Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever-Chapter 20 - She doesn’t want to conduct any business with you

Humphrey and Kylie watched him with the same quiet amusement they reserved for storms they had already outrun.

Years of experience had taught them how to sense danger long before it arrived, and Daisy, desperate, grasping, and wildly overconfident, was a threat so poorly disguised it almost insulted them.

They knew Seraphine far too well. Her intelligence, resilience, and quiet ferocity. Whatever game Daisy thought she was playing, Seraphine’s legacy was a shoe she would never fit into no matter how hard she forced her foot.

"What makes you think we’ll tell you anything?" Humphrey said calmly, though the edge beneath his voice was unmistakable. "Seraphine is our daughter now, and it’s our responsibility to protect her from people like you."

The words struck Ravyn square in the chest, sharp and unforgiving, like a blow he hadn’t braced for. His jaw tightened, eyes darkening. "You talk as if I’m some bastard," he snapped. "Aren’t you my parents?"

Kylie didn’t flinch. Humphrey didn’t hesitate.

"By DNA, yes," Humphrey replied coldly. "But in intelligence? In conduct? No." His eyes burned red, not with fury alone but with disappointment that ran bone-deep. "The moment you divorced Seraphine, you lost us. Now leave, and don’t come back looking for her."

Because of him, Seraphine had chosen the city over the pack. Because of him, she had severed herself from everything she once belonged to, and if she married a human, then the pack would lose her forever.

The words echoed louder than the raised voice itself. Ravyn wanted to argue but there were too many unresolved matters demanding his attention, too many fires burning elsewhere for him to linger where he was no longer welcome.

That thought sat heavy in his chest as he drove straight to the airport, boarded his private jet, and left the territory behind.

New York greeted him with steel, glass, and ambition. By the time he landed, Kevin Blake, his ever-efficient assistant was already waiting. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Sir," Kevin said as they walked, tablet tucked under his arm, "I arranged the meeting with the agent, Maddox Grey. However, he informed me that his client, Marjorie Steward, has declined to meet you personally."

Ravyn stopped mid-stride. That alone was unacceptable. He didn’t leave his pack for this kind of nonsense. Ravyn said flatly. "Put him on the line."

He strode into the towering office that occupied the very heart of Manhattan, its panoramic windows overlooking a city that bent easily to his will. The intercom rang the moment he set his briefcase down.

"Sir, Maddox is on the line," Kevin said, then disconnected.

Ravyn inhaled slowly, collecting himself before speaking. "Mr. Grey. This is Ravyn Walker. I received your request to cancel your client’s investment, and I’d like to know the reason."

There was a brief pause on the other end. "Mr. Walker... I never expected to speak with you directly. I’m honored," Maddox said. "However, my client has refused to meet with you."

Ravyn’s gaze turned glacial. Who the hell was Marjorie Steward, and how dare she refuse him?

"Then your client needs to understand Section Five of the contract," Ravyn said coolly. "Only the investor herself may request cancellation. And the funds must be transferred directly into her account, not through an agent."

Silence followed long enough for Ravyn to know Maddox was checking the contract, re-reading clauses, scrambling to find footing.

Finally, Maddox spoke again. "There appears to have been... an oversight. I’ll clarify this with her and call you back."

A thin smile curved Ravyn’s lips as the call ended. This was not an investor he was willing to lose, not when Walker Global Enterprises stood just beneath the Ashkael Holdings in influence and power.

He had always handled female investors easily. Charm, presence, and authority were his attributes and that rarely failed. Most of them walked into his office impressed and walked out smitten.

This would be no different, or so he thought.

He returned to his work, confident, methodical, already planning his return to the pack once this inconvenience was resolved. There were urgent matters waiting. Daisy, the council, and most importantly, Seraphine.

She had no right to disappear with Daisy’s research when the pack funded it. That meant it belonged to them.

His phone rang and he glanced at the screen. Daisy, but didn’t answer. A second ring followed almost immediately. The intercom again so he braced himself.

"Mr. Walker," Maddox said, "my client has decided to transfer her shares into a separate investment company. I’ll be emailing you the details shortly."

Ravyn’s fingers curled slowly into his palm. Something felt wrong. "If she’s reinvesting," he said evenly, "why not leave it with us? I can increase her returns."

"I’m sorry," Maddox replied, calm but immovable. "She doesn’t want to conduct any business with you."

Now that was no longer business, it was personal.

Ravyn leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. "Tell her to meet me in my office within the next two hours to sign the transfer and cancellation papers. If she fails to do so, she’ll have to wait several weeks."

He was buying time enough to find another investor, perhaps even pull Voren in to absorb the shares if necessary. Whoever this Marjorie Steward was, he doubted she was even in the country.

"She’ll be there in thirty minutes," Maddox replied before ending the call.

Ravyn exhaled sharply, tension coiling tight in his chest. This loss would sting but he intended to fight it, one way or another.

His phone rang again, Daisy. He answered this time, not expecting an emotional breakdown. "Rav," she sobbed, voice trembling. "I was injured at the gym."

His jaw clenched. "I’m coming back."

He hit the intercom immediately. "Cancel the appointment with Marjorie. There’s an emergency."

Kevin’s reply came instantly and ruined everything. "She’s already here, sir."

Before Ravyn could respond, the sharp, deliberate click of stilettoes echoed across the marble floor.

A scent followed, one he knew far too well. Ravyn turned just as the woman stepped into view and for the first time in years, Ravyn Walker forgot how to breathe.