Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate
Chapter 163: Florian’s Escape Plan

Chapter 163: Florian’s Escape Plan

Thorin confided in Puck about his suspicions, and Puck quickly agreed—something definitely felt off. If Thorin suspected the Zachs were behind it, there was a good chance he was right.

"This is a setup," Thorin muttered darkly. "They’re trying to drive a wedge between us and Riona. She doesn’t think I’ll actually kick them out."

"And she’s not wrong. I don’t think you’d do it either. Especially with the way you two have been acting lately." Puck raised an eyebrow, suddenly realizing something. "Wait a minute, what exactly is going on between you and Riona? Did something happen?"

Thorin’s face flushed instantly, his mouth curling into a bashful grin. He stayed silent, but the look on his face said everything. Puck didn’t need more than a moment to piece it together.

"Ohhh, you finally dropped the L-bomb, didn’t you? Spill it! What’d she say?"

Thorin squirmed, unable to contain his giddy smile, like a kid who had just been asked out by their crush. He chuckled nervously and then slapped his hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter, but it only made things worse.

"Please stop! You’re hurting my eyes." Puck shut his eyes in mock disbelief. "So she loves you back, huh? Well, congrats! That means the Blood Moon child has given her blessing, right? Does this make you the ultimate Alpha now?"

That was the problem—Thorin had no idea. Sure, he’d shared intense, heart-pounding kisses with the Blood Moon child. And yeah, they’d even held hands! Big romantic stuff.

But did that mean he was now blessed with the mighty powers? Who knew? It wasn’t exactly something they covered in werewolf school.

"I guess we’ll have to find out," Thorin muttered.

His mind wandered back to that wild night in the royal palace. Riona had been at full power, practically glowing with it.

He’d touched her shoulder, and somehow—without even trying—he’d given her the strength to control the Blood Moon energy surging through her. That had to count for something, right?

Now, they’d touched plenty more since the whole love confession—wow, did his cheeks burn at the memory of that night? He cleared his throat, trying to focus.

If the power hadn’t transferred by now, what more could it possibly take?

"There’s no time for guesswork," Thorin said, suddenly determined.

"I’m confronting Aunt Nina. I’ll tell her I’m done. I’m not crawling back to her side, ever. They’ll have to deal with me as an independent Alpha, and we’ll cut the family drama—once and for all."

"I’m coming with you," Puck declared, leaving no room for argument.

First off, no way was he staying in Wintertooth to babysit Florian. After that kid killed a pup, Puck could barely look at him without feeling a surge of resentment.

And honestly, he didn’t trust himself to be left alone with Florian for too long without things getting... complicated.

But the main reason was Thorin. He was likely to storm right into Zacharia Castle like it was his personal playground. Sure, technically he was still family, and Nina Zacharia invited him, but come on.

Someone had to be there to prevent Thorin from lighting the whole place on fire—literally or metaphorically—and dragging Wintertooth down with him.

After years of being Thorin’s right-hand man, Puck knew his Alpha’s personality like the back of his hand. And while Thorin was a force to be reckoned with, strategy wasn’t always his strong suit.

Especially when it came to Riona. Every decision Thorin made with her involved more heart than head—and that was saying something.

***

The situation looked grim. Riona was acutely aware of how much the pack members despised the two newcomers, and she couldn’t exactly blame them.

If two werewolves stomped into the Kingdom of Eira and killed a young bat, she’d probably want to hunt down those furry beasts herself.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one feeling the tension. Florian was definitely in on it; after all, he’d nearly been torn to shreds by the very werewolves who were now eyeing him like a buffet from outside the door.

"I don’t belong here," Florian said, his voice calm and composed.

Riona recognized that he was in his ’sane’ mode—thankfully, the one she could actually have a coherent conversation with.

Ever since Florian’s transformation, she had tried to make sense of his mental states.

In his ’paranoid’ mode, he would lock himself away, which was probably the longest state he’d been in. Then there was his ’savage’ mode, where he transformed into a complete monster. That was the version of him that killed a pup.

But now, here he was in ’sane’ mode, where at least Riona could talk to him without worrying he’d bite her head off—or someone else’s, for that matter.

Seeing Riona’s disapproval, Florian shrugged nonchalantly. "They hate me, and you can’t pretend you don’t know that. I’ll just pack my bags and hit the road."

"No, Flo. Just hear me out! Thorin has a plan to keep us both here. All you have to do is stay in your ’sane’ mode—easy, right? If you actually apologize to the werewolves, they might forgive you. It might take a while, sure, but in the end, everything will work out."

Florian looked at his sister as if she were the most pitiful vampire in the world. "They don’t want me here, and honestly, I don’t want to be here either."

Riona paused, the weight of his words sinking in. "But I can’t leave..."

She lowered her gaze, feeling the weight of her words. The thought of leaving Thorin felt like a punch to the gut. She had only just admitted her feelings for him, and he had promised her there was a way for her to stay.

How could she walk away now?

"Who said anything about you leaving?"

Those words hit Riona like a lightning bolt. The idea of separating from Florian had never crossed her mind, no matter how dire the situation. Yet here he was, making plans as if she didn’t matter at all.

Riona’s lips trembled. "Are you seriously okay with leaving me behind?"

"Well, you said you can’t leave," he shot back, a bit too casually.

She didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t want to accept it. Grabbing Florian’s sleeve, she wailed, "But where will you go? You have nowhere else to go but here!"

"What are you talking about? Of course, I do. I can always go home."

"Home?"

"Yeah. Home. The Kingdom of Eira."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.