Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 374 - As long as we’re together, nothing else matters

What Oriana had left unsaid was that she and Vladimir had already met with the Alpha King in private long before any of this blew up.

They’d sworn their full support for the marriage alliance and had planned to show up at Athaliah’s dinner party with Voren, and ready to find Jasmine a strong match, hoping it would make up for letting her down so badly.

Back then, everything had felt straightforward and easy to control. Voren would step up and do what was expected, the alliance would lock into place, and their family’s power and reputation would stay rock solid.

But nothing had played out the way they’d imagined. Voren had shut the whole thing down without a second thought, making it brutally clear that no one was going to map out his future for him.

Even after that hard rejection, Oriana and Vladimir had still clung to the hope that they could fix things through Jasmine. Then Seraphine walked in, and everything shattered.

Jasmine wasn’t the same. Voren wasn’t the same. All those careful plans they’d spent months weaving together started unraveling piece by painful piece.

Now Oriana felt completely trapped by the promises she’d made. As a Luna, she’d built her whole life around keeping her word. She didn’t throw promises around lightly, and the idea of breaking them filled her with deep shame.

Showing up at that dinner party just to admit that none of what she’d guaranteed was actually going to happen? The humiliation burned in her chest like acid.

That was the real reason accepting Seraphine had torn her up inside. It was never just about the girl herself. It was about all the secrets, the hidden schemes, and the commitments they’d made behind Voren’s back while thinking they were shielding him.

had been kept completely in the dark because of how fiercely loyal he was to

son better than anyone. Once Voren set his mind on something, the whole world could line up against him

amount of words could stop him until for whatever reason, he broke

she stared at Seraphine, the weight of it

said, her voice thick with hurt. "Nothing

them. Her gaze lingered on Voren one final time, a flash of

bit of this sacrifice, Voren. Just like that human girl you almost married, Seraphine could also walk away from you tomorrow, run

of her cloak so tightly the fabric bunched up. For a moment it looked like she might pour out even more of the storm raging inside her, but instead she pulled her hood up, hiding her

any chance to respond, Oriana turned and walked out. The door clicked shut behind her,

over the room. Voren stood there frozen for a long moment, his jaw locked so tight the muscles in his face jumped and twitched with the

fierce strength, protective and almost desperate, like he was afraid the world

usual, cracking with emotion. "I had no clue she was going to show up like that." He swallowed hard. "I left you

chest, listening to the wild, frantic thud of his heartbeat. "She was already in the room before I even woke up," she whispered, her fingers curling tightly into his shirt. "There wasn’t time to check

brushed it off as her imagination, but then it came again, clearer this time. Her brows

lifted her head to look at him. "You’re

painful knot. Voren buried his face in the crook of her neck, dropping every wall he