Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 123 – A life for a life

A faint frown formed on Seraphine’s face as she listened to Gray’s desperate plea through the speaker, and when she finally responded her words carried such unexpected calmness that both Corvine and Voren looked at her with visible surprise, because the answer that came out of her mouth sounded nothing like the ruthless response they had been expecting to hear.

"Okay," Seraphine said evenly, her tone relaxed as if the entire matter meant very little to her. "I’ll let it go since you have begged."

For a brief moment, silence filled the room as Corvine and Voren exchanged confused glances, neither of them quite certain they had heard her correctly because Seraphine had never struck them as someone who would show mercy so easily after everything Gray and the others had done to her.

Was she really that kind? The question hung quietly in the air, and although neither man spoke it aloud, both of them instinctively understood that they were about to discover the real answer very soon.

On the other end of the line, Gray released a long breath he had not realized he had been holding as relief rushed through him so suddenly that it almost made his head spin, his voice turning eager as he hurried to express gratitude before she could possibly reconsider.

"Thank you, Sera," Gray said quickly, the tension in his voice loosening as hope returned to him for the first time since the nightmare had begun. "I promise you that I will never go against you again, and I swear I will—"

"I haven’t finished yet." Seraphine’s calm interruption cut straight through his words, and the moment those four simple words reached the room the entire atmosphere changed in an instant, because the softness in her voice did nothing to hide the sharp weight behind it.

Corvine leaned forward slightly while Voren grew quiet, both men instinctively focusing their attention on her as if they already sensed that the real conversation had only just begun.

On the other end of the line, Gray felt a small knot forming in his stomach as uneasiness began creeping back into his chest.

cautiously, his

chair while speaking in the same composed tone, yet the words she delivered carried a heaviness that settled over

into the conversation like a stone dropped into still water, sending invisible ripples through the silence that

his phone as the meaning slowly sank in, his stomach twisting

do you mean by that?" he asked again, his voice now noticeably

answered him. "You wanted my life," she said calmly, her voice steady and unhurried. "So in exchange for keeping your company and your position as

mind went completely blank, because the realization arrived all at once and left him feeling colder than he

that moment, he finally understood what Voren had

dangerous than he appeared to be, yet Gray

of him in the most brutal way possible. Voren had demanded an arm

on the other hand, demanded

before him. "What good would it do me if I gained the whole world but lost the most important thing I have,

back slightly, clearly unimpressed by

about that before deciding you wanted mine," she replied with cold honesty, her voice carrying none of the sympathy he

her tone becoming even more