23. The First Body

Chapter twenty-three

The First Body

*ARDEN*

A nother very short night comes to an end when the alarm goes off, waking Aurelia and me up. The gathering with her friends went on longer than anticipated. At one point, Gustave and Zoé went home, and Gustave stuck to his promise taking Zoé home. He hadn't drunk any alcoholic beverages either, so I felt safe letting them go together.

It was fun, but it also meant Aurelia and I didn't manage to spend a lot of time with each other alone.

While I'm brushing my teeth, Cato projects an image with Aurelia's neck, marked.

I agree, buddy, I say. It's almost funny that she is as much of a workaholic as I am.

Judging by his glare, he doesn't find it funny.

She is diligent and a hard worker, I point out. Like a true alpha. And the kidnapped omegas are her top priority… well, and also mine.

Cato shows me an image of us freeing a group of omegas.

Yeah, I will try to get results fast.

"Everything alright?" Aurelia asks.

"Yes, but Cato is annoyed I spend so little time with you," I admit.

"Goddess, Maxima is the same." Aurelia laughs before hugging me. "Okay, Arden, I know this isn't ideal. We have work, and my friends are here, and you have your team and your brother, and it's all a lot, but I'm not going anywhere. I want you."

"And I'm not going anywhere, either," I promise. "I want you too."

"We will find time for each other. The big New Year's Eve festival will happen soon. It's Marilou's birthday the day after, so she is super excited. How about we take the evening off and celebrate with everyone, and make sure to have some time for us into the bargain. Plus, we'll make sure to have our wolves meet each other."

Her words immediately put Cato's tension and restlessness at ease.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" she asks.

"Emilien and I want to continue to check the police reports from six to seven years ago, and see if we can find the one that mentions the kidnapped rogue girl."

"Oh." She nods. "I guess we should generally look at the unidentified bodies of the last couple of years. Let's see if the police found someone they couldn't assign a name to."

"You mean a Jane Doe," I say, surprised. "That's an amazing thought. We should definitely do that."

"I will focus on that task, then," she offers. "Nox agreed to help. I will grab him, and maybe you could lend me Gustave. He doesn't have your photographic memory, but he certainly has a good memory, right?"

"Yes, I'd recommend him for that task. I actually feel he is much better than he thinks he is." I agree. "Maybe you will find one of the omegas from our list of potential victims."

"I hope not," she mutters. "But, if it's true that the girl who was abducted years ago and killed is one of our victims, then…"

"I know," I say quietly. "Then it means chances are high that we'll find more."

For a moment we stay quiet, finishing our morning routine in silence, before we look at each other. "Wow, we definitely know how to do romance," Aurelia says with a snort.

"Yes, we know how to set the mood." I chuckle. I pause, looking at her nervously. "I hope you don't hold it against me," I say. "That I have so much work to do."

She chuckles. "I'm just eighteen, Arden. I have my whole life in front of me, together with you. And I like that about you," she says. "That this case is so important to you, more important than mating with me. Sometimes our priorities need to be somewhere else."

"Because someone else needs us so much more," I agree, happy that she feels the same way. "At least, for now. The moment we have solved everything, I want to fuck you," I say, surprising myself with how blunt I am.

"And I want you to fuck me." She smirks.

"Let's hold that thought," I say hopefully.

Aurelia just winks at me before leading the way to breakfast.

Aurelia and Leila have joined forces with Nox and Gustave and have their heads buried over their tablets, trying to find unidentified bodies that would match our potential victims, while Zoé, Emilien, and I try to find the girl who was abducted many years ago.

Eric has contacts within the police force and national security, and managed to get us access to some databases, which makes it so much easier for all of us.

"You can go faster," I reassure Zoé, while she lets the police reports of bodies found six years ago flash across the screen.

I keep my focus on their age and gender. "Stop," I mutter.

Zoé reacts quickly, pausing instantly and clicking back to the girl I spotted.

It's a blonde, sixteen-year-old female, found in the suburbs of Paris. Never identified. "Could it be her?" Emilien asks.

"No," I say while gazing over the additional data. "Her parents are still alive and were very involved in her life."

"Right, then it can't be our Jane Doe," Zoé agrees. "Can I continue?"

"Yes, go on."

She starts flashing the reports again, my eyes clinging to them, until—"Stop," I call out.

The three of us look at the report in front of us. It's a young girl, seventeen, her body was found in the Seine. They probably tried to have it disappear in the water, but it didn't work properly. She is… "Claire. There is a brief mention of a man who could be her father," Emilien mutters. "But he disappears from the records. Seems like they thought he could have done it."

"He could be the presume rogue," Zoé agrees.

"She is AB negative," I mutter.

Emilien stares at the image. "We need to see her."

"Is that possible?" Zoé asks.

"Eric will make it possible," he mutters. "Arden, are you confident enough to pretend you are a doctor or student of the medical faculty interested in her autopsy report?"

"Yes," I say.

"Arden." Aurelia's voice interrupts us. "We have found something too… or rather someone."

"Who?" I ask, standing up to approach them.

Gustave shows me a police report and puts one of our own folders next to it. "We found him in the US database. His name is Francis."

"One of our kidnapped omegas," Aurelia says. "AB negative. He isn't orphaned, but his parents live far away from him and are estranged."

"They found his body a year ago," Leila says.

"Do you think your father can use his contacts to check on the body?" Emilien asks. "That is if they are still keeping it. If not, they can at least ask for the reports."

"I think it's better to ask Liam," Aurelia muses. "He has a lot of contacts with humans." She wrestles with the folders, glancing at them.

"Should I call him?" Leila offers. "You look like you still have data you want to check."

"That would be awesome, thank you."

"So," I turn to Emilien, "when can Dr. Arden Shoal-Dupont visit the facility?"

"I will make sure it can happen today, the latest tomorrow," Emilien says. "Will you take your assistant, Emilien, with you?"

"Obviously, I need backup," I say.

"Assistant Gustave can come too," Gustave offers.

"Good, but no more," I say. "We can probably argue why there are three people visiting at once. Anything more will just raise suspicions."

Everyone seems to agree, and Emilien and Leila depart to make their phone calls while the rest of us continue to work. I hope this will mean a breakthrough, though, because the work here in the office is draining and tiring, and not always rewarding.

I hope we can finally move out of the office and focus our search.

"I hope you are prepared," Emilien says when he returns. "Because they expect us in an hour."

"So soon!?" Gustave gapes.

"Yes, Eric's friend at the police will manage to squeeze us in. Most of the team will have a meeting, so it won't be too weird when some of us are around. We won't meet him at the police, though, but at the forensic mortuary."

"Wait, what!? It's been six years. Have they been keeping her body for so long? That's very unusual!"

"Apparently, due to scientific reasons," Emilien says. "Her body decomposes way slower than usual, and the reason for her death is a mystery to boot."

"Because she is a werewolf. They just aren't aware," Aurelia mutters. "Poor Claire."

"Where are they keeping her body, exactly?" I ask.

"Claire is currently kept in a facility the police own together with the military. Seems like—and it upsets me to say—the forensic one is completely full, so they outsourced bodies of victims from cold cases."

I glance at my watch. "We need to go immediately. As tragic as it is, it might be to our advantage that she wasn't buried yet."

"That's true. They actually planned on burying her within the next week. As I said, the only reason they kept her for so long is because her death was so mysterious, and they are still hoping to catch the criminal."

"Let's not disappoint them," I mutter before returning my attention to my team. "I'm sorry, I'm leaving you with the rest of the work."

"Don't worry, we have it covered," Aurelia reassures me.

I smile at her, a gesture she returns.

Eric's friend happens to be an older man, a werewolf. I don't know who he is, and we don't ask any questions, just like he doesn't ask any questions of us. That's pretty much part of the deal, no questions asked.

"You have half an hour," he mutters after he has leads us through a long corridor in the basement and opens a huge white door for us. "She is number twenty-four."

Number twenty-four. I feel weird thinking about how this young girl named Claire was reduced to being ‘Number twenty-four'. Not a name, just a number.

I swallow down my unease and decide to man it up. She might have become a number now, but we can change that and give her the closure she deserves.

"She was in the water," I mutter while opening the compartment she is kept in, the icy air and the disinfectants engulfing us. At least it smells sterile. I glance at the pamphlet the man gave me while Emilien pulls Claire's body out.

"What do you mean by that?" Gustave mutters. "That she was in the water."

"It means her body might be bloated. Bodies found in water aren't a pretty sight," I say quietly.

"What does the autopsy say?" Emilien asks.

I briefly scan through it, saving it into my memory palace before I turn to Emilien. "Blood loss."

"What?" he says.

"Blood loss. She died of blood loss. They couldn't find anything that could explain it, which is why the body was kept for so long… for scientific purposes." I shake my head. "She also had bruises and showed signs of being tied."

"She was dead before she was dropped into the Seine?"

"Yes," I say.

"Blood loss?" Emilien repeats, stunned.

Meanwhile, Gustave is standing next to us, staring at Claire's body covered by a white sheet. His face has turned almost grey. Emilien glances at him. "You don't really look good, boy."

"It's… I'm okay…"

"I'm not content with the outcome of the autopsy," Emilien says.

"Me neither," I admit. "Let's check for anything that might hint at a supernatural reason for her death."

I take a deep breath, willing all my feelings down. I cannot feel disgusted or anxious now. There is no place for these feelings. Forgive me, Claire. I don't mean to do even more harm to your body. Emilien allows me the moment to gather my senses before he and I both bend our heads over Claire's body, checking for any signs we can find. She was cleaned properly and sewn together after her autopsy.

"What's that on her wrist?" I mutter, turning it gently.

"Skin was removed," Emilien says. "It looks like there was something tattooed here."

"Gustave, can you take a photo and—" I pause when my eyes fall on him, noticing how he truly looks sick and is wavering slightly.

"Why don't you go upstairs and get some fresh air in the garden?" Emilien offers him.

"I don't need—"

"Please," I say. "It's okay. The only trouble would be if you threw up here."

"He is right," Emilien says. "Arden and I will handle it."

Gustave looks like he is about to argue, then his gaze falls onto Claire again, and he lets out a shaky breath. He nods at us and dashes outside.

I grab my phone meanwhile and take a photo of Claire's wrist. "It looks like part of a rune," I say.

"Here," Emilien says, turning her arm for me to see the tiny holes poked into it. "She carries the same small wounds on other parts of her body too."

"What did they do to her?" I ask in disbelief, while taking a couple of more photos.

"Could it be needles?"

"If it were needles, they had to be quite big," I admit. "Not that it's impossible. They could have extracted blood from here, hence the blood loss."

"That's the only thing that makes sense," Emilien mutters while taking yet another photo.

"I don't like that we need to leave her behind," I say. "Here with the humans, they are seeing her as a scientific experiment because her body is so durable even in its death."

"I will tell Eric about it," Emilien promises. "I'm sure he will think of something. Maybe someone can pose as a long-lost relative. And then, we can finally give her the funeral she deserves."

I nod. "That sounds good."

"Why don't you go and check on Gustave while I finish here?" he offers. "I think we have seen everything we needed to see."

"I was about to suggest something similar," I admit. "But I didn't want to leave you here."

"Don't worry. Just go."

I take him by his word, leave the room and walk back the way we came from. Once upstairs, it's still quiet and completely deserted. Seems like we are still on our own. I don't find Gustave immediately until the door to the restroom creaks. I wait for him to come out, noting how he is still looking pale.

"Are you alright?" I ask quietly.

"I am so sorry," he mutters. "I left you alone down there."

We walk outside in silence and sit down on a bench, waiting for Emilien. "You weren't prepared," I assure him.

"You weren't either," he says. "Yet you managed to put your own feelings and discomfort aside."

"I'm not sure if that's always a good thing," I admit. "I've just learned to block it all out."

"Was I part of the reason for it?" he asks quietly. "For you being able to do that?"

I think of the way my father neglected me and how he used to insult me. He didn't hit me a lot, but his words cut deep, and then I went to school, and their words cut similarly deep.

"I'm so sorry," Gustave says sadly, when I don't answer.

"How come you aren't an asshole?" I ask him. "I thought you would be, but you are surprisingly sensitive and empathic."

"In school, I just wanted to belong," he admits. "I was an idiot. I followed the cool kids because I thought it would make me cool too, but it just made me look pathetic. I—I was utterly shit. If my father knew, he would have kicked my ass."

"You are a beta's son, aren't you?"

"Yes," he says. "Only the second son, though."

I notice how he says only and look up at him. "Is that a bad thing?"

"I don't really matter to my parents or my pack. My brother is going to inherit the beta position, and he is everything I am, just better."

It's weird how we all have our insecurities. I would have never thought that about Gustave. "Is he as intelligent as you are?" I ask. "Does he have your IQ?"

Gustave looks at me, stunned.

"See," I say. "Then not everything about him is better."