Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever novel Chapter 692

Chapter 692: Chapter 692 – Why Voren can’t hate Ravyn

Voren shook his head slowly, the weight of the conversation settling into his shoulders like stones.

He wasn’t looking for a slave. He had no interest in watching Ravyn grovel at his feet, begging for scraps of forgiveness like a beaten dog. What he needed was someone he could trust.

Someone who could blend into the shadows and be his eyes where his trusted comrades could not reach. Someone who understood the value of silence and the power of patience.

He lowered himself onto the sofa, the leather creaking beneath his weight, and patted the cushion beside him. "Sit down, Ravyn. Let’s talk."

Ravyn rose from the floor, his movements slow and unsteady. He crossed the room like a man walking to his own execution and sat beside Voren like an obedient child awaiting punishment.

"I messed up big time, Voren."

His voice was hollow, scraped clean of every defense he had ever built. The words fell from his lips like ash, gray and lifeless.

"I lost everything. And I’m plagued with all these nightmares about the past." He stared at his hands, his fingers twisting together in his lap. "Now it’s going to grow worse with what I’ve done to my daughter. I never thought my very presence could trigger all these things in her."

A bitter laugh escaped him, sharp and broken.

"I’ve been a fool. Loved the wrong woman for decades." He lifted his head, his eyes red-rimmed and desperate. "Is there even hope for me?"

He was lamenting sorrowfully, his voice cracking on every other word, his shoulders slumped under the weight of his own failures. Voren took deep breaths, steadying himself. He had prepared for this conversation, but preparation meant nothing against the raw reality of Ravyn’s grief.

"Ravyn, I don’t need you to be my slave."

His voice was calm, measured. The voice of a king who had learned to separate emotion from necessity.

"You never hurt me directly. The ones you hurt were Sera and Espe." He paused, letting the words settle. "For some reason, what you did gave me my happy ending."

Ravyn’s brow furrowed, confusion flickering through the fog of his despair.

It was a dicey situation. One man’s meat was another man’s poison. Voren knew this truth intimately, had lived it in the hollow spaces of his heart for decades. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Had you been faithful to Sera, had you shown her even a little bit of care, or hadn’t ordered the death of her child, I know that even our past would not have brought us together when she got her memories back."

Voren’s voice was steady, but there was something beneath it. Something raw and honest that he rarely allowed anyone to see.

"She’s a loyal woman. She would have stayed by your side no matter what." He leaned back against the sofa, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. "I could not have moved on from her. I would have remained soulless if you hadn’t done what you did."

He shrugged, the gesture almost casual despite the weight of his words.

"That’s why I can’t hate you. I loved Sera the moment I laid eyes on her. But I also respected her relationship with you. The fact that she was betrothed to you from birth." His voice softened, lost in memory. "Had you told me to stay away, I would have. But you were the one who pushed her into my arms."

A ghost of a smile stretched his lips, sad and nostalgic.

"My best childhood moments were the ones I spent with Sera. Not with you. And not with those bratty Alpha kids."

Ravyn chuckled bitterly, the sound scraping against the air like broken glass. "Then I guess I loved you more than you loved me."

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