Thorin hesitated to hand over the entire bag of coins as he was unsatisfied with the witch’s answer. He scowled at the witch. It wasn’t the way she delivered it that bothered him—it was what she said.
He had expected sothing straightforward, like convincing Riona to share her power with a little charm. After all, they had grown closer, and with a little sweet talk, maybe so awkward poetry, he was sure he could manage it.
Of course, the thought of marrying Riona had crossed his mind as a practical ans to an end. But falling in love with her? Seriously, why did everyone keep assuming he was head over heels?
Uh, maybe because he was—and he just didn’t have the guts to admit it. But love was never part of the plan. And the idea that she might actually feel the sa way? Yeah, that was an even bigger curveball he wasn’t ready to catch.
"Why the long face?" Puck teased.
Thorin felt like his soul had been vacuud out of him. Before he could even snatch back the coins, Elenwen swiped them like a hawk. She insisted she had given him plenty of answers, even if they tasted like rotten at.
"I hate this. I hate everything," Thorin grumbled, sulking like a child whose toy was taken away.
Puck rolled his eyes dramatically. "And? I hate you, but I’m still here. I hate cleaning up your sses, but guess what? Still doing that too. We all have our burdens, Thorin."
"Give him a break, Puck!" Zane cut in as if pouring gasoline on Puck’s already blazing temper.
Puck and Thorin had practically grown up side by side. Though their backgrounds were different, Zane had been a constant in both their lives—guiding them, teaching them, and serving as a ntor.
Yet, it was always Thorin who seed to get special treatnt.
"Oh, here we go again. Zane swooping in to save his precious little Alpha." Grinding his teeth, Puck snapped, "When are you going to stop babying him, huh? Maybe let him try adulting for once? You know, actually act like an Alpha instead of a moody teenager?"
In reality, Zane wasn’t playing favorites. He just understood Thorin better.
While Puck had grown up with a supportive family, Thorin had always carried the guilt of taking away his mother’s freedom and potential. That weight shaped him, and Zane sympathized with that struggle.
Zane sighed, glancing at Thorin, who was comfortably settled on the bed while he and Puck were stuck with the sofa and floor. Of course, the almighty Thorin got the royal treatnt.
"But seriously, Puck’s got a point," Zane said, eyeing Thorin’s sleeping form. "What’s the big plan here? Did you forget what you were aiming for just because things got a little tough? Or do you still want to prove yourself to your mother’s family? Is that not a priority anymore?"
"The Zachs are never going to acknowledge you," Puck chid in, lounging on the floor. "And not because of what you did, obviously. It’s all about your mom ditching them. I an, your mom falling for a rogue wasn’t exactly your fault, right?"
Puck ant well, trying to lift Thorin’s spirits, but instead, Thorin just sunk deeper into his sulk.
He knew how important finding a mate was in their world, but he’d secretly promised himself he wouldn’t be another lovestruck fool. Love made people do stupid, irrational things—things that wrecked lives.
And now, the witch was telling him the key to gaining power and respect from the Zacharias clan... love? Love was the golden ticket? That was absurd. Absolutely, undeniably ridiculous.
"I’ll handle it. No need for you to stress," Thorin muttered, turning his back on them like a sulking pup.
***
A week later, they arrived back at Wintertooth, and Thorin imdiately sensed the shift in the atmosphere.
The air felt lighter, and to his surprise, so of the werewolves had ward up to Riona. He spotted pups buzzing around her, tugging at her sleeves and vying for her attention during their free ti.
It seed like Trudy had done a stellar job integrating Riona into the pack.
Thorin called her and thanked her for the effort. "Thanks for all the work you’ve put in. I really appreciate it. How’d you manage to pull this off?"
To his surprise, Trudy waved off the complint like it was nothing. "Oh, it wasn’t . Charna basically forced her into joining the full moon hunt."
Thorin raised an eyebrow, then broke into a grin. After what happened last ti, he thought Charna would steer clear of Riona for a while before actually stepping up and doing her job. Guess not.
"At first, she struggled with our hunting style," Trudy explained, "but it’s just a matter of guiding her and letting her adapt. Once she got the hang of it, she took off. Like, no joke, she literally carried my whole team. We only ranked first because of her."
Thorin blinked in surprise. Riona? Piggybacking a whole team? This, he had to see.
"That’s not even the craziest part," Trudy continued, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. "She also saved Majora—who was seconds away from falling into the abyss—because Luis thought it’d be hilarious to play ’how close can you get to death with your little sister.’"
The mory still gave Trudy the shivers. Even she had frozen up, unsure of what to do.
"She did that?" Thorin’s eyes went wide. His excitent was impossible to contain. He sprinted off to find Puck and Zane.
"You guys won’t believe this!" Thorin exclaid, literally blocking Puck and Zane from retreating to their rooms.
"What now?" Puck groaned. "Finally told Riona you love her? Or are we still in the ’denial and staring from afar’ phase?"
"No!" Thorin snapped, annoyed. He then launched into Trudy’s story. "Riona worked on a team—and helped them win first place in the full moon hunt! Oh, and she saved a pup from falling into an abyss! Can you believe it?"
While Puck was itching to escape, Zane humored Thorin’s enthusiasm. "It’s impressive she’s adapted to werewolf hunting so quickly. Do you think it’s the werewolf blood in her?"
Puck sighed dramatically, fully intending to stay out of it. But, as usual, he couldn’t resist. "Well, duh. She’s Remus’ daughter. We’ve all heard the legends. With blood like his running through her veins, it’s hardly shocking."
The three of them assud the conversation was private, away from prying ears. But unbeknownst to them, Vesper was lurking nearby, overhearing every word.
He hadn’t ant to eavesdrop—just happened to pass by at the right mont.
Smirking to himself, he realized he had just found the perfect ammunition to finally get that pesky vampire kicked out of Wintertooth for good.
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