Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 230 - That look is scaring me

’He’s nice...,’ Marsha said, from Seraphine’s mind, like she’d been sitting on that opinion for a while and had finally decided there was no reason to keep it to herself.

Seraphine’s throat closed around the spoonful of dessert she’d just taken. She spent a solid three seconds not choking, set her spoon down carefully, and turned her full attention inward.

’Don’t,’ she said. ’Don’t finish that sentence.’

’I’m just—’ Marsha was saying when Seraphine suspected something and interrupted, ’Are you talking to his wolf right now?’ Because that was the only explanation for why the whole evening had felt like it was running on a current nobody had told her about.

Marsha took a small pause, which was basically a yes. ’He asked if we’d be open to being friends with them.’ She paused. ’Just until they find their mate. His human is apparently working on restoring the bond.’

Seraphine went very still.

So it was Voren. He was the one pursuing restoration of the mate bond and Bloodfang had apparently let out the secret to Marsha.

’Tell him no,’ Seraphine said to Marsha before adding, ’and stop flirting. I’m not asking twice. You keep this up and I’m shutting you out completely.

Marsha went quiet. Not sulky, just quiet. Which, from Marsha, was its own kind of agreement.

picked her spoon back up, and

deeply spiced broth sitting heavy and slow in the bowl, built around charred meat and root vegetables she couldn’t name, chili oil pooled across the top. It tasted the way a forest at night smells, dark and layered and faintly like

sweeping arcs, edible glitter worked into

it anyway, and it tasted better

went back for seconds of two

the aurora dessert sphere arrived, and for

from somewhere that had different rules about what was possible. A chocolate shell lacquered in aurora colors that bled into each other at the edges, cracked open tableside with one clean

smiled. Not a full one, just that involuntary softening that happens when something catches you genuinely off guard with how beautiful it is, and

her tongue in little bursts. She let herself have that moment completely. It was good, and she’d decided to be honest about

him, that careful downward lean,

she asked, setting her spoon down.

smile on his face with the practiced ease of a man who’d learned to keep his expression from becoming a problem. "Did

Seraphine blinked. "Excuse me?"

her face the

eyes went wide

right now," Voren said, casually picking up his