Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever novel Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Chapter 83 – I messed up

After the chaos in his life finally settled down and the noise around him faded for the first time in days, Voren had managed to get a few solid hours of sleep.

It was not much, but it was enough to clear his head. The second he woke up, before he even properly stretched, his phone was already lighting up with security alerts from the surveillance system at Bohemian Grove.

The notifications stacked one after another across his screen like they had been waiting for him.

He did not ignore them.

He got up immediately, showered quickly, dressed in a sharp black suit that matched the kind of room he was about to walk into, and headed out. It was only once he was in the car that he finally opened the footage.

The moment Seraphine’s face appeared on his screen, he exhaled slowly.

Trouble.

Not small trouble.

The kind of trouble that always involved Ravyn losing control.

Voren had promised himself he would not interfere in whatever twisted dynamic Ravyn and Seraphine had going on between them. Their marriage had ended. Their war should have ended with it. But he knew Ravyn. Pride ran his emotions more than logic did, and if Seraphine provoked him in public, he would react before thinking.

And that would cost him.

So Voren stepped in.

He arrived just in time to catch Ravyn’s raised hand before it landed on Seraphine’s face. Attention was drawn to Ravyn and Seraphine in a way that no one noticed Voren walking in.

Unlike Ravyn, Voren had not forgotten what Seraphine was capable of. He had not forgotten the way she had drained him financially before. He was still feeling that loss. The woman looked harmless, but she was anything but.

What he did not expect was the way Ravyn turned to him, eyes flashing with something that looked almost like betrayal.

"Do you even know what she did?" Ravyn demanded, his voice tight.

"It doesn’t matter," Voren said flatly as he forced Ravyn’s arm down.

At the same time, Leon pulled Seraphine back to his side protectively.

Voren grabbed Ravyn by the shoulder and steered him a few steps away from the center of attention. His tone dropped low, controlled but sharp. "What exactly are you doing? Can’t you see she’s setting you up again? This feels like another trap to bleed you dry."

Ravyn went still.

For a second, the anger drained from his face and was replaced by thought. In his mind, as long as he did not provoke her, she would not come after him.

That had been his logic. But standing there, replaying the moment in his head, he could see it now.

The public argument.

The witnesses.

The raised hand.

If he had hit her, even slightly, she would have had every excuse to go after his money again.

"She cornered me," Ravyn muttered under his breath, frustration mixing with realization. "But you’re right. I almost walked straight into it. I’m sorry."

"You almost did more than that," Voren replied, disappointment clear in his tone. "You’re supposed to be hosting this. I expected you to act like a leader, not lose control in front of everyone."

The words hit harder than he probably intended.

Ravyn looked genuinely remorseful for a moment. The way Voren had stepped in, so firm, so immediate, had thrown him off balance. For a brief second, a ridiculous thought had crossed his mind that Voren might have been defending Seraphine because he cared about her. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

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