Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate-Chapter 154: Aunt Nina and Her Demands

The Zacharias—no, Aunt Nina—was nothing if not persistent. She had a very particular way of wanting things done, and it was as if she had a personal vendetta against anyone who dared to stray from her plans.

Typical Aunt Nina: demanding an immediate response as if the universe revolved around her whims.

Thorin had never encountered her urgency like this before, but he understood the drill. Aunt Nina was determined to assert her dominance over him, as usual.

With a sigh, he tore open the envelope and scanned its contents. Sure enough, there it was—same old threats wrapped in flowery language that could choke a horse.

In summary, Aunt Nina was demanding he rid the area of vampires within a week. If he failed, she’d come to handle it herself—and he could only imagine what that would entail.

Oh, and of course, she couldn’t resist mentioning a certain werewolf who had the audacity to spill the beans. Naturally, she told Thorin to deal with it.

And by ’deal with it,’ Thorin knew she meant some form of punishment—nothing says family loyalty like a good old-fashioned crackdown.

Aunt Nina’s obsession with the family’s reputation was legendary.

If Thorin couldn’t live up to her impossibly high standards—this idealized, flawless Zacharia Alpha she had in her mind—she’d sooner erase him from existence than let him tarnish the family name.

Her philosophy was simple: flaws had no place in the Zacharia bloodline, no matter how insignificant. No room for error, not even a smudge.

The only exception had been Daciana, Thorin’s mother, but that was mostly due to timing. Aunt Nina was too young when Daciana abandoned the pack.

And back then, her obsessive perfectionism hadn’t quite blossomed into the iron-fisted control freak it was today.

But fast-forward to today, and Aunt Nina had practically perfected her cold, calculating, heartless act. Anything she deemed bad for the family got cut faster than expired milk in the fridge.

And, surprise surprise, forming alliances with vampires wasn’t exactly on her Zacharia-approved to-do list for Thorin.

"Tell her I’ll handle my pack’s affairs myself. She doesn’t need to interfere," Thorin said, handing the letter back to Sir Leon.

The old werewolf didn’t take it, raising an eyebrow. "That’s your final response?"

"Yes, Sir Leon. That’s my response."

"Very well." Sir Leon gave a slight shrug, then closed the carriage door with a dramatic thunk. "I shall relay your courageous message to Lady Nina," he said, riding off like he was delivering news of a royal decree.

As the messenger’s carriage disappeared down the path from Wintertooth, Thorin couldn’t shake the lingering weight of the Zacharia family’s presence.

It was as if the aura of Aunt Nina still hung in the air, making his skin crawl.

The woods around him were empty, quiet, but that gnawing sense of unease refused to fade.

He thought about doing another sweep of the area, just to be sure, but if he was gone too long, his pack would probably freak out. And that was a headache he did not need.

So, with a sigh and one last suspicious look over his shoulder, Thorin begrudgingly headed back to the pack, dragging that eerie sense of being watched right along with him.

As Thorin walked through the Wintertooth grounds, he noticed a few werewolves still flailing around in full panic mode outside their homes.

He sighed and approached them, putting on his best Alpha voice. "False alarm, folks. You’re safe. Go back inside."

They gave him the side-eye but eventually shuffled back indoors, probably to panic in private.

Deeper into the grounds, he heard Morgan’s unmistakable voice—sharp, high-pitched, and of course, furious. Nothing unusual there. What was unusual was her opponent.

Florian.

The young vampire had stepped out of his room, and at first, Thorin felt a smile creep onto his face. But that quickly died when he saw Florian’s expression.

The kid looked... well, downright murderous, like he was ready to rip someone’s head off.

Before Thorin could shout, "Hey, maybe don’t murder anyone today," Morgan had already squared up, ready to throw hands—er, claws.

Thorin sighed, of course, this was happening. He had no choice but to step in before the situation turned into a full-on bloodbath.

Thorin figured this was just going to be another one of Morgan’s classic drama-filled fights—same old, same old.

But he quickly realized he hadn’t factored in one tiny detail: Florian was no longer the sweet, mild-mannered baby vampire everyone remembered.

Nope, this version of Florian was a completely different breed—hostile, unhinged, and surprisingly strong.

Thorin hadn’t forgotten that explosive outburst at the royal palace, where Florian had acted more like the Blood Moon child than Riona ever had.

They’d figured out Riona’s identity thanks to yet another full-moon prophecy. Some witch had a sudden revelation that the Blood Moon child was a young, female vampire with royal blood.

Thorin shoved the thought aside. There were more pressing issues at hand right now.

When he tried to step in between Florian and Morgan, thinking he could calm things down, the situation escalated into a full-blown three-way disaster.

Florian didn’t take kindly to the interference, seeing it as some kind of patronizing move.

He jabbed Thorin in the chest with his finger, practically spitting as he shouted, "Do you think I can’t handle her? Why’d you stop her? What, you think I need saving now?"

And just to drive the point home, Florian groaned, bared his fangs, and then punched Thorin in the chest.

But Thorin, the only sensible adult in the room, refused to hit back. He knew Florian was going off the rails and wasn’t about to add fuel to the fire.

"Stop it, Flo! Just stop!"

Florian, completely ignoring reason, bellowed, "Don’t you dare look down on me!"

Thorin raised his hands, trying to deescalate the madness. "I’m not looking down on you, Florian. I’m not looking down on anyone."

The shouting quickly spiraled into chaos as Florian launched a flurry of attacks, determined to wreak havoc on as many werewolves as he could.

While Morgan was busy trying to land a blow on the vampire, Thorin scrambled to rein Florian in. He couldn’t go full beast mode; that would mean hurting innocent werewolves.

"Clear the way! Stay back! No, seriously, don’t come over here!" he yelled, flailing his arms.

But of course, pups were not known for their listening skills, and before their parents could even blink, they were charging right into the chaos.

In the middle of his rampage, Florian swung his arm and accidentally sent a pup flying against the wall.

The little one lay there, motionless.