A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

A few minutes later, they stood in front of a door that allowed the sound of a party to leak through. Laughing, talking, the clinking of glass, and even music. Whatever tension Kato's punishment created clearly hadn't taken long to dissolve when the after-party started.

Before they went in, Nora stopped and turned to them—or rather, to Naeku. "Before we go in…" she said, a mysterious smile on her lips. "I'm sure you've both already noticed some of our customs."

At that point, she produced something from her storage space that she was wearing as well: a black band choker, currently unbound by a clasp bearing Erik's symbol. Though there was one difference with this clasp. While all the ones they'd seen so far were made of some kind of silvery metal, this one appeared to be a solid, gleaming gold.

"I would never demand anything of you, Mistress, but I'm sure the Wulfs inside would appreciate the gesture. Plus, it might damage Master's image if his woman wasn't wearing the choker…" She pleaded, grinning a little when she witnessed the blush peaking through the fur on Naeku's werepanther face.

Seeing Erik frown a little, she glanced at him. "Don't worry, Master," she giggled. "As you can see, I made this one slightly different from the others, and I don't intend for anyone but those specifically chosen by you to wear the golden ones. As Master is the dom of doms, his wives should not be regular subs, either."

"I— But I have the— oh…" she looked down, and fell silent. Though she was still dressed in the elegant, but very scanty outfit Erik had given her—causing her stomach to be exposed—the fur of her werepanther form currently obscured Erik's mark printed across her lower belly.

At this point, Erik raised his eyebrow. Though he knew, of course, he'd not really thought about it until now. Suddenly, especially considering the nature of this cult, he felt it was wrong that she didn't currently display any sign of who she belonged to. At the end of the day, he remained a possessive man.

So, without further input from Naeku, he took the choker from Nora's hands. "I'll put it on you," he growled, the tone of voice decisive and authoritative.

Naeku immediately pouted a little… but his tone forced a shiver down her spine as she felt herself touch the edges of the sub space he'd awakened inside her. "F-Fine…" she muttered meekly.

Moving behind her, Erik gently but firmly clasped the choker around her neck. The action forced another shiver down her spine when she felt the tight band press against her skin. It didn't impede her breathing, but its presence was obvious and felt constantly.

One hand reached up to touch it, while her eyes turned up to look at him. There was a strange pleading in that look which she didn't fully understand herself, yet. Erik, however, was intimately familiar with it. It was the look of a submissive lover, wondering if she'd done well.

"Good girl," he praised, and grabbed the back of her neck to pull her towards him. Naeku instinctively turned back to human form and leaned into the possessive kiss he planted on her lips, moaning softly. When he pulled back, he looked at her human form with the choker and couldn't help but grin lustfully. "You look amazing like that. The gold even fits your eyes."

"T-Thank you, Sir…" she smiled dreamily, still skirting the edges of her sub space.

The moment lasted a little longer before Naeku pulled back with a deep blush. "A-Anyway… we should continue…"

Erik chuckled, and she quickly turned back to her werepanther form before they entered the door ahead.

Behind it was more or less what they'd expected. It looked sort of like a ballroom, with around two hundred people mingling and enjoying themselves. Several pieces of comfortable furniture were spread throughout, being used by people sitting and talking as they sipped drinks. Others stood and did the same, or even danced in the middle of the room.

In contrast to the previous hall, there didn't seem to be a divide between subs and doms this time. Though some of the claimed subs were kneeling next to their masters or mistresses—generally smiling happily—most of the unclaimed ones were frittering around the room in much the same way as most doms were. They were all either simply having fun or trying to meet their future partner(s).

There was also artful expression. A band was playing relatively calm music, while others gathered in groups to draw, paint, whittle, or do any number of other things.

But those were simply the more normal ones. Alternatively, some claimed subs were actually flirting with others as their doms looked on with satisfaction. Or they were trying to find unclaimed subs to try and convince them that their dom would be a great fit. Some people were even having open sex in the corners, where subs were either buried between the legs of their doms, or pleasing them in any number of other ways.

Truthfully, the entire thing looked rather debaucherous… and a lot of fun. No one appeared bothered by anything the others did. The entire party was like a joyful expression of freedom to contrast the much sterner preaching by Nora.

"This…" Naeku muttered, obviously taken aback as her eyes flew around the room and took everything in.

"Yeah, not exactly what I expected, either," Erik chuckled next to her.

"It was a lot more awkward the first few times," Nora giggled on his other side, the pride in her voice evident. "But we encouraged them all to have fun and do as they wished, so long as they honoured the tenets of our faith, which essentially boil down to 'don't be assholes', in this case. Still, not everyone is comfortable, and they usually leave pretty quickly… But they always come back eventually."

As Erik and Naeku took in the scene, it wasn't long before they were noticed. Although everyone was absorbed in the party, it was pretty hard to miss the entrance of two imposing third-rankers. Slowly, silence began to settle in the room as everyone glanced at Erik with both trepidation and awe.

Noticing this, Erik couldn't help but feel a little awkward, though he quickly suppressed that feeling. Instead, he looked around and smiled confidently. "Please, don't mind me. Enjoy yourselves! I can't stay right now, but I hope I can join sometime in the future without taking up all of the attention," he finished with a chuckle.

Instantly, the rising tension was halted and brought back down. People smiled, while some of the more confident ones raised their glasses towards him. Still, no one spoke, but it looked like they appreciated his demeanour.

Taking another glance around, Naeku then sighed softly. "We should leave now. I've seen more or less what I wanted to, and as I suspected, they won't act normally with us around."

Some of the people there heard her, despite her soft tone, and immediately felt strangely guilty… but simultaneously had forgotten what acting normal was like.

Thus, it wasn't long before the four of them left again.