Blood Awakening: The Strongest Hybrid and His Vampire Bride

Chapter 705: The Woman at the Docks

Nikolai lifted his gaze toward the front screen as the jeep slowed.

Beyond the reinforced glass, the road opened into a wide security checkpoint surrounded by thick concrete barriers, steel fences and floodlights mounted along several watchtowers. This temporary Volkov outpost wasn’t as grand as the estate, but it looked practical and difficult to break despite being ugly.

Several guards stood behind the barricades with rifles raised.

The leading guard tapped his ear, before waving his hand in a circle, and quickly lowering himself to his knee. The moment they recognised the convoy, the heavy gates dragged apart.

Ryan’s chirpy voice came through the comms as their vehicle drove inside.

"We’re here, boss. It seems your dad set everything up."

"I can see that."

Nikita leaned closer to the window while scanning the walls and inside of the outpost, before clicking her tongue with a slight pout.

"Looks boring, haah... the other one was so much better."

Selene glanced at her, but Nikita just smirked back, peeking at Nikolai and winking the moment their eyes met. "Right, Honey?"

"Who cares about looks? This place is doing its job just fine."

"Tsk, you’re just jealous I went to another outpost with our husband without you!"

The jeep rolled through the gate, followed closely by Ryan’s vehicle. The Lamia’s tail could still be seen shifting behind him through the rear camera, though Ryan seemed to have finally stopped her from taking over the dashboard.

Inside the outpost, hounds and armed staff moved with a tense sense of unity.

Some carried ammunition crates. Others dragged reinforced barricades into place. Several injured men sat near the side wall, wrapped in blood-stained bandages, while medical staff worked over them.

The atmosphere brought a sense of severity to the situation.

Nikolai tried to focus, his expression becoming sharper as he examined the base.

The jeep stopped near the central building, its hatch opening with a heavy hiss as cold air rushed inside, carrying the scent of gunpowder, blood and wet concrete.

Nikita practically jumped out before anyone else, stretching her arms above her head as if they had just finished a casual drive.

"Ahhh~ my back is so stiff."

Selene followed her with a more graceful descent, glancing at the energetic wolf before scanning the area with her crimson eyes and scolding the playful werewolf who seemed out of place.

"Behave yourself, Nikita."

Sarah placed her helmet back on before stepping down; she didn’t seem to have realised her position had changed after becoming Nikolai’s lover.

She would still act like a common soldier or his squire from time to time.

’This girl will never change...’

He shook his head, dropping from the jeep with a thud.

The moment his boots touched the ground, every nearby hound straightened.

"Patriarch!"

Their voices struck the courtyard together.

Nikolai raised one hand.

"At ease."

Ryan’s jeep stopped behind them. He climbed out a second later, rubbing the back of his neck as his Lamia lover slid out after him in her humanoid form. Nikolai found her strangely eerie when her Lamia tail was not visible.

Nikita, however, couldn’t hide her excitement... "Oho!? She’s so huge!"

The Lamia’s amber eyes shifted toward her. "Little wolf, shall I eat you now? Ufufufu." She then covered her lips while chuckling.

The poor little wolf fled, hiding behind Nikolai as she pointed at the woman.

"I will get my husband to beat up yours!"

"Pffffft! Go for it~ I will enjoy licking his wounds better." Ryan’s lover couldn’t be defeated.

"Amora, don’t tease Nikita too much, Nikolai might really beat my ass..."

Nikolai ignored the brewing disaster and looked toward the outpost commander approaching from the central building.

The man was covered in dust, one sleeve torn and dark with dried blood, but his posture remained firm.

"Patriarch, Lady Selene, Lady Nikita."

"Don’t worry about such things. Give me a report. Why is everyone beaten up?"

The commander looked a little taken aback before lowering his head, "If you follow me, Sir Alexei and Vernan are inside. Thanks to their assistance, we managed to keep the western watchline from falling, but we’ve lost contact with two patrols near the lower access road."

"The one leading to the docks?"

Nikolai’s gaze narrowed.

"The route to the target?"

He didn’t know what to say, curious about the situation but also trying not to step on the commander’s toes too harshly.

"Ah... there is still an opening, but it’s dangerous."

"I see, then shall we enter inside? It’s cold, and your soldiers need proper medical care." Nikolai waved his arm, "Ryan, provide the serum to them; it should help even the most gravely wounded soldier recover."

"But Boss... those are for...." Ryan hesitated.

"Forget it, if my brothers who fight in unknown places cannot enjoy these luxuries, what right do we who enjoy such peaceful lives have?"

The serum was created by the science division, using Nikolai, Marianne and Clara’s blood.

Though it couldn’t heal someone’s wounds completely, it boosted the natural regeneration speed of a monster by several fold instead. For werewolves, that meant a flesh wound would heal in a few minutes, or hours at worst.

Nikolai didn’t wait for Ryan’s answer.

He walked past the wounded men, his gaze sweeping over their torn uniforms, pale faces and bloodied bandages.

Some of them tried to stand when he passed.

"Sit down."

His voice wasn’t loud, yet every hound froze.

"Those who can fight after treatment will return to their posts. Those who can’t will rest. Don’t waste strength trying to impress me, I prefer having living hounds than dead ones, don’t refuse this mercy."

Several hounds lowered their heads, embarrassed but grateful.

Ryan sighed behind him.

"Alright, alright. You heard the boss. Bring the serum crates over!"

Amora leaned toward Nikita with a sly smile.

"Your husband is quite generous."

Nikita’s yellow eyes gleamed with pride as she wore a smug smile.

"Of course. He’s my husband."

Selene glanced at the two women and shook her head, realising they were of a similar nature, before she followed Nikolai toward the central building.

Inside, the outpost felt rough and barebones; one might even say that it was tragic.

The extremely prosperous Volkov Clan is letting its outpost reach this state.

Nikolai ground his teeth together at the sight.

Concrete walls with thick cracks and clear wear and tear, exposed cables, some with frayed wires. The monitors are still temporary, without any high-definition tracking or other devices. The air carried the stench of gunpowder and cheap disinfectant mixed with sweat, and their goods were of a very low level.

Vernan stood beside the main table, one hand pressed against his ribs.

Alexei sat on a crate, sharpening a blood-stained knife as if nothing unusual had happened.

The moment they saw Nikolai, both men looked up.

"Well, well, well, you finally show up, brother!" Vernan, the huge black bear, chuckled with a deep voice before shaking Nikolai’s hand. "Patriarch, it’s been a while. Have you enjoyed wreaking havoc without me? Heh!"

"Of course I’m well, what about you? That wound looks pretty deep..."

"Tsk, such a worrywart, oi Alexei, you tell him!"

"Whatever, it’s your own fault for not shooting her on sight."

"But she had such a nice rack of tits...."

Alexei smiled faintly before shaking his head, whispering something as he turned to Nikolai, "My wife would kill me if I acted like you."

"Heh, whipped little boy." Vernan teased.

"Took you long enough."

Nikolai ignored the jab and stepped toward the map.

"Let’s talk about that later. I need to know what’s happening; we’re going to suffer more losses tonight."

Vernan tapped the lower access road.

"Something hit our patrols here and here. At first, we saw a strange, beautiful woman with large assets and then suddenly suffered an assault... a fast, heavy attack that came from all directions."

"From all directions?" Nikolai repeated, his brows tightening.

Vernan’s grin faded slightly.

"Yeah. That’s the strange part. It wasn’t a group, at least not one we could track. The attacks came like something moving between shadows."

Alexei stopped sharpening his knife.

"Or something using the woman as bait."

Nikolai rubbed his chin, wondering if there were no others, and maybe she was like Alaric, a test subject of that annoying doctor. Maybe it was to draw him out or just to inflict as much damage to the clan as possible.

He didn’t have the answer yet.

Selene’s crimson eyes narrowed as she leaned over the map.

"A lure?"

"Most likely," Alexei answered. "Two hounds saw her near the lower access road. They followed to confirm her identity, then the patrol vanished."

Nikita’s ears twitched.

"Pretty woman, big chest, sudden ambush... sounds like a trap for stupid men."

Vernan coughed.

"That’s hurtful... but the one most in danger isn’t me, but your handsome little husband, right?"

His words brought Nikita to a sense of crisis, her ears standing on end as she gasped. "Oh god, the dumb bear became smart!?"

Nikolai tapped the map once. "Enough!"

"Then we treat the woman as hostile until proven otherwise. No one is to leave the outpost alone; always travel in groups of three or more, and should you meet this strange woman or any others, treat them as enemies. Understood?"

His gaze swept across the room as they all nodded one by one.

Nikita and Selene nodded slowly, while Sarah, Vernan and Alexei didn’t even need asking, they just smiled back.

Nikolai felt the issue wasn’t the woman herself but the situation.

"Where was she last seen?"

Vernan pointed toward the dock entrance.

"Here."

Nikolai stared at the mark.

"Then that’s where we start."