Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Ravyn sat there in the quiet, Daisy’s phone still in his hand, his thoughts scattered, not sitting right with him at all, like everything happening around him was pulling him in different directions at once and he couldn’t lock in on a single decision.

Maybe it was Bryan’s condition, maybe it was everything piling up at the same time, but for once, his mind refused to give him a clear answer.

In the end, he stopped overthinking it and spoke. "Who the fuck are you," Ravyn said, his voice low and sharp, "and why are you calling my woman?"

The reaction was instant.

The line went dead.

Ravyn stared at the phone for a second, his expression darkening before he tried calling back immediately, but the call didn’t even go through. The number was unreachable, like it had never existed in the first place.

His lips pressed into a thin line as irritation crept in, mixing with something colder, and heavier.

What exactly was going on between Daisy and that man? Zane or whatever his name was.

Ravyn had trusted Daisy without question, had put her above everything else, even above Seraphine, and now this? The thought alone made his jaw tighten. He didn’t have solid proof of anything yet, and he knew better than to jump to conclusions without facts, but one thing kept bothering him more than the rest.

Why was Daisy supposed to send that man money?

That part didn’t sit right, no matter how he tried to look at it.

Something about this situation was off, and he didn’t like it one bit.

Almost on instinct, Ravyn pulled up his contacts and dialed Voren’s number again. This time, the response came slower, and when Voren finally picked up, his voice carried the rough edge of someone who had just been dragged out of sleep.

"Ravyn," Voren muttered, clearly irritated, "this better be worth waking me up for."

Ravyn let out a breath before speaking. "You were right," he said. "Seraphine is taking care of Bryan."

There was a brief pause before Voren exhaled, the tension in his voice easing just a little. "I told you she isn’t heartless," he said. "She might hate you, but Bryan is a kid. That was never going to change."

"Yeah," Ravyn replied, running a hand through his hair, "but there’s more."

He went on to explain everything, starting from Bryan’s behavior earlier, the way he had acted before leaving the pack, the things he had said, and then finally narrowing it down to the call from Zane, making sure not to leave anything out.

By the time he finished, Voren let out a long, frustrated sigh.

"I can’t believe you’re calling me for advice on this," Voren said, his tone somewhere between disbelief and annoyance. "Your ex-wife is literally a tech genius. Hire her. Pay her. Problem solved."

Ravyn shook his head even though Voren couldn’t see him. "No," he said immediately. "That’s not happening. She and Daisy don’t get along. I’m not trusting her with this."

He paused for a second before adding, his voice more guarded, "What if she twists whatever she finds just to make Daisy look bad and herself look better?"

There was a silence on the other end that lasted just long enough to feel heavy.

When Voren spoke again, his tone had changed, and not in a good way. "Ravyn," he said, more flat than before, "I’ve got a busy day tomorrow."

And then the call ended.

Ravyn pulled the phone away slowly, his jaw tightening as irritation flared up again, sharper this time. Without wasting another second, he dialed Corvine’s number.

The call connected, but instead of Corvine’s voice, a familiar, excited one came through the line.

"Dad!" Bryan’s voice lit up immediately. "Mommy made me pancakes! They’re so good, I finished everything and even asked for more. Isn’t that amazing?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Ravyn’s chest tightened at the sound, something deep and uncomfortable settling in as he listened to his son’s excitement, the kind that used to be normal but now felt like something he had lost without realizing it.

For a brief moment, regret hit him harder than expected.

Maybe sending that seventh divorce agreement hadn’t been the right move. Maybe if he hadn’t pushed things that far, Seraphine would still be at the pack, and somehow, things might have worked out differently, even if it meant keeping both women under the same roof.

"That’s... that’s great, Bryan," Ravyn said, forcing his voice to stay steady. "I’m glad you’re eating. Can I talk to Corvine for a second?"

"Dad, you have to see my room," Bryan continued, completely ignoring the request, his excitement spilling over. "It’s huge, and it looks so cool. It has all these human cartoon characters, like Spidey and his amazing friends, Mickey Mouse, and Superman..."

He kept going, listing everything he had seen with pure enthusiasm, and Ravyn listened, every word adding another layer to the regret sitting in his chest, because it was painfully clear how happy Bryan sounded right now.

Something he hadn’t heard in a while.

"Alright, little man," Ravyn said gently, cutting in after a moment. "I’m really happy you’re doing better. Now can I talk to your uncle?"

There was a brief pause before the phone shifted hands.

"Speak," Corvine’s voice came through, flat and edged with irritation, like he already knew this wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation.

Ravyn took a breath before getting straight to the point. "I need Sera to hack someone for me," he said. "How much is she going to charge?"

There was a noticeable pause on the other end, long enough to show that Corvine hadn’t expected that.

"Who exactly are we talking about?" Corvine asked.

"All I have is a number and a first name," Ravyn replied. "Zane."

Another pause followed, weightier this time, like Corvine was pondering something carefully before responding.

"I think that’s her call to make," he said finally. "I’ll talk to her and get back to you."

When the call ended, Ravyn was left sitting there again, the quiet settling in around him as he waited.

It didn’t take long before his phone rang again.

The moment he answered and heard the response, it felt like the air had been knocked straight out of his lungs.