Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 199 – Whatever charm she has, don’t let it distract you

At first, it had seemed almost harmless, subtle, even—how Seraphine had gradually pushed him into a role he never imagined himself playing, turning him from a commanding Alpha into someone who had to worry about things as ordinary as meals, routines, and whether a child had eaten enough to stay full through the night.

No matter how much Ravyn tried to convince himself that he could handle both worlds without friction, the truth was that balancing that unexpected responsibility with the weight of leading an entire pack had been anything but easy.

Because being an Alpha demanded control, authority, and a certain distance that kept emotions from interfering with decisions, while Bryan... Bryan required patience, presence, and a kind of softness Ravyn had never been taught to carry.

And now, somehow, Seraphine had taken things even further. Not only reshaping his role but quietly forcing him out of the picture altogether, as though his presence alone was something she refused to acknowledge, let alone tolerate.

"Dad," Ravyn said into the phone, his voice tight despite his effort to keep it level, "she’s coming to the pack, and she wants to deal only with my Beta."

The words didn’t sit well with him, not in the slightest, because no matter how much he tried to rationalize it, the arrangement felt wrong in a way he couldn’t easily dismiss.

Seraphine might have been his ex-wife, but she wasn’t just that anymore, not after everything she had built, everything she had become, everything that now made her someone people sought out rather than overlooked, and what Ravyn wanted, despite everything that had happened between them, was something simple enough to seem almost unreasonable.

Friendship. A peaceful one that could earn him a few favors. So these conditions, felt like an absolute rejection.

"Do I really have to hide from her?" he asked, a trace of bitterness slipping into his voice before he could stop it, his frustration threading through his words. "At this rate, it feels like she’ll eventually ask me to step down as Alpha too."

"Ravyn!"

Humphrey’s voice snapped through the line sharply, carrying a warning that left no room for argument.

"You’re the one who asked for her help," his father continued, his patience clearly worn thin. "If you don’t like her conditions, then find someone else, and don’t involve me again."

The words hung there, heavy and final, forcing Ravyn into a silence that stretched just long enough for the weight of reality to settle over him before he finally exhaled, the resistance in his chest giving way to reluctant acceptance.

now, though no less firm. "I’ll agree to her conditions, and I’ll make

to bridge the distance she had intentionally created, because no matter how things had ended between them, Ravyn wasn’t ready to accept that there was no way back

And Bryan...

the

days," Humphrey added, his tone easing now that Ravyn had stopped pushing back. "Let your Beta contact her and make the

a thought creeping in uninvited as he recalled something he had noticed more than once. The way men responded to Seraphine, the way

And Damon...

if he

in a way Ravyn himself no

he was willing

will deal only with you," he said, his tone steady but edged with unease, "so don’t lose

slightly, his eyes narrowing just

don’t let it distract you.

to pass unnoticed if Ravyn wasn’t paying close attention, but inside, amusement

through the tension, drawing their attention toward Bryan, who had dropped his

is Mommy coming

harder than anything else

his chest, something he wasn’t prepared

opened his mouth to answer, but before

"Who is coming back?"

from upstairs, cutting into the moment with just

lifted his head, his expression smoothing over as he responded, his

unable to assist with the victims," he said,

pause, just long enough for his next words to land with

stay out of her way