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

Chapter Thirty-Six: Decision Time

      

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“Are you sure about this, lass?”

“Yes, Eric. Now, stand still…I’m almost done.” Lori finished knotting his black tie and grabbed his black jacket, helping Eric into it. She wiped her hands across the lapel a few times before taking a step back to have a look. Eric was super sexy in the Italian tuxedo Des had sent for the occasion.

“Is this really what the men in your world wear when they bond with their soul mates?” he asked dubiously. Such attire felt strange and confining, though the look in his wife’s eye made him wonder if perhaps he should not have more of these clothes in his wardrobe. The warrior inside him scoffed at the very idea, but it too was pleased at the hungry look in Lori’s eye as it passed over him.

She laughed, “Not exactly the same kind of bonding, but something like that.”

“Did you also tell him it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?” Des asked, appearing out of nowhere.

Eric was handling the truth of the situation much better this time around. He’d taken her back to the safety of the castle, where Lori proceeded to tell him everything that had transpired before he'd found them. She told him about Randor and Cynn and the revelations she'd learned - the relationship Cynn had with the Fenrir, Randor and Lord Oren himself. Eric admitted he'd not been aware the maid was the daughter of Lord Oren when he'd granted the young girl asylum at Wolfgard. At that point Eric asked her to explain in detail how Des had sent her through the archway from her world once more. This time he was a lot more open to the truth, asking her new questions until he knew it all, marveling at what had indeed been a magical journey for everyone involved.

He in turn told her about how they’d discovered a bloody scene at the North tower before realizing she was missing. Cynn and Randor had planted a false trail for them to follow, as if Meghan had taken her somewhere. But they followed Corey’s bloody trail instead. When she asked him why he’d chosen to follow Corey’s trail instead of Meghan's, Eric simply said he'd followed the instincts of his warrior. It had known which way she’d gone no matter what the evidence showed.

Eric asked her repeatedly if she was truly alright, touching her and making sure she was really ok for himself. Lori explained what Des had said about the archway changing her on a cellular level. It was its magic that had saved her from Cynn's final assault. Only the faintest scar on her stomach was left to show anything had even happened. The gash in her head and the bruises on her face had also healed  without evidence of ever having occurred.

Lori knew it was Corey’s sacrifice that weighed on Eric and his men the heaviest. Loyalty and honor were the lifeblood of their whole clan – the fact that one of their own had died defending Wolfgard from her enemies only galvanized the entire kingdom. Corey’s self-less act, coupled with Lori’s knack of survival and defeat of the traitor, had won the overwhelming support needed to change Varick’s law. Once the elite guard had accepted their bond, the rest of Wolfgard was informed and a wedding feast was immediately arranged to the joy of all.

Bertie was inconsolable over Cynn, as were many of the girls who'd called her sister, but even they had managed to find joy in Wolfgard finding her proper queen. It was a ray of happiness and hope in the dark shadow of treachery that had befallen them. With Lori as queen, Wolfgard would stand complete and strong against her enemies.

Des had even come back to help with this final detail. His constant popping in and out routine was not something Eric had grown entirely used to just yet.

At least this time he didn’t curse and go for his sword.

“Who needs luck,” Lori wrapped her arms around her husband, “We’ve got magic.” She smiled prettily before pulling his head down for a kiss.  

Des sniffed, a little offended, “You’re welcome.”

When neither one of them deigned to respond he snapped his fingers, clothing Lori in a one-of-a-kind wedding dress. It was one of his very own designs; classic and regal with fine jewels set in the tight bodice and down the back.

His final task done, Desmond left as silently as he’d arrived, a triumphant smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

He felt his curse lift ever so slightly and Des, supreme love-god extraordinaire, went back out into the fray.

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A/N: The video in this chapter is Matisyahu's "Live Like A Warrior." (A personal fave!) Enjoy!!