Marley’s p.o.v. Dad has been gone for over a week, but Grandma and I don’t ask Alpha Devlin about it. It isn’t unusual for Dad to be gone for a few days at a time and this time it is for my future that he left, because he usually only leaves the territory for Pack business. “Aargghh.” I hear coming from Grandma’s room and I grab some Pheejilon to help her cope with the pain. Acadia is pacing in the back of my head, getting angrier with Alpha Devlin for the pain he has inflicted on Grandma over the years. I stir the Pheejilon with the water and help Grandma to sit up a little to take the medicine she needs to deal with this. I watch as her face continues to contort until she finally falls asleep, and her facial features slowly relax. “I hope that Dad is able to find a solution, but not the one he is pursuing.” Acadia mumbles. Neither of us wants another Shifter to end up in Grandma’s situation and if there is a slight chance that Alpha Devlin allows us to leave, I will find an Elder or an Alpha who can deal with his sick, twisted view. With Grandma sleeping for the next few hours, I walk out the back door and sit on the back porch. I wait another ten minutes before I get up and walk over to the Pack-house, while keeping my eyes and ears open. I use the Omega stairwell to walk up to the Gamma floor and start my daily duties. There isn’t much to do with Dad being gone for this long and I take my time to clean up what I believe needs to be done. An hour later, I hear footsteps coming from one of the upper floors and I wait for them to pass before heading back to the Omega stairwell. No one uses these stairs because Alpha Devlin doesn’t want anyone moving through the Pack-house without him knowing about it. He should have locked the door to the Alpha floor or covered it up in some other way, but then again, you can’t fix stupid. Alpha Devlin is so full of himself that he doesn’t even lock his private office and I am glad that he never found a reason to start doing it. It means that I am good at what I am doing and if I ever get the chance to expose him, I will. His desk is cluttered with files on Pack business, but that isn’t what I am interested in. No, my interest is on a desk on the other side of the room, and I take a picture of it to put everything back later. Some of these files are decades old; I even found one that is nearly a hundred years old and all of them involve the same topic. The so-called claim that the Twostriker family has a right to the Throne. For over a hundred years, the Twostriker family has been attempting to gain control of the Throne. When their initial appeal to the Elders was rejected, they began planning attacks on the Royal family. Each plan has failed so far and if my hunch is correct, then the men in the prison were sent by the King to put a stop to the attacks. I have read over half of the files and without these files, no one can blame the Twostriker family for the attacks. If they were to end up in the King’s hands, it would mean a death sentence for Alpha Devlin and any family member who is still alive. The files aren’t in chronological order, and everything I have read so far is sometimes separated by months or even a few decades. I come back here every chance I get to read another file, but I never read more than one. I can’t risk getting caught because it will most certainly mean death and I can’t allow Grandma to be on her own with Alpha Devlin’s behavior. The file I open is from a few years ago and I remember that Grandma told me about these events. We didn’t know any of the details, but everyone was informed that the King lost his Mate and unborn child. The file starts with a visit the King planned to a Pack, located over eight hours from here. Every detail of the trip and visit was written down; there is even a map of the route they were taking that day. “We already figured he had something to do with it and this is the proof. If we manage to get this to the King or an Elder, Alpha Devlin is done for.” Acadia growls in my head. There are two markings on the map showing their route; one marked A and the other marked B. On the next page, it outlines Plan A and a detailed plan for killing the King and his family. If this plan should fail, there was always Plan B as a backup plan. Additionally, a detailed and meticulous plan was outlined to take care of any survivors or the entire Royal family in the event that Plan A failed altogether. “Damn, now I really hope that Dad finds another solution and that we can get out of the territory. I want to inform the King of this, because there is no way that Alpha Devlin thought of this by himself.” I say as I place everything back where I found it. I am back on the back porch when Alpha Devlin shows up again and despite the shower he took, I can still smell Kashish on him. His visit goes as it always does and Grandma isn’t reacting to him at all. We both know that he hates it when she doesn’t respond, but it no longer pisses him off the way it used to. Grandma knows that something is on my mind, but she has learned not to ask. I don’t want her to know what I found and blurt it to Alpha Devlin in a moment of rage. I will tell her all about it once we are all safe and I might even wait until after Alpha Devlin is dead. “How long has your Father been gone, Marley?” Grandma asks during dinner. “About eleven days, he left before the Full Moon and the Full Moon was a week ago. I hope he will return soon, though.” I answer her. We don’t say a word while eating dinner, both of us lost in thought. My mind is on the files in the Pack-house, where Grandma’s mind has taken her, I don’t know.