Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever novel Chapter 239

Chapter 239: Chapter 239 - They said bad things about Mom

Earlier, Voren spotted Ravyn the moment they crossed paths near the back of the building, and Ravyn, to his credit, didn’t waste time on pleasantries.

"Voren." He fell into step beside him, dropping his voice low. "Did you bring her?"

"She’s here," Voren confirmed. He glanced around the space they were moving through, the side corridor that ran parallel to the main gym floor, and came up empty. No Seraphine. No Damon. No Bryan. He put it together quickly enough.

She’d gone inside ahead of him, probably with the other two, because being near Voren for an extended stretch of time required periodic breaks for her sanity. He understood that, though he didn’t particularly like it, but he understood it. "Get me something to train in first." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Ravyn’s mouth curved. "Already handled. Changing room."

They took the back entrance into Ravyn’s private changing room, a space that most pack members never saw, set apart from the main locker area and separated from the gym floor by nothing more than a wall and whatever distance sound needed to travel.

As it turned out, it didn’t need much. The voices from inside carried cleanly, and Ravyn knew every single one of them without having to think about it.

Voren went still as he listened. The easy, coiled patience he usually carried with him had gone somewhere else entirely, replaced by something tight and low and simmering just below the point where it would start to show on his face.

He pulled on the training gear, white shorts, a white tank that fit well enough, and kept his jaw locked while the sounds from the other room continued to travel through the wall.

When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. Controlled in the way that things are controlled when the alternative is considerably worse. "You made me bring her here for this?" He didn’t look at Ravyn while he said it. He focused on lacing his sneakers, precise and unhurried, like he needed somewhere safe to put his hands. "I trusted you."

"It’s not what you’re thinking." Ravyn’s voice was flat but honest, the tone of a man who wasn’t going to dress something up just to make himself sound better. "I’d heard a few of them making comments about her. Ugly ones. I wanted to get everyone together so I could call it out directly, and make them apologize in front of the whole pack." He paused. "I wasn’t expecting any of this."

Voren finally looked at him. The look lasted long enough to make its point. "Then you need to fix it," he said, low and without room for negotiation. "Because if she throws my shares back in my face because of this morning, I won’t forgive you for it. That’s not a threat, Ravyn. That’s just what’s going to happen."

"I’ll handle it."

"See that you do."

Ravyn moved first. Voren finished the second lace and stood, and they walked out together into the gym, through the wide doorway that opened onto the main floor with its high ceilings, scuffed mats, weight racks and long rows of equipment.

The space was large enough that the pack used it for assemblies when the weather or the occasion called for it. It swallowed sound differently than a regular room.

Right now it was full of bodies and the particular charged quiet of people who had been making noise and then stopped when they saw who was walking in.

Ravyn’s gaze swept the room and found exactly what he’d feared it would. There was no remorse anywhere, not in Diane’s expression, not in Kevin’s, not in the faces of the people who had been laughing loud enough to fill the space ten seconds ago.

They looked back at him with the easy confidence of people who had decided in advance that whatever he was about to say wouldn’t really apply to them. After all, he’d made his feelings about Seraphine clear enough over the years, hadn’t he?

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