Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 697: Chapter 697 - King Voren married your ex-wife. If he dies...

Voren reached out through the mindlink, his thoughts curling around Seraphine’s consciousness like smoke.

’My sweet, beautiful, sexy queen. Can you please give me the details of this matter? I’m enjoying the show.’

Seraphine smiled, a secret thing that played at the corners of her lips. She didn’t want to tell him. But he always had a way of getting what he wanted. Always.

’Two years ago, Angela sought refuge at the Centenary pack. She had caught Flex cheating with a seventeen-year-old unshifted she-wolf a day before her eighteenth birthday and threatened to blow it up. So he tried to kill her.’

Voren’s expression remained neutral, but something dark flickered in his eyes.

’I helped her escape to the human world, but we lost touch. I only sent information across with her identity after that meeting of the constitutional review. She got in touch. She arrived this morning and is sitting among the guests. Wearing sunglasses.’

There was only one she-wolf wearing sunglasses. Voren easily made her out in the crowd. A woman seated near the back, her face partially hidden behind dark lenses. His expression twitched, a mixture of amusement and admiration.

He realized it was the reason she wasn’t in bed when he woke up this morning. Clearly, she had gone to welcome this she-wolf by herself.

’You are so savage.’

’I know.’ Seraphine’s smile deepened through the mindlink, warm and wicked. ’That’s why you love me.’

---

Alpha Flex looked around carefully, his one eye darting from face to face. His heart hammered against his ribs, a wild, frantic rhythm that threatened to betray him. There was no way Seraphine would know about Angela. No way.

”Queen Seraphine.” His voice came out steady, but there was a tremor beneath it, barely concealed. ”With all due respect, let the dead rest in peace. Angela died of a heart attack.”

”Really?” The voice came from the crowd. Alpha Flex’s blood turned to ice.

A woman rose from her seat near the back, her movements slow and deliberate. She removed her sunglasses, revealing eyes that burned with two years of suppressed fury. Two years of nightmares. Two years of running.

”Angela.” The name fell from Alpha Flex’s lips like a curse. His face drained of color, his one eye widening with pure, primal terror. ”What are you doing here?”

He forced a smile. It was a grotesque thing, twisted and wrong on his pale face. ”I searched for you. I thought you died.”

”Thought? Or wished?” Her voice was sharp, cutting through his lies like a blade through silk. She stepped forward, her heels clicking against the marble floor, each step a hammer blow to his crumbling composure.

”By then, our queen was a Luna. She helped me with her resources to find a new life.” Angela’s eyes narrowed, her lips curling into a sneer. ”Are you still going to lie?”

Alpha Flex could taste defeat. It was bitter, metallic. It coated his tongue and slid down his throat, choking him. His hands trembled at his sides, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps. Everything was becoming clear now. The trap. The timing. The queen’s knowing smile.

”You win, Queen Seraphine.”

His voice cracked, splintering like glass. He bowed his head, his shoulders slumping in surrender.

”I won’t demand the life of your husband anymore.” He swallowed hard, forcing the words out. ”In fact, I am proposing the abolishment of the Alpha Code. Who’s with me?”

Seraphine waved for Angela to sit down. One way or another, Flex would still pay. But for now, the motion had been raised, and that was what she wanted.

”I stand with you.” Corvine’s voice rang through the hall, strong and clear.

”Same here.” Jasper followed, his expression resolute.

”Me too.” Alpha Oren spoke up, his voice carrying a note of desperation. He didn’t want his secrets washed in public. Not when his wife was loquacious.

Not when Seraphine had gotten so much information from her meetings with other Lunas. The woman knew everything about everyone. She had collected secrets like others collected jewels. ”The Alpha code should be abolished.”

Surprisingly, Alpha Uri spoke up. ”I also agree for the abolishment of the Alpha Code.”

”You are all afraid.”

Alpha Gad’s voice cut through the murmurs of agreement. He stood tall, his chest puffed out, his expression defiant. But his Luna tensed instantly, her face going pale as milk. ”I’m not.”

Seraphine’s cold gaze landed on Luna Isa. It was a gaze that could freeze fire, that could stop hearts, that could strip away every layer of pretense and leave nothing but raw, naked truth.

”Luna Isa.” Seraphine’s voice was soft, almost gentle. Almost. ”Should I start from debt collection?”

Liah instantly remembered that Luna.

During the Full Moon Festival, she had been trashing Seraphine with the other Lunas in the ladies’ room. Now that Liah thought about it, this Luna was shameless. She owed Seraphine and still had the audacity to speak those nasty things about her.

Luna Isa’s face contorted with terror.

She turned to her husband, her hands trembling as she gripped his arm. Her voice dropped to a frantic whisper.

”All the support you received from me when our pack was drowning in debt came from the Queen.”

Alpha Gad’s expression darkened. His jaw tightened, his eyes blazing with anger.

”Why didn’t you tell me?” His whisper was harsh, accusing. ”Anyway, don’t worry. We can pay her back with the Lycans support. This changes nothing.”

She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. ”You don’t understand.” Her voice cracked, desperation bleeding through every syllable. ”I had to tell her about your gambling habits to win her pity. I also told her about how you slept with your sister.”

Alpha Gad went rigid.

”Incest is a serious matter, you know?”

His expression crumpled. His face twisted with a mixture of horror and rage. His mouth opened, then closed. Opened again. No words came.

”You—”

He was afraid. Afraid of saying something vulgar. Afraid of ending up losing his pack. Afraid of the queen’s cold, knowing gaze that seemed to see straight through him.

Swallowing his shame, he forced a smile. It was a pathetic thing, weak and trembling. ”I agree. The Alpha code should be abolished.”

Other Alphas who did not want to be exposed added their voices. The number of those standing for the abolishment grew to twelve. Twelve voices. Twelve votes. Twelve Alphas who had been brought to heel by a queen with a memory like a steel trap and a heart like a blade.

Ravyn was seated between the two witches.

He hadn’t spoken, hadn’t moved, hadn’t drawn attention to himself. But Killian decided to rope him into the matter. Killian, who was desperate. Killian, who was watching his carefully laid plans crumble to dust.

”Alpha Ravyn.”

Ravyn’s blood ran cold.

”You have to stand with us.” Killian’s voice was smooth, persuasive, but his eyes were wild with desperation. ”We all want you as our King. And besides, we’re doing all this for you.”

Ravyn’s stomach twisted.

”King Voren married your ex-wife. If he dies, you can have her back.”

The words hung in the air like poison.

Ravyn’s heart pounded. His palms grew slick with sweat. His mind raced, searching for an escape, for a way out of this trap that was closing around him like a noose.

”Please think about it.”