The Beta’s Regret

(Eden's

Pov)

| finally pulled myself out of the depths of sleep. For a moment, I laid still, my eyes felt too heavy to open.

Finally, | gained enough strength and opened my eyes.

Eros.

Memories of the moments we spent together since two nights ago flooded me.

My stomach tightened, and | felt a slight flutter in my heart.

There was no doubt that | was very much in love with Eros. He madehappy and satisfied.

I inhaled deeply; his scent surrounded me.

| missed him already.

Suddenly curious about where he was, | looked around the room. He wasn't at the window where he stood the

last time. He wasn't in the room at all.

A string of doubt ran through me. Despite the fact that it didn't seem rational, | began to imagine that Eros never

cto me, maybe it had all been a dream that seemed too real.

His touch, his scent-maybe it was just a twisted part of my imagination.

| shook my head.

No.

There was no way | could have imagined that kind of satisfaction | felt when Eros was buried deep inside of me.

It couldn't have been just a dream.

Eros was here. | just needed to find him.

| scrambled out of bed and grabbed a night robe, which I tied aroundalong the way. | walked to the window,

pushed the curtains aside and looked over at the mansion grounds. This particular part of the house overlooked

the path to the gate. | smiled.

The mansion grounds have a beautiful view.

| looked out to see if Eros was anywhere in sight. Out of nowhere, a female figure stomped out of the house with

a suitcase. At first, | assumed it was one of Lord Shevek's women who hadn't left, but on closer look, | realized it

was my mother. | frowned. Was she leaving?

| panicked. Without another thought, I ran out of the room and dashed towards the front door.

| flung it open with force and ran into someone.

"Hey!" Eros called quickly as he stepped back as fast as he could.

He held a tray in front of him; the aroma of eggs and toast filled my nose, and my stomach rumbled. | ignored it.

My eyes snapped to his face, the surprised expression | wore almost as clear as day.

"You cooked?" | asked with raised brows.

Eros nodded with a wide grin.

"It'd been a long tsince | did this." He said softly.

My heart melted, and for a moment | forgot everything else aside from how handsand extremely ridiculous

he looked with a small-sized kitchen apron tied around him.

"So you weren't in the room because of this?" | asked again as | eyed the food.

He nodded. "Yes. You need to eat. | need you and our pup to stay healthy."

His words washed overin very familiar emotions. | couldn't help the smile that crept up my face and the way

my stomach had the butterflies when our eyes met.

| bit my lip; it was almost as if we weren't together in bed a few hours ago.

One of the many reasons Eros captured my heart was his thoughtfulness. Even when he looked cold on the

outside, he was a warm man. To me.

Suddenly, | remembered my mother, who was about to disappear from the mansion without a word.

"This is lovely," | started quickly. "But | need to go."

With that, I hurried out.

"Eden!" | heard Eros call sharply, but I didn't wait. | couldn't let my mother go just like that.

In my rush to meet my mother, | forgot to put on footwear. My bare feet padded across the floor. | heard Eros

coming behind me, his footsteps quick and firm. "Eden, please wait!" He called out again "you can't go out like

that."

Before | could process what he

meant, Eros draped his shirt around my shoulders. The material coveredand Kung over my body. | looked

down nand saw that the robe was

indecent. It barely covered my chest, and the length was way too short, exposing my legs.

My face warmed in embarrassment.

"Thank you." | said softly.

"You are welcome." He answered. "You are mine."

| didn't have tto respond. | continued on my way. Eros followedquickly, in a few steps, | got to my

mother, who still stood in one spot. Her eyes were lost while she held her handphone tightly imone hand.

"Mom?" | called out.

She turned to me, and her face went pale. She looked fragile, sad, and heartbroken. Her eyes were bloodshot as

she stared at me. She cried before now.

| saw the tear streaks on her face.

"What's going on? Are you leaving?" | grabbed her arm quickly.

My mother sighed and slowly withdrew her hand from mine. She looked at Eros, who watched us in silence

before she talked.

"It's clear that | don't belong here. | should go back home." Her voice shook slightly.

| frowned. "What do you mean? This is your htoo. Lord Shevek invited us over, and that means we are

welchere."

"Not anymore." My mother frowned.

'l think I need to focus on other parts

of my life. I'm going to rescue Olivia from Griffin. | can't keep staying here, pretending that all is well when Olivia

needs my help."

| nodded in understanding. "I'm coming with you."

"No!" She snapped."This is something | have to do alone."

| frowned. Something was wrong.

"What did Lord Shevek do to you?" | asked with a narrowed gaze.

My mother looked away.

Just then, a car parked to a stop in front of her. She waved a goodbye atand bowed slightly to zeros before

she entered the cab. It pulled away.

Anger surged in me. | thought about what my father must have done to my mother to make her pack up and

leave so fast.

| spun around quickly and stormed into the house. In a few minutes, | was in front of Lord Shevek, who sat

behind his study desk.

With all the anger | could muster, I hit the table with a force that made Lord Shevek throw his head back in

surprise.

"We need to talk," I said.