Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Voren froze for a moment, her words sinking into him far deeper than he wanted them to. Had it truly become that obvious? Had the weight he had been carrying finally started showing on his face for everyone around him to see?

Whenever things became too much for him, Ravyn had always been the person he turned to. Ravyn understood him in ways most people never could, and there had been countless times when Voren walked into a conversation with him feeling like the entire world was crashing down on his shoulders, only to walk away feeling lighter, calmer, and more capable of handling whatever came next.

But things were different now.

Ravyn was already carrying more than enough burdens of his own, and with Voren secretly helping Seraphine, there was simply too much room for something to go wrong.

One wrong word, one careless expression, one moment of lowered guard, and everything could fall apart before he even had the chance to stop it.

For now, staying away from Ravyn felt like the safest option.

At the same time, the thought of opening up to Seraphine felt almost impossible.

Voren had never been the kind of man who sat down and poured his thoughts out to women, and he definitely was not about to start with Ravyn’s ex-wife. No matter how much time they had spent around each other lately, he knew it was better to keep things between them strictly professional.

The less complicated things became between them, the safer it would be for both of them.

"It’s nothing I can’t handle," he said calmly, giving her absolutely nothing beyond that. "Just make sure you find the time and place to practice with Corvine."

Seraphine looked at him for a moment, and even though she tried to hide it, disappointment flashed briefly across her face before she tucked it away.

Still, she had no right to feel disappointed. What exactly had she been expecting from him?

They were not friends.

At least, that was what she kept reminding herself every single time she found herself paying more attention to him than she should.

The next few days passed quietly.

Seraphine started arriving at the hospital earlier than usual and leaving earlier too, making sure she spent as little time around anyone as possible. The day after that conversation, she sent the serum to Ravyn through delivery instead of taking it herself, and for the rest of the week, she buried herself in training sessions with Corvine.

Exactly a day to their date, Santiago called her again. Seraphine stared at his name lighting up her phone screen for a few seconds before finally answering.

"I forgot to ask you something," Santiago said smoothly, sounding entirely too pleased with himself. "Do you prefer red wine or white wine?"

Seraphine frowned slightly. She barely drank at all. Most of the time, she preferred plain water over everything else.

"Red wine," she answered randomly.

On the other end of the line, Santiago gave a soft laugh. "I knew you were a red wine girl."

The annoyance that rushed through her was instant, sharp enough to make her grip the phone tighter, but Seraphine pushed it down and forced her voice to remain pleasant.

"Is there anything else?"

"Yes, actually," Santiago replied. "Hold on for a second. I’m making arrangements for tomorrow, and I want everything to be perfect."

Seraphine rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt. Then Santiago spoke again. "What’s your lingerie size?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Seraphine nearly choked. For a second, she thought she must have heard him wrong because there was no way he had actually just asked her that. "Ha?"

"Sorry," Santiago said smoothly, sounding not even slightly embarrassed. "You strike me as the traditional type anyway, so maybe we can skip that part on the first date."

His voice lowered slightly, carrying that same infuriating flirtation that made Seraphine want to scream. "Maybe the second."

Seraphine clenched her teeth so tightly her jaw began to ache.

At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to reach through the phone and rip his throat out with her bare hands.

Before she could even respond, Santiago kept talking as if he had not just crossed every possible line. "What kind of car do you like?"

"I’m not into cars," she said flatly. "I prefer gaming."

There was a pause before Santiago laughed softly. "I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you."

Seraphine’s lips curved into a smile he could not see. "You’re about to."

"I’ll see you tomorrow night then," Santiago said. "And be ready to stay over."

This time, Seraphine smiled for real because tomorrow night would bring all of this to an end.

The second the call ended, she turned toward Corvine. "Have you gotten an apartment for Zane?" she asked. "And the car too?"

"Yes," Corvine replied with a nod. "Everything is ready. As soon as he gets there, I’ll have the car delivered."

Relief softened Seraphine’s expression immediately. "Thank you."

The next day moved painfully slowly, each passing hour stretching on so long that it almost felt unbearable.

Several times, Seraphine found herself staring down at her phone, tempted to call Voren just to ask if he had come back from the pack yet.

She was afraid he might change his mind and not show up. Or maybe it was because things somehow felt calmer whenever he was around.

A few hours before it was time to leave, Seraphine started getting ready. She had almost finished when there was a knock at her door.

Corvine pushed it open carefully before stepping inside, and from the strange look on his face alone, Seraphine could already tell that something was wrong.

"Sera," he said slowly, sounding strangely uncomfortable, "Voren is here, and he wants to come in."

The color drained from Seraphine’s face almost immediately.

He came. A strange mixture of panic and relief hit her all at once, making her chest tighten in a way she did not want to think too deeply about.

She had been glad that he kept his word, but she had never expected him to come directly to her room.

"Tell him I’ll be out in two minutes," she said quickly.

Corvine let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of his neck like a man who already regretted being stuck in the middle of whatever this was.

"He said," Corvine began carefully, "and I’m quoting him exactly, that he has to make sure you’re dressed appropriately for tonight."

Seraphine blinked at him in complete confusion. "What?"