Ravyn swallowed hard, the tight feeling in his throat refusing to go away no matter how many times he tried to convince himself that everything was still under control.
The woman they were talking about was no longer the same Seraphine he used to know, and that truth pressed against his thoughts in a way he could not easily ignore.
The girl who once looked at him with shining eyes and shy devotion, the one who confessed her love for him nearly ten years ago with that soft hopeful smile, no longer existed in the world he was living in now.
That version of Seraphine had disappeared somewhere along the way.
The woman who stood in her place today was nothing like the Luna he once manipulated with a few gentle words and empty promises. The power she now held had grown so quickly that it almost felt unreal, and even though Ravyn hated admitting it, the truth remained unavoidable.
Seraphine had become stronger than him. If that were not the case, then how could she destroy two powerful Alphas with nothing more than a few calculated moves?
The memory alone made his jaw tighten again. "I’m not afraid of her," Ravyn said after a moment, forcing his voice to remain steady despite the tension swirling inside him. "I’m simply stating the facts."
Riven leaned back in his chair, studying Ravyn’s face carefully while a thoughtful expression crossed his features. A slow smile began to form at the corners of his mouth as an idea took shape in his mind.
"Well, none of us actually know what she would do yet," Riven said casually, his tone sounding almost relaxed despite the seriousness of the situation. "Why don’t you call Corvine and tell him that Gray and I are planning to work with you from now on? If Seraphine really has a problem with it, she will definitely send a warning."
The suggestion sounded harmless on the surface, but Riven’s thoughts were already moving in another direction.
If Ravyn refused to hire them after this conversation, then he would have no choice but to compensate them in some other way. A few billion in startup capital would be more than enough for them to build new companies elsewhere.
There was no way he and Gray would fall alone while Ravyn continued living comfortably.
Ravyn considered the suggestion for only a moment before picking up his phone. The challenge in Riven’s voice made him want to prove that he was right, and the confidence he had shown earlier pushed him to accept the test without thinking too deeply about the consequences.
He quickly dialed Corvine’s number.
The call connected almost immediately, and the voice that answered sounded slightly irritated.
"What is it this time, Ravyn?" Corvine asked impatiently.
Ravyn cleared his throat before speaking, trying to sound calm and professional even though the conversation suddenly felt strangely formal.
"Corvine, I just wanted to confirm something," Ravyn said carefully. "I am allowed to employ Gray and Riven, right? I could really use their help managing the new branches I’m opening, and with their experience they can even serve as acting CEOs during the Moon Festival whenever I need to spend more time back at the pack."
The way he explained the situation made it sound as though he were asking permission from someone far above his position.
On the other end of the call, the phone had already been placed on speaker.
Both Corvine and Voren stood nearby, their attention focused entirely on the silent figure seated across from them. They were waiting to hear what kind of response Seraphine would give.
For several long seconds she said absolutely nothing. The silence stretched across the room until even the faint hum of the speaker felt unusually loud.

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