Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate-Chapter 136: A Success Story

It was Trudy. A group of werewolves stood behind her, looking calmer than the fierce Queen Thin Eyebrows and the male wolf who obviously had feelings for Charna.

"You’re doing it wrong," Trudy said.

But Riona wasn’t exactly a fan of feedback. Offended, she slapped Trudy’s hand off her shoulder and glared. "Did I ask for your opinion?"

"Wait! I’m not saying you’re, like, totally wrong. Just... wrong," Trudy stammered.

Riona raised an eyebrow. What on earth was this shaggy mess of a werewolf trying to say?

Realizing her mistake, Trudy fumbled for words, growing more frustrated by the second.

"I mean..." Trudy could feel the conversation slipping out of her paws. Her words started making less sense by the second.

"You’re fast and accurate," another werewolf from Trudy’s crew cut in, clearly fed up with Trudy’s trainwreck. "But the animals—they’re faster because, you know, they actually know what they’re doing."

Trudy nodded, relaxing a bit as she explained, "See, we hunt for fun, but the animals are fighting for survival. That’s why they give it everything they’ve got—and then some. Fear pushes them to go beyond their best because their lives literally depend on it."

Another werewolf chimed in, "Yeah, I know teamwork might be annoying for you, but it’s how we rack up points in the game."

Riona pouted, trying to look annoyed but secretly realizing they weren’t totally off-base. She’d never really thought about the animals being, well, terrified for their lives.

And, annoyingly enough, Trudy’s friend actually made sense. Of course, Riona wasn’t going to admit it out loud, but Trudy seemed to catch the vibe anyway.

With a grin spreading across her face, Trudy suggested, "Why not join us? You’re fast, you’ve got that spooky night vision—perfect chaser material."

Oddly, none of the other werewolves seemed bothered by a vampire joining their squad. And Riona, despite her natural disdain for teamwork, found herself okay with it—at least if it meant being on Trudy’s team.

These werewolves were weirdly supportive, not to mention they actually appreciated her skills for once, instead of focusing on her vampire-ness.

Joining Trudy’s team was like hitting the reset button on Riona’s life. Suddenly, she found herself playing ’wolf tag’ as the chaser.

Basically, her job was to hang out and wait for the bait team to do the heavy lifting. Here’s the thrilling play-by-play:

First, the surveillance squad would track the animal’s movements and guess where it might try to escape. Meanwhile, the bait werewolves would scatter and block every possible escape route.

Riona, as the chaser, would hang back in a specific spot—one where the animal would have nowhere to run, the perfect trap.

Once in position, the bait directly across from her would make a sudden move, intentionally scaring the animal.

The rest of the bait team would pop up and block all other exits, funneling the terrified creature down a single path—straight toward Riona.

At the exact moment the animal entered her zone, Riona would spring into action, catching the target with precision.

The new team combo was a smashing success. Trudy’s squad racked up an insane number of victories, more than Trudy had ever seen in her entire life. Later, they found out they had broken records.

They snagged first place with ease, and they doubled the number of hunting wins compared to the second-place team, leaving everyone totally stunned.

Even Riona’s sworn enemies, Vesper and Morgan, were left speechless.

Morgan practically chewed through her lip trying to come up with a fresh insult, but now that Riona had carried the team, there was nothing left to mock. It was her worst nightmare.

Vesper, meanwhile, was still clinging to his delusion.

"I heard you messed up other teams’ hunts," he hissed, desperate for a win. "They missed opportunities because of you, so don’t get all cocky like you’re some kind of hero!"

Riona just smirked—because she kind of was.

Trudy rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. Everyone in her group had seen Riona’s stellar performance, so Vesper’s sour grapes were just laughable.

"Seriously, Vesper? Could you be any more childish?" she snapped.

"Oh, it’s fine, Trudy. Let the little pup sulk. He’s just mad because he missed his chance to be the center of attention—again." Riona waved her hand dismissively.

She grinned and pretended to notice something. "Oh wait, wasn’t your group not even in the top three this time? What happened, Vesper? Fall asleep on the job? Or did you get distracted chasing your tail?" ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Vesper’s face turned a shade of red that would make a tomato jealous as he lunged at Riona, aiming for a punch that missed by a mile. Riona dodged it effortlessly, leaving him swinging in thin air.

Unlike him, Riona wasn’t blinded by anger. She had full control of herself and her power, seeing everything with sharp clarity.

She understood now why Sir Orlo had nagged her about keeping her emotions in check—because when she let anger take over, her vision went all tunnel vision.

Calm and collected, she saw everything with crystal clarity and couldn’t help but savor the irony.

Vesper was relentless, throwing punches like a toddler having a tantrum. Since Riona was merely laughing off his flailing attempts, no one bothered to step in.

Her casual reaction made it obvious that the situation wasn’t worth taking seriously.

Meanwhile, Charna’s face twisted in irritation—like she was trying to stifle a groan at a particularly annoying kid’s birthday party.

"Vesper, seriously, give it a rest!" Charna said with forced calm. She was exhausted, like trying to manage a pack of unruly pups with one particularly stubborn one that refused to listen.

Riona couldn’t hold back her amusement. "Vesper, your unrequited love is cringing at your latest fail. Again. How about we just call it a draw? I’ll even pretend you’re a worthy opponent. It’ll save you the trouble of getting all worked up."

There were so many things wrong with Riona’s remarks.

First off, Vesper was angry that Riona had brought up her stagnant love life with Charna. He was hoping that dirty little secret would stay buried, even though everyone, including Charna, was probably already in on it.

Second, Vesper was seething over how Riona’s choice of words made him feel like a second-class citizen.

Vesper was ready to fight this vampire to the bitter end rather than let her walk all over him with no repercussions.

Just as he was about to wipe that infuriating smirk off Riona’s face, a young werewolf burst out of the forest, looking like he’d just seen a ghost.

"Help! Help!" he shrieked, tears streaming down his cheeks.