The Beta’s Regret

(Eden's Pov) As soon as the tent was empty, I made my way outside and slipped into my mother's tent.

It smelled of a strange mix of lavender and earth, which surprisingly had a soothing effect on me.

Mom sat on a makeshift chair, cradling my son in her arms while she rocked her body side to side, humming a slow tune to his ears.

As I watched, my heart melted at the kind of love my mother had for the infants. However, no matter how much of it she showers on him, I still want him in my arms, as I smell his wonderful baby scent "Mom." I called out softly. She finally noticed my presence and looked up. At first, a worried expression crossed her face before she finally let out a small smile.

"Thank you," I said.

She nodded; her smile grew wider before she looked back at my baby.

"No need to thank me. They are my babies." She cooed softly at my son, who giggled, "He needs a name." She said, My breath hitched. I knew that.

It wasn't because I had no idea what to nhim; I did. But I found it so difficult to give him a nall by myself without Eros in the picture.

As if my mother heard my thoughts, she sighed and said. "Eros wouldn't want you to hold back because of him." I nodded and moved forward. She handed him over towhile she attended to Lyra's child.

My mother adjusted the blanket wrapped around the baby as she slept soundly. Compared to my son, she was much easier to please.

My mom slowly took the baby girl in her arms, and just as she began to move outside, I stopped her with a quick shout.

"No!" I said. A sudden sense of protectiveness gripped me, and I watched my mother cautiously. "Please don't take her. Let her stay witha little longer." My mother raised a brow at me. She curiously searched my face and nodded. Instead of dropping the child, she settled back down and cradled the tiny human in her arms.

I looked at her. She looked so peaceful, so serene, unaware of the circumstances that surrounded her.

It suddenly struckjust how beautiful the child was. And I couldn't imagine her having a life that would be filled with spite or being raised in an environment where she would not be loved or given the sattention like I would my son.

Her mother was dead, and I doubt Pison would be a good parent to her. Since Lyra and him planned to rule the people together, and they stayed together for so long- and according to Lyra, even imagined their little pup running around the palace... then Pison would that she was pregnant with his pup.

But does he know that Lyra is dead? Would he fight for her, and claim his child? Whichever, I wouldn't give up without a fight. She is mine.

I swallowed hard as I thought about my next words. "Mom, I want to adopt her." I said.

My mother gavea quick look of surprise.

"Adopt?" She asked.

I nodded.

She didn't ask more questions. She understood exactly what I felt, the responsibilities I now had to shoulder. "She's lovely." My mother whispered softly.

I smiled. "Yes, she is." My gaze shifted from the baby girl to my son, and my smile faltered. My chest squeezed painfully as I watched him.

Every tiny detail remindedof Eros. The big beautiful eyes that he slowly closed as he fell into a gentle sleep, the shape of his nose, his hair. It was almost as if I held a miniature version of my mate. My heartached with every reminder of what should have been.

"I need to nthem." I said.

Tears stung my eyes.

My mother placed one hand on my arm "I know it's hard, sweetheart, but I know you will do just right." I raised my face upward, willing the tears that threatened to spill to stay back.

"I shouldn't be doing this by myself." I started. "I... I never thought I would do this alone, without Eros right here with me." I voiced my fears. My lips trembled as tears fell down against my will.

"It's so difficult to move on without him. I don't-" my voice broke, and 1 blinked rapidly. "I don't know how to iving like Eros is no longer do it here." My mother wiped my tears with one hand as her other cradled the child in her arms.

"You are the strongest woman I know, Eros. I believe you can do whatever you set your heart to." She said, "You are not alone; you have me, your father, and your friends." I nodded.

It was tforto accept and move on, and the best way to do that was to take things one step at a time. Starting from now.

Once again, I looked at Lyra's baby. She looked very much like her mother but had a gentleness that made her delicate, and I thought of a name. "Lily," I said softly. It suited her. She cooed softly in my mother's arms, and I smiled. "I will protect you both." I looked at my son in my arms, and my heart fluttered.

"And you, my darling," I brushed my fingers on his cheeks. "You will be Zion." I said.

As soon as I made mention of the name, he opened his eyes, and it ith glowed a golden yellow. I gasped in da I surprise. It was brief, almost went unnoticed, but I noticed it. Zion's wolf. That was impossible. I haven't heard of anyone whose wolf showed itself a few days after birth.

I stared, gobsmacked.

"What is it?" My mother asked.

I shook my head quickly "Nothing." Zion's eyes had returned to their normal color, but he still stared atwith a fascinating expression.

"You are special." I whispered.

A special child. I knew deep withinthat whatever the moon goddess had planned, Zion was a key part in executing it.