Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate
Chapter 197: Lost in Zacharia’s Backyard

Chapter 197: Lost in Zacharia’s Backyard

The scent was faint, but thankfully, the Zachs’s knights were too busy pretending they were too important to walk—so they opted for their fancy, over-the-top carriages.

Because who needs legs when you can just roll around in a mobile shrine to your own ego, right?

It was honestly a little contradictory. The Zacharias prided themselves on their mysterious, secluded lifestyle. But their knights were parading around in carriages so flashy, they might as well have had a neon sign announcing their presence.

Did they want to stay out of the spotlight? Or were they just pretending to be all mysterious while flexing their wealth?

Anyway, the Wintertooth pack—well, some of them—had been trailing a series of these self-important carriages like a bunch of stealthy shadow-dwellers.

They were waiting for the perfect spot to spring their ambush. Since they were outnumbered, they’d have to make the terrain work for them.

When the carriages rolled into a narrow path, wedged between a steep cliff and a giant rock wall—basically, the perfect spot for an ambush—Zane gave Trudy the signal. It was go time.

In this little operation, Trudy had been assigned the role of bait—because apparently, someone had to be the poor sucker.

Zane would cover the rear (which, in this case, probably wasn’t the worst job), and Charna would be the one to attack.

The rest of the pack would... support, which, let’s be real, meant they’d either stand around pretending to help or try not to get in the way.

The Zachs weren’t exactly known for teamwork, thanks to Nina’s favorite hobby of pitting them against each other for maximum performance. But, oddly enough, the Zacharias’ knights were still pretty skilled fighters—so at least they had that going for them.

The moment they sensed an intruder, the knights did what any warrior would do: they immediately stopped the carriage and leaped out. The ones inside, guarding Riona, stayed put to protect her from up close.

Without even so much as a glance, they knew the intruders were coming for the vampire. "Guard the fanged!" Barmin yelled, leaping onto the carriage roof, where Riona was in.

Meanwhile, the leader, who had been riding casually with the driver, was now perched on top of the carriage, ready to block anyone from getting near his precious cargo.

He had to be on constant alert—because heaven forbid a werewolf get too close to the carriage. That’s literally his entire job.

In case this wasn’t over-the-top enough, there were three carriages ahead of them and two more behind.

Some knights rode in front on horses, and the infantry took up the rear, clearly trying to look important while maintaining just enough distance to not be in the way.

Trudy, being her usual blend of quick and reckless, used the rock wall and somehow made her way to the front of the group. There, she faced the mounted knights, who looked like giants thanks to their horses.

"Release her now!" she demanded, all fierce and ready to throw down.

The knights, naturally, laughed like she’d just told them a joke. They clearly thought she was some cute, scrappy werewolf trying to boss around people who had a whole lot more shiny armor and horses.

"That’s not how it works, sweetheart," one of them chuckled, because why not throw in a condescending nickname while you’re at it?

"I’m not your sweetheart!" Trudy shot back, and before anyone could blink, she poofed out of existence. In reality, she just slipped between the first row of horses and smacked one right in the belly.

The horse near the abyss freaked out, let out a ridiculously loud neigh, and, of course, lost its balance. It toppled sideways, and the rider’s scream gradually faded as the horse decided gravity was just more fun than staying upright.

Trudy grabbed the reins of another horse and yanked like she was trying to pull open a rusty dungeon door, sending the poor horse into a panic. It reared up, threw its rider like a sack of potatoes, and bolted from the scene.

With that, the rest of the horses caught on fast. They started eyeing their riders with regret and pity. Soon, they were bucking, rearing, and doing their best to escape this crazy hair girl, making it nearly impossible for the Zacharias knights to stay seated.

One by one, they hit the ground—or, for the unlucky ones, the abyss. Trudy, meanwhile, was shoving anyone who dared stay upright like she was clearing space for the king to pass through.

While the knights flailed around trying to stay on their wild horses, Charna swooped in from behind. She carved her way through the infantry, spinning and swiping with her claws held high, clearing knights left and right.

Her group hung back, though—apparently, they didn’t want to get too close to her approach that pushed everything that moves to combat.

In the middle of all the chaos, Zane skulked around in the shadows, sneakily picking off enemies who thought they’d play hero and help out their buddies against Trudy and Charna. He managed to thin out the crowd a bit, which was nice.

The fight kept dragging on, and honestly, it was starting to look like Zane and his crew might actually win this thing.

They each stuck to their roles like pros—but with one small oversight: they had no clue where Zacharia’s castle actually was.

Sure, they’d been using the landscape like experts, and it had been working. But... surprise! They’d been playing this game of hide-and-seek right in Zacharia’s own backyard.

As for Zacharia’s army, they were barely holding it together, with one last trick up their sleeve. Barmin fished something out of his pocket, held it up, and bam—fired off a sparkly light show that lit up the sky with a loud, dramatic boom.

Super subtle, right? Basically, he’d just shouted their presence and called for help to everyone within miles.

And it worked. The troops back at Zacharia’s castle saw the flashy signal and knew exactly what it meant. Cue the bells—time to gear up for some unexpected guests.

The chaos was getting out of hand, and it quickly became obvious the ambush team hadn’t exactly planned for this level of a brawl.

They’d been thinking it would be just Barmin and his gang, so they could grab Riona and go home. Easy. But not quite.

Trudy was starting to freak out. She was dead-set on wiping out every last one of the Zachs’s army before any backup arrived to ruin her little rescue mission.

But, as luck would have it, the Zachs were surprisingly hard to squash. They kept hanging on, probably because they were banking on their friends showing up any second to save the day.

"Hold your ground! Stay focused! Protect the package!" Barmin bellowed.

"Package?" Trudy scoffed, not loving the sound of that. Without a second thought, she leaped onto the roof of a nearby carriage and went straight for Barmin.

Now, it was a one-on-one showdown. Trudy knew Barmin was way stronger than her, but she was so fired up that little details like ’actual odds of survival’ didn’t seem to matter.

She let out a wild battle scream and lunged at him, claws out, like her rage alone would magically make her invincible.

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