The Beta’s Regret

“Change? In what way?”

“I would have told you, but Eros is the King and he wants to do it when he feels the time is right. I only hope you awaken. your wolf today, so I don’t have to be so tight–lipped around you. She said, and it somehow made me feel both anxious and a bit relieved.

“Are you going to sacrifice me in some ritual?” I teased, and was rewarded with a chuckle.

“Eros doesn’t believe in rituals or sacrifices. He does not even believe in the Moon Goddess anymore. So you don’t have to worry about that.”

“But why?” I blurted out

Beauty pretended to not hear me. Instead, she walked past me and stood in front of the open wardrobe looking at the clothes.

“Hmm, we have to find something that will show how strong you are”

“I don’t really see the need to dress up” I made the same argument I had shared with Glinds, but Beauty shook her head.

“Sorry, King’s orders”

I made a face, but Beauty stuck her tongue out and began pulling out a few dresses for me to wear.

“this looks too formal, she said while picking up a business suit.

“Nah, this one’s too chic” she said, dismissing another, and I kept waiting for her to arrive at a conclusion.

When she had thrown almost a dozen of dresses on the bed with a frown, I raised a hand.

“Can I suggest something?”

“Go on,” she said while still shuffling through the wardrobe.

“Can I wear something that looks like the night

sky?”

Beauty stopped shuffling and looked at me with an amused smile. “As in?”

“As in today is the full moon and I hope just like last time, my wolf shows up and this time I manage to completely shift. So, it would be nice to wear something that makes me look like have draped the night sky. Something with a light dusting of stars… Her smile seemed to widen as I vividly imagined the dress, and I stopped abruptly.

“Did 1 blabber a lot?”

“Not really” She began looking through the blue dresses hanging down in the wardrobe. To be honest, I did not even know there were so many dresses inside the wardrobe.

I would only grab the gymn wear and pajamas.

90% of the time, so I did not even bother checking through the rest of the stuff.

Finally, Beauty seemed satisfied with one of the dresses and replied, “Now, you have to close your eyes. I will let you know

when to open.

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“But.. what if I don’t look good in it?

“Trust me, you will” Saying so, she made me put on a sleeping mask to ensure I would not cheat. For the next hour or so, she kept putting on something or the other on my face.

I felt the make up brushes touch my skin and the creams and gels with which she styled my hair, dabbed my wrists with some perfume and even painted my nails.

I felt nervousness and anxiety bubbling in me as the day ended and the sun dipped below the horizon.

The time when one awakened a wolf was never specific.

I sent a silent prayer to the moon goddess to help me find my wolf. Mentally, I also prepared myself for the worst case scenario of not awakening my inner wolf this full moon.

“Stop fidgeting” Beauty gently slapped my hands when my fingers began to tie a knot with the silky threads of the fabric,

Honestly, I had never stripped in front of anybody before excluding my mother, so it felt a little off. But the dress she had

I had chosen for me needed me to strip down bare so that the dress would fit perfectly.

1 stood like a mannequin as she pushed me through the dress, my hair going askew as she buttoned the seams and pulled up the zips on the inside that held the dress together.

My fingers brushed against the fabric, and I felt it to be satiny soft. It did feel snug and not as if my insides were being choked.

How long?” I asked impatiently and Beauty said in a garbled voice, “Soon.” Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

She was probably holding a comb and a hair curler in her hands for I felt the soft whirring of a machine.

After what felt like an eternity, she let out a huffed breath and I felt her sag into the bed, plopping herself on the soft

mattress.

“Damn, I need to ensure Eros pays me for this service

She had taken the mask off my eyes at some point, but had turned me away from the mirror so I wouldn’t take a sneaky glance.

“Ok, are we done? Can I open my eyes? There was no answer for a while and I wondered what was going on.

“Beauty?” I asked aloud but still she didn’t answer me. Biting my lower lip, I opened my eyes to see her sitting on the bed. She e was right there in front of me, yet n

pat

not.

Her eyes were staring up at the ceiling, and she seemed to be having a fit,

“Beaul What’s wrong?”

I said and hastily got up from the small chair she had made me sit in. I almost tripped over the folds of the but somehow managed to reach her.

Brauty was sitting cross–legged on the bed, and her head was thrown back.

“Beau! Beau!!” I tried shaking her, but she was still staring at the ceiling as if something had suddenly possessed her.

I was about to call for help when she got out of her trance like state and looked at me.

“God, you scared me. Are you okay?” I asked, and she gulped nervously.

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“Water” she said meekly, and I grabbed a glass of water from the adjacent table.

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“Should I ask for the pack doctor to check on you? You are sweating.” I said and dabbed her forehead with a kerchief slowly.

She drank the water, and her breathing got even after a while.

“It’s okay. You.. you know what I am, right?” She asked, and I looked at her curiously. “You are a girl just like me?”

1

I offered, and she shook her head. “I am also a seer. My powers are not really great, but sometimes I get to see glimpses of people in my head.”

Wow. Beauty. A hybrid from previous life is a seer/witch.

“Does that hurt you?” I asked stupidly. I should have had a better response, but curiosity got the better of me.

“Sometimes I see visions of people, sometimes strangers, but I Have learned that these are somehow tied to the people that

matter to me.

I don’t understand” She made me sit in front of her and began

“So… your guy. Theo, and the entire thing where you got kidnapped? I saw it… in bits and pieces. Most of it was blurred and I would have warned you, but I also saw Eros around you.. he was hitting someone… I figured out the rest. Beauty said, her fingers fidgeting with the glass.

“Oh I managed to say.

“Yeah, so what

you saw right now… It was me seeing another vision. The ones I see are mostly things that could happen in the future. So unless and until I feel an imminent threat to those I saw in the vision, I don’t share it with them. I don’t want to needlessly worry anyone.” Beauty’s face fell, but I smiled at her and reached for her hand to squeeze it in understanding. “Why are you smiling!”

“You just now said that you see visions of people that matter to you. And you saw me. So,

thank

you.”

she placed her other hand on mine and smiled back “I said that

“No going back on it now,” I teased, and she laughed.

“So I believe you are not too worried about whatever you saw right now. Did it somehow involve me again?”

I blurted out when I felt that she was relatively calm.

“Yea–h. She thought about it for a while, so I knew she had definitely seen something related to

me

“Please tell me, I urged her, grabbing both her hands in mine.