Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 109: Chapter 109 - what the fuck has gotten into you?

Before Seraphine left for the Sovereign Circle meeting earlier that evening, Corvine had gone to meet with Emery with a few bodyguards, and the moment was something he had to tell Seraphine.

He had planned to tell her everything after the meeting ended, assuming she would come back that same night the way every club in Manhattan operated but that assumption slowly unraveled as the night stretched forward.

Corvine had stayed awake the entire time, moving between the living room and the front entrance more times than he could count while glancing occasionally at the quiet driveway outside as if expecting her car to appear at any moment.

Each passing hour made the silence inside the house feel heavier.

Eventually Corvine reached for his phone and dialed her number, expecting to hear her voice or at least receive a short explanation about why the meeting had taken so long.

Instead the call failed to connect.

The automated message informed him that the number was outside the coverage area.

At first he convinced himself that the venue must have poor signal, since the location where the Sovereign Circle held their meetings often stood far from the busier parts of the city.

He tried again later. This time the phone rang briefly before shutting off completely.

When he attempted to call hours later, the system informed him that the phone had been switched off.

That response made the quiet unease in his chest tighten further.

Seraphine rarely turned her phone off.

The thought lingered in his mind long enough that Corvine finally decided sitting around and waiting would accomplish nothing.

He grabbed his keys and drove straight to the location where the Sovereign Circle meeting had been scheduled, hoping that he would at least find someone there who could tell him whether the gathering had ended late.

What he found instead unsettled him even more.

The venue stood completely closed, the gates were locked, and the estate looked as though no one had been there at all.

Corvine stared at the silent property while a slow wave of dread crept through his chest.

His thoughts immediately turned toward Leon. Seraphine had gone to that meeting with Leon.

The possibility that something might have happened between them began pressing against his mind in ways he could not ignore.

Unfortunately, Corvine realized with growing frustration that he had never taken Leon’s number.

The oversight felt particularly irritating at that moment because it left him with only one place to search.

He drove to the hospital where Leon worked and asked around, hoping the man had reported for duty.

Instead, he learned that Leon was off duty that day. That answer left Corvine with even fewer leads than before.

The sense of unease building inside him refused to fade, and after leaving the hospital he finally pulled out his phone again and dialed his father’s number.

When the call connected, Corvine spoke immediately.

”Dad, I can’t locate Sera,” he said, his voice tight with tension. ”What do you know about the Sovereign Circle?”

On the other end of the line, Desmond sounded confused by the question.

”We never qualified until now,” his father replied thoughtfully. ”If you want, I could apply for membership for you.”

The response made Corvine close his eyes briefly while realizing his father had misunderstood what he meant.

Their family had only recently reached the financial level required to qualify for membership, and even that had happened largely because of Seraphine’s involvement with their business affairs.

”That’s not what I mean, Dad,” Corvine explained while forcing himself to remain calm despite the anxiety pressing against his chest. ”Seraphine went to their meeting tonight and I can’t reach her.”

The moment those words sank in, Desmond’s tone changed.

”I honestly don’t know much about how they operate,” his father admitted, sounding increasingly troubled. ”What I do know is that they function under strict oaths of secrecy. Even if they were holding the meeting inside a member’s private home, only the members themselves would know the location. It is completely outside the public’s knowledge.”

Corvine did not like hearing that. The explanation only reinforced the uncomfortable truth that he had no way of finding out where the meeting had taken place or what had happened afterward.

Having no other options left, he returned home and tried to wait.

Waiting turned out to be far more difficult than he expected.

He kept dialing Seraphine’s number over and over again, only to hear the same response every time, and with each failed attempt the worry gnawing at his chest grew heavier.

The long hours dragged forward until the sky outside slowly began changing color.

It was during the earliest part of the morning, when the quiet stillness of the estate was finally broken by the distant sound of movement near the security gate, that Corvine heard the unmistakable roar of a car engine approaching the property.

The moment the gates opened, he moved toward the front entrance.

His pulse had already begun racing before the vehicle even came into view.

When the car finally rolled to a stop, Corvine watched as Leon stepped out of the driver’s seat.

Leon turned toward the other side of the car, clearly intending to open the door for Seraphine, but never had the chance.

Corvine crossed the distance between them in a matter of seconds and drove his fist straight into Leon’s face.

”Where the fuck did you take her?” Corvine demanded, his voice filled with anger and fear. ”Did you hurt her?”

His eyes burned red with emotion, and the force behind the punch sent Leon crashing to the ground almost instantly.

That blow carried far more strength than an ordinary strike.

Leon had experienced his share of fights during his younger years and knew what a normal punch felt like.

The impact from Corvine’s fist was something entirely different.

There was power in it that made Leon realize immediately that Corvine’s anger ran far deeper than simple frustration.

Before anything else could happen, the passenger door opened abruptly.

Seraphine stepped out of the car and rushed toward Leon the moment she saw him on the ground.

She knelt beside him quickly and helped him sit up while glaring at Corvine with open disbelief.

”Corvine,” she demanded sharply, her voice filled with anger and confusion, ”what the fuck has gotten into you?”