A MAZE OF GREED

Augustus could not pull the memory of that day out of his mind. It was imprinted on his heart and soul like a seal made up of molten metal poured in the crevices of his wounded heart.

He chugged down another glass of wine down his throat. The inner muscle wall of his throat burned as his acidic bile threatened to erupt. He suppressed it down as it touched his food pipe. Its bittery acidic aftertaste was worse than he thought.

His heart flattened under the enormous pressure of those haunting memories of his past.

*** Augustus stood silently shaking in anger after hearing how disappointed his father was in him and how he wished that he never existed in his life. All those years that he had spent pleasing his father felt wasted.

"So you mean I do not have any right over what belongs to you as your son?" Augustus finally asked, keeping his eyes glued to the floor.

"You still have a doubt in your mind?" His father retorted arrogantly.

Walter was listening to the exchange between his father and the man, who was younger than him, but he had considered him no less than a brother.

Walter lost his mother at a young age, and since then, although his father had done his best to keep him happy, he had missed his mother very much. His father or anyone could not have filled up the void left by his deceased mother.

He understood how it felt to be alone, even in the middle of a crowd. Walter got to know about his father's one-night stand that ended up in the birth of Augustus. He was angry and hurt at first.

Then he recalled what his mother used to say.

-"A child is like a flower in God's garden- innocent and pure. No child deserves the penance or punishment of their parents' deeds."-

And Walter bought every word she said.

He always empathised with Augustus, but his younger brother, although illegitimate, never reciprocated his warmth. Augustus was never impolite or rude with Walter. He was just... guarded. He was guarding his vulnerable self against the grim world.

"Father. May I say something?"

"Of course, Walter!" His father replied.

"As your son, the O'Dell family's legacy and everything that belongs to you will be mine when I will take the reigns as a leader of the werewolf breed, right?" Walter asked, not giving any hint of his thoughts.

"Absolutely! You will have complete authority and power to use this fortune and your rights as a leader at your discretion."

That was what Walter needed to hear.

He wrapped his hand around Augustus and looked into his eyes with a natural smile on his face.

"Then I must also have a right to decide about my personal life too! Augustus, I am sorry for whatever you have lost till now. I do not know what you think of me.

But let me tell you that I have always considered you as my younger brother. I may not be able to handle everything alone, and I will need someone to rely upon. Someone to trust. And that is you, my brother!"

"Walter!" His father said in disbelief.

Augustus looked at Walter as if he had grown two heads. But kept silent to listen to what he had to say further.

"Augustus, I- Walter O'Dell- give you my word that you will be recognised as the second son of the O'Dell and will enjoy every right as I.

People will consider you as important as me, and there will be no one to question your authority. You will always be by my side as my trustworthy captain of this ship of responsibilities. Together, we will bring more fortune and goodness to our breed and the humans living under our embrace.

We two brothers will create a history to write our names in golden letters on its pages!"

Walter's heart swelled with love for Augustus, and they both hugged. Their father stood speechless. He had no other option than praying to the Moon Goddess that Walter's kindness would not drag him in any danger.

Little did both men know that Walter had not extinguished the fire. Instead, his kind action had inadvertently fueled Augustus's burning rage of vengeance.***

Augustus threw the glass on the marble floor, where it shattered into small pieces. He stood up from his chair, his steps unsteady and were not firm due to the aftereffect of alcohol.

He managed to get near Walter's painting. His smile... his smile was what irritated him in his childhood, aggravated him in his adulthood and was haunting him after he was gone.

Augustus's red, teary eyes then moved to the next portrait. Margaret!

She was beautiful in every sense. Her beauty had broken many young men's hearts back then. And Augustus was no exception.

When Walter brought Margaret in 'the great manor' for the first time to tell his father that he had found his mate, he looked like the happiest man alive. Augustus was so jealous of Walter that he wished why Moon Goddess chose her as Walter's mate and not his?

He cursed his fate that he was a werewolf and not a human. If he was a human, then he would have abducted Margaret and locked her up in an isolated place where no one other than him could find her and then he would have been the happiest man alive.

Why Walter was the one to get everything best and not him?

"I hate you, Walter. Even after decades of your death, I still HATE you! I could never live in peace because of you, and even after you were gone, you still keep haunting me to this day!

You fucking moron!" Augustus yelled with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"When I thought that I have got everything after so many sacrifices, you snatched that away from me, with a piece of paper that you left behind.

After your and your wife's death, I was supposed to be the leader of the werewolf breed. But no one agreed. I was not a pure breed, they said. Fine!

But what about the power as an heir of the O'Dell legacy? Was not I eligible for that?"

Augustus's whole body shook with anger.

"Of course, I was, Walter! I was eligible to get all the fucking powers, but you... you snatched that happiness from me. Who told you to write a declaration that after you, your good for nothing son would be the one to get everything.

And I... I was assigned only as his guardian and had to take care of this fortune and the responsibilities till your son accepts his position."

Augustus recalled the day Walter and Margaret's dead bodies were found. After their funeral, Augustus was feeling jubilant inside that his dream of years was about to come true.

And then they found the aper Walter had written before his death, signed by him and Margaret that changed Augustus's destiny, and his dream remained as a dream.

Why does the Moon Goddess have to be so cruel?

His teary eyes then landed on Edwin's portrait.

"You! You are an exact replica of your father. He never let me live my life as I deserved, and then you came to ruin my every plan.

Just because you are the leader of the breed does not make you any better than me, Edwin. I was, am and will always be much better than you and your father!

I have waited all my life, had sacrificed many things and people to get what was mine. You think you are lucky that you will get everything that easily.?"

A cold and wicked laugh rumbled against Augustus's chest as he pushed his head behind and laughed with his shoulders shaking. He looked nothing less than a terrific madman in the orange light of the lamp.

His shadow, bigger and cruel than him, moved behind him.

"You are sadly mistaken my dear nephew! I have not accepted my defeat yet."

His face changed from a cunning smile into hard as stone, his eyes spitting lava. His eyes travelled to the blank space beside Edwin's portrait.

"This is where your mate's painting will be hung, right? But what if you never find her? What will you do then, dear nephew?

An alpha needs his Luna to rule. What will happen if you can never find your Luna? Will they still let you rule over them? Will they still worship you as their leader?

NO! I do not think so!"

Taking a step back, he roamed his eyes on all the portraits only to rest them on the portrait of Agatha- his first wife.

"You said that I would never succeed in my plan, did not you darling? Your love for Edwin blinded you from seeing how worthy I am.

I am sure your soul must be watching everything from above. Trust me, Agatha, I gave Edwin many chances. I tried taking a simple way, but he is as stubborn as his father."

Taking a step near the wall, Augustus paused. His eyes filled with some strange mixture of emotions that could not be deciphered.

Kissing Agatha's portrait, he said, "I will fulfill my promise dear! You just wait and watch from above. I will get what is meant to be mine. I will not give up till my last breath. I will do anything... anything!"

Augustus's grey eyes trained on Edwin's portrait and an empty spot beside it.