Too Late To Regret, My Alphas Chapter 8: The Witch Healer

Rosalie:

He held my gaze for a long mont before a soft smile slowly curved across his lips.

"Relax," he said quietly, his deep voice carrying an odd calmness that seed to settle into the room itself. "If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of saving your life."

I stared at him silently.

The words made sense. Still... trusting strangers blindly was exactly the kind of stupidity that got people killed. Especially after last night. Especially after learning the people I trusted most in this world were capable of shattering without hesitation.

So no, I wasn’t foolish enough to fully let my guard down just because a beautiful man with ocean-blue eyes spoke gently to .

But at the sa ti, what choice did I even have?

I couldn’t run, couldn’t fight, could barely breathe without pain tearing through my ribs.

And strangely enough, despite all the fear and confusion swirling inside , there was sothing about either him or this place that slowly cald my panic. Maybe it was the warmth of the room after the freezing river. Maybe it was the steady sound of the machines reminding I was alive. Or maybe it was simply the fact that this man had looked at more gently in five minutes than anyone else had the entire night.

Whatever it was, I found myself slowly relaxing against the pillows. The tension in my body eased just slightly.

He seed to notice because his expression softened even more. "Can I?" he asked quietly, lifting the syringe slightly.

My eyes flickered toward it before returning to his face. Then, after a small hesitation, I nodded.

Carefully, he reached for my arm. His movents were precise and practiced, completely unlike the roughness I was used to from warriors and pack doctors. He injected the dicine into the IV line attached to the back of my hand.

I watched as he moved to prepare a second injection, which gave the perfect opportunity to accidentally stare at him all over again.

The bedside lamp cast soft golden light across the sharp lines of his face, making the silver strands of his hair almost glow. From this close, I noticed tiny details I had missed earlier - the elegant shape of his nose, the faint shadow beneath his eyes as though he hadn’t slept properly in a while, and the way his long lashes lowered slightly while focusing on the syringe in his hand.

Even his hands were unfairly beautiful. He had long fingers, clean nails, and elegant veins beneath pale skin.

Seriously... was this man even real?

My gaze drifted lower before I could stop myself.

The pale blue silk shirt rested against his broad chest in a way that should not have been attractive. Yet sohow, it absolutely was.

Heat slowly crept back into my cheeks.

Oh no.

Before he could catch staring again, I imdiately snapped my gaze toward the ceiling like my life depended on it.

But from the corner of my eye, I noticed the faint smile that tugged at his lips, which ant he definitely noticed. Again.

I wanted to disappear.

The second injection was quicker than the first. Once he finished administering it, he moved toward several dicine bottles sitting neatly beside the tray.

I watched him quietly while trying very hard not to stare too much this ti.

He opened two bottles, carefully shook one pill from each into his palm, then grabbed a glass of water with a straw before returning to my bedside.

"Take these," he said simply while holding the pills near my lips.

I obeyed automatically and parted my lips slightly. The mont the pills touched my tongue, I realized too late that my lips had brushed against his fingers.

It was a tiny accidental touch, barely anything, and yet my face instantly heated again.

What was wrong with tonight?

Fortunately, he either ignored it or pretended to. After placing the pills in my mouth, he held the straw gently toward my lips. The mont cold water touched my tongue, I nearly moaned from relief.

I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until then. My throat burned from dryness, and I greedily drank several long sips before suddenly, the glass disappeared.

I blinked at him in mild betrayal while he calmly placed the glass back onto the bedside table before speaking. "Not too much imdiately," he said. "Your body needs ti. Wait a little before drinking again."

I still felt painfully thirsty. But sohow, arguing with him felt impossible. Mostly because he said everything with such calm certainty that my brain automatically wanted to listen.

So instead, I settled deeper into the pillows with a tiny defeated sigh.

Once he finished putting the dicines away, he crossed the room and grabbed a chair from near the glass wall before bringing it beside my bed.

He wasn’t too close, nor too far. Just at enough distance to avoid invading my space while still remaining near enough that I could sll his scent every ti he moved.

And stars... that scent.

It was subtle but intoxicating - clean rainwater, herbs, and sothing colder underneath that reminded strangely of winter nights beneath moonlight. It was dangerous, and beautiful... almost addicting.

The thought startled enough that I imdiately shoved it aside. What was I even thinking?

The dicine was clearly affecting my brain already.

Only after sitting down did he finally answer my earlier question. "My na is Eiden Thorn."

The na settled into the quiet room between us.

Eiden Thorn.

Sothing inside stirred instantly with recognition. I frowned slightly, searching my mory. Why did that sound so familiar?

My tired brain struggled for several seconds before suddenly, my eyes widened. No way. The realization hit so hard I completely forgot to think before speaking.

"You-are the Witch Healer?" The words burst out of my mouth loudly enough that I imdiately regretted them.

Oh Goddess.

If I could move properly, I would have slapped both hands over my mouth right then and there. Instead, I could only stare at him in horror while ntally screaming at myself.

What was wrong with ?!

Eiden blinked once in visible surprise before he repeated slowly, "...Witch?" His expression wasn’t offended exactly, just curious. Which sohow made this even more embarrassing.

My face burned hotter than before. "That’s just-" I stamred weakly. "That’s what people call you."

I blad the dicine. It had to be the dicine. Because there was no other explanation for why I kept humiliating myself every five seconds in front of this man.

But instead of looking upset, Eiden’s smile only deepened.

"Oh?" he asked as he leaned back slightly in the chair. "And what else do people say about ?"

I blinked. For a mont, I studied him carefully. He genuinely looked curious. Not angry or irritated, but interested.

So slowly and awkwardly, I answered. "They say..." I hesitated briefly before continuing. "They say you are the most powerful healer to ever exist."

His expression remained unreadable, so I kept going.

"That your healing abilities are beyond anything the Moon Goddess ever blessed ordinary healers with."

There was still nothing. Only those calm blue eyes watching quietly.

"So people think that’s why you turned to dark magic," I admitted more softly. "Because no healer should be that powerful naturally."

The room grew quieter sohow. Even the warm lighting suddenly felt heavier. But Eiden still said nothing. So I continued carefully.

"They also say..." I swallowed slightly. "That the Moon Goddess beca angry with you because of your dark practices and took your wolf away as punishnt. And after that," I finished quietly, "you disappeared from the packs and started living alone in secrecy."

A deep silence followed my words.

The only sounds left were the steady beeping of the monitor beside and the wild thumping of my heart. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. Maybe there’s-

Before I could think further, Eiden suddenly laughed. Not softly, not politely, he genuinely burst into laughter.