Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 196 – Don’t you think there’s a reason I’ve been ignoring your calls?

The Centenary Pack. One hour earlier.

"Alpha, their condition is getting worse."

Damon’s voice carried urgency, but Ravyn barely reacted, his expression tightening just a little as he shot him a look that carried more irritation than anger.

"I told you already," he said, his tone low but firm, "just call me by my first name."

There was no real bite in it, but the distance between had been closed up the moment Damon invested more in his company. Right now, The Walkers Global Enterprise was what it was because of Damon.

Ravyn’s focus pivoted almost immediately, his mind snapping back to the problem pressing down on them from every direction, suffocating and relentless.

He had seen something like this before, and that memory alone made his chest tighten in a way he couldn’t ignore.

"This has happened before," he said slowly, his brows drawing together as he thought it through, piecing together fragments of memory and instinct. "But last time... the effect hit Sera the hardest."

His voice dropped slightly, quieter now, edged with something protective, and unspoken.

"We can’t let that happen again."

His gaze lifted to Damon, sharp and searching. "Have you figured out where it’s coming from?"

Damon shook his head, frustration flickering across his face. "No. It spreads too fast. Anyone who inhales it gets hit almost immediately, and before we can even collect samples..." he exhaled, shaking his head again, "the air just swallows it up. There’s nothing left to analyze."

That wasn’t just bad, it was dangerous, and unpredictable.

Ravyn’s jaw tightened, but instead of responding right away, his attention drifted for a moment.

Bryan.

sat nearby, completely unaware of the storm building around him, quietly eating the pancakes Ravyn had made with careful, almost awkward

entrusted Bryan to him, everything had changed. The responsibility wasn’t optional or shared, but

himself reading cookbooks,

That much was obvious, but he still ate

and that small, quiet loyalty, warmed a part of Ravyn he didn’t even

his expression

"How many casualties?"

heavier now. "Only one is responding to treatment, and that’s because he was farther away

adding, "The rest... they didn’t even see it coming. No one knows where

his hair, frustration threading through the gesture as his

he asked

upset about being restricted from using any electrical

in the back of his mind,

specialized medical training," he murmured, more

followed before he reached out through

go to the hospital. There’s been a

nothing.

expected,

I’m not in the right state to work. I

hesitating, like she was choosing her words carefully. ’Can you

almost instantly, irritation flaring up in a way that felt sharper than the situation called for, but

even told her that someone

more edge than it should have. ’I’m already taking care of Bryan,

there, harsher than necessary,

together as the sting of his words settled in, sharp and unexpected. For a second, it felt like something inside her cracked, like the space between them, once so easy, was

she asked quietly through the mindlink, her voice barely holding

answer. The connection snapped shut before she

link, his expression hardening again as if shutting down that entire

he said flatly,

slightly, concern flickering across his face. "Luna Sera? Are