Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Seraphine studied Santiago carefully, her gaze steady, her breathing even, while a quiet certainty settled deep in her chest, because something about his confidence felt incomplete, like he was standing in the middle of a storm he didn’t even realize had already begun to tear everything apart outside those walls.

"I’m not marrying you," she said, her voice calm but unyielding, every word landing with quiet force. "And you’re not doing anything to me."

For a brief second, silence stretched between them, thick and charged, before Santiago let out a low exhale, the kind that carried impatience wrapped in control.

"For the last time," he said, his tone tightening, "marry me." He took a slow step closer, his eyes dark with intent that made the air feel heavier. "We harvest organs, expand everything I’ve built, and you use that charm of yours to bring in more children..." His lips curved into something disturbingly satisfied. "Then we run the underworld together."

The words hit hard, but Seraphine’s reaction wasn’t fear. It was disgust. Raw, unfiltered disgust that flashed across her face before she even tried to hide it, her eyes sharpening as something colder settled in its place.

"I’m going to free those kids," she said, her voice dropping, each word edged with promise. She didn’t want him to know she already had. "And I’ll make sure every single one of them stands in court and tells the world exactly what you’ve done." She leaned forward just slightly, her gaze locking onto his. "There’s nowhere for you to go, Santiago. It’s over. You just haven’t caught up yet."

For the first time, something flickered across his expression. Not fear, but irritation mixed with disbelief.

He tilted his head, studying her like she had just said something ridiculous.

"Do you even understand where you are?" he asked, his voice quieter now, but carrying a sharper edge. "From the moment you stepped foot in here, you were never meant to walk out." His gaze dragged over her, slow, possessive, unsettling. "Unless you agree to marry me..." He paused, letting the weight of his next words settle in. "I’ll use you however I want. No one’s ever going to see you again."

A soft scoff slipped from Seraphine, her lips curling slightly as she shook her head, like she almost found him amusing. "You really think so," she said, her tone laced with disbelief.

"I do," Santiago replied instantly, his confidence snapping back into place like armor. "Because no one can get into anything I run."

That was the opening she had been waiting for. Slowly, Seraphine adjusted her position, every movement controlled, every second stretched with purpose as her mind stayed locked on one goal. Buy time, keep him talking, keep him distracted.

"If your security was that tight," she said, her voice smooth, almost conversational, "then how have I managed to tear everything apart from the inside?"

The change in his expression was immediate. Subtle, but unmistakable. "As long as I’m here," she continued, her tone steady, her confidence unshaken, "nothing you try is going to work. Your tech team can sit in front of their screens all day and all night, but they’re not getting past what I put in place."

It was like watching realization crash into him all at once. His eyes narrowed, his posture tightening as the pieces began to fall together in his mind, faster and faster, until the truth stood right in front of him.

"So it’s you?" he demanded, his voice rising, edged with disbelief and anger. "You’re the one who went after my servers?"

Up until now, he had assumed she had only wandered into places she shouldn’t have been, that the issues with his system were nothing more than temporary technical issues his team would fix soon enough.

He hadn’t even considered her and now, the truth stood there, staring him in the face.

That same "ant" he had dismissed. The anger that surged through him came fast and unfiltered, raw enough to burn, but Seraphine didn’t flinch. She had to get out before the bomb goes out.

"There’s a lot you don’t know about me," she said, her voice calm, her gaze unwavering as it held his. "But I’ll tell you this much..." A faint, dangerous smile curled her lips. "Today is where everything you built falls apart."

Something in him snapped. "Guards!" Santiago roared, his voice echoing through the room, sharp and commanding.

More men rushed in immediately, their footsteps heavy against the floor, their presence closing in around her from every direction.

"Tie her up," he ordered, his voice cold with fury. And just like that, everything exploded into motion.

Seraphine’s mind sharpened instantly, every instinct firing at once as she knew there was no more time to stall, no more space to stretch the moment.

This was it. She moved fast, her hand slipped into her clutch, and within a heartbeat, the first shots rang out, sharp and deafening, cutting through the air as two of the bodyguards dropped before they even had a chance to react.

The room erupted into chaos.

Before anyone could regroup, she followed through without hesitation, knives flying through the air with lethal precision, striking exactly where they needed to, taking down three more in rapid succession.

Gasps, shouts, the sharp scent of gunpowder filling the space. Santiago stood frozen for half a second, shock breaking through his control as he watched his men fall one after another, faster than he could process.

One of the remaining guards reacted quickly, pulling out his gun and firing, but Seraphine moved just as fast, grabbing the nearest body and pulling it in front of her, using it as cover as bullets tore through flesh that wasn’t hers.

Her grip tightened, her movements sharp, focused, every action guided by one goal. Survive long enough.

The gunfire stopped, empty, and in that exact moment, she struck again.

A knife flew from her hand, cutting through the space between them and embedding straight into his chest, dropping him instantly.

But the numbers were still against her. The remaining guards were bigger, stronger, closing in fast.

So she didn’t waste time trying to match strength with strength. She aimed for what mattered. Vital points, precise hits.

Every move calculated to end the fight quickly. One by one, they fell.

But just as she turned, ready to face Santiago, something hit her.

A sudden jolt of electricity tore through her body, sharp and overwhelming, locking her muscles, stealing control from her limbs before she could even react.

Her breath caught, her vision blurred, and then, she hit the floor hard.

Darkness swallowed everything, and for a moment, silence returned, broken only by the faint hum of the taser and the heavy breathing of the last man standing.

Santiago stepped forward slowly, his chest rising and falling as he looked down at her, something twisted settling into his expression as he reached for her, ready to take exactly what he had threatened.

But before his hands could touch her, a force slammed into him, hard, and violent, sending him crashing to the floor with enough impact to knock the air from his lungs.

Pain exploded through his body as he struggled to look up, and then he saw him.

Shock ripped through his expression instantly. "Mr. Ashkael...?" he breathed, his voice unsteady, disbelief creeping in. "What are you doing here?"

The answer came cold, sharp enough to cut. "You touched the wrong woman."