Chapter 258 Clara Was Hospitalized
Brett’s POV
I stand in the state-of-the-art laboratory of Aurora BioSciences, my expression stone-cold as I survey the team of medical researchers gathered around the conference table.
Time is running out for my mentor.
"Gentlemen, what’s our timeline for clinical trials on werewolf genetic defect treatment?" I ask.
Dr. Anderson, his silver hair showing decades of dedication to our research, meets my gaze directly. "Alpha Brett, we’re looking at a minimum of two months before trials can begin safely."
Two months. The news settles like lead in my gut. Due to the disease, my mentor’s wolf is failing him, his cells deteriorating rapidly. The specialists have given him four weeks at most before his wolf completely fades, taking his life with it.
"That’s not acceptable," I say,feeling Jacob’s frustration mirror my own. "We’re implementing round-the-clock shifts starting today."
"With all due respect,Alpha," Dr. Anderson speaks for the group, "we’ve been pushing the limits for months. Fatigue leads to errors, and errors in this field—"
I rise to my full height, commanding Alpha power rolling off me in waves.These researchers respect me, but they don’t understand the depths of my determination. I bow deeply to them, something an Alpha rarely does.
"I trust each of you with this," I say firmly. "Please, do whatever you can."
As I walk out the conference room, my phone vibrates with an unknown number. I ignore it, but when it persists, I finally answer with an impatient growl.
"Is this Clara’s father?" a woman’s anxious voice asks.
My blood freezes. Clara,the little girl with those long lashes and timid smile. The child Lilith claims is mine but cannot possibly be.
"Who told you I’m Clara’s father?" I ask.
"Mr. Lancaster, this is Susan from the Kindergarten. Ms. Hartwell listed you as the emergency contact. I know you’re... separated, but Clara’s running a temperature of 105, and we can’t reach her mother. She’s been admitted to the hospital."
Despite everything, despite the lineage test that proved this child couldn’t be mine, my wolf surges with protective instinct. Jacob whines, urging me to go to her before I’ve even made a conscious decision.
I leave everything behind,the research, my dying mentor and race to the hospital. Logic tells me this isn’t my responsibility, but something primal drives me forward.
I walk into the hospital room and immediately sense that something is wrong. Clara lies tiny and vulnerable on the oversized bed, an IV dripping fluids into her thin arm.
Susan waits beside me and says, "Mr. Lancaster, I’m so sorry. Clara was clearly unwell this morning. She had red, swollen eyes and a hoarse voice. By afternoon, she was burning up."
"And you couldn’t reach Lilith?" My anger rises like a tide.
"No. We’ve been calling repeatedly."
"I’ll handle it," I tell her curtly. "Thank you for staying with her."
After the teacher leaves, I settle into the chair beside Clara’s bed. The child is delirious with fever, her small features contorted in distress.Her eyelashes flutter against flushed cheeks. Her tiny hands reach out, grasping at invisible thing.
"Mommy, no," she whimpers. "Mommy, hold me."
Something in my chest constricts painfully. Even through closed eyelids, I can see they’re swollen from crying. What kind of fear could make a child weep so desperately?
I study her face, searching for traces of myself as I’ve done before, despite knowing better. The lineage test was clear,she isn’t mine. My lineage, cursed as it is, cannot produce offspring. That’s what the prophecy my dying mother revealed, a secret I’ve kept hidden.
Yet I can’t deny the pull I feel toward this little girl. Children have always drawn me, especially daughters. My pack members know this,how their Alpha melts around the pups despite his normally stern demeanor.
Anger burns through me again. What kind of mother lets her child suffer like this?
Good. I can confront her directly about her neglect. I pull out my phone and dial.
When she answers, I cut straight to the heart.
I growl,"Lilith,what kind of mother are you?"
Lilith’s POV
When I opened my eyes, I found myself on an IV drip in the hospital, my head pounding.
I remembered shopping at the supermarket when I suddenly collapsed. Had my illness progressed this far already?
I checked my phone to find several missed calls from Teacher Susan. It was only 3 PM, too early for Clara’s dismissal.
Had something happened to Clara?
Just as I was about to call back and check, Brett’s call came through.
"Lilith, what kind of mother are you?"
My world stopped spinning the moment I heard Brett’s accusation.
Blood dripped from my hand where I’d ripped out the IV needle as I staggered toward the hospital exit. My limbs felt like lead, my lungs burning with each labored breath.
"Alpha Brett," I gasped into the phone. "Is Clara with you? What’s happened to her?"
"Where are you? I’ll come right away."
A nurse shouted after me, "Hey! You can’t leave! You’re bleeding!"
But how could I stop? My baby needed me. Clara must be in trouble for the school to have called so many times.
I’d listed Brett as Clara’s father on her school records.I needed to ensure someone would be there for my daughter when I was gone, whether from collapsing on the street or die quietly in our apartment. I’d foolishly believed that despite everything, Brett Lancaster, Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack, would acknowledge his own flesh and blood.
"Alpha Brett, how is she? Can I please speak with her?"
"You have the nerve to ask me that?You’re her mother, and you don’t know what’s happening to your own child? People like you shouldn’t have children, Lilith. You’re completely irresponsible."
Thea whimpered inside me at the verbal lashing.Anyone else could call me irresponsible, but not him. Never him. Not when he’d abandoned us both.
When I finally reached Clara’s hospital room, my heart shattered at the sight of her small form burning with fever. I stumbled to her bedside, brushing sweat-dampened hair from her forehead.
"Clara, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. Mommy should have taken better care of you."
Behind me, Brett’s derisive snort cut through the room like a blade. "You have time for your underhanded schemes, but none for your child? What kind of mother are you, Lilith?"
Pain lanced through my chest，and it wasn’t just from the illness spreading through my body. I wiped away tears and turned to face him, forcing myself to meet those cold blue eyes that once looked at me with love.
"I’m sick too," I managed, lifting my hand to show him the puncture mark where the IV had been. "The illness I got... even a small cold causes infection..."
My breath caught painfully, forcing me to stop mid-sentence.
Brett’s eyes darted from my bloodied hand to my face, his lip curling in disgust.
His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Impressive performance, Lilith. The blood prop is a nice touch.Next time, maybe keep a blood packet in your mouth for extra dramatic effect?"