Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate-Chapter 327: The Worst Headache Ever

The first person Lisbeth saved was her mother, Lady Maris. And the first person Lady Maris freed from the curse was Madam Silvia. From there, Lisbeth and the elder began to rescue more and more vampires, and those they freed went on to help others.

Soon, the number of liberated vampires in their group reached half of their original number. Riona, however, was preparing to leave—finding Florian was supposed to be her top priority. The time spent freeing a few vampires had delayed her mission.

Just as she was about to depart, Lady Maris approached her, her focus clearly elsewhere.

"Can you do something about the mist?" she asked. "I know you’re worried about your brother, as am I. But with this mist lingering, we’ll be dragged into the nightmares once again. We can’t help you fight in this condition."

Blood still dripped from the tip of Lady Maris’s finger, a result of a small wound on the back of her hand—inflicted by her concerned daughter, Lisbeth. Yet, the blood no longer oozed or sizzled, signaling the poison had fully left her system.

Riona, despite herself, spoke up. "You should close your wound." She wasn’t sure when or why she had become so considerate.

Lady Maris glanced at the injury, but it seemed to matter little to her. "The mist, Riona. The nightmares. We need to address that first."

Riona tilted her head back, studying the storm-choked sky. The black clouds still churned violently, spitting out ruthless bolts of thunder and lightning.

Ol’gaz’s power hadn’t faded. And Lady Maris’s concern was more than justified—as long as the poisonous fog lingered, the vampires would inevitably succumb to it again.

Bleeding them repeatedly wasn’t a solution. At some point, the cure would become the execution.

She bit her lower lip, trapped at a dead end. She didn’t have an answer.

"Any ideas?" she muttered, directing the question at the Fallen One. The fact that she was even asking him meant she was desperate.

Silence.

Riona had expected as much.

The ancestor had no answers either. He remained unseen, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. She could pretend otherwise—that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t around to hear her frustration.

But he was.

And he hated himself for it.

She’s right... What have I actually done to help, aside from nagging at her? What have I accomplished, other than ruining the world?

This was all his fault. He knew it.

To make matters worse, some vampires whose wounds had been too small and healed too quickly were already showing signs of reinfection.

"This is a never-ending cycle!" Lisbeth cried, exasperated as she watched a vampire she had freed just moments ago fall victim to the black fog once more. "This is a nightmare—a real one!"

Before long, nearly a third of the freed vampires were succumbing again.

Lady Maris pressed a hand to her temple as a sharp, splitting pain tore through her skull. "It’s here, Riona... it’s returning," she whispered, her knees buckling beneath her. She collapsed, clutching her head as if she could physically force the pain away.

She knew what was coming. The nightmare. Even knowing it wasn’t real didn’t help—because when she was trapped inside it, it felt too real. The lines between illusion and reality blurred until she wasn’t sure which was which.

And she didn’t want to relive it.

Riona saw it happening. Lady Maris’s eyes were fading to white—thin at first, then thickening. Black veins crawled up her skin like vines of corruption. She was being taken again.

"Hey, ancestor! Come on! You can’t leave me alone here. I need you!" Riona snapped, desperation creeping into her voice. "Aren’t you old enough to know something useful? You know about Ol’gaz too—can’t you figure out how to stop this?!"

The Fallen One remained silent. Pretending he wasn’t there. But he was.

Tears welled in his unseen eyes. He was sorry for Riona. For the world. He wanted to atone for the greed that had shattered everything. But the weight of his powerlessness crushed him. What good was regret when he could do nothing?

Then, the answer came.

Not from the Fallen One. Not from Riona. Not even from Lady Maris.

It was Thorin.

From a distance, his voice cut through the chaos. "Riona!"

Like Puck, the Alpha had been fighting desperately to free as many vampires as possible. In the process, he had been cut—just a scratch—by an inflicted vampire from Asvaldur’s side. An enemy who had gotten too close, catching Thorin off guard. Thorin had no intention of freeing him. Who knew what he would do if he regained his senses?

The wound barely registered to the Alpha. He was used to deep, gaping injuries. This was nothing.

But then, he noticed something.

A vampire he had freed—a member of his own group—wasn’t getting reinfected. And neither were the others he had touched. Their wounds sealed quickly, yet the fog did not take them again.

Thorin frowned. Why?

And then, he inspected them, and the realization struck.

Thorin sprinted toward Riona, dragging along the vampires who, despite their wounds closing, had not been reinfected.

The moment he reached her, he launched into his story—dramatic as ever, full of flair and self-importance. But Riona’s sharp, impatient stare cut him off before he could truly get going, forcing him to skip the theatrics and get to the point.

With a huff, he grabbed the hands of the freed vampires, displaying the wounds he had inflicted on them. "Look. Their cuts have healed, but they’re not reinfected. Do you know why?"

Riona didn’t bother answering—she knew Thorin well enough to expect him to answer his own question immediately.

And, predictably, he did.

"My theory—which I am absolutely certain is correct—is that my blood, werewolf blood, acts as an antidote to the poison." His tone carried the confidence of someone who had just uncovered a great secret. "When I cut them, my blood must have mixed into theirs. That’s why, even after their wounds closed, they didn’t get reinfected."

He folded his arms, looking very pleased with himself. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Riona, however, was already turning the idea over in her mind. If Thorin was right, this changed everything.