A MAZE OF GREED

"Painite?!!"

Both Lester and Edwin almost yelled in unison.

Mrs Payne felt like her head was spinning, so she sat on a nearby couch. She beckoned the two men to join her as she put the book in her hand on the table.

The three of them surrounded the book.

"Read this." She pointed to a paragraph written in black ink.

"Painite is the rarest mineral found on the Earth. Painite is red, orange-red, brownish-red or brown in colour." Lester read the rest of the paragraph carefully.

After they were done with the reading, they sat in silence.

"What does this means?" Lester asked after his failed attempts at trying to understand things.

Even Edwin was not able to use his sharp brain to solve this mystery.

"It means..." Mrs Payne still had that worried yet confused look on her face. As if she could not believe the happenings.

"This saliva contains traces of Painite."

"And what does THAT means?" Lester prompted.

"That I do not know!" She said after a long moment.

Lester groaned, throwing his hands in the air dramatically. "See I told you before. She cannot help us!"

"I have just gave you the answer of your question Lord Lester." Mrs Payne pointed out.

"Partial answer Mrs Payne! Incomplete asnwer." Lester retorted back.

Edwin ignored his friend and faced the old lady.

"Mrs Payne, if this mineral- Painite is so rare and hard to obtain then why we found it in a saliva of an insignificant rogue?" Edwin tried to break down this mystery step by step.

"That is the confusing part, Young Master. I have never heard any living creature ever consuming Painite. As it is very rare to obtain very little knowledge is available about that mineral."

"Do you think that it is safe to consume in any way?" Now Lester had also grasped the chains of their conversation.

Mrs Payne tapped her chin thoughtfully. "No. I do not think so. It must be dangerous to ingest it. But then again that is only my guess based on my knowlege." She confessed.

"What are its uses?"

Edwin's next question made her hesitant and uncomfortable. A part of her told to not answer it, but then she had never lied with him... not yet at least. Breaking his trust seemed unfair.

Besides, this current scenario looked more critical than she was shown.

"There are no proven uses of Painite. But..."

"But what?" Edwin asked with narrowed eyes.

"But it is said that centuries ago a few witches used their powers to bring out Painite's uses for not only the supernatural creatures but also for the humans."

Mrs Payne did not miss how the both of them tensed upon hearing about witches, and she wondered why.

"Witches?" Lester repeated in shock. "What were those uses?"

Mrs Payne shook her head apologetically. "I am sorry, but I do not know about it. But it is said that their experiments went wrong after people tried using the wrong minerals, mistaking them as Painite.

Greed is the most dangerous thing! To stop that battle of greed, many clans of witches banned using Painite for any experiments."

Lester was about to open his mouth, but Edwin beat him to it.

"Do you know anybody who possessed Painite?"

Mrs Payne took a minute to recollect the names. "As far as I know, the Griffins, the witches and the Centaurs had some samples of Painite. But the source from where they got them and what they did with them later is unknown facts as all these three breeds like to live in isolation."

Edwin and Lester were beyond shocked. Their brains became numb after the bombardment of all these facts.

They only had different pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. But there were many missing pieces, and they had no idea which piece fits where.

"Edwin, do you think... that any of them had used the Painite on that rogue?"

"Correction Lord Lester, but the right word is rogues. The samples you showed me before contains saliva of more than two werewolves. The smell only confirmed it."

"Damn it!" Edwin cursed, running his hand through his already messy hair.

"What should we-" Lester froze midsentence, his eyes darkened to a dark shade of green.

and, when they turned to their normal colour, Lester's face paled.

"What happened? Edwin asked.

Lester passed an unsure glance to Mrs Payne but then told, "That rogue who was chased by Elsie... he belonged to Bluemoon pack."

"What?"

Lester nodded. "Father found his paws marked near the old swamp."

"Old swamp?"

"Yes. It lies far from North East of Bluemoon village. It is dominated by thick trees, and the route is very very difficult to use. My father has a thick odd habit of taking paw prints of those pack members who do exceptional work for their pack.

He sees it as an act of appreciation for them and inspiration for others. They matched both marks to find that they matched perfectly." Lester explained.

Edwin was now tensed than before. "And who he is?"

"He is the same rogue whose scent our guards captured in the forest after that attack on my mother. He is my father's lost spy."

Edwin fell back in his chair. His head ached to the point he thought it would burst into fragments.

"May I know what is this all about?"

That female voice again caught their attention.

Lester suddenly was furious. "It should be you telling us that, Mrs Payne. I do not want to sound disrepectabe but I want you to spill the beans." He was in his alpha mode within a second.

But the old woman sat unbothered by his outburst. "I have never lied to you or Young Master. I will answer if I can." She said calmly.

"Tell us about Ruth's dreams!" Lester demanded.

"What dreams?"

There was no way they would know about it, she thought.

Edwin explained Ruth's dream, about the kidnapping and how she identified the place in her dreams as the actual sight of kidnapping. He saw Mrs Payne getting shocked beyond belief for the first time.

She was used to putting others in that state, but this time it was her turn.

"I... I do not have any idea about it. Do you have any specific direction to think?" She asked Edwin, wanting to know what was going on in his head.

Was he suspecting Ruth?

No. If it was that then she needed to wipe that suspicion from his mind. Ruth could not come under his radar... not now and not ever!

"I do not know what to make out of it. But is it possible that she might see the future?" Edwin asked unsurely.

"Perhaps that is why the Moon Goddess chose her as Edwin's mate?!" Lester added.

But Mrs Payne seemed to run in another direction. She had no idea about it, nor did Ruth discuss this with her. She just went to sleep after gifting her the stick she had bought for her.

"And if yes, then how can a human have such a power?" Lester's next question tensed Mrs Payne considerably.

She needed to be careful and speak with Ruth first.

"This is all very shocking for me. I think it might be a coincidence or the truth that you are suspecting. But before jumping to conclusions, I would like to speak with her about it. I am sure we will find the reality soon.

You are right, Lord Lester. How can a human have such kind of power? That is something beyond my imagination."

She could feel that Lester was not satisfied with her reply. To avoid further interrogation from him, she decided to end this conversation.

"Young Master, if there is nothing more to discuss may I go back home? My knees are bothering me."

Edwin opened his mouth to allow her, but Lester stole that chance from him.

"Of course Mrs Payne. You can go but before that... answer my last question."

"What is it?"

Lester decided to do something that he would not have done in other circumstances. He held her gaze as his eyes began turning dark. Edwin immediately understood what he was doing. He wanted to interrupt, but Lester had already started hypnotising Mrs Payne.

Edwin's interruption might have caused a problem for the old lady and her brain.

"How do you know all of this Mrs Payne? What is that you are hiding from us?" Lester asked in a maintained tone.

She did not blink, nor did her expressions change. She sat like she was frozen into a statue.

Edwin was also curious and waited for her response. Lester was confident that he would get her to speak.

Instead, Mrs Pyane threw her head behind and laughed. She laughed, crinkling the corner of her eyes into wrinkles.

Both Edwin and Lester watched her stupified, not understanding what just happened.

After about a minute when her laughter subsided, her face became serious yet there was a challenging smirk playing on her lips.

"Lord Lester, I have not greyed my hair in sunlight. Did you really think that your hypnotism would work on me?"

Both the men were shocked and speechless.

"I know all these things because of my friends. She held the book on the table in her hands. They tell me their every secret and I cherish all of them."

"Rubbish!" Lester was furious. His wolf did not like the fact that his attempt at hypnotism went into the vein.

"You are lying Mrs Payne. Edwin, she is lying and you know it. Tell me who are you? Are you even human?"

She cocked her brow challengingly before taunting Lester, "Is Bluemoon pack's next alpha is incapable of smelling a human?"

That only infuriated Lester's wolf. He was about to lash out, but Edwin held him back.

"I apologise on the behalf of Lester, Mrs Payne. Thank you very much for your help! I hope you will not mind if we remember you again in need. You may take your leave now."

"Sure Young Master, Lord Lester. I am more than happy to help! Have a good day ahead!"

And then she left as confidently as she had entered that building.