Chapter 56 Regret

Chapter 56 Regret
The warm morning sun filtered through the sheer curtains of the master suite, casting soft golden streaks across the empty bed. Harriet sat at her vanity, staring at her reflection in the glass. Her hair was pulled back into a simple knot, her skin pale, her eyes rimmed with red after a restless night. She was still holding the belief that it was all a elaborate display—a dark, calculated play by Charles to force her back into his orbit.
The heavy double doors of the bedroom suddenly slammed open with a deafening bang.
Before Harriet could even turn around, a blur of dark fabric crossed the room. A hand locked onto her shoulder, spinning her violently out of her chair, and a hard, leather-clad fist cracked directly against her cheekbone.
Harriet gasped, the sheer force of the blow throwing her back onto the carpet. Pain exploded across her jaw, sharp and hot, as she touched her lip to find blood trickling down her chin.
Seraphina stood over her, her sharp silver eyes glowing with a terrifying, unhinged fury. Her hands were clenched into tight fists, her breathing chest heaving under her dark blazer.
"Why?!" Seraphina screamed, her voice shaking the heavy walls of the suite. "Why are you sitting here like nothing happened?!"
Harriet pressed her back against the base of the bed, her breath coming in panicked gasps as she held her bruised face. "Seraphina—"
"He chooses you over and over again!" Seraphina spat, taking a lethal step closer, her Beta authority suffocating the air in the room. "He took you on vacation! He showed you the entire world! He put his pack, his reputation, and his entire life on the line to keep you safe! And now that he is fighting for his life, where the hell are you?!"
Harriet froze. The anger, the cold defensive wall she had built up over the past twenty-four hours, completely shattered.
"Fighting for his life...?" Harriet whispered, her voice barely audible. Her mind raced back to the sudden, suffocating bond ache she had felt deep in her chest the previous evening—a dull, tearing pain she had dismissed as mere anxiety. It wasn't an act. The bond hadn't lied.
The realization hit her like a physical blow. Her mate was dying.
Without saying another word, Harriet pushed herself off the floor. Ignoring the sharp throb in her cheek and the blood on her lip, she pushed past Seraphina and sprinted out of the suite, her bare feet slamming against the cold marble staircase as she ran straight for the gates.
The private ICU wing of the Edwin Pack Clinic was dead silent, save for the steady, agonized hum of heart monitors.
Harriet burst through the heavy double doors of the waiting lobby, her hair disheveled, her face bruised, and her dress wrinkled from the frantic cab ride.
The moment she stepped into the hallway, four pairs of cold, heavy eyes locked onto her.
Standing near the window was Rodriguez Edwin, Charles’s stepbrother, his jaw set in a hard, dangerous line. Beside him stood Melissa Edwin, Charles’s stepmother, her dark eyes flashing with pure disdain. Even Henry and Grandpa Edwin stood near the center of the room, surrounded by security guards.
"You actually showed up," Melissa said, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper that echoed in the quiet hall. She stepped forward, her expensive heels clicking loudly against the floorboards. "This is why we never supported this ridiculous union! We knew from the very beginning that a low-born human girl was only with Charles for his wealth and power!"
"Melissa, please—" Harriet tried to speak, tears streaming down her bruised face.
"How could you?!" Rodriguez snapped, taking a step toward her, his posture rigid with fury. "He collapsed in a storm, his vitals flatlining, and you ignored every single emergency call from the pack! You slept peacefully in his bed while your husband was dying on a medical table!"
Harriet looked around the room, her chest heaving as she searched for a single friendly face. She looked at her brother Henry, begging him with her eyes to defend her, but Henry simply lowered his head, staring at the floor with a heavy, disappointed sigh.
Godwin stepped out from the inner corridor, his usual theatrical, cheerful demeanor completely gone. He looked at Harriet, his manicured hands resting limply at his sides, his eyes filled with genuine hurt.
"Girl... I really liked you," Godwin said softly, his voice trembling slightly. "I rooted for you. But I am so disappointed in you."
The words cut deeper than Seraphina's fist. Harriet collapsed against the cold wall, covering her face with her hands as deep, helpless sobs racked her body. She cried for her pride, her foolish assumptions, and the sheer terror of losing the man who had consumed her entire world.
The heavy glass doors of the intensive care unit slid open, and the head physician stepped out, pulling off his surgical mask.
"Doctor!" Grandpa Edwin barked, taking a step forward on his cane. "How is he?"
The doctor drew a long, exhausted breath. "He is stabilizing, but he is still in critical condition. The collapse was triggered by a severe neurological shock—he is fighting a deep-seated trauma and phobia related to the heavy rain."
"What about the pack medications? The serum from the vault?" Rodriguez demanded.
"They won't work on him anymore," the doctor replied, shaking his head grave face. "His body has built an absolute resistance to synthetic suppressants. Right now, it is only his pure Alpha werewolf blood and his own inner strength that can save him."
The moment the doctor finished his sentence and turned back toward his office, Harriet didn't hesitate.
She pushed past Rodriguez, brushed past Melissa, and threw open the heavy doors to the private isolation room.
The room was freezing, dominated by the rhythmic beep-beep-beep of the heart monitor. Charles lay in the center of the massive bed, hooked up to IV lines and oxygen tubes. His dark hair was damp, his tan skin unnaturally pale, his broad chest rising and falling in shallow, labored breaths. He looked vulnerable—a state Harriet had never imagined the terrifying Alpha could ever inhabit.
"Charles..." Harriet sobbed, rushing to the side of the bed. She took his massive, cold hand in both of her small ones, lifting it to her face, dropping desperate kisses onto his knuckles. "Charles, please wake up... please..."
Melissa rushed into the room right behind her, her face contorted in anger. "Get rid of her!" she ordered the guards standing at the door. "I never wanted her in this family from the start! Now look what her negligence has done to him! Security, drag her out!"
Two heavy guards stepped forward, reaching for Harriet’s shoulders.
"Touch her... and I'll tear your arms off."
The voice was low, gravelly, and laced with a faint, lethal Alpha rumble that made every guard in the room freeze dead in their tracks.
On the bed, Charles’s dark eyelashes fluttered open. His glowing, dark gold eyes flickered to life, scanning the room before settling entirely on Harriet’s tear-stained face.
Melissa gasped, stepping back. "Charles... you're awake!"
Charles slowly pushed himself up against the pillows, ignoring the sharp beep of the monitors as he pulled the oxygen mask down past his chin. His heavy gaze swept over his family, settling hard on his stepmother.
"You are not the one marrying her," Charles growled softly, his voice raspy but full of absolute authority. "It's me."
A collective sigh of relief washed through the room. Grandpa Edwin let out a hearty laugh, Godwin clapped his hands over his mouth in joy, and even Rodriguez relaxed his posture.
Harriet didn't care about anyone else in the room. The moment she heard his voice, she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into the crook of his warm shoulder. She pulled back slightly, cupped his strong jaw, and pressed her lips firmly against his in a deep, frantic kiss, crying openly against his mouth.
Charles let out a low, breathy chuckle, his large hand coming up to rest at the small of her back to steady her. "Easy, wildcat... easy. I just woke up."
"I'm so stupid," Harriet wept, holding his face as her tears dripped onto his chest. "I am so, so stupid, Charles. Please... please forgive me."