A MAZE OF GREED

"Ruth! Ruth, can you hear me?" Ida called loudly but got no response. She used her werewolf's smelling ability, but her wolf could not pick Ruth's scent.

How could she when Eloise had already masked it by using the solution?

Ruth did not know how much time passed after Eloise and Fannie left her alone. The air was getting colder. Her hunger had reached the point where she felt numb. Her body was shivering in cold but, the sensation in her ankle had numbed to the level that she did not even feel her foot.

Her eyes were heavy. The tears had dried a long time ago and, so was her hope of getting saved.

Her fingers twitched at the sound of someone's footsteps. Ruth forced her eyes open but, the darkness and her hazy vision did not help her see who it was.

Blinking a few times, she squinted her eyes. Her heart dropped when instead of two, four thin legs came in her view under the moonlight. Yellow eyes shone in the dark. The moonlight was reflected by the sharp teeth and saliva dripping mouth.

No... this could not be true!

A hyena- a hungry one- was staring right at Ruth. It made a strange gurgling sound at the back of its throat- a warning of the upcoming danger.

Ruth's tired body was suddenly rejuvenated by the wish of life. She started moving, finding a way to save herself. Even though she was eight to nine feet in the air, her long hair and hands were dangling below that height.

An animal like a hyena could jump and easily yank a chunk of her flesh. The survival instincts kicked in when Ruth saw the animal running her way. As she had anticipated, it jumped with its head upwards and jaw wide open. But Ruth forced herself up.

The animal missed her by mere inches. But now, it was infuriated. Its hunger made its mouth salivate even more. It made another frustrating sound after landing on the ground.

Ruth felt like her soul left her for that moment only to return back more terrified.

The animal turned around and, with another dangerous sound, it vaulted with more effort than before. Ruth did not get enough time to pull herself completely. Even though she managed to pull her upper body up, the animal's sharp teeth grazed her hands, tearing her skin and flesh.

Ruth screeched in pain as blood gushed out of the wound.

Edwin finally reached the woods. By that time, his wolf was panting. He had run the fastest he had ever run before. He did not run that fast, even when enemies were on his chase when his life was in danger.

But this time, it was about his mate. It was about his beautiful shooting star, his moonflower.

He immediately shifted in his human form. He was stark naked but did not care about it a bit. He did not want to waste time looking for the clothes that they kept hidden at different places in the woods for situations similar to this and more.

"Ruth... Ruth where are you?" Edwin called desperately.

Ruth was tired and, the dizziness was inflicting its effect with full force. The hyena managed to cut her veins that caused a lot of blood loss. She fought to keep her eyes open. But with every passing moment, it became harder and harder.

The animal, now confident after its successful attack, was ready for the third one. Ruth did not know if she could pull herself up and, even if she did, would that mean she could save herself again.

Edwin's heart was racing faster in fear. He could feel that something was wrong... utterly wrong!

"Ruth.... Ruth..."

Edwin was not used to what he was feeling at that moment- fear!

He was also a human and had experienced all of the possible human emotions. However, he closed the lid of one of these bottles a long time ago- in his childhood. Since then, he refused to open that lid to feel the fear.

But today, that bottle was broken. The fear crowded like a black ink covering his whole being.

Ida, who was also searching for Ruth, heard Edwin's voice at a distance.

~"Master... I can not smell her. She is not in the west."~

Oh, help Moon Goddess!

How could they not smell Ruth?

Ruth was in the staredown with the animal. She did not see a wild animal in front of her, but she saw her possible death staring back at her.

Another tear rolled down her eyes to disappear in her sweaty hair. Her mind had finally found an easy way out. Just give up!

She did not see any hope. Even her powers were useless at this point. All she felt was numbness.

Edwin was searching through the woods, running like a caveman from primitive time without anything to cover his body. His already unruly hair fell on his forehead like wild cripers.

His body was drenched in sweat. He himself could sense his wolf's anger and fear. If any other werewolf smell him, then it would definitely think of taking advantage of his vulnerable state.

He suddenly ceased running. He smelled something. Sniffing the air around, he caught on a scent that rejuvenated each and every cell of his body like the first rain provides a new life to a dying plant.

Its sweet aroma made him and his wolf hum in ecstasy. He had not smelled anything like that before. A pain shot through his gums, his canines grew to beat his will.

He suddenly opened his eyes that were now obsidian in colour with electric blue streaks in them.

Ruth saw the animal running her way. She commanded her brain and body to work in coordination. But the lack of energy did not help her situation. She tried, she really did but, she could not lift her body up. She remained dangling from the tree, waiting for the animal's teeth to sink in her face.

Hope finally gave up on her and, she closed her eyes to remember the people she loved and missed for the last time.

The animal leapt in the air, thrilled that its prey had given up on its survival will. It was merely a few inches away from Ruth's head with its jaw open wide, ready to take it in its mouth when a blow landed to its right side and, it went flying away.

It quivered after colliding with the forest ground. The blow broke its bones. It squeaked and growled, feeling threatened. It did not wait to see where that blow came from and pushing itself up, it ran away into the woods.

Edwin's frightened eyes moved from the animal and, to Ruth and his heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds.

Her ankle was stained in blood with a thick rope around it. She was dangling like a pendulum from the tree, her dress fell to her waist, revealing the white stockings she wore under it.

Her hair was messy and handing, matted on her head and forehead due to sweat. Her eyes were open in thin slits, her mind too dangles in between consciousness and nonconsciousness.

And what broke Edwin's heart the most was the nasty wound on her hand.

He was shell-shocked at his spot. A drop of her blood fell on the ground beneath. His eyes caught that moment in slow motion and, when it hit the ground, its soft sound brought him back to his senses.

He ran to her.

"Ruth... Ruth, please open your eyes. Please open your eyes!" He tapped her cheeks frequently, but Ruth had no energy to listen to him.

Edwin took a step back. He pushed himself up and in the air. With his sharp claws, he cut the rope. Before Ruth fell on the ground, he caught her and landed on the ground safely.

Her body was limp in his hand. The sudden change in her blood circulation created darkness in front of her eyes. She did not feel anything. She did not feel any pain.

But the warmth and the muscles she felt from Edwin encouraged her to fight some more. Before her body and mind gave up on her, she saw a blurry image of a man with a bare chest.

Ida found them. Her hands shot up to cover her shock at the sight she saw in front of her.

No. It was not Edwin without any clothes. These supernatural creatures did not get fazed by the nakedness like humans.

What shocked Ida was Ruth's state and the blood covering parts of her body.

She could not see Edwin's face, but her wolf could definitely feel his dangerous aura. It made her wolf tremble in fear.

She immediately ran to get clothes for Edwin. If not by the incidents of this day, then Ruth would definitely freak out seeing herself in the arms of naked Edwin.

Edwin was frozen at his spot. His eyes could not move from the wound on her hand. When he left Vincardine today, he had not imagined something like this would happen even in his wildest dreams.

A tear dropped from his left eye and fell on Ruth's face- A reminder of the reality.

Edwin felt the sudden surge of fury inside. Holding Ruth tightly in his arms, he moved his head up and let out a gut-wrenching scream. A cry of a beast.. A warning to the whole world, that shook even the trees and rocks in the woods.