The pups, Simon and Josh, were a ss of tears and sweat. Their tiny faces were scrunched up in panic as they wailed and sobbed, pleading for Riona to save them.
"Huaaa... Help ... don’t leave !"
"Riona, I don’t wanna die..."
Her heart felt like it was being crushed as she whispered their nas, "Simon... Josh..."
These two were the self-appointed chaos instigators of the pack, the energetic little tornadoes who always knew just when to disrupt Riona’s peaceful routine.
They’d burst in like a pair of overactive squirrels, waking her from her midday beauty sleep—clearly unaware that vampires do not do well in sunlight.
But they ant no harm; their only cri was uncontainable excitent. To them, Riona was a living playground. She was strong enough to scoop them up by the arms and swing them around like they were nothing more than oversized marshmallows.
They’d leap onto her shoulders like she was the world’s most patient big eagle pet, and sohow, she always managed to keep her balance.
She was practically a professional climbing rock for the kids, always ready to catch them before they fell like a couple of overenthusiastic potatoes.
And let’s be real, she could carry them all day—as long as they didn’t form a puppy pile that could rival a small army. With Riona, every ga was an adventure, and every mont was filled with laughter.
"Let them go!" Riona growled, her voice low and dangerous.
"I will," Barmin replied, wearing a smirk. "As I said, I’ll let them go—but you have to surrender to first."
Of course, Barmin had never planned to hurt the pups. He was just using them as bait, hoping to stir up the parents and push Riona into a corner.
He wasn’t entirely sure she’d give herself up, but when he saw the panic etched on her face, it was clear he had struck gold.
Riona’s expression twisted into a mix of fear and determination as she fought to maintain her composure. The last thing she wanted was for anything bad to happen to those two little troublemakers.
"How can I trust you?" Riona hissed. The pups’ safety was her top priority.
Barmin smiled, an infuriatingly smug look on his face, as he finally set the pups down. But he didn’t let them wander too far, keeping a firm grip on their arms as if they were his prized possessions.
"I’m going to be the bigger person here and let them go. But just a little warning: once I do, and if you don’t keep your end of the bargain, those kids won’t see the sunrise tomorrow."
Riona could easily wipe out everyone in the room with a single blast once Barmin set the kids free.
But that would kind of defeat her whole mission of saving them. If she wanted to pull off a focused attack, she’d need ti—sothing the pups definitely didn’t have.
Sure, she could swoop in and snatch the kids from his grasp in a flash, but then what? Barmin could easily find another target, and she had no doubt he would happily take out more werewolves as a form of punishnt.
anwhile, her biggest supporters were silently scrambling to find a way to save the pups without putting Riona in the line of fire.
Charna wasn’t particularly close to Riona, but the last thing she wanted was to watch soone sacrifice themselves for her sake. After all, as the Chief of Wintertooth, it was her job to ensure the safety of the community.
Then there was Zane, the most diplomatic werewolf Riona had ever t—not that the competition was fierce. Even he was at a loss when it ca to dealing with Barmin.
For one, he had a long-standing association with a certain very bad werewolf. Plus, Barmin had no authority to decide whether Riona lived or died; he was just the guy relaying the threats Nina Zacharia had made.
Trudy, on the other hand, was grinding her teeth so hard she could probably chew through iron.
While she lacked Charna’s sense of duty and Zane’s diplomatic finesse, she made up for it with her unwavering moral compass.
She had never seen a fault in Riona, except for the fact that the vampire seed to have a knack for avoiding fitting in. But that was old news.
After Riona’s impressive win during the hunting event, she had earned at least so respect from the other werewolves. Trudy considered that a valiant effort, even if it was more like a last-minute rescue than a grand entrance.
As they struggled to devise a better plan, Riona sighed and announced, "Alright. If it’s you want, then it’s you’ll have. Let them go now!"
Barmin raised his hands away from the kids, a smug grin plastered across his face. Riona fought the urge to wipe that annoying smile off him right then and there, but she figured she could save that for later.
"You co with . My n will stay here," he said as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.
"What?"
"Just in case you decide to pull any funny business. Vampires have a reputation for being, shall we say, a bit unpredictable," he replied, flashing a grin that made her want to pull all of his white teeth.
And just like that, Riona found herself reluctantly going along with Barmin and two of his lumbering soldiers.
They were massive, and Riona felt like a bite-sized snack in comparison. But don’t be fooled; the only reason she wasn’t fighting back was out of consideration for Wintertooth. Wrecking their ho wouldn’t exactly be a good look for her, right?
As they trudged along, the werewolves pulled out a special set of handcuffs designed specifically for vampires—courtesy of so witches, no doubt.
Barmin locked the cuffs around her wrists, then shackled her ankles, leaving just enough chains to allow her to walk but not enough to make a break for it.
"You can’t escape those. They’re vampire-proof," Barmin boasted.
"Wow, you really ca prepared," Riona replied, sarcasm dripping from her words.
As long as the pups are safe... as long as Wintertooth is safe... Thorin’s ho can’t just be reduced to rubble in his absence.
That was her mantra. But in reality, the mont the carriage whisked her away from Wintertooth, the remaining Zachs soldiers wasted no ti in starting their annihilation process.
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