A MAZE OF GREED

"Darius stop or she will die!" Hilton finally raised his voice after getting faded up with Darius's nonsense.

Darius was watching his men torturing the girl they had kidnapped from the Bluemoon pack. Darius was so outraged by Alita's denial of providing him more Painite that he took it on the little girl without any shame.

Her body was not ready to cope with his experiment, yet he kept forcing her, and that caused her to faint multiple times.

Hilton was worried that Darius's stubbornness might take the girl's life.

The two vampires, who were working on that girl, waited for Darius's next command. He finally signalled them to stop and left for the room on the backside of the place.

Hilton followed him inside without missing a bit.

"Darius you need to control yourself. You cannot go hurting these children like this or else we will be left with none. You know that their bodies take time to cope with your experiment. At this rate, you will kill all of them!" Hilton chided him.

Darius was so irritated by everyone telling him how he should behave. He took a chair and threw it on the wall ahead of him.

But Hilton stood unflinching.

"Your anger is not going to help us, Darius. If anything then try to get more Painite from anywhere else. If Alita cannot give it then find another source. Because we are left with so little that I am afraid it will be finished soon." Hilton said.

Darius's eyes were red. "I know that. I am trying to think of a way but... I do not see any hope." He admitted truthfully.

Hilton was silent for a minute. "Let's think about it with a cool head." With that said, he left.

Darius thought of speaking with his parents, but then if he did then they probably would abandon him than agree with his plan. So that option was closed for him.

Perhaps Mr Hilton was right. They needed to think about it with a cool head.

*

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*

Edwin hurried out of the room, leaving Ruth alone. His heart pained a lot after their argument. He did not want to hurt her. He also wanted to kiss her, love her more, but when he received a message from Lester that he had something urgent to show him, he could not wait to get there.

If only he could tell Ruth everything!

A guard was waiting for him at the front door. As soon as he saw Edwin walking his way, he bowed in respect.

"Where?" Edwin asked without slowing down.

"Five miles to the East from where Lady Elsie saw that rogue for the last time." The guard informed.

Edwin nodded in response before they walked speedily. Once away from the human eyes, they both broke into a sprint. With their werewolf speed, they threw the trees and the forest behind.

And when they stopped, they found themselves in the buffer zone of the Bluemoon pack where Lester and Rees were already present before them.

Edwin slowed down as he walked towards Lester while glancing around the place.

"What is it?" Edwin asked as soon as he neared them.

Lester pointed to the grass, where Edwin saw the same white patches as he had seen on the leaf collected by Elsie.

Edwin squatted down and plucked a grass blade. Rolling it in between his fingers, he observed it keenly under the light to see it shining. He rubbed that white substance with his thumb and first finger.

He could not do that before as at that time they had only a single leaf as a piece of evidence.

Its texture was similar to dried saltwater. Edwin sniffed it, and it smelled the same as before. He then looked down at the amount of that mysterious substance on the grass.

"I think he was not alone." Lester said.

"By the look of it there must be at least three more rogues like him." Rees added.

Edwin swept his eyes around. "Have you found a scent of a Vampire?"

"Unfortunately we haven't," Lester said.

It was very confusing. If the kidnapper was a Vampire, then what were these rogues doing here? And why do they have red eyes instead of black like the normal rogues?

"We lost their scents beyond this point. We searched for five miles of radius ahead of this point but haven't find anything else." Rees added.

"What about that girl's scent?" Edwin asked.

How could he forget such a basic thing?

"She is a small girl Edwin yet to hit puberty. Thus her scent is not so strong to linger behind for days. By the time the search parties began looking for her, her scent had alredy faded." Lester informed.

Edwin was lost in his thoughts for a minute when something clicked in his brain.

"Could it be the reason why they are targetting the cubs? They are helpless, do not have strong scent, easy to kidnap or lure?"

"You are right Edwin! That could be the possible reason." Lester now understood that only the young cubs were on the radar.

"Where is Elsie?" Edwin then asked.

"Lady Elsie has gone to interrogate the woman who was present at the time of kidnapping. And from there she is taking that leaf sample to this one person who has a good knowledge of medicines." Rees told.

Edwin hoped that they would find what was so bizarre about those samples of saliva.

"Master, Kevin is on his way to meet you. He will reach Bluemoon town in the morning." Rees informed.

Edwin was glad to hear that. He had a fair idea of what responsibility he wanted to give on Kevin's shoulders. Edwin was happy that he could save a life that would be helpful for more lives in the future.

After some time of discussing various possibilities, they decided to get back to the Wrights' palace. While returning back, Edwin said he wanted to walk normally back home.

Lester understood that he was not in a particularly good mood. He told Rees to go ahead with the new samples with the other guards. He decided to accompany Edwin.

As they walked side by side, Lester finally asked, "Is there anything you want to share with me Edwin?"

Edwin was silent that Lester thought he would not open his mouth all their way. Surprisingly Edwin sighed before saying, "There are so many things Lester."

"Then tell me one by one."

"I am thinking about Mrs payne." Edwin told.

Lester cocked his brow at his friend. "Should not you be thinking about her niece instead?"

"Shut up! We got into a fight because of you!"

"You faught with Mrs Payne?"

"Lester!"

Edwin sometimes wished to hit his best friend so hard that would crack his skull.

"Okay... sorry sorry... go on." Lester turned serious after that.

"We... I mean Ruth and I... we were about to..."

"Make babies? Edwin, you should act like a responsible man and not do such nasty things with her before the marriage. Do you know how painful it is for women to go through labour?

Oh, Mon Goddess! I am very grateful to that almighty creator that she hasn't made us men go through that gruesome pain! And-"

"If you do not keep quiet and listen carefully I will fucking strangle you to death without any remorse!"

Edwin's deadly warning instantly shut up Lester. He gulped down his saliva nervously because he knew what Edwin was capable of.

Lester pinched his fingers together and ran on his lips, then twisted his wrist at the corner of his mouth, mimicking that he had chained up his lips.

"I wish I can tell Ruth about who I am and what she needs to be. Every time we come close to each other I am reminded of my duties. She also deserves a normal relationship like other humans." Edwin slipped his hands in his pant pockets.

"You are allowed to response Lester only if it's sensible," Edwin added after not receiving any response from Lester.

"Thank you, My Lord!" Lester said sarcastically. He then turned serious, forgetting all the previous humour.

"You are right Edwin. But she cannot have a normal relationship. Unfortunately the normalcy has disappeared from her life the moment she walked in your life as your mate."

"But it was not her choice!" Edwin argued.

"Maybe, but loving you is!"

Edwin was quiet after hearing that.

"Edwin, I understand that you are feeling that Ruth is going through a lot, and she indeed is. I know that the situation is very unfair to her, but that is how it is.

Do you think that she is ready to know who you are? And we still need to find out about her dreams. If it turns out that she can see the future, then the equations will significantly change Edwin."

Edwin understood what Lester was trying to tell, yet his heart was not ready to listen.

"By the way why were you thinking about Mrs Payne?" Lester then remembered.

"I will show you instead of telling; if Elsie doesn't get any information on that sample of saliva.." Edwin said as he walked ahead, pushing Lester in a state of confusion.