A MAZE OF GREED

Rees had finally opened his heart to his mate. He knew that all the information he was giving to Thea, was overwhelming for her, and she couldn't digest it all at the same time.

Hence, he decided to skip some information and told only the necessary things. ​​

"She was shattered. Her family felt ashamed of her, her friends suddenly turned strangers and her mate... he was unbothered, living his life as if nothing happened." Anger radiated out of his body in waves that hit the shores of Thea's heart.

"When her bond with her pack and its members broke, her beast got unshackled. She had lost the hope to live, and all she needed was some way to let it all out. She was blind in rage, and that burned down the whole village in a single night.

She had lost herself in the pits of agony to understand that those were innocent people, unaware of the existence of the supernaturals. She didn't show mercy on anyone and killed every living soul that came into her way."

Thea's heart clenched tightly to see Rees in pain. She understood how hard it must be for him to tell that to her.

"What happened with her after that?"

After a brief pause, he opened his mouth to answer. "We will talk about that some other time."

Rees was exhausted, mentally and emotionally. But more than that, he left the topic incomplete because he knew that Thea was not ready to listen to the aftermath.

Thea didn't push him further to talk. But the sky was still dark, and the sleep was nowhere in sight. So she decided to turn the course of their conversation to some lighter subjects.

"You mean there are more werewolves in Vincardine?"

"Yes."

"Should I be afraid of them? Are there any more supernatural creatures here? How can I recognise them?"

Pulling her in his arms, he made her rest her head on his shoulder.

"Yes, there are many werewolves in Vincardine. And do not worry about the other supernatural creatures as we all have marked our territories long ago, and we do not cross them without the respective leader's permission.

And about recognising a werewolf, it is quite difficult for humans because, after years and years of survival struggle, we have turned skilled to keep our identity well hidden. If you suspect someone as a werewolf, you can directly ask me and, of course, not that person."

"Okay. Now tell me about the marking. And for your knowledge, my neck hurts more than my southern region. Your wolf sank his sharp teeth in my neck. I know that the blood came out because it was there on his canines."

Instinctively her hand reached to the sore spot on her neck where Rees's wolf had bitten her. Her fingers traced the marks of his teeth on her neck.

Rees moved to his side to get a good look at Thea's neck. He removed her hair away then ran his callous fingers on the puncture marks with a proud smile.

"This is what marking is! My mark looks very beautiful on you, mate!" He commented with a husky voice.

"What? If this is marking then why did we-"

"We did the basket making, because it was a way to connect my human form with you and this marking was for the connection between you and my wolf."

Thea made an 'o' with her mouth. Her action made her look like a kid who had got new erudition.

"What does this connection do? And how do you know my thoughts? Do you also know magic?" She asked in excitement.

Rees shook his head, still running his fingers on his mark on her neck. "No, I can't do magic. That is the power of witches and other breeds but not us. This connection binds your soul with mine till eternity.

Even when the mate dies, a part of them remains alive in our hearts. This connection between the mates is unbreakable and non-extinguishable. And knowing about your thoughts, there is a thing called mind link."

"Mind link?"

"That is a medium through which we communicate with each other while in our wolf form. There are two parts to it. One is called a 'pack link' that we share with our pack members. The other is called a 'mate link' that we share with our mates only.

No one can hear what we think or communicate with the other person. We can use it even in our human form but it is stronger while we are in our wolf form."

"Doesn't that count as an invasion of privacy? You can't just intrude in someone's mind!"

"Are you afraid that I might read naughty thoughts that run in your head?" Rees teased her by pinching her cheek lightly.

Thea swatted his hand away with a serious face. "I am serious, Rees. This is no joke."

"After years of training and practising, we learn to control the mechanism of our mind. When we feel like we don't want to share either of our links, we just close the doors of our minds to block anyone to reach it."

Thea took good two minutes to wrap her head around the pile of information that she had received in a single night. Rees sensed her state.

"Enough of your questions now. You have a lifetime to learn about my world because soon you are going to be a part of it. Now let's take some rest. You are tired!"

A yawn as if on cue left her mouth and she yawned like a cat. "Hmm.."

Rees pulled her down and adjusted his body in a way that she snuggled close to him and his hand patted her back to lull her to sleep.

Five minutes passed and Rees thought that his curious cat was now asleep when he heard her say something.

"Rees... you said that every breed has a leader. Who is a leader of your breed, the werewolves?"

Thea's mind had already started its journey towards a peaceful sleep so when Rees answered her question, it only caught up with the name but didn't find time to react.

"Edwin O'Dell!"

That was the last thing that she heard before she drifted into a deep slumber.

*

*

*

The broad-shouldered man looked like a giant on a kid's bed. He was asleep peacefully but his kneaded brows were speaking another story.

The two guards who were assigned to take care of unconscious Edwin by Rees, stood by the bedside.

One of them was still not over the trauma of witnessing the dark side of his master.

"Look... look, he is moving." He stuttered with a worried face when a grunt rumbled in Edwin's chest.

"I think we should put him back to sleep." He suggested while taking out the amber coloured bottle from his uniform pocket.

"No. Don't act like a fool! Rees has told us to not do it." The other guard chided the first one.

The man's lips turned down. "Yes, but he is not here to face master if he wakes up. Where did he go?"

Shrugging his shoulder the other guard replied. "I don't know. He only said that he had some important work to do. Who can question the mighty Rees?!" There was a hint of sarcasm in his words.

"Sometimes I envy him, you know."

"Why?"

"He has everything. A position that we dream of, trust of the Young Master, and now he has found his mate." He sighed sadly.

The other guard laughed at the first one. "If anyone hears you say such things about Rees then you know where that will put you. And how can you be Young Master's shadow when you are scared like a rabbit even when he is asleep?"

Their conversation was interrupted when Edwin again made a grunting voice. His face was contorted into distress and his lips moved to push out some incoherent mumble.

The humour left from the faces of the guards and they watched their master in an alert.

"What should we do now? Even the potion has no power to bind him for some hours!" The guard who was already bounding on the balls of his heels due to worry whispered in his partner's ear.

With every passing second, Edwin's movements turned wild and aggressive. He was yet to regain consciousness but it looked as if he was watching a bad dream.

Cold sweat broke on his forehead, the beads trickled down the side of his face. The veins in his body popped out trying to tear his skin. His palms fisted tightly at his sides and his body turned taut with the coiled tension.

The two guards were now scared to take a step closer to him. They tried to reach Rees through their pack link only to met with the closed door. They tried again and again but to no avail.

Rees had closed his pack link for some time to spend it with Thea. Tonight was special for both of them and he didn't want any disturbance.

He had made sure to put enough potion on the cloth with which he had covered Edwin's nose to make him inhale it. He was sure that Edwin would not wake up before the morning but this time he misjudged it.