Malek’s p.o.v. “We all know the schedules of their patrols. Report every anomaly you see along the way. We will report everything to the Elders at a later date.” Captain Miles calls out through the mind-link. Mauro and I are side by side as we sneak toward the border and when Meadow gives us the all clear, we cross into Seven Cloud territory. There are enough bushes and trees to hide behind, even the paths that the Pack-members use are clear to see. Alpha Devlin isn’t a fan of landscaping, by the looks of it. Nature has overtaken most of the territory and it smells like the paths have recently been cleared. “Team Orange, stop.” Meadow says through the mind-link and it takes ten minutes before she tells them that they can start moving again. We make slow progress in getting to the Pack-house; most teams have to stop for a few minutes and one team even has to take a different route. It is bringing them closer to another team, but it is the only way for them to keep moving forward. It is after midnight when we arrive at the Pack-house and the surrounding buildings. Three teams will go to the prison, three teams will go to the Pack-house, two teams will head to Layina’s cottage, and the other two teams will keep watch. Team White follows us to the cottage; they will stand guard as we try to get Layina and Marley out of here. “Both of them are inside the cottage. Magnus, how does it feel?” Meadow asks and even though Team White is unaware of his ability, they refrain from asking about it. “Good. Everything is calm, probably fast asleep.” Magnus responds after a few seconds. I take my time to look at the cottage in front of me and I am a little surprised by what I see. It is a cute little cottage, which had been painted off-white at one point, but the paint has started to peel. It doesn’t have a porch; instead, there are just three steps leading up to the front door. I turn the doorknob and find it unlocked, then slowly push open the door. The back door opens and Meadow slowly steps inside, while Mauro follows me. I sniff the air and turn toward the kitchen, where I see a smoker in the corner. “This kitchen isn’t built for someone our size. How did they manage to cook in here?” Mauro asks as he looks over my shoulder. Yeah, this cottage is a bit cramped for Shifters like us, but I assume that Marley and Layina aren’t. They probably managed just fine in here, not both of them at the same time, though. Meadow and Milcah walk toward the bedroom to gently wake them up, but they don’t get the chance to open the door. “Who are you?” Marley asks and the only reason we know that this must be Marley is the fact that she looks exactly like Meadow and Milcah. “Your Father warned us, but damn, this is creepy.” Milcah says as she looks at Marley. She is right, it is creepy to see the three of them so close together. Some noise behind her has Marley turning around and I see a woman who resembles Zaphara a bit, enough to see that they are related. Yep, this must be Layina, Zaphara’s Aunt. “Oh my. Are you from the Belleron or the Sarraveron bloodline?” Layina asks. “Belleron” and “Sarraveron” Meadow, along with Milcah, respond at the same time, and we hear Layina chuckle as she tries to get out of bed. Mauro and I move at the same time and luckily, Marley takes a step back as we walk into the bedroom. “Careful, Layina. We don’t want you to hurt yourself.” Mauro says as we both stand beside her, supporting her as she gets on her feet. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose and Mauro lifts Layina in his arms to walk out of the cottage with her. “Keep Layina and Marley indoors. Alpha Devlin made a run for it and we have lost sight of him.” Captain Miles says through the mind-link. “I’ll stay with them. You go out there and look for that Asshole.” Milcah orders and Mauro and I are not going to fight her on this. We leave them in the living room of the cottage and I see six members of our team surrounding it. “Anyone injured, Captain?” I hear Magnus ask and relief washes over me when we get informed that they are all fine. Our teams have scattered in different directions to search for Alpha Devlin and Meadow keeps trying to get a feel of his whereabouts. Seven Cloud’s Warriors are approaching us, but each of them has their hands raised. They step aside to let us pass, and some even point in the direction of their northern border. It isn’t unusual to see Pack-members unwilling to sacrifice their lives for their Alpha, but I have never seen Pack-members selling out their Alpha. Even though if I had an Alpha like Alpha Devlin, I might be inclined to react the same way. Barison lends me his speed to try to catch up with Alpha Devlin, but when we hear the sound of a starting car, we know it is a lost cause. “Captain, send word to the Elders. Alpha Devlin escaped and I have no idea where he might go.” Meadow calls out through the mind-link. Everyone is disappointed that we couldn’t catch Alpha Devlin, but at the very least, we managed to keep him from carrying out his plan. Now we must find a way to break the bond between Layina and Alpha Devlin. “Captain, we need to wait here for Alpha Lincoln. I have already called him and the news I had for him was enough for him to get in an SUV immediately.” Milcah says. “Why would you call Alpha Lincoln? The Elders are in charge of this assignment and not your Alpha.” Captain Miles asks. Milcah points toward Marly, who has a massive smirk on her face. “Because she knows where the so-called bodies are buried.”What could she possibly have on Alpha Devlin? It is enough to force Alpha Lincoln into action and that tells me that whatever she has is very damaging for Alpha Devlin.