Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate
Chapter 212: Where Is Florian?

Chapter 212: Where Is Florian?

The only thing on Riona’s mind now was Florian. Of course, she’d been busy drowning in guilt and stressing about Trudy, but once she found out Trudy was still breathing, Florian shot right back to the top of her mental to-do list.

She had not much of a chance to fill him in on the chaos. The Zachs’s army had burst in uninvited, and Riona had been unceremoniously dragged off to be their sacrificial lamb. How could she explain and assure him in such a situation?

There was a tiny, flickering hope that he might step up and rally some heroic defense for Wintertooth after she was gone, but no one brought it up, and she’d been way too terrified to ask.

And honestly, it wasn’t like Florian was the same young bat she used to know anyway. The way he’d been acting lately made her wonder if some creepy evil ancestor had swapped him out for a moody, grown-up impostor.

Speaking of ancestors, she couldn’t help but think of the one who had unlocked her Blood Moon power. Maybe he’d know what was going on with Florian. The idea flickered in her mind but vanished just as quickly.

Nah, he wasn’t exactly the ’summon on demand’ type. He’d show up when he felt like it. Until then, she’d just have to sit tight and wait.

Anyways, Florian. He hadn’t just grown—he’d transformed into someone else entirely. But did that stop Riona from loving him? Nope. He was still the surprise brother she never knew she needed, the one lifeline she’d been clinging to for dear life.

Without him, she’d probably have gone completely off the rails. Like, Eira-annihilation-level unhinged. Because what’s a little genocide when your emotional anchor’s missing?

Even though every fiber of her being wanted to bolt straight to Florian—because, who knows, maybe he’d missed her so much that he’d magically reverted back to his old self—Riona decided to hold off.

Her priority had to be the group who had risked everything to rescue her. They needed medical attention, and she threw herself into helping carry the injured. As she worked, a middle-aged werewolf approached her, practically oozing gratitude.

"Thank you for sacrificing yourself to protect my child," the woman said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "I’ve struggled to conceive, unlike most werewolves. He’s my only pup, and at my age, I doubt I’ll ever have another."

The werewolf clasped Riona’s hand, her praise escalating into a full-blown public worship session. Meanwhile, Riona just stood there, awkwardly wishing the ground would swallow her up.

Sacrifice? Yeah, about that.

Riona knew the truth: her grand, noble gesture hadn’t really changed anything. Even if she’d stayed behind, the Zachs’s army would have razed Wintertooth to the ground anyway. The whole selfless hero act was more theater than reality.

Honestly, it was starting to seem like she would’ve been more useful staying behind and hacking away at Nina’s men instead of leaving the werewolves to fend for themselves.

So no, it didn’t feel like much of a sacrifice. The Zachs were going to torch the place either way. Her big, dramatic exit was kind of pointless, really.

"No, I..." Riona started, but her discomfort must have been obvious because Charna quickly changed the subject.

"Riona, why don’t you check on your brother? I haven’t seen him around. Maybe he needs some help," Charna suggested with a gentle smile.

Riona shot her a look of pure gratitude. "Alright," she replied before practically bolting as she tried to outrun the guilt gnawing at her

Her first stop was Thorin’s office—Florian’s last known location. Predictable, but logical. Unfortunately, the space was now packed with werewolves and had been transformed into a makeshift shelter. No sign of Florian there.

Shrugging off her disappointment, she moved on to the next obvious spot: Florian’s room.

Except when she arrived, the hut wasn’t just empty—it was nonexistent. The hut had been reduced to a pile of debris, leaving her standing there with a sinking feeling in her chest.

But Riona wasn’t done yet. Fueled by a mix of determination and growing irritation, she marched to her own hut—only to discover that it, too, had been turned into a shelter.

So had Puck’s hut. And Thorin’s private hut. Apparently, any structure with four walls and a roof was now open for public.

She scoured every inch of these makeshift shelters, but no Florian. Not even a hint of him. Letting out an exasperated groan, she stormed back to Thorin’s office, her patience officially on its deathbed.

"Alright, who did this?" she demanded, her voice sharp enough to make the room collectively flinch. "Who kicked my brother out of here while I was gone? He’s supposed to be here!"

Her temper flared, and she started to lose her cool.

The werewolves shrank back, doing their best to scoot away from her even though the cramped space didn’t leave much room for retreat. Finally, one brave—or foolish—male adult cleared his throat and stood up.

"We... uh... we don’t know anything about that," he said with a shaky voice. "Vesper and Morgan were the ones who arranged this for us."

Riona shot him a death glare. This was beyond infuriating. There should be a limit to how far they could push her.

She could handle being the target—she was more than capable of standing up for herself—but dragging her brother into their nonsense? That crossed the line.

With a growl, she clenched her teeth and let out a scream of frustration that could probably be heard in the next kingdom over.

Storming out of Thorin’s overcrowded office, she started hunting down the troublemakers. She asked everyone she could find, each "I don’t know" response only adding fuel to the raging fire inside her.

Finally, someone mentioned that Vesper had somehow challenged Thorin to some ridiculous trial. Riona stopped dead in her tracks and let out a disgusted scoff.

"Oh, of course he did," she muttered. "Vesper’s level of stupidity has no upper limit."

Challenging Thorin? What was he thinking? That he was somehow going to win? He must’ve knocked his head pretty hard if he thought that was a smart move.

Riona sprinted toward the beach, her eyes locked on the two figures in the distance—Vesper and Morgan.

Vesper was a mess, coughing up blood and barely managing to stay on his feet. It was painfully obvious who was winning this little spectacle. Thorin, on the other hand, looked completely unscathed.

As she got closer to their absurd battle, she could hear Vesper’s voice, faint and desperate.

"...know your aunt killed Remus and his wife... you... ruined her life!"

Riona didn’t even roll her eyes—she was past that. It wasn’t even subtle. Vesper, losing badly, was just throwing out random nonsense. Lies he knew would hit a nerve.

Without thinking, she charged forward like a bull. In a flash, she was in front of Vesper, shoving him to the ground with a satisfying thud.

"You prick!" she yelled, seething with rage. "That’s a load of crap! Thorin has nothing to do with my parents’ death. And one more thing..."

The more she thought about it, the more furious she became—Vesper was probably the one who had kicked Florian out, too. The sheer audacity of it all sent her blood boiling.

She grabbed him by the collar—her hands shaking with fury. "Where the hell is my brother?"

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