A MAZE OF GREED

"If I can not call Lady Eloise lier, then she can not call Lady Elsie a thief too!"

"What did you just said?" Eloise faced Ruth completely. The two women stared angrily at each other.

Lester breathed in to control himself and gave a warning look to Rees. Understanding the meaning of that look, Rees stepped forward to mediate the situation.

"Ruth! You have no right to say such inappropriate things to Lady Eloise. We are only servants and we should not forget our place!"

Hearing his voice, Eloise got another opportunity to kill two birds with a single stone. She was waiting to call on Rees for years. Although he had never insulted her the way Ruth did, his actions were enough to make her feel humiliated.

She turned her head to throw daggers at him with her eyes.

"YOU! You are the one who is responsible for this. I thought after spending years amongst us- the elites- you might have learned a thing or two or at least have got a sense of what kind of people you should associate yourself with.

Clearly, you have failed my expectations, Rees! Are all of your acquaintances like this? Rude, ill-mannered, bad mouthed and mannerless! She is your fiancee's best friend, right? Then your fiancee must be just like her. Poor beggars!"

Yes! What could be the best jab at a werewolf than insulting his mate?

Rees clenched his fists tightly at his sides. Elsie sucked a breath. When she woke up this morning, she had not expected her day to be turned out this way.

"Eloise! Mind what you say!" Lester warned. He realised what she was trying to do here, and he did not approve of it.

"Lady Eloise! Yes, we are poor, and in your eyes, we might be beggars too! But we poor people have one thing we profoundly cherish, and that is our self-esteem.

And Thea is not only my best friend. She is like a sister to me, a family! The love between the sisters is incomparable and so pure that you might not understand. We fight for each other, we hold onto each other, and we certainly do not tolerate bad words against each other."

Ruth was sweating with fury. Her insides burned like molten iron. She could feel vapours of anger coming out of her body, her skin had turned a darker shade of pink.

Eloise was speechless. Did she just throw at her face that she was not a good sister?

She waited for anyone to say something, at least Lester?! But no! He did not utter a word. When she glanced his way, she found his eyes trained on Ruth's face. Some strange emotions swirling in his eyes.

Eloise was hurt now. She expected Lester to back her side, but no. He also disappointed her, just like her father!

Wait!

She was not defeated yet. She had another weapon saved under her sleeves.

"You know what, peasant? I am too sophisticated to fight with you like this. I have a better way of teaching you a lesson of what happens after you step out of your boundaries and mess with the ones in front of whom you should bow your head.

I am going to my father. He will decide this matter, and I am sure after he is done with you, you will never think of opening that stinking mouth of yours again!"

Lester's eyes widened hearing that. Rees and Elsie shared an alarmed look with each other.

~"My Lord, should I call Young Master?"~ Ida asked Lester in panic.

~"No. Not now. Let me handle this."~ He replied with determination.

Still, Ida was alert at the door to block Eloise if the time called for it.

"Lady Eloise! I am telling you again to stop insulting everyone!"

Eloise was taken by shocked to hear Ruth's warning. Her voice came strained as she hissed through the teeth.

Rees's body tensed as he felt something. Something that was familiar. He was sure that he had experienced it before, but when and what was it?

He looked at Lester, for he had also felt the same strange force. Elsie, who stood right beside Ruth, was the more affected by that strange force. She felt it penetrating through not only her system, but it soon started messing up with her mind too.

Her face scrunched up in discomfort as something struggled to wrap itself around her brain. Alarmed, Rees swiftly pulled Elsie away from Ruth. Lester as an alpha werewolf would have growled at Rees for touching his mate without his permission, but he was too entranced by the intensity of that strange force.

Eloise found it hard to move, but her fury pushed her efforts some more. "You will not listen like this. Come, let me take you to father and he will show you how the beggars like you should be treated!"

Eloise held Ruth's wrist to pull her and take her to Lord Augustus. that was the last strike that broke the thin cord of Ruth's patience.

Her breaths turned harsh and rapid as she glared intently at Eloise, not leaving her eyes even for a moment. Eloise tried pulling Ruth but failed miserably when her hand went still as if it had lost all the energy.

Eloise's eyes turned blank as she could not look away from Ruth's hazel eyes. She wanted to move away from this weird woman, but her body could not move. White pain shot in Eloise's head, but she could not even flinch.

Rees and Elsie watched the scene with their mouths opened ajar. Daringly Lester called Ruth's name and was about to pull her away from Eloise, who looked more than uncomfortable with the situation.

"Miss Ruth!"

Ruth's head snapped towards Lester, and as soon as their gazes clashed with each other, he felt like he was punched in the guts by invisible hands. His brain fell into disruption as he found it difficult to control it. His wolf started squirming uncomfortably, not liking something disturbing his control.

"Lester..." Elsie called his name in worry as he stood like a statue.

Ida could not feel or understand what was going on at the other side of the chamber but only hoped that whatever it was, it should be finished soon as she could hear footsteps approaching.

Elsie looked at Rees to do something. He had no idea what he should do. But then it struck him.

He had experienced this same aura when Ruth stood up against Florence. His eyes widened in realisation. He vividly remembered how scared Florence was after that.

~"Mr Welby... someone is coming."~ Ida rushed.

Oh no. This was not good!

Without thinking twice, Rees hurriedly pulled Ruth and turned her to face him. He shook her violently while yelling her name.

"Ruth! RUTH!"

Her face softened suddenly as if she was broken from a trance. She blinked rapidly, her eyes moistened. Her lips parted, but she could not understand what happened.

Lester caught Eloise as she held onto her head while moaning in pain. He himself was feeling dizzy, his head felt heavy.

Elsie tried reaching to help her sister, but Eloise pulled her hand out of hers forcefully. Elsie felt bad, but then she turned to Ruth, who was still getting hold of herself.

"Ruth, Ruth!" Rees's voice felt distant and weird to Ruth's ears.

Her blurry vision became clear after a couple of seconds. But her hands shook, her body was covered in perspiration.

As she scanned her surroundings, she found three pairs of eyes staring back at her with a mix of emotions- shock, apprehensiveness and confusion. And Rees... his eyes held only a large question mark and worry.

"Wh-what happened?" She managed to say those words.

"You do not know?"

Ruth shook her head unsurely. Was she supposed to know?

"Are you alright?" Rees then asked.

Not trusting her dry throat and strained voice, she only nodded her head.

Before anyone could react more, they heard a knock on the door.

The smell coming from the other side of the door indicated the identity of the person.

~"Everybody! Act normal!"~ Lester commanded.

He was glad that he could use his mind-link when others nodded their understanding. It meant he had gained back his control over his mind. But his wolf was still disturbed.

He would need to deal with him later.

Ida opened the door with a straight face and bowed in courtesy. "Lady Theodora!"

Theodora accompanied by Fannie, ignored Ida and walked further into the chamber where the others stood. She could feel the tension in the air but had no idea of what had just transpired there.

Rees sighed inwardly thinking by Moon Goddess's grace, Theodora was only a human and not a werewolf or their lives would have been complicated ten folds.

Theodora's sharp hazel eyes did not miss Rees holding Ruth's hand. Elsie signalled Rees silently, and he dropped Ruth's hand immediately.

Theodora narrowed her eyes at him.

"What a pleasant surprise to have all of you at one place!" She studied everyone's face with a fake smile on her face.

"Y-yes. We... we were just discussing something." Elsie tried saving the situation.

Theodora's eyes then moved to the green dress that lay on the floor, and she knew it was not just a casual discussion.

"Lord is asking for all of your presence for breakfast. He waited for fifteen minutes, but none of you came, I had to come myself. Maybe that is the only thing left for me to do.

Still gathering all children and guiding them to the dining room so that they can fill their appetites. Right, Lester?"

They could sense the sarcasm in her words. She was definitely not appeased that Augustus had sent her to call everyone for breakfast.

"We... we are sorry mother! We lost the track of time while talking. Let us not make father wait anymore." Elsie smiled awkwardly, and they began walking out of the room.

After they were left while Eloise still holding onto Lester, it left only Rees and Ruth behind. Ida also came as she was curious about what happened as she could not understand anything from distance.

"Ruth?" Rees called her name.

But avoiding meeting his gaze, Ruth ran out of the room. During breakfast, Lester had only one thing on his mind.

What really happened minutes ago?