A MAZE OF GREED

"No!" Rees answered with a straight face.

Thea's fidgety fingers stopped for a moment, and her heart missed a beat hearing his answer. ​​

Her mind was about to go into a frenzy when Rees elaborated further, "Feeling that special pull is not always equal to love at first sight. It is... um... more like an instant interest in someone.

It takes time to fall in love with the mate. Some even fight for months or even a time longer than that, but in their heart, they crave each other's attention and acceptance. But for us, the supernaturals, it is easier to love our mate because we know that it is destined by the Moon Goddess. She is our mother, mother of the werewolf breed.

No one can disrespect her wish by not accepting the mate bond. But then there is a feeling called love. Sometimes, rarely, to be honest, the people who belong to different races, especially humans, reject their mates."

"What? I wish I knew this before then I also might have rejected you!" Thea teased Rees with a small frown on her face to convince him.

But the next second, she realised her mistake when Rees's eyes darkened in an instant, and he bared his long teeth at her. His wolf was furious at her joke.

His hand darted towards her in a blink of an eye to grab her by the throat. He pushed her into the headrest of the bed harshly, and the impact caused a mild pain shot in the back of her head when it bumped onto the hard surface.

He looked murderous.

"Say that again and you will be at the receiving end of my evil side!" He hissed dangerously on her face.

Thea's blood had run cold, and her face paled like white paper. She just teased him. She had done that before, and Rees's reactions were not anywhere near to the one right now.

Whenever she teased him like that, he either excused himself for some time to go to the washroom or something or just kept quiet for some time only to change the topic afterwards.

~"Is this how he always felt when I teased him?"~

"Yes! This is how you make me feel every time you say that you would have chosen someone else over me or have rejected me. I didn't react then because you didn't know my truth. But now... think ten times before uttering such foul words again!"

He was dangerously close to her face that made her body shiver but not in excitement. To not make him angrier, she nodded her head in understanding to pacify this monster.

"I...I will... not say such a thing again." She croaked out the words that made him lessen his grip on her throat then to pulled his hand away.

Thea was too afraid to even touch her hurt neck, so she focused on her breathing.

Minutes passed in silence, and she didn't dare to lift her head. Rees had calmed down by now, and as soon as he regained complete control from his wolf, he realised what he had done.

Searching through the jumbled mess of words, he finally picked some to begin again. "I... am sorry, Thea. I shouldn't have done that. But that is how my wolf is. That is how I am!

We supernatural creatures, especially werewolves, are very possessive and aggressive by nature. I didn't mean to hurt you, but when you said that you would have rejected me if you had a choice, I and my wolf couldn't take it.

That was the reason I couldn't bring myself to tell you my real identity sooner."

Rees stopped talking when Thea didn't make any move to let him know what she wanted. He tried to rummage through her mind, but now that she had a fair idea that he could read her thoughts somehow, she tried hard to not think about anything in particular.

But the mate bond was not only useful to peek through the other person's mind, but it also meant that they could feel each other's feelings.

"When the mate rejects, cheats or leaves a werewolf, there is no gruesome pain greater than that. A few years ago, a small village to the North-West of Vincardine witnessed massive bloodshed. Entire village had transformed into a graveyard overnight."

"My father told me about it." Thea's curiosity overpowered her fear and anger that she decided to let Rees continue the conversation.

"They declared that it was an attack of a skulk of foxes and only a handful of people had become their prey, not the entire village."

Thea listened attentively to Rees's serious voice with anticipation. She was aware of this incidence because the news had spread like wildfire in the entire country. Everyone had their side of the story, but no one knew the truth.

"It was not an animal attack, Thea. It was a werewolf who was rejected by her mate."

"Oh my God!" She covered her mouth, ghastly expressions on her face.

"How can she be so cruel, Rees? There were children and elderly people amongst the deads. How can anyone be so ruthless?" Her heart pained for those innocent lives that had to leave this world early than they were supposed to.

"She was my friend, Thea."

Her body froze at his words. Out of all the possibilities, her mind had not considered this one. She didn't know what to feel anymore.

Suddenly a pang of heart rose in her heart, but she didn't know why. She was supposed to be angry at that she-wolf, and a part of her was, but then this sudden appearance of pain confused her at great lengths.

"We were together during our training years at the academy. She was this kind and sweet girl, beautiful inside and out."

Thea's lips twitched upon hearing those words of appreciation from Rees for another woman, but it was not the right time to point it out.

"She was a dreamer, a passionate believer in the mate bond. When she turned twenty, that is the age when the supernatural creatures become able to recognise their mate, she was bursting with excitement.

I will dedicate everything that belongs to me to my mate, even my life, she once told me. I used to make fun of her for her hopelessly romantic nature but prayed for her dreams to come true from my heart."

The pang of hurt that had sprouted in a part of Thea overshadowed her other emotions like the dark clouds overshadow the light before the rainfall.

With great efforts, he continued, "Her mate belonged to another breed of supernatural creatures, and he rejected her without a second thought. It was a rare case when someone rejects their mate and thus this incidence created great turmoil in our world."

"Which breed he belonged to?" Thea couldn't help but ask.

Rees clenched his fists in anger and gritted the words out. "You don't need to know about them. All you need to know is that don't ever ask me about them."

She placed her hand on his tightened fist, wrapping his white knuckles under her slender fingers. Her small gesture helped him to calm a bit, and he was grateful to her for that.

"She was heartbroken, Thea. She had finally got something that she had dreamed of all her life. Within a moment, all her happiness got snatched away from her, brutally."

The level of shock kept on increasing with every piece of new information. "What happened to her?" She asked slowly.

The hurt inside her kept sprouting more and more that made her touch her chest over her heart with her other hand.

"Suddenly, the most likeable girl turned a topic of mockery. Some pitied her while some felt ashamed of her. Her pack... they disbanded her to turn her into a rogue."

"Pack? Rogue? Sorry but I don't understand it."

Thea felt like she was interrupting him frequently and he couldn't even spill his heart out. But she needed to know these things to understand the gravity of the situation.

Rees sighed in understanding that he had to be more elaborative while talking about his world in front of her.

"We werewolves live in a group, a tightly bonded family known as a pack. About a few decades ago, we used to live in separate and isolated territories in a single township. Other supernaturals used to do the same.

But... things changed after some... misfortunate events. And now all the supernaturals have to cohabitate with the humans by keeping our identities secret."

"Ohh... and what is rogue?"

"When a werewolf gets disbanded or abandoned by the pack members, they turn into a rogue. A werewolf, though dangerous, can never harm any innocent. But the rogues are not like us.

When their bond with the pack and its members gets broken, their human side loses control and their wolves takes the charge. And wolves are predators, so when a werewolf turns into a rogue, they lost their sense of right and wrong. All they understand is blood and hunt."

That sent chills to her bones and the tremble in her heart didn't go unnoticed by Rees. He intertwined his large fingers with her sender ones and started rubbing her knuckles.

"This is too much to take in. But what happened to your friend?"

Thea asked while looking at Rees's pained face and embraced herself for the worst to come.