Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

When Corvine carried Seraphine out of the building, he was already heading toward the nearest vehicle because she had been completely unconscious when he lifted her into his arms, and he had no idea how badly she might have been hurt.

Just as he reached the car and was about to place her inside, Seraphine suddenly jerked awake in his arms, her body going tense immediately as confusion filled her face.

For a second, her breathing became uneven because the last thing she remembered was Santiago standing over her, and she almost expected to open her eyes and see him again.

Instead, she was surrounded by Corvine’s familiar warmth, the distant sound of sirens, and the cold night air brushing against her skin.

"What’s happening?" she asked while looking around in confusion.

Corvine adjusted his hold on her before answering carefully because he did not want to overwhelm her too quickly.

"You were unconscious when we found you," he explained. "I’m taking you to the hospital."

"No," Seraphine said immediately as she pushed herself straighter in his arms, panic replacing the confusion in her eyes while she looked around frantically. "What about the children? What about the hostages?"

"They’re safe," Corvine assured her quickly. "Leon and the FBI already got them out, and the injured ones are being moved into ambulances right now."

Her removed his jacket and draped it around her shoulders, Seraphine held on to it like a shield. Then she looked around properly, finally noticing the flashing lights from police vehicles, ambulances, and FBI trucks surrounding the property.

Sirens filled the night while people ran in every direction, and for a moment she just sat there trying to process the fact that the nightmare she had spent so long planning to destroy was finally over.

Then one thought hit her harder than anything else. "And Voren?"

Corvine swallowed hard because he had been trying not to think about that himself.

"He told me to get you out first," Corvine admitted while looking back toward the building. "He stayed behind with Santiago, and now that you’re awake, I should probably go back and help him."

Seraphine immediately pushed herself out of his arms and onto her feet despite how weak she still felt.

"Then we’re going together," she said without hesitation, returning the jacket. The second they took a step toward the building, the entire fortress exploded.

Fire burst through the structure so violently that the ground beneath them seemed to shake, and for a second Seraphine could only stare as flames swallowed the place whole.

Her heart dropped so fast that it felt like something inside her had shattered.

"No!"

The scream tore out of her throat before she could stop it, and the next thing she knew, she was trying to run toward the fire.

Corvine grabbed her before she could get far, pulling her back against him while several FBI agents nearby turned toward them.

"What’s going on?" one of the agents asked quickly. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"We have someone inside," Corvine said, his voice strained. The officer looked toward the burning building before slowly shaking his head.

"I’m sorry," he said quietly. "It’s too late."

The words hit Seraphine harder than the explosion itself. She stared at the burning fortress while thick black smoke rose into the sky, and all she could think about was the fact that Voren had stayed behind because of her.

Because she had asked him for help, dragging him into this. Tears spilled down her face uncontrollably while her body shook from the force of everything crashing down on her at once.

"I killed him," she whispered brokenly while staring at the flames. "I dragged him into this."

"No, Sera," Corvine said quickly while holding her closer because he could tell she still wanted to run into the fire herself. "This is not your fault."

But Seraphine could barely hear him because all she could see was the building burning in front of her.

Every second that passed made the reality feel more impossible to deny.

Voren was gone. The man who had walked into hell beside her without asking for anything in return had died because of her plan.

Corvine knew he needed to get her away from there before she completely broke down, so he tried to think of something that might pull her focus elsewhere.

"Should we go check on the hostages?" he asked carefully.

Seraphine looked at him like she had lost something too important to ever get back.

"Does any of it even matter anymore?" she asked quietly while more tears rolled down her face. "I traded his life for mine." How as she going to explain it to his family, his pack?

Corvine’s chest tightened painfully at the sight of her because he had never seen Seraphine look so empty like this before.

"Your skills are still needed," he told her gently. "Those people still need you."

That was the only thing strong enough to make Seraphine pause.

She suddenly remembered the hostages, especially the young girl who had been shot and all the others who were probably in terrible condition after everything they had been through.

As Corvine helped her into the vehicle, draping her with his jacket once more, Seraphine immediately reached for her phone and called Leon.

"I want a full blood count for every hostage," she said the second he answered. "And collect DNA samples from all of them so we can help identify their families later."

Corvine sat quietly beside her after the call ended, sadness settling heavily inside him because even after hearing that Voren might have died in the fire, Seraphine’s mind was still working as sharply as ever.

He knew she was also thinking about her daughter.

She would never say it out loud, but he knew part of the reason she wanted the DNA collected was because she still hoped one of those children might be hers.

This was the first time Corvine had walked into the hospital beside Seraphine instead of simply dropping her off and leaving because neither of them could carry the weight of this night alone.

As they moved through the crowded hallways filled with doctors, nurses, FBI agents, and injured survivors, Corvine suddenly stopped walking.

His eyes widened. "Isn’t that Voren?" Seraphine froze immediately before following his gaze, complicated emotions flooding through her.