Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate-Chapter 134: Riona vs. the Furballs

It had been a while since Riona had let her temper run wild without pausing for a moment to think, "Maybe I shouldn’t do this..."

She had learned a lot—like how throwing punches first and asking questions later was generally frowned upon. Growth, right?

But tonight these werewolves had really outdone themselves. And by outdone, I mean they decided it was a great idea to trash-talk Florian.

Seriously? Like Riona was just going to listen to the furballs insult her brother! Not without a fight.

Cue the chaos. In a blink, she was in the middle of a full-on brawl under the dark sky, wrestling an entire pack of werewolves before the moon even had the courtesy to show up.

Shouts erupted around her. Hands grabbed at her from every direction—some digging claws into her skin, others desperately peeling her off their fur-covered buddies.

She felt arms wrapping around her waist, attempting to haul her away like some kind of squirming luggage.

Her legs kicked wildly as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all!"

Real smooth. Most people who actually planned on killing someone didn’t announce it like she was calling bingo numbers. But when you’re cornered and seething, logic tends to take a back seat.

"Stop! Stop! Just hang on a second!"

"Calm down, Riona! Please don’t do this!"

"Let’s talk it out!"

"Talk it out?" Riona’s eyes bulged so far it was a wonder they didn’t pop right out of her head. Who in their right mind thought talking it out was even an option right now? Was that some sort of werewolf joke?

"Are you crazy?" one of the werewolves growled at her, suddenly acting like they were the ones dealing with the unhinged maniac.

Riona whipped around to glare at the genius who had dared to open their mouth. She locked eyes with Vesper, who was dramatically massaging his wrist like she’d shattered his fragile little bones.

"Are you okay, Vesper?" Morgan asked, panting as she casually adjusted her hair because maintaining perfect volume was priority number one in the middle of this disaster.

"I’m fine," Vesper replied, with the kind of wounded dignity you’d expect from someone who stubbed their toe. "She almost broke my wrist, though."

"Oh, too bad it’s only an almost," Riona hissed through gritted teeth. "Here, let me finish the job."

She lunged forward, fully prepared to deliver on her promise.

But Charna and Trudy were ready this time, grabbing her around the waist and holding on. They shot death glares at the other werewolves, silently daring them to escalate.

Vesper, apparently feeling brave with two furry shields in place, sneered. "Let’s see if you’re faster than me snapping you in half. Your sorry little princess ass wouldn’t survive it."

"Stop it! Just stop, Vesper!" Charna snapped.

He wouldn’t have stopped if anyone else had told him to, but since it was Charna, he immediately froze—though, of course, the muttered complaints didn’t stop. Gotta keep the grumbling alive.

"Are you seriously siding with the vampire again, Char?" Morgan huffed. Her thin eyebrows shot up like they were trying to escape her face, one hand planted firmly on her hip.

Before Charna could even respond, Trudy jumped in, sensing Charna’s silent distress. "Oh, grow up, Morgan. Aren’t you ashamed of acting like a brat? Charna’s not like you—she actually knows when to stop."

"Why are you acting like you know her better than anyone?" Morgan snapped, folding her arms in a huff.

"Charna isn’t some vampire fangirl. She knows who her real friends are—and trust me, it’s not Miss Snob or you in this situation."

Morgan shot a possessive glance at Charna, fully expecting her to chime in and back her up, like Charna was some kind of personal sidekick.

But Charna was done cleaning up Morgan’s messes. If Morgan hadn’t pulled that selfish stunt with Riona during the morning ritual, Charna wouldn’t have had to swallow her pride and try to befriend Riona herself.

She had sacrificed enough, trying to patch things up. Now, Charna couldn’t trust Morgan to handle anything that involved Riona.

So, lucky her, she got to clean up every mess herself—because apparently, playing mediator between a ticking time bomb and Morgan’s drama was her full-time job now.

"Give it a rest, Morgan. Trudy’s right. You need to drop your personal vendetta against Riona. Thorin brought her here, and he must have had his reasons. Whatever they are, I’m going to trust his judgment," Charna said with a sigh, like she was talking to a particularly stubborn child.

Morgan’s teeth clenched as she processed Charna’s unexpected betrayal. This was not the way she’d envisioned things playing out. She had been sure Charna was in her corner.

"Riona is one of us now, like it or not," Charna said with a no-nonsense tone. "You’re going to have to figure out how to get along with her. I don’t care if you have to fake it—just stop making everything more complicated."

As the Chief of Wintertooth, Charna’s word was usually gospel, and the werewolves obeyed her without question.

But Riona was a different story. She felt like she didn’t quite fit in with the pack and had no particular reason to follow Charna’s orders the way the werewolves did.

"Like hell I’m doing that!" Riona snapped. "She’s the one stirring up trouble, and I’m not exactly the type to roll over and play dead. If she wants a fight, I’m more than happy to oblige."

Her blood was still boiling, and just thinking about the garbage they’d talked about Florian made her even more furious.

"I won’t tolerate anyone badmouthing Florian. He’s part of our pack too. How would you feel if someone talked trash about your own brothers and sisters?" Charna shot a stern look at the werewolves, practically daring them to answer.

"Not great, huh? So maybe don’t do what you wouldn’t want done to you," Charna said, laying down the law.

Charna glanced up at the moon, which was making its grand entrance in the dark sky. She took a deep breath and declared, "Alright, the moon’s up. We’re officially running late. Let’s get moving."

Riona glared at the werewolves like she was ready to set them on fire with her eyes alone. Vesper had wisely quieted down since Charna’s initial intervention, but Morgan was still grappling with reality.

When Riona made a threatening move toward her, Morgan didn’t flinch. Instead, she balled her fist, gearing up for a knockout punch aimed at Riona’s face.

But Charna had been watching the whole exchange with growing irritation. "What did I just say?" she snapped.

"Morgan, if you keep this up, I’ll personally see to it that you’re benched for the full moon hunt. And Riona, if you don’t back off, I’ll confiscate your precious blood bag. Don’t think I won’t make you drink raw blood—I’m fully capable of it."

Riona hissed in annoyance, more at the thought of raw blood than the threat itself. Thorin must have spilled her little secret about her refined tastes to Charna.

Still, she was grateful that Morgan seemed equally terrified of Charna’s ultimatum.

So, in a twisted way, they both got to save face. They could pretend to back down because the other party gave in. In reality, they were both just eager to avoid the unpleasant consequences.