Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 163 – I need you to be honest with me about one thing

Voren adjusted quickly, as if he had done this a thousand times before, his movements controlled and exact as he repositioned her stance.

He did not realize that he just crossed a boundary he wasn’t supposed to, or perhaps he thought he was training his fellow man.

His hand moved from her waist to her shoulder, steadying her without hesitation, while his other hand corrected the angle of her grip with quiet precision.

"Focus on your breathing," he said, his voice lower now, calmer but firm enough to cut through her tension. "In... and out. Let the shot follow that rhythm instead of forcing it."

Seraphine followed his instructions, drawing in a slow breath and releasing it carefully, trying to quiet the tightness in her chest. When she pulled the trigger this time, the result was different.

The bullet struck the target. It wasn’t perfect, landing lower than she intended, but it hit.

A flicker of relief crossed her face, subtle but real, like she had finally found something solid to hold onto.

Voren noticed it immediately, and the corner of his lips lifted just slightly. "That’s better," he said. "Do it again."

He stayed close, guiding her without crowding her too much, his voice steady as he continued to coach her through the process. But somewhere in the middle of it, something changed inside him, something he hadn’t anticipated.

There was a brief, unwelcome awareness, sharp enough to break through the discipline he usually relied on. The closeness, the warmth of her presence, the way she responded so quickly once she found her balance, unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.

Seraphine fired again.

landed closer to

a mix of relief and quiet satisfaction.

a second longer than necessary, the moment stretching in a way that felt louder than

stepped back slightly, putting space between them again, his expression settling into something more neutral. "We’re not done yet," he said, his tone returning to its usual structure. "You’ll keep practicing tomorrow,

into, it wasn’t enough for her to train just once. She needed perfection. Seraphine was

try working with different firearms," he suggested, watching her

then gave

time the session wrapped up, the energy around them had changed again, the earlier tension replaced with something more focused. Voren’s expression, however, turned serious as he approached

he said, his voice dropping slightly. "There’s more going on than just gathering evidence. One of the main reasons they haven’t

attention sharpened instantly. "Rigged

searching, wondering why she hadn’t come across something like that. Were there more surprises in

explosives," Voren replied. "They’re programmed to trigger at the first sign of a threat. If anything sets

implications settled in. Voren watched her carefully, wondering if she was really prepared for this. "Everything inside would be gone," he continued. "People, money, records, anything stored there. It all gets wiped out in

wasn’t something she had

been building in her head felt less stable, more unpredictable. But before that uncertainty could take hold

delay," he said. "The system is designed to give them about an hour to evacuate before everything goes off. It’s their safety window in case authorities

quickly, recalculating, adjusting, finding the opening buried inside the risk. "Then that works in our favor too," she said, her tone honing with renewed focus. "If we time it right, we can use