Mauro’s p.o.v. I step next to Malek and look at the distance between our position and the balcony of the Beta floor. “No way. No one can make that jump.” Malek mumbles and then he turns around to head back inside. “Meadow, can you question Devlin? I doubt he got to her, but he might be able to lead us in her direction.” We both look at Meadow, but she is not responding at all. I can see frustration on her face as she concentrates, but I have no idea what's frustrating her. “If I have to follow my instincts, I would say that Marley is somewhere in the territory. My ability is telling me the opposite; I can’t sense her presence.” Meadow says. “Devlin is our best shot at getting some answers.” Gossom refuses to leave the Alpha floor and he fights me every step of the way. I finally give up, after trying to walk away for the fourth time. “Gossom doesn’t want to leave. He won’t tell me why, but he refuses to leave.” I say as Magnus looks at me. “The same with Barison. He won’t budge.” Malek responds. “Keep us informed about Devlin and whatever answers he gives Meadow.” We head back to the balcony and watch as the sun sets. No one has found a trace of Marley and Devlin has confirmed that he never found Marley. All Meadow got from him was an answer that doesn’t make sense at all. According to Devlin, he followed Marley’s scent to the Alpha floor. However, he lost it on the balcony and couldn’t find it anywhere in the Pack-house again. He was on his way out of the territory when he got caught. He planned to return to Grand Valley territory to devise a new plan and then come back another day for Marley. Mom forces us to go to our rooms and rest for the night. Gossom doesn’t like it, but he isn’t willing to fight Mom on it. For some reason, we manage to get some sleep and I wake up feeling a tiny bit better about the situation. “Where did Marley go?” Malek asks me as we walk into the dining room on the Alpha floor. “I have a better question for you. Why did Rhys come to the Beta floor to take Marley to safety?” Milcah asks. The entire room falls silent, and a few moments later, a knock echoes on the door. We follow Alpha Lincoln into the hallway and I look at Meadow when I see Rhys standing there. “Rhys, why did you go to the Beta floor yesterday to get Marley?” Alpha Lincoln asks. “Alpha Devlin is a dangerous man and you told us that he was after Marley after you brought her here. When the news came that he was in the territory, I knew where he was heading. I didn’t know if anyone was there to help her escape, so I went up to see. I know what Devlin is capable of, even though there has never been any evidence against him. I wouldn’t wish that man on my worst enemy.” Rhys answers. Alpha Lincoln thanks him for his honesty and then dismisses him. We head back to the dining room after he has closed the door and I think it is safe to say that we are all asking ourselves the same question. Why would Rhys choose to protect Marley when he didn’t do anything to protect his Daughter? “Is it strange that I actually believe his answer?” Alpha Lincoln asks. No one speaks after his question; we are all trying to process it and figure out if it should be strange to believe the man. “Put yourself in his shoes. You know that an individual is dangerous and is after an innocent person. Would you try to get that person to safety or would you stay out of it?” Malek asks. Rhys did say that he wouldn't wish Devlin on his worst enemy. So his response to get Marley to safety makes sense; anyone would try to do the same. It still seems strange, because Rhys never cared about what happened to Meadow and she was just a child back then. We can’t put aside what he put Meadow through, but we can’t ignore his actions toward Marley either. “Is it possible that Rhys only did this to look good?” Malek asks after a few minutes of silence. “He has lost everything. His title is no longer his. His Son is mated to a man and has moved away. His Daughter turns out to be a badass and mated to the next Betas.” “You’re right.” Alpha Lincoln interrupts him. “Rhys has been despicable his entire life and even after I took over as the Alpha, he made everything about himself. There is a good chance that he only did it to look good.” We head down to the ballroom to discuss the search for Marley and see if we can find anything that might help us find Marley. Every building was searched yesterday and this morning they started with a grid search of the territory. Alpha Lincoln assigns us to different search parties and no stone gets left unturned as we slowly make our way through the territory. Hours pass without a trace of Marley and after a quick lunch, we go back to our search. Every once in a while, I look back at the Pack-house and for the life of me, I can’t understand why. “Malek, I am probably going nuts. For some reason, my attention gets drawn to the Pack-house and there is nothing to see.” I say through the mind-link. “Same here and Barison isn’t helping either.” Malek responds. “Could there be a spot we missed at the Pack-house?” I know it is impossible; we covered the entire house, floor by floor. We even knocked on every wall, floor and ceiling and we came up empty. “No way. You and I checked each other, while Makay and Meadow checked each other. We didn’t miss a spot, I am sure of it.” I answer him, but something tells me that he might be on to something. We head back to the Pack-house for dinner, while another team takes over the grid we were searching. They will search through the night and hopefully, the entire territory will be searched by morning.I know that every inch of the Pack-house was searched, but somehow my instincts tell me to start all over again.