A MAZE OF GREED

The next morning, Ruth got ready to go to work. She did not sleep the whole night as only one thought kept her awake.

Was she willing to find the way?

And after hours of pondering, she finally came to a conclusion- yes!

She was willing to find a way.

She was not going to quit because of her fears. Not when she had walked so long. If she was not Edwin's mate and if he had not fallen in love with her, what were the chances of her getting to live the life she now had?

Negligible!

And now coming to this stage, she was not ready to push everything aside without a try. Because Ruth knew that she would have no life after she quit!

While getting ready, she felt uneasy to go there- in the crowd in which she had no idea who was a human and who was a werewolf.

But Mrs Payne was there to ease her nerves with her special herbal tea. It helped Ruth's mind relax a bit.

'You can do it Ruth!' She reminded herself before she left home.

Ruth directly headed to Elsie's room. She was sure that except for the small group of her friends, nobody knew what was going on. And she intended to keep it that way.

She was also aware of Theodora's eyes on her, and thus she did not want to gain her unnecessary attention.

Elsie was a bit surprised to see Ruth working as usual as if nothing had happened. Elsie wanted to apologise but did not know how to approach Ruth.

"Ruth"

"Yes, Lady Elsie?" Ruth stopped doing what she was doing as she faced Elsie waiting for her order.

"I... I just wanted to apologise for... everything." Elsie did not waste time beating around the bush.

Ruth nodded slowly. "I understand." She could not just forgive all of them for lying to her. She was a mere human after all. And she did not have the big heart to just move on.

She was still angry at them, yet she was trying to understand their perspective and circumstances too. She did not want to hurt any of them with her rash actions.

Elsie smiled softly. "You can always ask me if you want to know anything. I will be more than glad to help."

Ruth was thoughtful for a minute before she asked, "How and where I can learn more about your... world?"

Elsie smiled widely now. At least Ruth was trying.

"Come with me," Elsie said.

Ruth followed her to the library. With only two of them in there, Ruth felt more at ease. Elsie pulled out a few books from the different shelves that she thought would be useful for Ruth.

The both of them sat around the table with the pile of books in front of them.

"Lady Elsie, you do not need to do this. I can-"

"Please Ruth." Elsie put her hand on Ruth's. "Let me. This is the least I can do for you, my brother and my people."

Elsie gauged Ruth's face carefully. "Only if you allow me," she added quickly, to not make Ruth feel pressured.

Ruth nodded her head. It was actually great to have Elsie with her, who was a werewolf herself and could explain things in a better and simpler manner than these books.

"So shall we begin your class on the werewolf realm?" Elsie asked smiling.

"Please!"

"Okay, so let's start with the very beginning."

Elsie was excited to tell Ruth every detail about their world. Although she did not know what would be Ruth's decision, she was positive that she would stay.

"So all the living creatures- supernaturals and the humans send to live in harmony in this world. Initially, everything was going well as the population was small and people were compassionate enough that there were no severe problems."

Ruth listened carefully.

"But after centuries, the population exploded, and thus ambitions came into the picture. People began segregating themselves in their breed, demanding more privileges and authority for themselves.

Slowly selfishness overpowered the wish for harmony, and then..."

"Then?"

"Then a war happened."

The dread in Elsie's voice and the way her face hardened, made Ruth curious about the war.

"At that time our great ancestor- George O'Dell Sr was leading the werewolves. Many unfortunate events happened. The betrayals happened, sacrifices were made, thousands of lives got destroyed."

Ruth gasped hearing that number. "Really?"

Elsie nodded her head. Her brows furrowed as she stared at her nails.

"Yes. That was the greatest war this world has ever seen. Every breed lost more than half of its population during that war. And, the casualties were so great that it is beyond our imagination. And, the most suffered and oppressed were the humans."

Ruth had goosebumps on her skin. She did not want to imagine how the people suffered then irrespective of who they were.

"Wh-what happened in the end of that war?" She asked.

Elsie shook her head lightly. "That war changed the order of our lives, this world drastically. Every breed was at a loss, and nobody gained much. The remaining leaders of all the breeds found a common ground.

They chose areas for their people to live and rule. But, the humans were so scared that they began killing all the supernaturals one by one as they saw us as a threat. So, we decided to keep our identities secret.

Some breeds completely isolated themselves from the human world like Centaurs, Goblins, Shadows and others. While some of us decided to live amongst the humans, by hiding our true selves as we can take a human form as per our wish."

Ruth was trying to absorb every fact in her brain. She found it all too engrossing yet overwhelming too.

"You mean... there are people other than werewolves in Vincardine?" Ruth asked a little apprehensively.

"No Ruth. As I said, we all chose areas for us, and this region belongs to the werewolves. George O'Dell Sr was so disappointed and had lost so much that he decided to find a new place to begin a refreshing start.

So he established Vincardine- a town that welcomed both humans and werewolves to live in peace. We do have some guests and visitors, but it all remains behind the walls of 'the great manor'."

Ruth's eyes widened when a thought came to her. "You mean everyone here is a werewolf?"

Elsie laughed at that. "Do not worry about half of the servants and guards are humans. But yes Ida is a werewolf if you haven't figured out yet."

Ruth was silent for some time, and Elsie let her mull over what she heard until now.

"This is all so... so overwhelming!" Ruth confessed.

"I know."

"Lady Elsie, what is a rogue?" Ruth had heard Rees saying that word but did not understand what it could mean.

Elsie opened a book, flipping the pages, she finally found the right one. She showed it to Ruth.

"We werewolves live in packs- a place where all the members live together under the rule of a parcel leader known as Alpha. Some packs decentralise the responsibilities and duties by appointing Beta- the second in charge and Gamma- the third in charge after Alpha.

A female, who is married to an Alpha is a Luna- equivalent to a queen. All these packs together are part of the werewolf world. And the Alpha of this world is the leader, and that is my dear brother!" Elsie told proudly.

"So his wife will be the Luna of the werewolf world." She winked at Ruth but got nothing in response.

Clearing her throat, she continued. "There are some werewolves who are disbanded from the pack for various reasons. While a very few leaves their pack for their personal reasons. A werewolf without a pack is a rogue and always keep in mind to NOT cross a path with one!"

"But why? Those three attackers were rogues right?"

"Because they are dangerous Ruth. You have seen them yourself. When a wolf is a part of a pack, he must abide by the pack rules, and always recognise the authority of the Alpha of that pack.

A wolf is not only physically part of the pack, but is also connected to the pack at the psychological, emotional and mental levels. When he becomes rogue, that connection is destructed. He does not have anyone to control him, nor he is answerable to his pack or alpha.

And thus, they become uncontrollable, barbaric and dangerous. They become the predator as we all are in nature. They have only one goal in life, survival at any cost. They do not care who they are dealing with or what will be the consequences of their actions. And thus they are dangerous!"

Ruth was already scared enough by her first experience with the rogues, and now she prayed that it should be the last one.

"Why did they attack us?" Ruth asked.

Elsie was silent. "I... I don't know! We are still trying to figure it out." She told truthfully.

"Do you want to ask more?" Elsie asked.

Ruth shook her head with a smile. "Thank you for your help but I would like to discover further on my own. If I need your help then I will not hesitate to ask you."

Elsie did not want to leave Ruth alone, but then she understood that she needed intervals to wrap her head around those facts.

"Okay then! See you later."

Elsie left, and now Ruth was all on her own.

"Let's begin!" She whispered as she began reading the books laid before her one by one.