Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 64: Chapter 64 - I’m not her type

The question settled into the space between all three of them like a stone dropped into still water, the ripples immediate and impossible to ignore.

For a fraction of a second, no one moved. There was nothing overtly wrong with what he asked, nothing rude on the surface, yet it brushed dangerously close to lines that were never meant to be crossed.

An awkwardness settled between them, heavy and unspoken, because their world was layered with truths that could not be handed to outsiders.

Pack activities were not stories to share casually, not secrets to spill over coffee or laughter. They were boundaries carved in stone.

”Family,” Seraphine answered, keeping her tone neutral, offering nothing more.

Leon felt Corvine’s gaze land on him with a weight that was anything but neutral. It was intense, assessing, protective in a way that made his instincts sharpen.

The warning did not need to be spoken, yet it echoed clearly in the tension between them. ”Bring her back in one piece, or...”

”I think we should leave now,” Seraphine cut in quickly, sensing the brewing storm before it could form words, and she knew Corvine was just being protective. That was their nature.

Leon stepped ahead, opened the door for her, and waited until she passed before closing it gently behind her. As they moved, he positioned himself just slightly behind her, protective but subtle, like it was second nature rather than performance.

Corvine’s jaw tightened at the sight. Unbeknownst to him, his mother had been observing from a distance, her eyes sharp, missing nothing. She cleared her throat softly, drawing his attention.

”You should tell her,” she said quietly, but the softness in her voice did nothing to dull the weight of what she meant, because beneath that calm delivery was the firm push of a mother who had watched her son sabotage himself one too many times.

There was wisdom there, yes, the kind earned through years of loving and losing and understanding how fragile timing could be, but there was also impatience, a sharp edge that came from seeing opportunity slipping away while he stood there pretending he did not care.

”Never,” Corvine replied immediately, the word leaving his mouth before he even allowed himself to consider it. It was firm and final, clipped in a way that made it sound like a door slamming shut, like a decision carved in stone rather than something born out of fear.

His shoulders squared as he said it, as though the rigidity of his posture could reinforce the lie he kept feeding himself.

The middle-aged woman did not argue right away. She studied him instead, her gaze slow and knowing, tracing the tension in his jaw, the tightness in his fists, the way he refused to look in the direction they had taken. ”You think silence will protect you?” she asked, her voice steady, not mocking him but peeling back the layer he tried so hard to maintain.

”I’m not her type,” he muttered, turning his face away as though that explanation alone should settle the matter, as though attraction was some fixed law written in stone. He shoved his hands into his pockets, eyes narrowing slightly, convincing himself that he was being rational instead of cowardly.

”And you think that human guy is?” she pressed gently, though there was steel beneath her calm now, because she had seen the way Leon smiled at Seraphine, had seen the ease between them, had seen something shift in her son’s expression the moment that door closed.

Corvine’s teeth clenched, a muscle ticking visibly along his jaw as if it could not keep up with the tension building inside him. ”She’s into the cold ones,” he admitted finally, the words dragged out of him like a reluctant confession.

Bitterness threaded through his tone, not directed at her but at himself. ”Men who don’t smile too much. Men who keep their distance, men who make her work for warmth.” He let out a humorless breath, eyes darkening. ”But Leon has a great sense of humor. He knows how to fill silence without making it heavy. I’m afraid he’ll warm her heart with smiles until she won’t be able to forget him.”

His mother sighed, the sound slow and heavy, and stepped closer until she stood right in front of him, forcing him to acknowledge her presence instead of staring at ghosts in the distance.

”Then tell her how you feel before it’s too late,” she said, her voice softer now but no less urgent, because she could see it clearly, the fear beneath his pride, the regret beneath his silence, and she knew that if he waited any longer, he might lose more than just a chance.

He shook his head again, the weight of regret pressing down on him. ”I already failed her. I should have protected her child instead of giving her away. If I could find the child, or fix that mistake, then maybe I would have the confidence to tell her how I feel.”

On the other side of the driveway, Leon opened the passenger door of his car for Seraphine, waiting until she was comfortably seated before closing it with care. He walked around to the driver’s side, slid in, and started the engine, the low hum filling the quiet space between them.

”So,” she asked casually, though there was a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes, ”where are you taking me?”

Leon glanced at her thoughtfully before pressing his foot down on the accelerator, easing the car into motion. ”You’ll see,” he said, letting the mystery linger between them like a thread waiting to be pulled.

Seraphine nodded, deciding not to press further. The truth was, she did not even know what she was supposed to ask.

Dating was unfamiliar territory to her, something she had observed from a distance but never truly experienced. She felt both curious and strangely exposed, like she had stepped into a role without fully reading the script.

Leon turned on soft music, something calm and melodic that wrapped around them gently, easing the silence without suffocating it. The rhythm of the road, the subtle sway of the car, the faint scent of his cologne mixing with the leather interior, all of it combined into something unexpectedly soothing.

As they arrived at the place he had arranged, Seraphine felt warmth bloom in her chest, spreading slowly, steadily, in a way she could not explain and her perception of Leon, changed completely.