A MAZE OF GREED

"He was right when he said he will take care of you." Thea said calmly.

"What are you saying? Look at this Thea. This is done by his cousin. How do you expect me to believe that he would take care of me instead of his cousin after this?" Now Ruth was angry.

Thea was her best friend and, yet she was siding with Edwin. That was unfair!

"Ruth... stop assuming and listen. You may not remember it now, but stress your brain and visit that night again. Do you remember how you were saved?"

Ruth shook her head. She recalled that night in the snippets. She remembered the animal attacked her and how Eloise and Fannie left her in misery.

She closed her eyes, stressing onto her brain. Her brows knitted as she found it difficult to remember. But her eyes opened after she remembered a familiar voice... it was calling her name.

"It was Young Master, Ruth. He saved you that night from that wild animal. If he had not reach there on time, then you would not have lashing out on him today." Thea told.

Ruth was shocked to hear that. "But he was out of town with Lord Augustus and Lord Lester. He even told me to take care of myse-" She stopped abruptly, as Thea gave her a meaningful look.

"Yes. He was. But when you did not return home late in the night, Mrs Payne was worried. He came back from mid-journey only to find you. After he saved you, he brought you here.

This is his place, his safe sanctuary. The same old building where we once came searching for Rees. Do you remember that?"

Ruth nodded her head.

"Young Master took care of you. He took care of everything... from changing you wounds to giving you medicines. If he had any bad intention then would have he done all of this for you? Would have he gone through so much efforts for you?"

Ruth was speechless. She had many things on her mind. And the most prominent was why? Why did he do all of that for her?

"You should not have treat him that way Ruth. He is an O'Dell after all."

Ruth was guilty. If everything that Thea said was true, then she indeed had made a mistake.

After that, Thea changed the topic to let Ruth have a breather. She talked about everything that she had originally planned. Ruth listened to her but, none of her words registered in her brain.

Her mind was distracted by the blue-eyed monster and the look of hurt in his eyes before he left.

"Thea."

"And you know how- yes?" Thea stopped abruptly, when Ruth called her name.

"How did he know that I was missing when he was on the journey?

Thea stilled at that question. She facepalmed mentally. She was so busy making Ruth realise Edwin's efforts that she failed to think about the basic thing.

How did he know?

The look on Ruth's face showed how determined she was to get that answer. Thea smiled uncomfortably, racing her brain to come with some believable answer.

"He... erm..."

She was saved by a knock on the door.

"Thea.... Thea is everything okay? Come out before Master returns please!"

Rees came as a knight in the shining armour to save her from doom.

She hurriedly stood up.

"Yes, I am coming." She called loudly, facing the door.

Then turning to Ruth, she saw her alarmed face.

"Do not worry. I have to go now but I promise you will meet Mrs Payne today, okay?"

Ruth did not want to stay alone. But then, she needed isolation and time to recollect her memories of these past days. So she nodded in understanding.

"Okay."

Thea smiled then left the room, leaving Ruth alone to ponder over everything.

*

*

*

The brown wolf sniffed the black wolf's scent. Even after running for miles, he was nowhere to be seen. But Lester knew that Edwin had run this same way. He pushed himself to run faster.

He howled, calling for Edwin. At that time, he did not care if a human saw him. He did not think about anything else than finding Edwin.

Lord Augustus was already getting suspicious. Lady Theodora even asked Lester about Edwin's whereabouts and even hinted if it was related to Ruth. Lester had a hard time controlling himself from snapping at that woman.

How dare she humiliate Ruth like that?

After a few more minutes, Lester realised that he had crossed Vincardine's northern border and had entered a space that was unclaimed. It was a buffer zone between Vincardine and the neighbouring pack.

He only hoped that Edwin had not crossed the boundaries of the neighbouring pack. It was not as if he did, then their alpha would mind it. But if the other pack members saw the werewolf leader in such a distressed state, then it might send wrong signals.

The brown wolf howled again. He came to a halt after running that long. His chest moved faster as he gasped for breath. His obsidian eyes roamed around the place. Edwin's scent was stronger here.

The brown wolf circled the clearing while sniffing the air. He stopped and sighed in relief when he saw the black wolf sitting under a tree with its head resting on his front legs.

He looked... sad.

If only he was at least ten times smaller than his original size, then teenage girls would have gushed over how cute he looked. Lester shook his head at that wild thought of his.

He slowly padded towards him. He watched as the black wolf's ears stood up straight. He had picked his presence, but he did not move.

Nearing him, the brown wolf rubbed his snout on the side of the black wolf- a sign that he cared and that everything was going to be okay.

The black wolf purred in the argument. He did not believe the brown wolf. Lester's wolf then pushed him with his snout multiple times. He was telling the black wolf to get up. But he did not listen.

Giving up on his attempts, the black wolf made a defeating sound at the back of his throat then sat down beside the black wolf. They stayed in silence for some time. Lester did not disturb him and, Edwin did not push him away.

Which was both a surprising and positive thing.

The black wolf moved and shifted into his human form. The brown wolf followed his leader. Both men were stark naked and, to get the clothes to cover themselves, they needed to get back into the woods of Vincardine.

But as there was the slightest chance of any human presence, they did not care about their nudity.

"It hurts Lester." Edwin finally broke the silence.

"I know." That was all Lester had to say.

He knew he was hurt. But the situation was so complicated that he did not know how to help his friend.

"She wants everyone but me." Edwin gulped down the lump in his throat.

The things that woman made him feel... they were worse yet painfully beautiful.

"That is aftershock effect Edwin. She needs rest to get better." Lester said.

Edwin shook his head as his wild coffee brown tendrils fell on his forehead. They were dishevelled after running against the direction of the wind.

"I am tired, Lester. I am tired of this back and forth game. Sometimes I wished I could summon my old self and just claim her even without her consent. Which woman can refuse me, I used to think.

But Ruth... she makes me want to be a better version of me. She makes me want to behave like a gentleman, like a man that she can fall in love with. She has made me feel many things even without my knowledge. I did not even realise when and how I fell in love with her."

Lester's eyes snapped to Edwin. "You... you love her?"

Now Lester was not underestimating Ruth. Not at all. In fact, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

But with Edwin's past and his special taste for a woman who was wild like an adventure, bold, confident and strong both physically and mentally, Lester was surprised that Edwin had fallen in love with a woman who was everything but that.

Edwin nodded his head with a small smile grazing his lips. "Yes, I love her Lester! I finally found a woman that can keep me tied to the hem of her dress and I would not complain even for once."

Lester was emotional. If only he was like Elsie, then he would have jumped in joy while clapping enthusiastically with tears of happiness welled up in his eyes.

Spending a lifetime with a mate without love was torture in its own way. And Lester prayed that his friend would not go through it.

"Then stand up and get your woman, Edwin. Show her how much you love her. Make her fall for you. Make her realise how she is wasting time in pushing you away.

You are our leader- the strongest amongst the strongest. And Moon Goddess has chosen Ruth as your mate because she has a purpose... a greater purpose of keeping you sane. She is meant to make you stronger."

"But she does not want me Lester." Edwin almost cried in desperation.

Lester put his hand on Edwin's shoulder and smiled. "Falling in love with is easy but, living in a relationship is not my friend. Love does not come easily. It demands suffering, sacrifices. It tastes, teaches and even breaks those two persons.

But in the end, what makes a relationship successful is how much those two individuals do not give up on each other and keep fighting till they unite for eternity. That is how people LOVE each other!"

Edwin replayed Lester's every word over and over. The more he pondered over them, the more they made sense to him.

"You are right. I have fallen in love with Ruth. Now is the time to make her fall for me!" He stood and smirked down at Lester.

They hugged each other and turned to leave when Lester suddenly halted.

"What?"

"Do you... do you smell that?"

Edwin sniffed around the air. He frowned and, the both of them walked around the place, sniffing some more.

"Do you think what I think?" Lester asked.

Edwin gave a single nod. "Rogues!"