Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 181 – How is this even possible?

"Is it what I think it is?" Corvine asked, his voice carrying a fragile kind of hope that he didn’t dare hold onto too tightly, even as the sound of hurried footsteps began to echo through the tunnel, not just one set but several, overlapping and uneven, growing louder with every passing second until it became impossible to ignore what it meant.

The noise built quickly, filling the space with urgency, with movement, with life, and before anyone could even fully process it, it became painfully clear that a large group of people was rushing toward the exit.

Corvine felt it before he even realized what was happening, the sting of tears gathering in his eyes, his chest tightening as something inside him cracked open under the weight of relief.

"It worked," he whispered, his voice unsteady, almost disbelieving, like he needed to hear himself say it out loud to make it real. "They’re coming out, the hostages are coming out."

Stanley didn’t react the same way.

He stood completely still, his body locked in place as he stared into the darkness ahead, his eyes wide, his expression frozen somewhere between shock and confusion, like his mind refused to catch up with what was unfolding right in front of him.

"How is this even possible?" he muttered under his breath, the question slipping out before he could stop it.

Voren didn’t spare him sympathy. "Are you planning to stand there all night staring?" he asked coldly, his tone sharp enough to snap through the moment like a blade and that was enough.

Stanley snapped out of it immediately, the hesitation vanishing as professionalism took over, his posture straightening as he stepped forward and slipped into command mode without missing a beat, his voice rising as he started issuing orders, calling for backup, coordinating with emergency responders the second communication opened from their side.

Everything moved fast after that. Leon arrived only moments later, his expression strained, his breathing uneven, the panic he had been holding in during the drive still written all over his face as his eyes scanned the scene desperately.

immediately, the question

turned his head toward the distant building, but the answer never came, the words catching in his throat as the first wave of hostages began pouring out of

some barely able to walk, others breaking down into tears the moment they reached open air, their faces hollow with exhaustion, their bodies worn down from hunger and fear in ways

still inside," Corvine said quietly, the realization settling heavily as he turned toward Voren, urgency taking over again. "We need to

didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked toward Stanley, his expression hardening into something unyielding, something that made it clear

carrying a quiet warning

didn’t look hesitant, didn’t look like a man second-guessing what

of doubt disappeared from his face. "Take care of yourself," he said, his voice lower now, more grounded. "The second my team gets here, I’m coming in

before turning away, already moving, already focused, but just as he started forward, Stanley’s voice stopped

"If Santiago planned ahead, then there’s a

hung in the air, heavy with implication,

had been collapsing around him, with every possible threat stacked against him, there was no version of this where he would turn back

on the towering structure ahead, his voice

no hesitation in his tone

network is jammed so nothing gets through, and none of the

deeply as he followed his line of sight, trying to make sense of it, trying

to get in?" he asked, his gaze moving between Voren and the heavily

suggest using the tunnel, but Voren only gave a faint smile, one that carried no warmth. "I’ll handle that," he replied simply. "You just focus on keeping those people