A MAZE OF GREED

~"Who is she?"~

Lester's wolf asked the two wolves of Rees and Edwin, as they stood there in the woods shocked and speechless.

~"Milord, don't make any noise or she will hear you. She is already scared."~ Rees's wolf had worry laced in his voice.

He was upset with her as his mind couldn't think of any reason why and what she was doing in the woods at that time. His agitated nerves didn't go unnoticed by the two other wolves.

~"Shift!"~ Edwin commanded.

The three wolves started changing their form by decreasing their sizes. The furry tail shortened in length to gradually disappear. The thick fur thinned to ultimately leave clear skin behind.

The bones of their muzzles deformed to turn their faces back to their human forms. The sharp canines and razor teeth were replaced with the set of normal human beings.

Their eyes also changed back to their original colours. And when the transformation was done, there stood three naked men in all their masculine glory without any shame.

Three stark naked men hid behind the dense bushes, making sure that Ruth couldn't see them. If not watching their wolf forms, she would definitely have a heart attack after watching three naked men in front of her.

"I know where the clothes are buried." With that said, Rees slipped into the background of darkness to get some clothes for them.

The O'Dells had buried clothes at random places in the woods and the neighbouring areas where they usually went for the run. The places were marked by placing heavy stones placed on them. They had to do that for emergencies like these.

Edwin's eyes didn't waver from the woman in front of him who took steps in the direction of the town. He wanted to follow her, watch her face and get to know more about her but he couldn't.

Just like the night of the celebrations, tonight also he couldn't get a chance to see her complete face because of the shadows that covered a part of her form.

Lester studied his friend with curious eyes. But he couldn't guess how Edwin knew her or why he was so much affected by a mere sight of her. Was she Edwin's... His thought remained incomplete when Rees came back with three sets of clothes.

The three men covered their bodies with those clothes. They were not like their usual clothes but were enough for the time being. By the time they finished putting on the clothes, Ruth had gone away from where she previously was.

Edwin's body acted on its own when his legs took a step ahead in the direction in which Ruth went but Lester was quick to stop him.

"Edwin. No!"

"Let me go, Lester. How dare she roams in the woods at this time? Doesn't she know about those five deaths?" Fury was evident in his voice that confused both Lester and Rees.

Rees couldn't understand why his master was upset with Ruth. Granted that people were told to not go into the woods during the nighttime to keep them safe from the dangers lurking behind the dark shadows but Edwin was not like Augustus or Theodora to get concerned for the people's safety.

Edwin neither concerned nor dismissed the safety and wellbeing of the people of Vincardine. As long as the situation didn't trouble him, he preferred to keep a five feet's distance from the matter.

Then why he was furious at her? Rees and Lester had never witnessed such behaviour of his. As far as they knew Edwin, if it was not the dangers in the woods then the woman would have been his target to kill for not following the orders given by the O'Dells and adding up into Edwin's piles of troubles.

"Master, that's... Ruth. My friend!" Rees opened his mouth that made Edwin turn to face him.

"Ruth..."

"Yes. I told you about her in the afternoon. She is my fiancee, Thea's best friend. And… mine too."

Rees was not sure if mentioning his friendship with Ruth was a good idea or not as something changed in Edwin's dark eyes after hearing it.

Even now when Edwin was in his human form, his eyes still didn't change back to his normal cerulean blue colour from the obsidian with blue streaks. His beast was still awoken and wanted to break free.

"Your friend?" Edwin gritted out the words with clenched jaws, not liking the sound of them.

Lester felt the tension in the air. He was also concerned about Ruth's safety and decided to priorities it. If something happened to her then they had to face the wrath of the Council.

And the situation could turn worst when Lord Augustus got to know that the sixth death happened in the presence of the heir of his family. And Lester was determined to not let Edwin sink deeper into the marshes of troubles.

"If she is your friend then it is convenient if you go and take her back to her home. She might get afraid watching a stranger like me or Edwin." Lester suggested to Rees.

Rees looked dumbfoundedly at his master, who looked like he was about to pounce on him. He had seen Edwin's anger before and how cruel he was but this time, it was different. There was that possessiveness underlined in his behaviour.

He was sure that Ruth had not met him before or there was no connection between the two of them. He had asked Ruth if she knew Edwin O'Dell during their first meet on Sunday morning and she denied it.

Then what could be the possible reason behind his master's outrageous behaviour?

Edwin didn't like the way Lester called him a stranger to Ruth. Because he felt that even though they had met only once and the time couldn't be considered as a formal meeting, he felt as if he shared something special with her.

His wolf felt a different connection with her as if he knew her from many births. Lester couldn't understand what Edwin and his wolf felt about her. And hence he had no right to conclude that Edwin was a stranger to her.

"No. I will go to her." Edwin snapped.

"Don't act like a fool, Edwin. You saw how frightened she was. Do you want to scare her even more?" Lester tried to talk sense into his thick-headed friend but it was futile.

"I don't care if she is frightened or not. She shouldn't be here and that's all I know." Edwin was in no mood to listen to his friend.

After staring a moment longer at him, Lester asked the question that Rees also wanted to know. "Do you know her?"

Freezing in his spot, Edwin asked in a puzzled voice. "What?"

"That woman, Ruth. Do you know her, Edwin?"

Edwin's eyes snapped to meet his friend's, hesitance that appeared in them vanished the next moment. "I... no."

For some reason, he didn't want to confess to anyone about it. He didn't even let the news of Ruth and her friend's trespassing into 'the great manor' reach to the ears of his uncle and aunt.

"then you shouldn't be worried about her." Lester stared right into Edwin's eyes that were yet to change into their normal cerulean blue colour.

Rees watched the exchange between his lords with worry. A part of his mind was hoping that they shouldn't get into a disagreement and another was worried for Ruth. He didn't want her to get lost in the woods before he could reach her.

But he chose to stay put in his position and not open his mouth because if there was any way to convince his master then it was his best friend, Lester.

He recalled how distressed Edwin looked when he told that Ruth was his friend. And after that, he didn't want to complicate the situation and hence decided to let Lester handle the situation.

"But-" Edwin was about to protest but one look from Lester made him shut his mouth.

Lester nodded his head at Rees who was waiting patiently for orders from his masters. As soon as he got the permission, he rushed to follow Ruth.

Edwin couldn't do anything other than watch Rees hurrying to help the woman, who should have been helped by him. His fists were clenched tightly till his knuckled turn white. His jaws gritted over each other that if he applied little more force then all that would have remained was their remnants in the powder form.

"Come now. We should get back to the manor." Lester tried his best to convince Edwin to go back to 'the great manor' but he was a stubborn man.

"I am not letting her go out of my sight till I make sure that she is safe."

"Edwin! This is not a time for all this. Lady Theodora had clearly told us to return back early before your uncle gets to know about our absence." Edwin didn't listen to a word that his friend said and insisted on following Ruth and Rees.

After some more failed attempts to Lester was helpless and knew that he couldn't win against Edwin.. So that left him with nothing other than accompanying his friend.