Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever novel Chapter 678

Chapter 678: Chapter 678 - I never stopped loving you

"So think what you like, because I already told you the truth."

Jasmine’s voice came out raw, scraped clean of pride. Her eyes burned with tears she refused to let fall, though a few had already escaped, tracking silver lines down her cheeks.

"You were the last person I ever thought would show interest in me. And I was desperate to stay in this pack."

The admission hung in the air, ugly and honest. She didn’t care anymore, didn’t care that she sounded pathetic, that she was laying her soul bare for a man who might not even want it.

The Blood Moon Festival loomed ahead, a merciless force that would reshape everything, and she had no shield against it. Everything would change.

New pack members would arrive, bright-eyed and hopeful. Old ones would leave, torn from their homes by the cruel hand of fate. She-wolves without mates would be forced to change packs, if their fated mates weren’t from Grimroot.

And she-wolves from other packs would be thrilled to join the Grimroot pack, eager for the prestige and power that came with it.

This had been the whispered fear among the she-wolves for months. The topic that surfaced in quiet corners, in hushed voices, in the dead of night when no one else was listening.

Jasmine had been privy to those conversations, had held trembling hands and offered empty reassurances while hiding her own terror.

Ever since the Blood Moon Festival was rumored, months before the shaman confirmed the date, she had been desperate. Desperate to hold onto her position in the children’s lives. Desperate to stay.

She had done everything Olivia told her, swallowed every humiliation, played every game, all for the chance to marry Voren and remain here.

The other warriors had kept their distance, even Kael. They all knew Olivia had sung it to anyone who would listen, that Jasmine was meant for Voren. So they stayed away, treating her like a prize already claimed.

Then Seraphine appeared, and everything crumbled.

Her attention had drifted to Corvine, before he even became the Alpha. He was warm, kind, everything Voren wasn’t. She had misread his kindness as interest, his friendship as something more. A foolish mistake.

Now the thing she feared most was closing in, and she had nothing. No security, no promise, and no future.

"That’s the same reason I wanted Corvine too." Her voice cracked, the words spilling out like blood from an open wound. "Because he was going to join this pack. And compared to you, he was so warm that I misread his actions." She swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue. "If that’s my sin, then I’ll take the punishment of a sinner. I’ll leave for another pack if I’m mated out of this one."

She wiped her tears with aggressive swipes of her hand, angry at herself for crying, for caring, for being so desperate. She turned to leave, her fingers finding the cool metal of the doorknob.

Then Kael’s fingers pressed over hers.

He flipped her around, his hands finding her waist, pulling her into the safety of his arms. The movement stole the breath from her lungs. Her heart slammed against her ribs, a wild, frantic rhythm.

This was the first time she had been this close to him. The heat of his body seeped through her clothes, warming her skin. His scent filled her nose, clean and masculine, everything she had ever imagined.

The attraction between them crackled in the air like electricity. So why was he resisting? Why was he fighting something that felt so inevitable?

"Jasmine." His voice was low, rough, like gravel scraping against stone. "Don’t be like this. Please. Let me explain."

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify