A MAZE OF GREED

Ruth walked out of the room after Theodora's subtle threat. She was too embarrassed and upset by the events that all she wanted to do was run home and cry in Mrs Payne's arms.

But would that be a good idea?

How could she seek comfort in the lady's arms who was clearly hiding something from her?

Ruth asked about that white feather to Mrs Payne multiple times, but she dismissed all her questions, saying Ruth was being irrelevant. Ruth's headache grew more than before, and she did not know what to do anymore.

"Miss Moore."

She heard Edwin calling her name after they stepped out of Theodora's building.

She did not stop, kept picking up her feet faster than before.

"Miss Moore, stop."

"What?" She snapped at Edwin but kept walking.

"We need to talk." Came his voice from behind.

Ruth clenched her hands in fists. "I do not want to talk to you right now."

Edwin, already furious, did not like the tone she used on him. "It is an order, Miss Moore."

"I do not care!" Ruth's voice rose by an octave as she replied in frustration. Tears did not stop falling from her eyes.

She entered another building where Elsie had told her to pick her dresses from the washerman. She thought she had been freed from the blue-eyed monster, but she was sadly mistaken.

A loud gasp left her mouth before it got covered by a large hand. She was dragged into a secluded corner where hardly anyone passed by. The only light that made the corner bright was coming from a small window, that was covered by a mesh-like design.

Ruth panicked and started thrashing in the man's stronghold, but he did not let go of her and pushed her into the wall behind.

Her back hurt at the impact, but no sound came from her mouth, as it was covered by him. Daringly she looked up into his cerulean blue eyes to find that they looked of a different shade of blue.

It must be the light playing the tricks, it had to be!

"Ummmhhh... mmmm...."She struggled against him, but the man in front of her was too strong for her.

His face darkened with anger. Edwin's wolf was furious.

"What the hell are you doing?" He demanded darkly.

"I told you the last time to be careful. You promised to not repeat any mistakes. Then what the fuck you did with Fannie?"

Ruth's eyes widened in shock. The man was nothing like the Edwin she was getting used to. He looked like a different person altogether.

Removing his hand from her mouth, he maintained some distance between their bodies, though his human and wolf, both craved for her touch.

"I... I did not do anything." She said in between her breaths.

"Then what happened to Fannie? She could have died!" Edwin cried in frustration.

More than his anger, something else bothered her. Her brows furrowed, and her eyes moistened more as she asked, "Why do you care?"

Edwin looked, taken aback by her question. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you care about her?"

He did not know how to reply to that.

"Let me guess. She must have been great at serving you at somepoint or maybe every night. That is why you care about her, do not you?"

"Miss Moore!" Edwin's wolf warned.

Overpowered by the mix of her emotions, Ruth did not know what she was saying. Tears ran freely from her eyes as she glared at him.

"Yes! I am right! Do not you try to shut me. You also think that it was my fault. You think I tried killing her? And for what? For saying some stupid insults?" She chuckled humourlessly.

"Edwin O'Dell, I am a poor orphaned girl. Do you think this was the first time someone said those things to me? No! I have grown up listening to them and some were even unspeakable. But does that mean I went killing everybody that insulted me? huh"

Edwin was at a loss of words as he stared at her face that was morphed in hurt.

"Did you heard what Lady Theododra said to me? No? She called me homewrecker because I am best friends with Rees. Do you believe that too?"

Now crying hysterically, she wiped her tears angrily with the back of her palm.

The anger in her eyes was replaced by disappointment, and Edwin's wolf shifted uncomfortably inside him.

"For some stupid reason I thought... I thought you... you understand me." She looked into his eyes, conveying the things that her mouth would fail to do.

"You motivated me after Mr Payne's death. You showed me the right path. You always guided me. Yes, I know even though I always hate you, I still believed every word you said.

But it all felt like a sham. How could you think that I would try to kill someone? I am a normal human and not a Lord like you to diminish lives at your will."

The anger again dominated her features and mind.

"You believed them but me because of whatever business you and Fannie have. DO not take me as a fool to not notice you both exchanging glances!

You are such a womanizer, Edwin O'Dell." She yelled, not caring if someone would hear them.

Feeling a bit better after letting it out, Ruth focused on her breaths. Her chest felt heavy, but her eyes did not broke from Edwin's.

Her breath hitched when Edwin stepped closer to her. His face seemed nearer with every passing moment. She was already against the wall and had no place to escape.

Her breaths again lost the rhythm, and her heart picked a faster one. He stared down at her. The intensity of his gaze was scorching yet welcoming. Their breaths mixed together to form a simple harmony.

Edwin rested his forearm on the wall above her head and leaned down till a distance of only inches remained between their faces.

The strange feeling that tugged at Ruth's heart when she was near the old building months ago returned, with full force. She could hear a call- a call of longing. The tingles on her skin that she experienced every time this blue-eyed monster came near her turned into bolts of electricity.

Her heart fluttered so loudly that she feared it would rip her chest and fall out.

Her body shuddered like ripples formed on still lake water when Edwin ran the tip of his fingers on the side of her face.

"Are you jealous, my Luna?" The warm air, coming from his mouth with every word he spoke, bathed her whole being in the water of bliss.

'Luna? What does that mean?' Ruth was confused.

But that thought was sidestepped by the emotions she was experiencing with Edwin so close to her. Their bodies did not touch, but she felt like he had reached the very interiors of her soul.

"Wh-why would I?" Her head spun, but she maintained her composure.

"You tell me. Why are you jealous?"

She released a shaky breath when his fingertips paused momentarily at the end of her jaw as if waiting for her resistance that never came. Taking that as her permission, he let them travel down on the length of her neck.

"I... I am not j-jealous." She breathed out as her heart refused to cooperate with her mind.

Her chest rose higher when she took a deep breath, but soon she realised her mistake when it brushed against his chest. Edwin's movements halted, and she saw him holding his breath only to release it later in a sigh.

Curling his fingers around her neck, he leaned some more till the tips of their noses brushed lightly against each other.

His lips hovered over her pink ones, and not crossing that line was more difficult than taking five wolves at a time.

"You do not need to get jealous of Fannie or anyone else. No other woman intrigues me more than you, Miss Moore."

Ruth's mind was numb, and her heart jolted against her chest at his words which were too genuine, to not believe.

"Then why are you angry?"

Surprisingly she did not stutter this time.

She watched as something else changed in his eyes. All the humour drained from his face.

"I am not angry because she is hurt. I am angry because... because of you."

His answer was misunderstood by Ruth, as she pursed her lips tightly.

"I am angry because you succeeded in attracting everyone's attention at you. You should not have done that, my Luna."

She was about to bite her already bleeding cheek, but Edwin stopped her by touching her lips with his thumb.

"Do not do that."

His warning made her surprised. The unsaid 'why' was heard by him clearly.

Leaning some more, he whispered in her ear. "The smell of your sweet blood awakens my beast."

Ruth's whole body was on fire, burning in his scent, his touch, his overwhelming presence. His lips felt jealous of his thumb that touched her soft lips.

How would it feel to have them in his mouth? He dreamed.

"P-pl-please!" She begged. For what she did not know!

"Ruth... you are death of me!"

He said while pulling back enough to hover over her lips. Just half an inch more, and their lips would meet. Edwin and his wolf jumped in excitement at that thought.

Ruth closed her eyes, waiting for something... anything that he wanted to do. Letting go of control, Edwin's mind clouded with her scent and the way her heart ran faster than a horse, the way her body reacted to him.

He leaned some more, and before their lips could meet, a noise outside startled them, pulled them apart, ruining the moment.