The Beta's Regret (Eden and Eros)
Chapter 210

(Lord Shevek's Pov)

I had spent most of my day in the study, going through documents that needed to be signed. At one point, I took a short break and nursed a glass of blood in silence until it was warm.

My mind was unsettled. For the first time since Lyraea, I was finally with just one woman. It felt strange to me, yet oddly satisfying.

I smiled. I hoped that the longing I felt for Rose would never fade. There was just something about her that made me warm.

When I first found out she was my second chance mate, I didn't think it was possible. I suddenly regreted the years I spent alone without her.

Even more, I felt guilty for the pain she went through at the hands of her so-called mate when she would have been loved in my arms if only I had done the right thing by her.

With a deep breath, I abandoned the glass cup and stood up. I had a sudden urge to hold her. I knew she had gone out into the garden at the side of the mansion, something she seemed so fascinated about. A fascination I couldn't understand. However, I hoped she would be done with the garden so I could spend some time with my beloved.

I smiled.

While I walked down the hallway, it felt too quiet. I caught an intoxicating scent, and I sniffed. She was around.

My steps quickened, and I pushed the door to my room open.

As soon as I entered, the smile on my lips died. I looked on in confusion at Rose, who angrily threw her clothes into an opened bag on the bed.

Tears streamed down her face as she broke out into a sob. My heart squeezed painfully as I looked at her.

She hadn't noticed my presence in the room. Her movements were hurried and shaky. She looked desperate. "What are you doing?" I finally asked.

She stopped midday, a stack of clothes in her hands as she looked at me, the hatred in her eyes bold.

I began to panic. What has gone wrong?

Her eyes were bloodshot.

"What do you think? I'm leaving." She bit off harshly and returned back to what she was doing almost as if she never said a word to me.

Leaving?

The word hung silently in the room. My gaze flicked back and forth between her and the suitcase opened on the bed. The same suitcase she just moved into my room last night. I was lost. "Why?" I whispered.

She spun around so fast my eyes widened in surprise. Then she burst into laughter, the sound bitter.

"Why? Are you really asking me that?" She laughed again.

"Yes, I am. I walk in to see you packing up. Don't you think I need an explanation? I told you I want to make us work." I said firmly.

"Work." She shook her head. "No. This cannot work. Nothing can ever work. This thing between us was already a disaster before it even began."

"I don't know what you mean!" I said.

"Do you think I'm a fool?" She snapped. "Do you think I don't know all about you? You and the women in this coven?"

Now I was beyond confused. She wasn't making any sense.

"Explain." I said with narrowed eyes.

"Maria told me everything!" She screamed and threw the clothes at me.

I caught some of them in my hands while others fell to the ground.

She took me off guard. "What are you talking about?"

She snorted and crossed her arms.

"Maria told me everything. How you slept with her and probably. I thought it was only Vanessa and the other girls. But now it's more than that How am I any different from all of them? Your little whores

Her words cut me deep. I tried to speak, but I couldn't.

I didn't know what to say. But before I could make a sound, Rose continued. She wasn't finished.

"You are nothing but a whore. You've

spent most of your life sleeping with every woman that so much as gives you a look. And you want me to

.n

think I'm special? That you are different. That's a joke." She spat.

The room went silent.

Her words hit me again, hurting more than before.

QUMS

"Rose, you think I'm a whore?" I narrowed my gaze on her.

She rolled her eyes and looked away.

"It doesn't matter what I think, does it?" She said,

I clenched my fists at my side as I tried hard to control my emotions. So many thoughts ran through my head at the same time.

"You have no idea what you are saying." I shot back.

She moved away and went back to the bed as she zipped it up. She paused, took a moment to think of her next words before she finally turned to me.

"Tell me." Her voice shook slightly.

"How many women have you made

promises to just like me? How many women have fallen for your smooth talk of second chances? How many women did you throw out eventually when you got bored?"

My jaw ticked. I wanted to snap, to throw my fist against the wall, to shake her and tell her to snap out of her imaginations, but I couldn't do any of that.

"I don't think I owe you an explanation." I said bitterly. "But believe me, Rose, you are the only one for me. I sent the other women away because I want us to be together. I want you."

"The same way you wanted every woman you slept with," she snapped.

I closed up. Every desire to fight for what I wanted was suddenly overwhelmed by my injured pride.

"Are you not going to say something?" She asked.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked.

She nodded and hauled her suitcase into one hand. She left.

I suddenly began to relive the experience I had with Lyraea. My first love experience had ended in tragedy. Rose and I had barely gone three days, and now we are almost at an end. Just when I thought things were beginning to get better.

It wasn't right.

I shouldn't just give up. I can't.

With that, I hurried out of the room after Rose. In a heartbeat, I was beside her. She stood by the side of the road with a forlorn look.

Before I could call her name, a phone rang, and Rose answered.

"Yes Griffin, I'm coming."

Griffin? Was Rose back with him?

I felt my heart squeezed in pain. The breath left my lungs.

Of course. What was I thinking? She has always been in love with someone else. For the second time, I'm not the one in the heart of my mate.