Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever-Chapter 132 – Restoring the mate bond

Seraphine’s schedule had been nothing short of overwhelming lately, her days packed so tight that even breathing room felt like a luxury she couldn’t afford, and in the middle of all that chaos, it had unintentionally given Corvine the space he needed to focus on things she simply didn’t have the time or energy to keep up with.

While she buried herself in work, building her company piece by piece and stretching herself thin trying to meet impossible timelines, Corvine had been moving in a different direction entirely, reaching out, reconnecting, and quietly weaving himself back into networks that stretched far beyond the city.

He didn’t limit himself to just the centenary pack. Instead, he extended his reach to other packs he had built relationships with over time, tapping into old connections, reviving conversations that had long gone quiet.

And just like that, information started flowing.

It didn’t come in clean reports or structured updates. It came the way things usually did among their kind, scattered, inconsistent, passed from one voice to another, sometimes written in pack chat groups, sometimes whispered in conversations that weren’t meant to travel far but somehow always did.

Rumors, fragments of truth wrapped in speculation, but the thing about rumors in the pack world was that they rarely came from nothing.

And what Corvine had been hearing, wasn’t something he could just casually drop into conversation and move on from. It carried weight. The kind that could change everything.

So when he finally spoke, his tone carried a seriousness that immediately cut through whatever else was on Seraphine’s mind.

"I’ve been hearing something," he began, his voice measured, careful, like he had gone over this in his head more than once before saying it out loud. "Some of the Alphas are planning to go through a ritual, something meant to restore the mate bond during the next moon festival."

The reaction was instant.

Seraphine went completely still.

It wasn’t loud, it wasn’t dramatic, but the way her body stiffened said more than words ever could, and beneath that stillness, something darker stirred, something she had tried very hard to keep buried.

After everything she had been through with Ravyn, the very idea of a mate bond felt like a chain tightening around her neck, something suffocating, something she never wanted to experience again.

Right now, without it, she had freedom, clarity, and the ability to focus on her goals without emotions dragging her in directions she didn’t want to go, and she wasn’t ready to give that up.

"Why would they even want that?" she asked, her voice quieter now, edged with disbelief, because to her, it didn’t make sense. Not after everything she had seen, everything she had lived through.

Corvine forced a small smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

The truth was, a part of him had once hoped for something like this, had imagined that if the mate bond still existed, maybe, just maybe, Seraphine would have been his fated mate due to the secret love he felt for her.

That things would have been simpler, clearer, decided by the mate bond but reality wasn’t built on what-ifs.

"Well, it’s still just talk for now," he said, keeping his tone even, "but from what I’ve heard, a ritual like that would only be possible during a blood moon. And surprisingly... a lot of people are on board with it. Around sixty percent, maybe more."

He paused for a second before adding, "It seems like freedom of choice isn’t working out the way people thought it would. Not for our kind."

As he spoke, he noticed the change in her, the color draining slightly from her face, and the way her expression tightened, like she was trying to hold something back.

"Don’t you think so?" he asked, watching her carefully. "If the mate bond still existed, maybe you wouldn’t have ended up with Ravyn."

He hesitated, just for a moment, but then pushed through anyway.

"Or maybe he wouldn’t have treated you the way he did," he continued, his voice softer now, heavier. "He would’ve had a bond with your daughter too. Maybe strong enough that, even in a situation like rejection, he wouldn’t have tried to kill her."

"Exactly," Seraphine cut in quickly, her voice sharper now, like she needed to ground herself in logic before her emotions got the better of her. "The fact that rejection is even possible proves the mate bond isn’t perfect. People can still walk away from it. They can still choose someone else or hope for another match."

Her words came faster now, more controlled, like she was building a wall with every sentence. "It doesn’t guarantee anything," she added, her gaze hardening.

Corvine didn’t argue with her, but he didn’t fully agree either. "There are consequences for that kind of choice," he pointed out quietly.

And that was the part that made everything feel heavier.

Seraphine felt it then, that creeping pressure in her chest, like the walls were closing in just a little tighter. She wasn’t ready for marriage, not now, maybe not ever again, and the idea of a mate bond coming back into existence felt like a threat to that decision.

Because from everything she knew, a true mate bond wasn’t something you could easily ignore.

It pulled at you.

It tangled itself into your emotions, your instincts, your choices, until resisting it became a battle most people couldn’t win.

And even the ones who did, paid for it. "Keep me updated," she said finally, her voice steady but quieter now, like she had made a decision to push the conversation aside for the moment, even if her mind hadn’t fully let it go.

Corvine nodded, understanding that was all she could handle right now.

The topic ended there, at least on the surface, but the tension it created lingered, sitting quietly between them like something waiting to resurface.

Two days later, just when things had started to settle into a rhythm again, Augustine called.

He was back in the city.

Seraphine didn’t hesitate. She arranged to meet him almost immediately, setting up their date with a kind of urgency that suggested she needed the distraction, needed something normal, something untouched by everything else weighing on her.

But life, as always, had other plans because just when she thought she could catch a break, something unexpected happened.

And just like that, the fragile peace she had been holding onto, cracked all over again.