Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

The moment Voren stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway leading toward his office, he found Pete already waiting there with a large gift box balanced carefully in his hands, and judging by the excitement spread across his face, Voren could tell he had already looked inside and probably spent the last several minutes trying not to lose his mind over whatever was in it.

"Sir, a gift from Miss Walker," Pete said, excitement lifting his face.

Voren lifted a brow slightly as his eyes moved toward the box, curiosity flashing briefly across his face before disappearing just as quickly beneath his usual calm expression.

"What’s inside?"

Pete swallowed before carefully opening the box, and the second he looked down at what was inside, his mouth dropped open all over again like he still could not believe any of it was real.

"Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche and Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux," Pete said, still staring at the bottles like they might vanish if he blinked too hard. "Sir, I think Miss Walker likes you."

Voren’s face stayed calm, but there was the faintest tightening around his eyes.

He knew exactly what Seraphine was doing.

She was trying to repay him as quickly as possible so she could erase the debt between them and move on, but there was no chance he was going to let her do that so easily when he had already decided he wanted something far more valuable than a few rare bottles of wine.

"Send it back," Voren said without hesitation, Pete blinked at him, fully convinced for a moment that he had heard wrong.

"What?"

Voren slowly turned his head toward him, his face unreadable and his voice colder this time. "Send it back."

Pete swallowed hard, suddenly wishing he had never opened the box at all. "Okay," he said carefully. "But what exactly do I tell her?"

"Nothing," Voren replied as he continued walking toward his office. "She’ll call."

Pete hurried after him, still looking uncertain.

"Are you sure about that? Miss Walker seems way too generous to just let something like this go."

Voren did not even slow down. "I said she’ll call," he repeated with complete confidence. "Just send it back."

Exactly like he expected, his phone rang less than an hour after the gift had been returned.

The second Voren saw Seraphine’s name appear on the screen, satisfaction crossed his face before he answered, because he had known from the beginning that she would not let this go without a fight.

"Voren, do you not like my thank-you gift?" Seraphine asked the second he picked up, sounding confused and irritated at the same time. "I can send something else if you want."

Voren let out a low scoff. "A thank-you gift?" he repeated. "Is my life worth so little to you?"

Seraphine frowned immediately when she heard his tone. He sounded irritated, like somebody who had already been in a terrible mood long before she called, and somehow she had managed to make it worse without even trying.

"I think you misunderstood," she said, trying to keep her voice calm even though she was already starting to feel uncomfortable.

"No," Voren interrupted, his voice firm enough to make her sit up straighter in her chair. "We had an agreement. I back you up, and when the time comes, I ask for a favor in return."

A wave of uneasiness rushed through Seraphine so fast that it felt like ice water had been poured straight down her spine.

"What kind of favor?" she asked immediately. "My life? Or are you going to ask me to go easy on Ravyn? Which one is it? Because I would rather know now than sit around waiting for whatever you have planned."

She hated owing people anything, because owing people meant giving them power over her, and she had spent too many years fighting to get her life back under control to willingly place herself in somebody else’s hands again.

She hated not knowing where she stood, and more than anything else, she hated feeling trapped inside a situation she could not control.

Voren let out a long breath on the other end of the line before finally answering.

"None of those," he said after a moment. "I do not even know what favor I want yet, but what I do know is, I do not need your thank-you gift."

Seraphine pressed her lips together tightly, still unable to decide whether that answer made her feel relieved or even more nervous than before.

"Alright," she said after a moment. "I will not thank you again. And I owe you one."

"Much better," Voren replied, and there was something strangely relieved in his voice that only made Seraphine feel even more uneasy.

For reasons she could not explain, she could not shake the feeling that she was slowly walking toward something she would not know how to escape once it finally happened.

"I hope you got the invitation for the launch this weekend," she said, wanting to change the subject before the conversation became any stranger than it already was.

This time, Voren’s voice softened. "I’ll be there."

After the call ended, Seraphine slowly lowered the phone from her ear and let out a deep breath before leaning back in her chair.

She forced herself to focus on the launch details Corvine had sent her earlier, but before she could get very far, her phone rang again.

Ravyn.

The second she saw his name on the screen, her expression hardened.

Expecting news about Bryan’s improvement, she answered reluctantly, not even trying to hide the impatience in her voice.

"If Bryan is okay, then that is expected. You do not have to call me," Seraphine said the second she answered, but to her surprise, Ravyn did not respond immediately.

Silence stretched between them for several seconds, and just as Seraphine was about to end the call, his voice finally came through.

"Sera," Ravyn said, and there was something strained and heavy in his voice that immediately made her sit up straighter. "The pack needs you."