The Beta's Regret (Eden and Eros)

ADONIS POV

The journey back to the packhouse seemed longer than when we were leaving.

Beauty and I were both lost in our own thoughts, trying to understand all that had transpired in the coven.

It was one thing to find out that Eden was about to be initiated in a vampire coven, and it was another thing to find out that her father was Lord Shevek. The lord of the coven. Talk about unexpected circumstances.

How was it even possible for Rose and Lord Shevek, a wolf and vampire without any royal bloodline, to produce an offspring?

It was unusual.

The same goes for finding out that Eros had a stepbrother who looked too much like him, a brother we never knew. It was very strange.

And then there was Arthur.

My hand tightened on the steering. Something was off about him. I never thought about how weird some of his actions had been until Eden pointed it out.

Eden has always been the sharp observant one, sensitive to the things and people around her. She would make a great queen; there was no doubt about that. I sighed. Beauty faced the window, quiet.

"What are you thinking of?" I asked.

She scoffed but didn't turn around.

"I'm beginning to wonder if there will never be an end to all these troubles." She said softly.

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

She paused and sat up. "Eden is barely able to hold herself together. Where is Eros in all of this?"

"We were told he would be in the sacred ground with the elders. That was the announcement from the elders themselves. I'm sure that's where he is." I said.

"Ritual?" Beauty scoffed again. "Did you see Eros when he came to the coven? He looked possessed. What kind of ritual is that? Are they trying to make him go rogue?"

I rolled my eyes. As much as I understood what she meant, Beauty was being dramatic.

"Why would they make him go rogue when they need him to be king?" I sighed. "You don't have to worry about anything. Everything will fall into place."

Beauty nodded. She went into her thoughts for a little bit, then started again. "Do you think he knows that Lord Shevek is Eden's Father? And what about the stepbrother? How come you don't look so shocked by this news?" She watched me curiously.

"Believe me, I'm just trying not to think about it. It's too much information to process." I said quickly.

"I thought you knew something." She narrowed her gaze on me.

"No, of course not. I would tell you everything if I knew about all that."

Beauty huffed. "Really... so why did you keep Arthur's meeting with the strangers a secret?"

"Because I didn't think it would mean anything."

Her lips pressed into a flat line as she looked away again, her head sofly bumping against the window as the car wind through the road.

It was a while before I finally pulled in front of the pack house. The place was packed with guards on duty.

I cut off the engine and stepped out. Beauty followed shortly after.

"What do you want for dinner?" She asked a little testy.

I wasn't hungry, but I needed to be alone for a little bit to investigate a few things, and the only way to get Beauty to stay out of it was to keep her engaged. "Chicken soup." I smiled.

She nodded and stumped into the room. She was still annoyed. I knew if she found out about what I'm about to do, she would not forgive me easily.

I waited till she was out of sight before I walked to the dungeon. There was something I had to confirm, and the answers couldn't wait till tomorrow.

The night air was cool against my

skin as I walked. I got to the

entrance of the dungeon, and the two guards stationed at the entrance were suddenly on alert. They stood at attention.

"Sir." They greeted in a chorus, their heads bowed slightly in respect.

I nodded and slipped my hands into my pockets. "Good evening."

They finally relaxed a bit, and I thought of the best way to start my investigation without any suspicions wired into it.

"Who is in charge of patrol today?" I asked.

"Herald," one of them said. He just went over to the border with four others.

"Good." I nodded. "Also, you two are always on duty for the dungeon, right?"

"Yes." They answered.

"Very good." I leaned against one foot. "The day Arthur came here when the vampire was still in the dungeon, you didn't switch duty posts?" "We never leave our post." One of them said quickly

"Are you sure?" I arched a brow at him.

"Yes sir."

"Okay. One more thing. That day, did Arthur bring in food for the vampire?"

They exchanged a look and finally shook their heads. "No."

My jaw tightened. So that was a lie? Why would he lie about such a thing?

"Thank you." I said and stepped back. I went the same way I came.

It was clear now that Arthur lied to Beauty and me.

But why?

I entered the house, my mind a storm of thoughts as I tried to look for reasonable explanations to make sense of why Arthur lied.

I didn't want to believe the obvious

answer. It was too harsh for me to

believe that Arthur must have killed Tom for another reason entirely, not because Tom attacked him.

And if that were true, that would

mean there was something sinister

going on. And right now, things were

unstable. We couldn't afford another

mistrust between us.

I thought about confronting Arthur to ask him for the truth, but I figured that wouldn't do much good to helping me find out the truth.

I closed the door behind me and headed to the kitchen, where Beauty was busy with cooking.

"Where were you?" She asked.

"I went to check in with the guards to make sure they are on standby for the night."

Beauty nodded. "Come on. Food is ready."

She smiled and called me over. I joined her at her side, and in no time we sat down to a lovely meal.

However, nothing could take my mind of what I just discovered about Arthur.

What should I do?