Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 344: Chapter 344 - Beta in charge of the office of the Luna

There wasn’t a single person in the pack community who didn’t know the Grimroot pack’s Alpha by name and reputation. Voren’s face, his rank, his bloodline, all of it was common knowledge in every circle that mattered.

But what people also understood, if they paid close enough attention, was that the Grimroot pack ran as smoothly as it did because of the solid structure behind Voren.

His parents had been holding things steady for years, quietly filling every gap that opened up whenever their son flew back to Manhattan. It wasn’t a secret. It was simply how things worked.

So Desmond and Nessa asking about his parents made complete sense.

Nessa leaned in, her brow furrowed with concern. ”And think about how this all looks from the outside. A brand-new co-Alpha role created out of nowhere, Corvine moving in overnight, a secret wedding —”

She shook her head, not unkindly. ”It’s going to be obvious to everyone that you’re doing all of this because of Seraphine. That’s a lot of major changes aimed in one direction.” She held his gaze. ”What if your parents decide she’s the problem? What if they see everything happening at once and conclude she’s pushing you too far, then turn against her before they’ve even had a chance to know her properly?”

Voren didn’t flinch. He’d already wrestled with this question, turning it over from every angle until he landed on something firm and certain.

”They’ll talk,” he said plainly. ”For a few days, maybe a week, there will be noise. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.” He leaned forward a little. ”But I’m going to tell you something I don’t share outside the people I consider family.”

His eyes moved between Desmond and Nessa. ”The Grimroot pack has a problem we’ve never fully solved. Medical expertise. We don’t have it at the level we need for a pack our size.” He let that sink in.

”For years, quietly, my people have envied the Centenary pack. Not for land or numbers or power. For Seraphine.” He watched their faces carefully. ”Her skills as a doctor. What she’s been able to do for her people. Everyone wanted that kind of care for their own pack, but nobody could get it.”

The sitting room fell very still.

”So yes, at first, my parents and the elders will want her as a pack doctor. They’ll see her medical value before anything else, and some of them will resist accepting her as Luna at the same time, because of the divorce.”

His voice stayed steady. ”But the moment they realize they cannot have the doctor without accepting the Luna, that the two are the same person and she comes as a whole package, they’ll adjust. People always adjust when the alternative is losing something they desperately need.”

He paused briefly. ”And my parents specifically, I’ll handle them. That’s not something for you to worry about.”

Desmond was nodding slowly, the way he did when something lined up with what he had already suspected. Nessa had uncrossed her arms, tension easing from her posture.

It was the same thing that had happened with them, wasn’t it? Corvine had brought Seraphine through their door and they’d been cautious at first, watchful, waiting to see.

Then a few days passed. And then a few more. Somewhere between the shared meals, the conversations, and watching her move through their home, that caution had quietly melted away and been replaced by something warm that didn’t want her to leave.

”You’re right,” Nessa said at last, and the breath that came with it carried relief from something that had been weighing on her. ”Sera is strong enough to land on her feet anywhere she’s placed. She always has been.”

She shook her head fondly. ”And with you and Corvine both beside her, we’re just worrying ourselves over nothing.”

”Let me suggest something.” Desmond’s voice took on that practical tone he used when offering real solutions. Everyone turned toward him. ”Two betas isn’t unheard of. Different responsibilities, different areas. It can work if it’s structured properly.”

He looked straight at Voren. ”But co-Alpha is something else entirely. That title is going to raise eyebrows. People will see it as a challenge, whether you mean it that way or not, and your parents will have ammunition to push back.” He clasped his hands together. ”I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m saying the title might create more friction than the actual role needs to.”

Voren opened his mouth to respond, but Corvine spoke first. ”My dad has a point.” He said it easily, no ego involved. ”The title isn’t what matters to me. The purpose is. If I’m Seraphine’s right hand in that pack, if I’m the one standing between her and anything that tries to reach her, that’s what I came for. We’re both going to be new faces there. Starting clean and right makes more sense than walking in with a title that puts people’s backs up before we’ve even settled.”

Voren looked at his friend for a moment. Then at Seraphine.

She was watching him with that calm surface expression, clearly thinking things through underneath. ”V.” Her voice came out easy and unhurried.

”Make him the beta assigned to the Luna’s office. That’s its own lane, its own weight. It means anyone who wants to get to me has to go through him first. If the pack sees what he can do... and they will. A promotion later won’t surprise anyone. It’ll look earned.” The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. ”Which it already is.”

Something deep in Voren’s chest settled into place. She had taken the exact issue he’d been wrestling with and handed it back to him in clearer words than he could have found.

”Beta in charge of the office of the Luna.” He said it aloud, testing how it felt. It sat right. Clean, clear, no room for misunderstanding. ”I like it.” He nodded once. ”Anyone who needs to reach her comes through you first. That’s exactly the structure I wanted.”

Corvine didn’t speak, but the set of his jaw said everything.

”Good.” Desmond looked satisfied in that quiet way of a man whose idea had landed well without needing any show about it. ”Then it’s settled.”

”Since it’s settled —” Nessa was already rising from her seat, moving with the decisive energy of a woman who had made up her mind. ”You’re all staying for a meal. I don’t know when I’ll have you at this table again, and I’m not sending anyone out of this house on an empty stomach.” She looked around the room with an expression that ended any discussion before it could start. ”That’s final.”

Nobody argued.

The meal stretched long and warm, the kind that happens when everyone at the table genuinely wanted to be there. Conversation flowed naturally, moving between serious topics and everyday ones, and by the time they said their goodbyes and stepped out into the night air, something had changed in the way the group moved together. Lighter. More settled. A deeper sense of unity humming between them.

The drive back to Voren’s mansion was quiet in a comfortable way.

When they arrived, Seraphine moved through the space with focused efficiency, clearly on a mission with a timeline in mind. She wasn’t taking much. Just a few changes of clothes, the medical tools she couldn’t live without, her tablet, and the specific equipment that lived on her desk and nowhere else.

Voren stood near the doorway of her room and watched her pack. There was something raw and open in his expression that he wasn’t hiding — the deep look of a man finally seeing something he’d waited years for. Her. Here. In his space. Moving through it like she belonged.

Because she did.

The bags sat ready by the door. Seraphine straightened up, took one last look around the room, then a sound stopped everyone in their tracks.