A MAZE OF GREED

After Ruth left, Kevin sat lost in his thoughts about that woman. He could not understand why Rees would give her a necklace with that blue gemstone that absorbs and alerts about the negative energies?

About an hour later, he was asked to come out for the lunch.

"Rees?" Coincidentally he saw Rees speaking with his wife. He looked up upon hearing his name being called.

"Hello Lord Kevin! Have you rest well?" Rees asked after Kevin came to stand beside him.

"Yes, I have. Thank you!" Kevin replied with a smile.

His gaze shifted to Thea before he asked, "Can I steal your husband for a moment Mrs Welby? I hope you won't mind." He asked politely.

"Of course Lord Kevin! I was going anyway. But do not forget to return him to me after you are done with him!" She warned before leaving with a smile.

Kevin looked at Rees to see him blush adorably, "She is that way only!" He shrugged.

"And that is why you are head over heels for her!" Kevin added, and both men laughed in agreement.

After their laughter died down, Rees asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

Kevin became serious. He asked Rees to come to a safer place where they could talk privately.

"Rees, do you know Lady Elsie's head maid? I forgot to ask her name."

Rees turned alert at his out of the blue question.

"Ruth?"

"A woman with hazel eyes and toffee brown hair." Kevin added further.

"Yes. What about her?" Rees asked, unable to guess in which direction this conversation was leading.

Kevin told him about his interaction with Ruth. Meanwhile, he observed Rees. He could see the wheels in his brain running fast.

"She is just a curious woman." Rees tried to shrug it off.

"I am sure she is. But that is not why I am concerned Rees."

Rees juggled all the possibilities but could not tell what was going in Kevin's head.

"Why did you gift her that locket with a blue gemstone?"

Rees's shoulders tensed, although he tried maintaining his calm outwardly.

He opened his mouth for denying before Kevin stopped him. "Do not think about lying or denying."

Rees tore his gaze from him as he stared in oblivion for a minute. He contemplated if it was safe to tell Kevin about Ruth. He did not know when Edwin was planning to introduce her as his mate to the world.

It was a complicated situation for Rees.

"Although I gave her that necklace it was not a gift from me."

Kevin studied if he was lying or manipulating, but there was no hint of either of that.

"Then whose gift was it?"

"Master!"

Kevin blinked dumbfoundedly. His brain began connecting the dots, and the picture it created finally was too hard to believe.

"Does that mean..."

Rees nodded his head with a smile. "Ruth is Master's mate. Our leader has finally found his mate!"

Kevin still found it hard to believe. Edwin was perhaps the only leader who took so long to find his mate. Partly because he never felt the need as he was always indulged in the female company.

"But she does not know it... yet. She is getting suspicious of Master but has no specific direction to walk. I do not know when Master is going to tell her about his truth. Although they both have already confessed their love to each other." Rees explained the situation.

-"It is very difficult to deal with women."-

Kevin recalled Edwin's words from the morning. It was not a generalised statement but a personal experience.

Kevin smiled, shaking his head, but then it dawned upon him. "Lord Edwin has a human mate?!!!"

"That is the exact concern Lord Kevin."

After that, Kevin and Rees had a good detailed discussion about that topic. Kevin promised to not leak this news as he understood the dangerous consequences of it. He got to know that Edwin was worried for Ruth's safety because of the deaths in Vincardine.

And his fear was not baseless as Ruth lost someone dear to her in the Vampire attack.

Nonetheless, Kevin was happy for his leader. He had got a beautiful woman as his mate.

After lunch, Kevin took their leave. Edwin had already arranged a team of four for Kevin. He gave him the location of the team before he left.

Edwin was too tired, but the first thing he wanted to do was speak with Ruth. He saw her speaking with Elsie on his way to his room.

Elsie caught Edwin standing at some distance from them. By the look on his face, she understood what was running in his head. She immediately excused herself and walked to her room, leaving Ruth behind.

Ruth turned her head and saw Edwin. As soon as she saw him, her face hardened. She began marching to her room before she needed to face him.

But Edwin was adamant about compelling her to do the same. He began following her. She could hear his boots thumping on the ground, so she increased her speed so did he.

Ruth felt her eyes stinging already, and they hadn't even spoken a word yet. She had managed to stop her endlessly flowing tears with many efforts. But this man was adamant about making her efforts go in vain.

"Ruth"

His voice came from near than she had expected. Ruth did not turn her head, nor did she slow down. On the contrary, she almost broke in the run.

She could see the door of her room not far away. Only a few more steps Ruth and then you will be safe from this blue-eyed monster, she pep talked herself in encouragement.

"Ruth stop!"

But she did not!

She entered her room and closed the door shut behind her. Her heart was beating fast in anticipation of hearing the knocks on her door. She deliberately kept the door unlocked and waited for his approach.

She waited for two minutes which then turned into five and then ten.

With every passing minute was gone her hope.

Fighting back her tears, Ruth opened the door and peeked outside.

He might be waiting out there.

But the last ounce of her hope diminished after finding an empty corridor.

Edwin was annoyed that when he had a chance to speak with Ruth, Mr Wright chose to call him in office urgently. He tried buying time but failed.

"Edwin, come in please." Alpha Wright welcomed him in his office.

Edwin was surprised to find Lester already present in there. He went to sit in the chair beside Lester before facing Alpha Wright.

The old man had the lines of worry prominently on his face. The air around him indicated that he was tense.

"Edwin, have you got any news from Vincardine?" Alpha Wright began.

"I..." Edwin was very occupied with everything that he forgot to contact Ida.

He shook his head in negation while his mind stood up in alert.

"Thought so." Alpha Wright muttered, obviously unimpressed.

"I have got a news Edwin and it does not sound good to me." Alpha Wright told.

Edwin was tensed instantly, "What happened?" He asked.

"The wind is changing the wrong direction Edwin. Something is cooking up in Vincardine that you cannot digest." Alpha Wright said in a grave tone.

Edwin and Lester shared a sideways glance.

"Is it my uncle and aunt?" Edwin asked bluntly.

Alpha Wright could have told him directly, but he did not for the sake of decades of friendship with Lord Augustus. However, he could not just keep quiet when it came to his leader, no matter how much he disliked his ways.

"There are many rotten mangoes under the layer of hay Edwin. Do not let the superficial picture fool you."

Although not shocked, Edwin was certainly taken by surprise there.

"I think you need to go back to Vincardine before the storm begins." Alpha Wright finally told.

All the annoyance that Edwin had because he lost a chance of speaking with Ruth flew out of the window. His mind was now running in a different direction.

"Lester, I think you should go back with Edwin."

~"I do not want him to mess up things in a fit of his anger. He needs someone with sane mind along with him."~ He immediately cleared Lester's confusion.

~"But Rees is there."~ Lester argued as he did not want to leave in between the investigation of the kidnapping.

~"He is a servant Lester. He has his limitations."~

Lester nodded in understanding.

"You both do not need to communicate through mindlink in front of me." Edwin grumbled as he had a fair idea of what their conversation probably was about.

"But father what about the kidnapping and the rogues?"

Lester knew his father well. He had his eyes and ears all over his territory. Even if he had granted Edwin and Lester liberty of dealing with these things in their way, he had kept tabs on every progress.

Edwin shared Lester's concern as the two men looked at the old alpha.

Alpha Wright's lips stretched into a confident smirk. "This Alpha might be old but hasn't weaken yet.. I am standing between every danger coming in my pack's way. Do not worry about it!"