Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate-Chapter 337: We Don’t Die Here

Riona didn’t miss a beat. "And I didn’t realize you were this delusional," Riona shot back. "Honestly, I didn’t think anyone could out-drama Thorin, but here you are—setting new records."

If this had been a formal audience in a palace court, she might’ve been punished for such insolence toward an emperor. But this wasn’t a normal setting. This was war, and Emperor Kaan was her enemy. Anyone who aligned with the demon was the enemy.

Kaan’s smile evaporated. His jaw clenched, eyes narrowing into sharp slits. He hated this girl. Always had. From the moment she dared to reject his marriage proposal, resentment had taken root—poisonous and persistent.

"She’s looking down on you," Thessara’s voice slithered into his mind. Her tone carried a trace of concern, but he knew her too well. It was mockery, veiled and deliberate.

He ground his teeth, fists curling tight at his sides. "Shut your mouth," he muttered, so low only she could hear. And they were meant for her alone.

"Where is he?" Riona growled.

In her mind, Florian was somewhere deep in a dungeon—cold, alone, and suffering. Just the thought of it made her blood boil. "Where the hell did you keep him?!"

Kaan smirked. His infuriatingly perfect face lit the corridor like some cursed painting—beautiful, but soured by the rot beneath.

"If you weren’t so rude," he said smoothly, "I might’ve told you. But you chose to insult me, didn’t you?"

A blatant lie. A smug, deliberate lie—and everyone present, including the werewolves by Riona’s side, knew it. Kaan was never going to give her Florian’s location. Not easily. Not ever.

He didn’t even bother correcting her assumption that Florian was still locked up, still salvageable. Kaan knew the truth. Ol’gaz had taken over. The boy was gone.

But confirming that would ruin his fun. He preferred the torment etched across Riona’s face—the raw desperation, the flicker of hope he could extinguish at will. Pretending to hold that power was intoxicating.

Moreover, if she ever found out the truth, Riona would raze this entire castle to the ground. She wouldn’t stop at the walls—she’d take the city with her.

Of course, in Kaan’s eyes, Thorin wouldn’t factor into that decision at all. He didn’t believe Riona cared that deeply about the Alpha. After all, how could she? Kaan had never understood what it meant to have someone worth protecting.

Riona raised her hands and spun her fingers through the air. Crimson energy spiraled from her fingertips, twisting and growing until it filled the narrow corridor like a storm about to burst. With a flick of her wrist, the red aura morphed into a swarm of daggers—sleek, deadly, and aimed straight at the emperor.

Kaan lifted his hand to counter, but before he could complete the motion, Thorin struck. He appeared behind the emperor in a blur, seizing Kaan’s arm before the hand signal could form.

The Alpha moved fast—brutally fast. He yanked Kaan’s arms behind his back and shoved them upward with enough force to snap bones. Had Kaan been anyone else, the maneuver would have shattered him.

But he wasn’t just anyone. He was the genius emperor, undefeated in every fight he’d faced. And despite the pain, despite the suddenness of the attack, he held firm. Thorin’s move may have stopped his spell, but it hadn’t broken him.

Thorin barely had time to react before Kaan twisted like a serpent. With an unnatural fluidity, the emperor slipped from the hold, his body bending at impossible angles.

A sharp crack echoed as Kaan drove his elbow backward—straight into Thorin’s ribs. The force sent the Alpha staggering, but the emperor wasn’t done.

In a flash, Kaan pivoted, grabbing Thorin by the collar. He summoned a pulse of vampiric energy, dark and pulsing, and slammed it into Thorin’s chest like a shockwave.

The corridor lit up with the impact. Thorin was thrown back, crashing into the wall with a bone-jarring thud that sent cracks splintering through the stone. Dust exploded around him, and for a moment, he disappeared in the cloud.

Before the dust from the impact had even settled, Riona was already in motion.

She launched forward, red aura swirling violently around her like a living storm. Her hands spun mid-air, shaping the energy into jagged daggers that hovered for a heartbeat—then shot toward the emperor in a deadly wave.

Kaan’s eyes flicked up, amused.

With a flick of his wrist, the air around him shimmered—and then decayed. The red daggers disintegrated mid-flight, crumbling into ash before they could touch him.

Dust. It crawled outward from Kaan’s body like a dark tide, the corridor around him beginning to erode, stone flaking away like dry leaves.

Riona’s eyes widened. "Move!" she shouted, pulling Thorin aside just as the floor beneath where he stood cracked and withered into powder.

A growl cut through the chaos—deep, guttural. Puck leapt into the fray, claws out, eyes burning with fury. He struck from the side, fast enough to land a blow across Kaan’s ribs, sending the emperor skidding a step back.

Kaan didn’t fall. He never did. But he noticed Puck now.

"You again," Kaan murmured, brushing dust from his shoulder. "The loyal dog."

Puck bared his teeth. "Better a dog with loyalty than an emperor with none."

The emperor’s eyes darkened, and the dust around him began to pulse, spreading wider, threatening to consume everything.

"Riona!" Thorin barked, intercepting Kaan’s next move. Their bodies collided again in a flash of speed and raw power—blows exchanged with enough force to send shockwaves through the corridor.

He caught her gaze mid-fight, urgency flashing in his voice. "Go find Florian. Now."

Riona froze, torn.

"I’ll hold him off," Thorin grunted, blocking another strike, "you need to find him to stop this madness."

Puck landed beside her, panting, blood on his claws, but his eyes were sharp. "I’ll go with you. I’ll sniff him out—no matter how well he’s hidden."

"But—"

"No time!" Thorin snapped, catching Kaan’s arm mid-strike and twisting. "Go!"

Riona clenched her fists, red aura flaring dangerously—but she turned.

"I’m trusting you," she said, voice low.

Thorin didn’t look back. "I know."

And with that, Riona and Puck sprinted down the corridor, vanishing into the shadows, leaving the youngest Alpha to face the genius emperor alone.