Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate
Chapter 207: Tracking the Chaos

Chapter 207: Tracking the Chaos

Soon, the sound of rushing footsteps echoed through the air as frantic knights approached. Thorin glanced at Puck. "Are you thinking what I’m thinking?"

Puck wanted to say no, but he couldn’t. He had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what Thorin was thinking—and worse, he agreed.

"It must be Riona," Thorin said as if delivering some groundbreaking revelation.

Puck had traveled with Thorin to the Kingdom of Eira. He hadn’t been as close to Riona as Thorin was, but he knew one thing: Riona had a knack for blowing things up.

And those explosions were often followed by her fainting.

When Nina had delivered her threat, it sounded more like an ambitious plan than something serious. Thorin seemed convinced, bowing to her without hesitation, but Puck had seen through her flair for the dramatic.

Then came the explosion. And suddenly, Puck was rethinking everything. Maybe Nina hadn’t been exaggerating. Maybe she did have the means to back up her wild theatrics.

If Riona got involved, things would only get messier—and Puck couldn’t stand the idea of dealing with that chaos.

"We have to get out of here!" Thorin announced, as though Puck hadn’t already figured that out already.

This wasn’t the first time the idea of escaping had come up. Puck had expected it, even looked forward to it, as a tiny glimmer of hope in their otherwise dismal situation.

But nope, the plan never got off the ground, thanks to the ever-diligent guards patrolling outside.

Thorin, of course, had his own reason for hesitating: Riona. He was terrified that one wrong move would put her in danger. Somehow, Nina had managed to keep Riona on a leash—how she did it, Thorin couldn’t say, but it was infuriatingly effective.

The explosion, however, was a brutal wake-up call. It confirmed Thorin’s worst fear. His jaw clenched as he imagined Riona lying unconscious, vulnerable, surrounded by enemy wolves. Waiting wasn’t an option anymore.

If Riona had truly passed out after the blast, Thorin needed to act fast. He couldn’t sit around fearing the consequences while Nina moved on to whatever nightmare she had planned next.

Thorin pressed his ear to the door. Footsteps thudded just inches away, paired with endless shouting—music of chaos that just wouldn’t quit. When it finally did, Thorin didn’t waste a second and gave the door a shove.

Of course, it was locked from the outside. What kind of tyrannical werewolf didn’t lock up their prisoners?

But locks? Please. Locks were never meant to contain wolves, unless it was silver—and it was.

Thorin stepped back, braced himself, and slammed his foot against the door. It was still just a wooden door—it didn’t stand a chance.

"Come on!" Thorin yelled over his shoulder, motioning for Puck to follow as if the Howl needed instructions to leave their so-called luxury accommodations.

The hallway beyond was choked with smoke, a scene all too familiar. It reminded Thorin of the royal kingdom of Eira—except back then, it had been Florian blowing things up. Same chaos, different day.

It had been ages since Thorin last navigated this place, and the maze-like hallways were as confusing as ever. He pushed forward anyway, his memory straining to find the right path.

Thorin froze at the sound of rustling—soft and cautious. Instantly alert, he raised a hand to stop Puck, who nearly bumped into him from behind.

Moving forward silently, Thorin strained to hear, but the rustling stopped too, as if whoever—or whatever—it was had the same idea.

Thorin raised his arm, ready to defend himself if Nina’s knights popped out of the fog. He moved forward slowly, hoping that whatever the source of that noise wouldn’t be worse than those knights.

Then bam! He smacked into someone. Instinct took over—he reeled back, ready to deliver a Blood Moon-powered knockout punch, when the mist cleared and revealed Zane’s face.

"Zane?!" Thorin exclaimed, nearly dropping his fist in shock. "For crying out loud, I thought you were one of Nina’s men!"

"I could say the same about you!" Zane shot back, just as on edge.

But as the tension eased and adrenaline faded, Zane stepped forward and wrapped Thorin in a bear hug. Apparently, this was exactly the right moment for a heartfelt reunion.

The moment ended quickly.

Thorin pulled back, cutting straight to the point. "Where’s Riona?"

If Zane was here, Thorin figured Nina had fed Riona some lie about him, luring her here with the pack. At least, that was the best-case scenario his brain could manage.

Zane’s jaw practically hit the floor. Clearly, Thorin’s immediate concern caught him off guard—though it saved him the trouble of delivering the news himself.

"Yeah... about that," Zane muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was hoping you knew. I’m looking for her too."

"What?!" Thorin nearly let a curse slip, but he managed to keep it in check out of some sense of respect for a father figure who had treated him like a son.

Zane quickly filled him in on everything that had happened so far, conveniently glossing over the chaos at Wintertooth and focusing mostly on Riona’s kidnapping.

He also mentioned that Trudy was hurt, though conveniently skipped the details of how badly—because who needed that kind of information right now?

With no clue where Riona had been taken, they were left to figure it out themselves. Not exactly the comforting news Thorin had been hoping for.

Thorin wanted to thank Charna for being there. He knew how she felt about him, and frankly, he hadn’t expected her to show up to help rescue his girlfriend.

But he kept the gratitude to himself—this wasn’t exactly the time for awkward acknowledgments.

All eyes turned to Puck, who rolled his own dramatically when he realized the group was now waiting on him. Of course, they were.

He was the best tracker around, so naturally, the pack dumped the responsibility squarely on his shoulders. Again.

Letting out a sigh so heavy it could’ve blown out a candle, Puck muttered, "You know, I should really think about a career change. Seriously, how long am I supposed to carry this entire team? Must be nice to be an Alpha—just pass all the tough stuff to me! Oh, and the Zeta and the Chief of Wintertooth? Big fancy titles, yet somehow I’m the one doing everything for them."

The group collectively pretended they didn’t hear his grumbling, which only made him scowl harder. Turning with a pout, he threw up his hands. "Really? That’s how it is? Just ignore me until I shut up? Classy."

"Come on, Puck," Thorin said, trying to smooth things over. "I’ll, uh... raise your wages after this."

Puck didn’t miss a beat. "You’ve never paid me anything."

"Alright, fine, enough whining," Thorin huffed, patting him on the back and nudging him forward. "Let’s go!"

Puck let himself be pushed but made sure everyone heard his final grumble. "No pay, no thanks, no respect. Love this job."