A MAZE OF GREED

"Ruth... Ruth..."

Someone shook her shoulders lightly, but she ignored it.

"Ruth!"

The shaking intensified. Whose world was set on fire?? And even if it was, then what could Ruth do for that?

"RUTH!!!"

"aaahh"

Ruth shrieked in fright at that ear-splitting scream.. Her terrified eyes travelled around in confusion.

When they settled, they saw a smirking woman, stood in front of her with her hands crossed under her chest. Her smirk soon turned into a frown.

"Thea! What the hell is wrong with you?" Ruth groaned, rubbing her itching eyes.

"Oh no young lady! Do not use that tone on me. What the hell is wrong with YOU? Why were you sleeping like a dead rock in Mr Cooper's shop?" Thea chided her friend.

"Thea, rocks are non living things. So practically they ARE dead!" Ruth answered in a monotone.

Thea thinned her lips in annoyance. Her friend was too smart for her own good.

"That is not the point of this discussion. Tell me the answer!" She demanded.

Ruth stretched her sore limbs and yawned, opening her mouth so wide that Thea could stuff her handbag into it.

"I am tired and could not get any sleep last night." Ruth again rested her chin on the table, her eyes still heavy and drooped.

"Ruth!" Thea snapped again.

She passed a glass of water in Ruth's way and with a glare ordered her to drink it. Ruth obliged and did what she was told.

Thea watched her red eyes and tired face. The woman had not seen a single day of peace and leisure since her mother passed away. The Luna of the werewolf breed and the wife of Edwin O'Dell had to work so relentlessly, just to keep her job safe.

She was not even receiving extra money for working on Mrs Linlithgow's dress. Rees told Thea how infuriated Edwin became when Zoe told him about Mrs Linlithgow's order and how the selfish shop owner was exploiting Ruth.

He could have just set his pitiful shop on fire along with him. Ruth efforts did not bother him. On the contrary, he felt proud of his mate for not giving up, and keep pushing her limits.

What bothered him was Mr Cooper's greediness. How could he order not only Ruth but any of his employees to complete a dress within four days and not pay extra money for it?

"Ruth are you okay?" Thea concerned.

Ruth only nodded her head, still half asleep. "Yes. I think so." She mumbled.

"Let me do some work for you." Thea offered.

"No, Thea. You already have much pending work to do. I do not want you to get in a trouble for me with Mr Cooper. You know how he said that only I have to work on this dress." Ruth tried stretching her lips in a bright smile but failed, only showing her miserable attempt.

"That old man is..."

"Yes Thea? Do you have anything to say to me? If yes then I am all ears."

Thea shut her eyes tight and inhaled, then exhaled. Putting up her wide smile as if she had nothing but praises for the man, she faced Mr Cooper, who had come to stand behind her at some point in their conversation.

"No, Mr Cooper. I was not talking about you. How can I call you an old man? It was someone else I was talking about." She showed her two sets of white teeth till her cheeks hurt.

"Hmm... then I would like to see you on your workstation. And Ruth... do not waste time. You have a deadline to follow!"

"Y-yes, Mr Cooper."

Thea's shoulders slumped down. Passing an apologetic look to Ruth's way, Thea walked to her workstation.

*

*

*

The night came, and Lester was the most excited one amongst the men who had gathered again in the same darkroom. Only some torches lit on the walls provided little light. It was enough for the dangerous creatures, but not for the remaining three men.

Edwin proudly watched at the dead body of Cantonova's spy. Rees asked if the dead body should be removed, but Edwin denied it.

He ordered to keep it in the restraints of the shackles as a reminder for the three left, who they were messing with.

The two guards were on constant watch, not closing their eyes even for a minute.

"Oh Moon Goddess, I thought I was late!" Lester mumbled in relief.

While Edwin kept staring at his wonder from the last night, Lester realised that he missed bringing snacks for tonight's show. Not wanting to enjoy it with half stomach, he ran using his werewolf speed to get some snacks for himself.

Any sane human might have vomited at the thought of eating something in that hell. But Lester was barely a human, so had no problem with that.

Rees came to stand beside him and placed a bottle of wine on the chair that Edwin used to sit on. Now that he had to stand up for pulling a good show, he did not need that chair. Hence, Lester decided to put it to some use and sprawled his food and drinks all over it.

"Hmm... now I am ready! Let's begin the show!" Lester nodded like a chief guest who was invited especially for the show.

Edwin's jaw twitched in irritation. If they two were alone or with Rees, he would have snapped back at him. But in front of other people, it was not wise to insult an alpha even though he was getting on his nerves with his childish acts.

Edwin could not complain, for this was not something temporary, and he had to bear it till eternity!

"Gentlemen, I hope the time we gave to you might have brightened your minds. It is very unfortunate that you had to lose a friend of yours. I hope tonight turns out to be something different than the previous night."

The three men could not utter a word, their tongues became heavy. They only kept looking at the man in front of them with fear-stricken eyes.

"Now shall we resume the game?"

"pl-please do not do this to us! Please! If you want to kill us then do it once but stop this torture!" The spy of the Centaurs finally broke.

Edwin's face softened hearing that, and he stepped closer to the man. He gently ran his hand from the man's face with a tender look in his eyes. The man trembled, holding his breath.

"You are misunderstanding me. I do not want to kill any of you. I would..... I have never do it. But as you know everyone has some weakness." Edwin said softly. As if he was speaking with a kid telling him a lesson of life.

Every pair of ears and eyes were solely focused on Edwin.

"And do you know what my weakness is?" Edwin asked, sounding almost vulnerable.

The man shook his head in negation.

Edwin leaned a little more as if he was about to reveal a secret.

"I can not tolerate the challenge to my authority."

His demeanour suddenly changed. His face turned passive, his eyes hardened, his voice came like a hiss of a dangerous viper.

His hand that rested on the man's throat tightened around it. That made the man gasp for air. It dawned upon him that no matter how sweet the man's words seemed to his ears, they held nothing but a promise of destruction.

"M-my Lord... please... I... I will tell you everything. P-Please start the game. B-but if I win... w-will you..."

Edwin smiled in satisfaction. "If you win the game, I promise you will get the freedom as a reward."

"R-really?"

"It is an O'Dell's word to you!"

That encouraged the man to participate in the game.

"What the fuck you are doing, moron? You are bowing in front of an enemy! Will your family and the breed will be proud of your actions?" The fourth spy, appointed by the Council, spat in anger.

"Do you really think that he will let you go safely out of this land? He is a werewolf! The cunning and predatory creatures. He will not let his prey slip out of his hands easily!" The first spy agreed to the fourth one.

Edwin let go of the man's throat and stepped back to let the three men have some room for their discussion.

"Then what the hell do you want me to do, huh? Die here at the hands of him? Nothing is more precious than life! If you want to die then die! But I will not let my fate turn out like him!"

The man looked at the dead body that accompanied the rest of the last night and the whole day. He had made up his mind. He did not want to die in a foreign land at the hand of the enemy.

He had seen what Edwin was capable of and how he lacked mercy. He was not a leader of the werewolves for no reason.

He recalled what his Lord had told him before assigning him the mission.

-"Every werewolf in Vincardine is dangerous. But the one you should never cross your paths with is Edwin O'Dell. If you fail to that... there remains no escaping route for you! The only thing that can save you from the beast is his words.

If you convince him and make a deal with him in your favour, he will never turn back on his word!"-

That was all running in the spy's mind. And that was all he was planning to do.