The Beta's Regret (Eden and Eros)

Chapter 199

(Eros Pov)

With a gust of wind, I landed on all fours in front of a small cave hidden deep within a large rock.

The moon cast a soft glow over the entrance of the cave, which shone with strange symbols carved into it.

With a grunt, I stood up and wiped the dust off me as I stretched.

This was sacred ground. It was invisible to the uninitiated, but I had access to it because my initiation process had begun.

However, I might have made a mess by leaving before I finished the final procedure."

Because of Eden.

I had no idea what had happened. One minute I was inside the cave lying in a coffin and the next I was next to Eden, Susie, and the hybrids.

All I remembered was tBeast had sensed Tiara's desperation, and then all went black.

When I became conscious again, Eden, Adonis, and others stared at me in shock. Apparently I must have done something.

Susie suggested I leave, and I did.

I still felt a great urge to go back to the coven and bring Eden along, but I couldn't. I would ruin everything.

"What the-"I gasped as I heard a loud ring in my ears and became lightheaded. I stumbled forward and grasped the sides of the wall for balance as quickly as I could. Pain ravaged my body. It ran straight from my head down my spine. I groaned in agony as I fought for control.

ok a long while before I got myself back.

Lros?"

Startled, I looked back to see who called me.

A small woman who wore a white cloak that covered her from head to toe stared back at me. She held an oil lamp in front of her, which she raised to my face. I shielded my eyes from the bright light.

"By the moon!" She gasped. "You look terrible. How could you disregard all that we warned you against?"

I guilt chewed my insides.

"My apologies."

She narrowed her gaze on me. "You ruined the ritual. You were supposed to stay locked in the coffin for thirty days, underwater, but you got out."

I closed my eyes. "I know."

She hissed. "Let's go back to the elders." She instructed as she led a path through the entrance of the cave. "They will decide your fate,"

My heart plummeted into my stomach. What if I won't be able to fix this?

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14:00 Thu, Nov 28

Chapter 199

I followed behind as I thought about how I left this place in the first place.

1 thought about Eden again.

I had so many questions. Why was she in a vampire coven? And the other hybrids?

I had no idea what Eden has been up to for the last few days. The last time we made love and I left, I deliberately refused to inform her about where I was going because she would have tried to stop me or insisted that she followed me, but I was supposed to do this alone.

This was something I needed to fix for both of us. And whatever problem there was, I was sure Arthur and the rest would fix it. They must have heard about the ritual as well. I was told they would announce it.

I knew Eden would wait for me; I only hoped she would be able to forgive me because I kept the ritual a secret.

Distracted, I suddenly hit my leg against a stone on the floor. I cried out in pain, and the woman turned to me sharply.

"Shut it." She growled.

I nodded. I knew the procedure. I wasn't supposed to say a word when going through the cave until I met the elders.

Finally, we entered a large opening. It was some kind of circular space.

In the middle, there was a large pool of water, the crystal clear blue shimmering under the glow of the numerous fire touches attached to different parts of the cave.

According to the ancient scrolls, it was said that this very water was where the moon goddess had descended into. And till this very moment no one could explain why the water glows even after centuries of being in existence. Beside the pool, a coffin was opened, and I shivered. That was the same coffin I was in an hour ago.

A few inches away from the pool, there's a raised platform attached to the walls of the cave that formed a semicirci, on

ood the 12 elders of the realm.

y were dressed like the woman beside me, but their cloak had more shine and a blue clasp that held the cape together.

I couldn't see their faces, but I could sense their displeasure even from where I stood.

The only person I could recognize was the elder who stood at the left end.

He was Susie's father.

It was when the elders brought me to this cave that I realized that Susie now worked for the elders. She was here all through the first ritual procedure.

"You defiled the process." One of the elders said his voice rang out with an echo.

"How dare you leave in the middle of the ritual? You ruined everything we took days to prepare for." Another one interjected.

I didn't know their names; they never revealed their faces, but I knew they took turns to speak.

"You should be glad you haven't gone rogue. You have no idea the kind of power you took along with you. It could have destroyed you and those around you." Another said.

I shivered.

The only thing I remembered was opening my eyes in front of Eden and the hybrids. Susie was there too, which didn't surprise me, but what I couldn't understand were the strange faces and the man who looked exactly like me.

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14:00 Thu, Nov 28

Chapter 199

I heard another ringing in my ears, and I held my head in pain. The pain engulfed me and I fell to my knees.

"It has started," one of the elders gasped. "We must finish the ritual if you want to stay alive."

But the voices of the elders faded in my ears. A scene flashed in my head.

All I heard was "Kill me stepbrother." I had a sudden flash of my experience with the man who looked like me.

A breath of relief left my lips as soon as the pain began to subside.

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It must have been an illusion. There was no way he looked exactly like me, and I don't have a stepbrother. I must have imagined it.

I focused on the task at hand.

"I am sorry." I apologized, "What can I do to stop the ritual from becoming a failure?"

There was a small silence before Susie's father finally said

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"We wouldn't want you to end up like his father, who had lost control of his beast and got himself killed by it." He turned to the elders "We should help him." He said.

I knew what he meant. When I was still young, barely 6 years old, my father had issued a command to wipe out an entire vampire/coven.

Shortly after that time, he lost control of his beast. He became blood thirsty and killed a lot of people for fun.

That was how I lost my sister.

In one of his monstrous episodes, my sister got in the way of my father's attack on a maid, and she was sever wasn't properly taken care of because at the same time, my mother had withdrawn into a shell. My sister die 1. She

ather had gone insane. No one could stop him. He was too powerful. However, after a while, his beast turned on him ore him to pieces. He killed himself.

As a child, I watched my father turn into a monster, and I became scared. I thought the throne did that to him. That was why I decided not to rule, and Pison took over, until now.

"We did this same ritual for King Pison, and he didn't go rogue. He had a reign without bloodshed. We must do the same ritual to make sure you won't turn into your father." The elder in the middle said.

"We will start all over again. Do you accept it?"

I nodded. "Yes, I do." I had no choice.

"Step forward, and enter the coffin." The woman at my side instructed."

I obeyed and entered the coffin and laid in it with my arms crossed in front of me.

The coffin was closed, and I felt myself being lifted and dropped

The coffin sank to the bottom of the pool as the darkness overwhelmed me.

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