Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 119: Chapter 119 – I know what she wants, and I’ll just give it to her

A thin thread of unease slowly tightened inside Voren’s chest as the phone continued ringing in his hand, because a quiet part of his mind had begun questioning whether allowing Seraphine to operate out of his office had been an incredibly bad idea that might eventually circle back and cause problems for him.

Even so, the entire situation existed because he had been the one to invite her here in the first place, and that reality left him with very little room to avoid responsibility, which meant he could not simply ignore the call when Ravyn’s name flashed across the screen.

Voren drew in a slow breath before tapping the answer button and placing the call on speaker so the conversation filled the entire office.

”Ravyn, what’s going on?”

The voice that came through the phone sounded strained and frantic in a way Voren had never heard before, because the composed authority Ravyn normally carried had completely vanished, replaced with a raw panic that trembled through every word.

”Voren, Gray and Riven’s investors are pulling out,” Ravyn said rapidly, his voice rising with growing desperation as though he were already watching everything crumble around him. ”Please, can you help talk to them or maybe invest something yourself? Please, Voren, for friendship’s sake.”

The words hung heavily in the air, especially the last phrase that leaned hard on the history they once shared, but Voren’s attention wandered from the phone for a brief moment when he noticed Seraphine watching him from across the desk.

Her blue eyes looked strikingly bright in the quiet office, yet the cold intensity behind them created a sensation that made his throat tighten as if the temperature around them had suddenly dropped several degrees.

He cleared his throat softly before answering. ”Ravyn, I warned you,” Voren said in a steady voice that carried none of the sympathy Ravyn had clearly hoped to hear. ”And now it’s already too late, because I’m about to call them myself and pull out my own investment as well.”

Across the room, Corvine’s lips curved into a faint smile that held a mixture of admiration and quiet amusement.

Once a Luna, always a Luna. Seraphine had not changed at all since leaving the pack, except that time and experience had sharpened her instincts into something far more dangerous than anyone had expected.

”What?”

Ravyn’s shocked voice burst through the speaker, followed immediately by the rough sound of someone struggling to breathe properly. ”Sera is behind this?”

Voren leaned back into his chair while answering with a calmness that almost felt cruel.

”Who else could they have offended?” he replied in a matter-of-fact tone. ”She is intelligent enough to figure things out, and I already warned you what might happen if you kept provoking her. I am not willing to lose another cent, and you were the one who promised that wouldn’t happen. If I leave my money tied up with them right now, it will disappear before the sun goes down.”

The speed of Gray and Riven’s collapse had already reached a terrifying level.

Compared to the disaster Ravyn once experienced with his own finances, this downfall was happening at nearly three times the pace, like watching a towering skyscraper crumble apart before the dust from the first fracture even had time to settle.

Voren allowed a brief pause to stretch between them before adding another thought.

”Or...” The single word slipped out slowly, and on the other end of the call Ravyn grabbed onto it instantly like a drowning man clutching the edge of a rescue boat.

”Or what?” Ravyn asked quickly, sudden hope flooding into his voice. Voren rested his elbow against the arm of the chair and glanced toward Seraphine before finishing the sentence with dry indifference.

”Or you can shut down your company and give them the money yourself, since the attack on your ex-wife happened because of you.”

A tense silence filled the office for several seconds before Ravyn rushed to defend himself.

”I never told them to poison her with wolfbane,” he said quickly, his voice growing sharp with urgency. ”I don’t even want her dead. I just want her to suffer.”

The instant those words left his mouth, the atmosphere inside the room changed.

Seraphine’s gaze darkened immediately, and the calm mask she had been wearing began to crack in a way that sent a cold ripple down Voren’s spine.

That single look was more than enough to convince him that the conversation had already crossed a dangerous line.

Without responding to Ravyn’s Voren wanted to end the call, as he stared at the screen, and the office fell into a heavy silence that pressed against the walls.

A troubling thought crept quietly into Voren’s mind as he placed the phone back on the table.

What if Seraphine decided Ravyn should be the next target?

Fortunately for everyone involved, Seraphine had no intention of going after Ravyn yet.

In fact, she needed the opposite outcome. She needed him comfortable enough to return to the pack, because Damon still had an important role waiting for him, one that involved confirming the truth through a DNA test that would settle matters once and for all.

While Voren sat quietly wrestling with his thoughts, Ravyn remained on the other side of the call, as a new idea slowly formed across his mind.

”Don’t worry,” Ravyn muttered to Voren on the phone while forcing his voice to remain calm. ”I’ll take care of it.”

He leaned back in his chair and exhaled slowly, his mind already settling on a conclusion that he believed would solve everything.

”I know what she wants,” he continued under his breath. ”And I’ll just give it to her.”

Back inside Voren’s office, confusion crept across his face as he frowned slightly and glanced down at the phone again.

”What does she want?” he asked sternly, hoping that Ravyn doesn’t put himself into another hole, and from the end of the line, Ravyn’s answer, only made it painfully clear that his foolishness had already reached a point where there was no turning back.