Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 267 - You still can’t hand me even an ounce of trust

Voren’s hand closed around hers before she could get any real leverage on the rock, fingers wrapping tight, and she pulled against him with everything she had. It didn’t matter. He held her like she weighed nothing, like the effort didn’t even register.

"Do you know who sent him?"

"Yes." The word came out quiet and flat.

His grip loosened. Just slightly. Just enough for her to slide her hand free and step back, putting a foot of distance between them.

His eyes narrowed. "Then tell me."

Seraphine’s shoulders went rigid, the kind of stiff that started in the spine and worked its way up. She looked at a spot somewhere past his left ear. "There’s no point."

The muscle in his jaw moved. He watched her for a long moment, reading her the way people read weather, looking for the thing she wasn’t saying. Then something moved in his expression, not anger exactly, more like a decision being made.

"You still can’t hand me even an ounce of trust." His voice dropped, not softer, just lower. More direct. "Even after I gave you my word."

He took a half step toward her, not threatening, just closing the distance she’d put between them. "Let me be clear about something. If I ever turn on you, everything I put into MindNest is yours. Every dollar. Our new arrangement included. You’d have every right to it and I wouldn’t fight you on a single cent."

His eyes didn’t move from her face. "I’m the one who laid this trap. So get out of my way and let me finish it."

her mouth, then closed it. Her brow pulled together.

rogue made a low, broken sound beneath the rock.

was explaining something simple to someone who’d missed the obvious. "So I used myself as

moved through his expression, quick and honest before he locked it down again. "I wouldn’t have been half as worried if I’d known

Seraphine stood very still.

the way you do

about MindNest and the money he had sitting in her company and the clean business arrangements he needed to protect? She couldn’t find a clear answer and that bothered her more than she

and rested his forearms on his knees, perfectly relaxed, the way a person is relaxed when

voice was almost conversational. "Nobody gives up their boss. It’s a code. I respect it." He tilted

back

rogue’s face

been carrying before, the kind that came from pain and being trapped under two hundred

Alpha Voren wasn’t a man who made empty threats. He was actually the only Alpha who knew

leader’s family without even asking. His mouth opened

name came out cracked and

Her forehead creased. "Raul?" She crouched slightly, getting closer. "Why? Why

pain. Under that rock, his body couldn’t do what wolf bodies were built to do. No healing.

normally kick in to handle, and what was left was just a man lying broken in

don’t ask why." His voice scraped out of him. "We just do the work. Killing is how we eat.