Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 11 – Severed Bonds

"Ravyn, what do you want again?" Humphrey asked without lifting his head from the chessboard.

The carved pieces lay scattered between him and Seraphine, the game unfinished yet already decided.

What had begun as a rare, peaceful moment had been shattered the instant Ravyn walked in, followed closely by three presences that sucked the warmth out of the room.

Humphrey’s fingers hovered over a rook, then stilled, irritation tightening his jaw.

Ravyn stood rigid near the entrance, his expression taut with indignation. "Dad, isn’t this my home too?" he demanded. "Am I not welcome here anymore?"

Humphrey did not respond immediately. He made one last move, then leaned back. Seraphine had won again but this time, there was no teasing smile, no shared amusement. The air felt rather heavy, as if poisoned.

Everything had been ruined by their arrival. "Sera, how can you be so ruthless?" a sharp voice cut through the silence.

Noelle’s judgment rang across the living room like a slap. She stood tall, chin lifted, eyes cold as they fixed on Seraphine, as though she were examining a stain that refused to wash out.

Before Seraphine could speak, Kylie rose from her seat. "Enough, Noelle," she said, her voice calm but edged with authority. "You do not raise your voice at Sera, not in my house."

The room froze. "Luna," Noelle said immediately, her head dipping in a practiced bow. Her husband had been the former beta of the Centenary pack and respect was automatic.

Across all packs, the rule was immutable. Once an Alpha or a Luna, always an Alpha or a Luna, unless the title was stripped through divorce, abdication, or crime.

Kylie may have stepped away from leadership, but the weight of her position had never left her.

slowly, her expression smoothing into something almost pleasant. "I’m only saying this because Sera has become too willful. Honestly, we spoiled

were

same eyes, and bone structure, no one would have

always been neglect,

spoke. "What do you want, Noelle?" she asked nonchalantly. She did not say ’Mother,’ refusing to dress the word in affection it

Noelle’s face, surprise, perhaps but before she could respond, Chuck Dion cleared

once defended her, not when accusations were thrown her way, and not when Daisy

when Seraphine lay pale in a hospital bed, blood drained from her veins for

only daughter you recognize is Daisy. She’s the

moment Ravyn told them Daisy had been hospitalized, they had rushed over without

during the three months Seraphine herself had remained in that

"If you did

was nothing warm in her eyes. The coldness there

right’ means allowing Daisy to have her way every single time," she said softly, "then yes.

arm lifted, the motion was sudden but not fast enough. Humphrey was already

my house," he

"Dad, you can’t keep supporting Seraphine blindly," he argued. "She’s manipulative, always

he said, his voice low and thunderous. "I judge her based on what I see, but if you’ve chosen to

falling rapidly. Whatever Seraphine had done to win his parents’ trust so completely, he was

warned. "If anything happens to

now," Kylie cut in sharply, descending the stairs, and her eyes flashing with annoyance. "Because Sera will never help Daisy again as long as I live. I should have sent her away from the pack when I had the chance but instead, I let

passed through Ravyn’s eyes. Hearing his mother speak this way about the woman he