herself.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because you were her goose that ys golden eggs, and I took you away for myself,” Sage replied. “I was paying her for information about you. Now, when you work for me, she doesn't have that opportunity anymore. And that was quite easy to solve.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “Oh, you only ask question after question,” Sage replied dramatically. “And none of them are even about me,” she added, pouting before she burst out ughing.

  I looked at her, wondering what she meant, but I had no chance to come up with an answer before she spoke again.

  “I offered her another job with a lucrative sary,” Sage replied with a shrug. “She was still pissed off and stormed out, but she won’t do anything stupid. Just in case, I have people watching her. But she will be back like a good kitty,” Sage said, then giggled.

  “I don't want her back,” I replied dryly.

  “Hmm…” Sage hummed. “Do you think you’re the center of the universe? I mean, that’s pretty normal for men,” she said before I had a chance to answer. “But here I’m the most important, handsome.” Sage snorted before she continued. “She’ll be back working for me. I don’t think she’d ever want anything to do with you.”

  “Great,” I replied.

  “Do you like the room?” Sage asked.

  “I guess.” I shrugged. “A room like any other. Quite normal.”

  “Great,” Sage replied. “I can’t stay for the night. Behave while mom’s not home, understand?”

  “Sure,” I replied, a little taken aback, to which Sage only giggled as she stepped toward the door.

  “Or be naughty as much as you want, but don’t burn the pce down,” she added, still giggling before she left the room.

  “She’s fucked up in her mind,” Amber murmured.

  Zoe giggled, sitting in my p. While I understood Amber’s comment, I wasn't sure what Zoe found so funny in it. I looked at her questioningly, and when she calmed down, she pressed her cheek against my chest.

  “You attract crazy like a magnet, Master,” she said, shifting her gaze toward Amber and tilting her head ever so slightly, trying to be subtle about it.

  “I’m not crazy!” Amber gasped. “Especially not like her! She’s probably nuts because of her css and age.”

  “Css and age?” I repeated, wondering what she meant.

  “Some csses have that effect on people,” Amber replied with a shrug. “Especially if they prolong their lives into centuries. Sooner or ter, their mind breaks.”

  “Csses like what?” I asked.

  “I don't know. Maybe she can see things. Like visions of the future. Or the past. Or who the fuck knows what. You can go ten, twenty, maybe fifty years with them and be okay. But five hundred?” Amber asked. “You end up like her,” she added, pointing her spoon at the door.

  “But maybe that’s not the case,” she added after a moment with a thoughtful expression. “She’s managing too well,” Amber gestured at the house around. “To be completely crazy, so there must still be some remaining sanity in her head.”

  I wondered if that was the case with Sage, and if Gemma would expin everything to me if I asked.

  My thoughts were disturbed when Azura came back into the room without her mother. She just sat next to me, putting the empty bowl there.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  Azura hummed a short yes while not looking at me. But it was fairly normal for her and didn't need to mean anything.

  “What did your mother want to talk about?” I asked, worried that Hannah might have tried to set Azura against me and convince her to end this retionship.

  “She wanted me to spend the night in her room,” Azura murmured.

  “And?” I asked, wondering what Azura had chosen. She hadn’t seen her mother for many years, so perhaps it would be good if they spent more time together.

  “I refused,” Azura replied. Again, short answers without too much detail or expnation were typical for her, but this time I wanted to know more.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “I don't want to.” She shrugged.

  I smiled when I saw her do that - it was certainly a human gesture. Maybe spending more time around us as a human, rather than a wolf, would make her act more human over time.

  “You just prefer to be with your pack, don't you?” Zoe asked, putting a hand on Azura’s shoulder, squeezing it gently.

  Azura hummed yes, gncing at us for a moment, but she quickly averted her dark blue eyes.

  I rested my hand on Azura’s knee, brushing it gently in reassurance. It seemed she didn’t want to be far from me, just like she hadn’t wanted to stay at the inn while we were delving into the dungeon. Apparently, even sleeping in another room with her mother counted as “far.”

  I figured her mother wasn’t happy about it, but it was Azura’s choice alone, without any influence from me. That was why Hannah had wanted to speak with her without me present, but it hadn’t worked as she hoped. Maybe she would learn to respect her daughter’s decision, if only for the sake of her happiness.

  And I intended to make Azura a very happy girl before we went to sleep.

  Everyone had already finished their food, so I stood up, lifting Zoe into my arms.

  She squealed, wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my shoulders, clinging tightly to me.

  “Let’s go back to our room,” I said, gncing from Azura to Amber. “I believe someone here deserves a reward.” My eyes lingered on the elf.

  She huffed as she rose to her feet. “Like sex with you is some kind of reward,” she muttered, striding toward the exit. “You should be honored I’m even giving you the chance.”

  But when she stepped into the hall and turned left toward the stairs, despite her words, she still walked straight toward my room. Toward my bed. Like a good little elf.