Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate-Chapter 286: Flirting with Disaster

Kaan had never had friends. Not as a child, not as an adult, and frankly, he just never tried. He was a born loner, and he embraced it wholeheartedly. Not even Roderick, the guy literally assigned to be his greatest source of strength and reason, made the cut.

But who did make the cut? An ancient, invisible goddess with questionable morals and a flair for the dramatic. Thessara—the mentor, the mother, the ultimate bad influence. She was everything to him.

From as far back as he could remember, he had heard voices. At first, he just assumed this was a normal childhood experience, like losing teeth or believing adults had their lives together. Surely everyone had a personal, all-powerful voice hyping them up and telling them they were destined for greatness.

Turns out? Nope. That was just him.

And honestly? That only proved Thessara was right. He was special. Different. Chosen. No other kids heard voices, which just meant no other kids were worth talking to. Clearly, he was on a whole other level.

Thessara wasn’t just a mentor—she was a master storyteller. She spun tales Kaan had never heard before, each one more captivating than the last.

And so, while the world saw him as distant and indifferent, the truth was far simpler: he was just busy listening. Why bother with the dull conversations of mortals when he had an ancient goddess feeding him the most interesting stories imaginable?

Of all the stories Thessara told, there was one consistent theme: evil. And not just any evil—masterclass evil. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

She absolutely loved painting a picture of how evil could take over the world, how caring about others was just a fool’s game, and how thinking for yourself was the ultimate way to squeeze all the fun out of life—no matter how many corpses were left in your wake.

And she had a knack for leaving out a few key details, like how all evil inevitably gets stomped by the forces of good.

Take Saroth, for example.

"Saroth gathered all the newborns and had them killed. But it’s not evil, okay? It’s just self-defense. He heard a prophecy saying he’d be overthrown by someone from the next generation, so duh, he did what anyone would do: take out the competition before it even had a chance to start," Thessara would explain as if this was perfectly rational behavior.

Yes, Saroth did kill a lot of babies—a lot—but spoiler alert: he still managed to fail the ’fated one’. So, in the end, his evil little plan went down the drain when the mother stashed the ’fated’ baby in the swamp (you know, like any sensible person would). That baby grew up and came back to kill Saroth.

But did Thessara mention any of that? Nope. After all, who cares about a small thing like consequences when you’re telling a story where you get to be the one in control?

"Cinder loved Angela, the most beautiful woman in the village. Everyone did, but Cinder really had to have her, because, well, all main characters have to end up with the hottest girl, right?" Thessara started, spinning her version of the Great Cinder’s tale.

"But, oh no, Angela was sneaky. She was seeing someone else behind his back. Now, jealousy is a powerful thing, and who wouldn’t be jealous in Cinder’s shoes? It’s what love does to people, right? So what does he do? Naturally, he locks her up in his dungeon. Kept her there until she died. All out of love, of course. Who wouldn’t do that for love?"

What Thessara conveniently forgot to mention was that Cinder was a total psychopath, famous for, you know, torturing Angela just to hear her say "I love you." But even after she said it, Cinder didn’t believe her, so he tortured her even more. Real romantic stuff.

After Angela’s untimely demise, Cinder did what any reasonable person would do—kept her body around like some twisted doll, chatting with it like she was still alive.

Oh, and the grand finale? Cinder eventually starved to death because, in his brilliant mind, he thought Angela was just being difficult and refusing to eat. Never mind that she was dead and, you know, didn’t need food anymore. True love, ladies and gentlemen.

"Haera was the world’s most notorious concubine. And by notorious, I mean seriously notorious. Summoned to the palace at the age of twelve—yes, twelve—because royal privilege includes recruiting preteens for the royal harem," Thessara explained.

"The emperor died soon after, and Haera was promptly transferred as the new emperor’s concubine. But he didn’t last long either, getting himself killed by his uncle. And guess who stayed? That’s right, Haera, still in her prized position as a concubine."

Now you’re probably thinking, "What’s so notorious about that? She didn’t do anything wrong. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, right?"

Well, hold onto your judgment, because it was totally her doing. You see, Haera wasn’t just another innocent bystander. She had a problem—with promises.

The first emperor, in a moment of pure comedic misunderstanding, promised to make Haera the only woman in the palace. Haera, being young, naive, and clearly not great at interpreting royal promises, assumed she would replace the queen.

After all, it’s a given that a king would demote his wife for a teenager, right?

But no, the emperor meant she’d be the only concubine. Not the queen. Not even close. He’d banished all other concubines just to make her the star of the show.

Haera wasn’t satisfied. She wanted more. Because why wouldn’t she? So, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

Using nothing but her undeniable charm and the oldest trick in the book—poisoning—she sweet-talked the emperor’s knight into slipping some nice slow-acting death juice into the emperor’s meals. Every. Single. Day. Unsurprisingly, the emperor didn’t last.

And, after the emperor’s demise, who’s back in the concubine seat? Haera, of course. Same woman, different emperor. The eldest son took the throne, but no worries—Haera was there like an uninvited guest at every royal gathering, just waiting for her next opportunity to shine.

You’d think this would have a happy ending, right? I mean, the new emperor was young, healthy, and—dare I say—quite the looker. Oh, and he was also a military commander. What could possibly go wrong? Well, apparently, everything.

Because this charming new emperor had himself a lover. And guess what? He wasn’t even remotely interested in Haera. Oh, the horror! The injustice! The betrayal!

Naturally, Haera, who couldn’t possibly tolerate being ignored for a millisecond, decided to make a strategic move. She set her sights on the emperor’s uncle, the next big thing in the palace. He wasn’t much of a looker, but, hey, he had ambition—and an unhealthy dose of lust for Haera’s youth and beauty.

So, in true romantic fashion, the uncle did what any respectable man would do to win the heart of a woman—he killed his nephew. Because, you know, that’s what makes you a great partner.

He stopped at nothing to get Haera’s favor, killing the queen dowager, the almost-queen, and all other women in the palace.

And then it got really wild. The uncle, in his desperate quest to win Haera’s favor, slaughtered the queen dowager, the ’almost-queen,’ and, well, pretty much every other woman in the palace.

At this point, I’m wondering if he was just handing out murder discounts. Buy one, get a second body free!

"And so, Haera finally got to be the only woman in the palace," Thessara mused, clearly impressed with the sheer determination of it all. "That’s what I call tenacity mixed with genius and a strong will."

But then—oh, the irony! Haera, who worked so hard to be the queen bee, was killed by the same man who’d helped her get there. Why? Well, once Haera hit the ripe old age of, like, twenty, the uncle decided she was no longer his type.

Enter the younger woman. And off Haera went, proving that even ruthless ambition doesn’t always save you from the inevitable aging process.

But hey, Kaan didn’t need to hear the details, right? Let’s leave out the part where Haera’s ’happy’ ending was, well... short-lived.