Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Daisy froze the second the mind link hit her, her entire body going stiff like she had just been caught doing something she couldn’t explain her way out of. Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out, no response sent back through the link.

"Damon..." she said finally, her voice barely steady, her eyes darting toward him. "Ravyn is at the pack house."

Before Damon could even process that, another mind link cut straight into his thoughts, sharp and demanding.

’Damon, where is Daisy? She didn’t answer me. I came to surprise her, but Bryan isn’t in his room. I already mind linked with his tutors, and they said he hasn’t been at the academy for the past two days. What’s going on?’

This time, Damon felt it. That sudden, sinking tension, and or a split second, he didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to respond without setting something off.

He had wanted to tell Ravyn the truth about Bryan’s condition before things got worse, but Daisy had always stopped him, always insisted she had everything under control.

Now look where that had gotten them? There was no point hiding it anymore. ’Alpha, Bryan is at the hospital,’ Damon replied through the mind link.

The connection dropped instantly after that. Damon exhaled slowly, turning to Daisy with a look that said everything she didn’t want to hear. "You need to get ready," he told her. "He’s on his way."

Panic flickered across her face, but she didn’t have the luxury of breaking down right now. Her mind started racing, grasping at anything that could sound like an excuse, something that would soften the blow before Ravyn got here.

But when Ravyn finally walked in, he didn’t look angry but rather worried.

His presence filled the space immediately, his sharp gaze scanning everything in seconds, his suit still crisp, like he had come straight from the office without even stopping to breathe.

Daisy didn’t waste a second. She rushed into his arms, her entire demeanor changing so quickly it almost felt unreal. One moment she had been panicking, and the next, she was soft, relieved, affectionate.

Damon watched it happen, and something in him twisted. Now he really saw it, just how dangerous Daisy could be.

"Ravyn," she said, her voice warm, almost playful as she wrapped her arms around him. "You didn’t tell me you were coming. I would’ve planned something special for you."

She stood slightly on her toes and kissed him, her lips lingering just long enough to sell the moment.

Ravyn kissed her back without hesitation, a faint smile forming as he pulled away. "I wanted to surprise you," he said. "There’s been a lot going on in the city. Seraphine has been causing more trouble than expected."

Daisy’s lashes fluttered slightly, but she stayed composed. Ravyn continued, his tone shifting into something more serious. "She took down Alpha Gray and Alpha Riven. They’re working under me now, which made it possible for me to come back to the pack."

Damon’s eyes flickered with surprise. He had heard the news about the fall of both Alphas, everyone had, but he had no idea Seraphine was behind it. That woman, she wasn’t just dangerous, but unpredictable like a double-edged sword.

She could cut both ways depending on where you stood on either of her sides. Damon was glad to be on her good side if not, perhaps he would have been wallowing in regret by now.

"Alpha," Damon spoke up, his tone respectful but curious, "we heard about Alpha Riven and Alpha Gray, but how exactly is Luna Sera connected to all of this? There was even talk about invitations for the coronation of their new betas."

Ravyn’s expression tightened slightly, something unreadable passing through his eyes. "There will be invitations," he said, "but no one from this pack is attending."

Gray and Riven were his friends and allowing any of his pack members to attend the coronation of their replacements would give a wrong image of his friendship to them.

There was a brief pause before he added, quieter this time, "They ended up in that situation because of me."

That answer didn’t sit well. Daisy felt it immediately, unease creeping into her chest as her thoughts started spinning. How was that even possible? How could someone like Seraphine bring down two Alphas like that? 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

It didn’t make sense to her.

"Rav..." she said slowly, searching his face. "What exactly are you saying?" It would be hard for her to accept that Seraphine yielded that level of power.

Ravyn let out a breath, running a hand through his hair as if debating how much to reveal, but then he went ahead and told them everything, piece by piece, from the beginning to the end.

And as Daisy listened, her eyes widened, not just from shock, but from something darker.

Envy.

She had thought leaving the pack would break Seraphine, that without the title, without the status, she would fade into nothing.

But instead, Seraphine had risen even higher, built something powerful, something people were talking about, and something that could bring down Alphas.

It didn’t sit right with her, not at all. "Are you sure about this?" Daisy asked, her voice tightening despite her attempt to sound casual. "How could she even come up with something like that? And why would you want to invest in it? You should stay far away from her."

Ravyn opened his mouth to respond, but he didn’t get the chance.

A doctor’s voice cut in, breaking the moment completely. "Co-Lu—" he started, then quickly corrected himself the second he noticed Ravyn standing there. "Alpha... you’re here."

Ravyn turned immediately, his attention snapping into place. "What is it?" he asked, his tone sharp now, all traces of warmth gone.

The doctor hesitated for just a second, his gaze flickering toward Daisy before settling back on Ravyn. His lips pressed together like he didn’t want to be the one to say this out loud.

"Alpha... it’s Bryan," he said carefully.

Daisy’s heart dropped. "If we don’t get the original serum within a week..." the doctor continued, his voice heavy with the weight of it, "he’ll lose all function. He’ll become a vegetable."