A MAZE OF GREED

Beads of sweat flew all over her body. Her face was a reflection of fear. Inaudible words escaped her lips, but they were incoherent, impossible to understand.

Her heart drummed in anticipation, her breaths shallow. ​​

"M-mother..." That was the first audible word that came from her mouth.

She was tired of walking in the dark tunnel. Her ankles screamed at her to stop.

But she kept dragging her feet with every ounce of energy that had remained inside her because her eyes had caught a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel.

"Mother!" The word came louder and clear this time.

Pain shot through her right calf that travelled straight to the back of her thigh, and she staggered, exhaling air through her mouth. Her mind screamed at her to give up, that she could not make it, but her heart... it sang the song of hope and after contemplating for some moments, she decided to follow that melody.

With a loud grunt, she pulled herself together and resumed walking in the direction of the faint light at the end of the dark tunnel.

"Ruth, my child!"

She heard her mother' comforting sweet voice calling her. Tears of joy streamed down her face, her eyes impatient to see her mother's sweet face again.

Ignoring the gruesome pain in her legs, she kept on pushing her body forward, but the faint light seemed distant and non-approachable.

She screamed, loud and frequently, till her throat ran dry. The tears were nowhere near stopping. She kept calling for her mother again and again, but she didn't reply.

"Mother... wait for me, please! I am coming... I am coming to you. Please don't go. I-I beg you, please don't go!" Her loud sobs echoed around the enclosed structure but to no avail.

Her body was about to give up. Her heart shattered. But the yearning to see her mother once again conquered over everything. And she lounged again in the direction of that faint light. But instead of landing her feet on the ground, she found herself falling into the depths.

An ear-piercing scream echoed around as she kept falling into the great depths with no promise of survival.

"gggghhhhhaaaaaahhh...."

Ruth's body jolted with shock, and snapping out of her nightmare, she woke up as if she was electrocuted. Her heart was ready to bounce out of her chest, her vision murky.

Her body rocked back and forth while trembling in a cold sweat. Soon the ghastly expressions on her face turned into the tottering one.

Events of the recent days passed in front of her eyes in a flash. She had lost everyone dear to her, Thea, Rees and Florence.

'Now even mother is also drifting away from me.'

That thought collapsed her world, and she cried her heart out throughout the lonely night.

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A wolf growled in frustration, his voice ringed in the silence of the dawn. Another wolf that was running with him, barred his teeth at him in a warning.

~"It is not nighttime. You are too loud."~

~"What else should I do then? Young Master is nowhere in the woods. We have searched everywhere. Are you sure that he ran here from 'the great manor'?"~

Before the wolf replied, a grey wolf came to halt beside them.

~"Any clues?"~ He asked in an authoritative voice.

The two wolves put their head down while making small sounds as if they were ashamed of answering. And they were!

~"Rees, the Sun is about to rise. Soon everyone in the manor will wake up. What should we do now?"~ Another wolf asked from Rees's left side.

As per Rees's directions, Edwin's men had divided themselves into groups to cover parts of the vast expanse of woods to search Edwin. They sniffed, ran and searched every corner of the woods but Edwin was nowhere. He had disappeared into thin air without a trace.

~"I think you should go back to the manor and handle Lord Augustus and the family members. No one amongst us can deal with the situation with them, except you. We will keep looking for Young Master."~

Rees's wolf made a rumbling sound at the back of his throat which clearly showed his disapproval of the suggestion.

~"NO! I can't go back without Master. I am responsible for his safety and here I don't know his whereabouts. He is not even hiding, I can feel it and yet we are not able to trace him."~ His loud voice boomed in every wolf's pack link around him.

Those who were at different parts of the woods, stilled at their places to let their second in command decide the further course of action.

~"But Rees, the family-"~

~"I don't care about anything else than Master's safety. You go and handle the situation there. Make any kind of excuse or tell any lie, I don't care! But I am not resting until I find Young Master!"~ He was determined like a solid rock.

Everyone was aware of Rees's dedication and loyalty towards Edwin. They had witnessed it before in critical situations. And they knew that it was pointless to argue with Rees when it was about their Young Master.

A minute passed in silence and Rees tried hard to not growl loudly that could make the sky tremble.

The wolf who had suggested Rees going back to 'the great manor' took a step ahead.

~"Fine. I will take care of the situation back at manor and I will keep you informed about all the details. But if Lord Augustus gets suspicious, then I will call for you, and you have to come."~

Lord Augustus was a cunning man who didn't trust easily. Only one person could stand in front of him, eye to eye. And that very person was missing for the last three hours.

Agreeing to him and after giving instructions to other wolves, Rees decided to go to a place that his mind was pointing at for quite some time.

'Why didn't I think about it before?'

His legs carried his body in rapidly against the winds. The Sun would have appeared from behind the horizon anytime and he had to hurry before that happened.

The pads of his four legs landed on the ground below heavily but they moved as light as a feather. His tail shimmied with his advancing steps.

Soon he reached the place where he thought he would find Edwin. It was the same place deep in the woods where the first dead body was found. Since that day Edwin's life had turned the directions.

Rees's grey wolf slowed down, his heavy breaths audible against the eeriness of the place. Lord Augustus and the Council had strictly warned everyone to not go near the places where the five dead bodies had been found.

All these five places were not far from each other. In fact, they were situated in close circumference.

The grey wolf padded ahead, his ears and tail straight in the air like arrows to sense any movement. His brownish-black eyes with gold streaks scanned the area in the dark keenly.

He sniffed the air around him and the familiar scent of his master entered his nostrils. His wolf purred in the hope to find Edwin there but his hope crushed down in the next minutes.

There was Edwin's scent only but not him.

Again Rees was met with failure and that annoyed him to great lengths. His wolf circled around the place where Edwin's scent was stronger.

~"Where are you, Master? Please tell me, please!"~ Rees tried to reach Edwin through the mind link in another futile attempt.

Edwin had mastery in controlling his senses, his wolf and his mind. That was why he was destined and deserving to be a leader of the werewolf breed. An alpha of all the alphas of every werewolf pack!

Rees felt dejected, but his heart was not ready to accept the defeat. He had to find Edwin before anyone got the news of his disappearance.

If only he had not gone to meet Thea then this might have not happened. Edwin and his wolf were too disturbed and livid after hearing the man who was an important link in the case of five deaths and who was brutally killed by Edwin for threatening Edwin with the life of his loved ones.

Rees shouldn't have left him in that state even though he was unconscious then.

Suddenly, a bulb went off in his head when he recalled that incident of tonight.

Was it possible for Edwin to go there?

That questioned turned his blood cold and without wasting more time he decided to go to the place he had in his mind. But before that, he needed to transform into his human form and find clothes to cover his naked body.

Rees was too lost in his thought to notice the sudden coldness in the air. It was uncomfortable and eerie. He was about to go in search of clothes when his ears stood up on the guard when they caught a rustling sound.

He sniffed around lifting his muzzle in the air. The coldness in the air increased considerably and the feeling of another presence made the grey wolf tensed.

He roamed his eyes in all directions, his body was ready to launch an attack. He was quiet, analysing the situation.

He turned at a lightning speed when someone ran over the leaves and twigs. He bared his canines in that direction, his streamlined body ready to jump in that direction.

Not hearing any movement again for some time, he slowly walked on all his fours on alert. He parted the thick branches of the trees with his head but there was no one.

The only strange scent lingered in the air that curdled his blood in alarm.