For seven straight days, they had yed this game. For seven straight days, Ashleigh had lost.


    Normally, Ashleigh wouldn’t have minded these games, sure, she hated losing, but the game itself was quite fun. Capture the g with more realistic consequences.


    There was no permanent damage, all injuries were immediately addressed by a physician in the arena, and really all anyone was left with were aches and maybe some bruising. But during the battle, it was all very real.


    Ashleigh’s goal was to reach the safe zone, up the hill, and over the downed log. Every other wolf’s goal was to stop Ashleigh.


    Each day, Fiona brought in another wolf. They were currently up to thirteen, plus Fiona.


    After the first round, she knew she couldn’t let Caleb see what was happening. If Fiona wanted to test her, she was willing to go along with it. Caleb, on the other hand, would have thrown a fit if he knew.


    Ashleigh sat in her room with an ice pack on her shoulder when her phone rang.


    “Hello?” she answered.


    “Ashleigh, did you do it?” ra asked excitedly.


    “Failed again,” Ashleigh sighed.


    ra sighed into the phone.


    “Don’t worry, I’ll win tomorrow for sure.”


    “Ashleigh,” ra said, “it’s not that I don’t think you can… but you said that we need to get into Alpha Cain’s office as soon as possible, right?”


    Ashleigh looked around to make sure she was alone out of habit.


    “Careful saying that out loud…” Ashleigh whispered._.


    “It’s ok,” ra said, “I’m in my own office. I already swept it for listening devices and set up a scrambler on my phone. It automatically adds ayer of static over our voices for anyone trying to listen in on the call.”


    “Well, that… is handy,” Ashleighughed.


    “Yep!” ra replied, brimming with pride.


    “Anyway, yes, we need to get into his office and see what we can learn about the days leading up to his death, see if there is anything that will help us figure out exactly what happened,” Ashleigh said.


    “Right, so it’s important, and needs to be started sooner rather thanter.”


    “Yes, but Fiona was very clear that until I win this training game, all my time is on the training grounds. I can’t even enter the science building.”


    “No, but I can,” ra said. “I’m here right now, this is where my office lives.”


    “ra… this could be dangerous…”


    “Ash, the danger is going toe AFTER we solve the mystery. I’m talking about going into a room that has been sealed for the better part of three years. The biggest risk I face is, I don’t know, a moldy sandwich that was forgotten about? Or maybe a forgotten pet?”


    ra gasped suddenly.


    “Oh no!”


    “What? What happened?” Ashleigh asked, jumping up from her chair, letting the ice pack fall to the floor.


    “Oh… it’s nothing,” ra said sadly. “I just got really sad thinking that maybe Alpha Cain had a gerbil or something. And it was forgotten, did it die of loneliness? or starvation? … No one will ever know. Rest in peace, Gerald B. Gerbil.”


    Ashleigh stared at the wall before her, blinking.


    “I… I don’t even know how to respond to… did you just… did you just invent a fake pet with a name and story for you to be sad about?”


    “He was real in my heart,” ra replied quietly.


    “You’re a strange one,” Ashleigh said.


    “I’ve heard that before,” ra shrugged. “My point remains, it’s not a danger for me to enter hisb. Also, it will give me time to look through his files and see if there is anything strange or out of the ordinary.”


    “Do you even know what ordinary looks like?” Ashleigh asked with a smile.


    “Do you know what winning looks like?” ra retorted.


    “Ouch!” Ashleighughed.


    “Sorry,” ra said, holding back a giggle.


    “Do not apologize for a well-executed and deserved burn,” Ashleigh said. Then, reaching down for the ice pack, she sat back down.


    “Anyway, what do you think?” ra asked.


    “Well… I don’t love the idea of sending you in alone, even if it is just an old office… but, you’re right. We need to get this started, and you are definitely going to understand his files better than I ever could.”


    “So that’s a yes on Operation: ra the Spy?” ra asked.


    Ashleigh rolled her eyes.


    “I guess so, but don’t expect me to call it that,” Ashleigh said.


    “It’s a great name,” ra said quietly.


    Ashleighughed, then she remembered the items in her bag.


    “Oh, actually, ra, before you try any spy stuff, I do need you toe see me,” Ashleigh said, getting up from her chair again.


    “What for?” ra asked.


    “I have a couple of things that you might find useful, or perhaps interesting, or might be nothing at all,” Ashleigh replied.


    “So, you want to give me a mystery for the mystery you’ve already given me?”


    “Guess so, yea,” Ashleighughed. “Juste over here and get them, please.”


    “Alright, I’m on my way.”


    They hung the phone, and Ashleigh looked through her bags, near the bottom in a hidden pouch was the watch. She opened it up to confirm the contents were still safely inside.


    She ced the small memory card in her hand, turning it between her fingers.


    “I really hope you have some answers for us,” she sighed.


    Ashleigh put the card down on the nightstand and pulled out the other item, the small ck disc no bigger than a thumb pad.


    “You… I really just want to know what you are…” Ashleigh whispered to herself.


    A knock at her door startled her, almost making her drop the item. But instead, she quickly put it and the memory card in her pocket, then returned the pocket watch to her bag before she answered the door.


    “That was quick,” Ashleigh said as she saw ra standing on the other side of the door.


    “Yea, I was on my way out, so it made it easy to juste straight here.”


    “Come on in,” Ashleigh smiled, moving out of the way to let ra enter.


    Once the door was closed, ra immediately turned to Ashleigh.


    “Alright, what’s my new mystery!” she asked excitedly.


    Ashleigh couldn’t help butugh.


    “Excited?” she asked.


    “I really am, I love mysteries,” ra replied with a bright smile.


    “Alright,” Ashleigh said, pulling the items out of her pocket. “This one is pretty easy.”


    Ashleigh handed ra the memory card.


    “Oh, yeah, ok. I can open this for you,” ra said with evident disappointment.


    “We tried opening it on different readers, machines, whatever, it never worked. So, there might not be anything to look at.”


    “No, you wouldn’t have been able to pull anything. These memory cards are designed to specifically work in our system. That way, even if they get lost or stolen, no one but us can ess the files.”


    Ashleigh noted the bored tone in ra’s voice. She almostughed again; this girl really did like a mystery to solve.


    “Well, that’s good, since Alpha Cain wanted it protected, hopefully, that means it will have our answers,” Ashleigh said. “There is also this.”


    She handed ra the other item, this time, ra reacted with more interest.


    “Oh, that’s more like it,” she smiled.


    “I assume this pleases your mystery-loving heart?” Ashleigh asked.


    “Very much so!” ra said with enthusiasm.


    “You seem to at least have an idea of what this is, care to share with the ss?”


    “It’s a memory card as well, sort of. More like… a key? It opens a partitioned section of aputer. Usually, somethingpletely off thework,pletely inessible unless you have one of these babies,” ra answered.


    “Ok, so this could be the answer to everything?” Ashleigh said excitedly. “I mean, if he had a secret project or something he was trying to keep from the other Alphas, it would be here, right?”


    “Seems like a reasonable guess to me,” ra smiled.


    “So, we got this?” Ashleigh smiled.


    “Well….” ra said.


    Ashleigh’s smile fell.


    “Well, what?”


    “Well, usually these things have a password,” she said, looking at Ashleigh. “You don’t happen to have that password, do you?”


    Ashleigh sighed.


    “Well, at least it’s a start.”