43. The Painful Truth

Chapter forty-three

The Painful Truth

*AURELIA*

T he assistant Eric's forensic brought along greets us the moment we get out of the car. "I was about to call you," she tells me.

"So, you found something?"

"Yes," she says. "We put the pieces of the body together. Come and have a look."

"Goddess, have mercy," Eric groans.

"I'm more and more impressed with how you can stomach all of this," I tell the young woman.

"You get used to it," she says. "But I do think you need to have a certain personality to seek out this job," she admits. "And you need a lot of dark humor."

"I'm just relieved you are doing this," Eric says. "Because it means I don't have to."

When we walk around the hideout to the backyard, I notice that they have retrieved the bodies. Two of the victims are ready to be transported back to their packs and get the send-off they deserve.

"Do we know who the third victim is?" Eric asks me.

"Zoé is currently working on it," I say. "I sent her the picture. It's only a matter of time for her to find out where she came from."

Meanwhile our unknown male body is spread on a blanket. I have to suppress my gag reflex when I spot his dismembered body. They indeed put the parts together as if it were a puzzle. Even Maxima finds it gross.

"He shows signs of a head trauma," the doctor explains to us. "Must have been beaten. There are also signs of broken bones that healed over and over again. Whoever he worked for must have been very violent."

"His cause of death?" Eric wants to know.

"I'm not sure how to put this into correct medical terms," the doctor says. "But you can summarize it as being sliced to death."

"Night ripped him apart," I say. "He must have been furious. It makes sense now that they abducted Léna and Coralie. We truly messed with their perfect business."

"Look," the young assistant says. "He has a tattoo."

When she shows us the body part with the tattoo, Eric and I exchange a gaze. "That's the one Annette described, and Nox saw in the hospital."

"It's hard to say," Eric looks the man over. "Because there is blood all over him, but it could be the same man from the hospital. Let me take a photo and send it to Valerie as well. Hopefully, she doesn't take long to verify it with Annette. Only Annette can tell us if this man here and the guy in the hospital are the same person."

Eric does as he said before we both look around the area, hoping to find something. But it becomes clearer with every passing minute that we need an actual plan. Val pulls us out of our gloomy thoughts by calling, thankfully.

Eric puts her on speaker again. "Princess, I hope you have good news."

"Not sure if it's good," Val says, "but at least I have news. Annette verified the identity of the two pictures you sent me. The man from the hospital and the dead one are the same. She says he was called PJ. Seems like Meg disliked him in particular and tried to shield Annette from him."

"We have a name but no real identity," I say. "Again."

"Leila just arrived," Val says. "She is helping me here, but she is in constant contact with Zoé."

"Any news, Leila?" I ask.

I hear some shuffling before Leila's voice becomes clearer. "Zoé and Arden are working without any breaks to find the identities of PJ and Night. Arden is focused on Night. I think he is going through every snippet he can find, looking through all pictures of the orphanage, surveillance cameras, and the like."

Arden working so tirelessly worries me, but I understand why he is doing it. "Did he find something?" I ask.

"He found Night in two more pictures already," she says. "Seems like he was a regular visitor in the orphanage… a patron."

"Awesome. He made sure to pry on his prey," Eric mutters. "Meg had no chance."

"I talked to the director of the orphanage again," Leila says. "And he verified that this man was an anonymous patron, donating money but staying anonymous. He said that nothing he did rang any alarm bells. He always stayed away from the children and was very respectful. He sometimes brought gifts for the children, not just Meg."

"He is a very intelligent psychopath," I say. "I don't know much about this stuff. Arden would be the better one to ask, but I bet he is the type of person doing heinous crimes while all his neighbors would vouch for him to be a well-mannered, calm, and polite man." I pause. "He gifted Meg the gemstones, right?"

"Exactly," Leila says. "I was able to verify that."

"I don't think we'll find anything about Night as an adult," Eric says. "If Arden isn't already on it, tell him to make him younger. Let's see if we find Night as a child. Or maybe, that way it will help us find his father."

"On it," Leila promises.

"Keep us updated," Val says.

"How is Annette holding up?" I ask before she can hang up.

"Her dad arrived and is with her, so she has a familiar face around and some comfort," Val says. "I don't think what she went through has truly settled in yet. I talked to her father and set him up with a therapist in his area to work through her trauma. He also agreed to stay here for a couple of days and let Annette help."

"I'm glad to hear that. It will make her feel useful and like she is doing something to stop Night," I say. "It can only help her mental health in the long run."

"I agree, and the therapist here did too, which is why her father agreed," Val says. "Oh, the alpha wants to talk to me. I better get going. Watch out for yourselves."

"You too, my love," Eric says.

After a long, draining day without much success, Eric and I return to the Council, both of us tired to the bone. Eric doesn't stay here, though, and instead decides to drive to the pack where Val is currently staying, to help her.

"Update me the moment you know something," he tells me.

"Of course. The same goes for you."

I get out of the car and decide to look for my mate. We have been separated for the whole day, and I need my daily dose of Arden to get in a better mood. His room is empty, indicating that he is still at work. While I'm walking through the corridor towards his office, I feel an overwhelming sense of grief that almost takes my breath away.

That's our mate! Maxima alerts me.

What… what's happening!? I don't wait for Maxima to tell me her assumptions and instead pick up my pace, running towards Arden's office. I know he is there. Now that my lycan is on the surface, I can easily detect his scent.

It's quiet inside the office, almost eerily so. When I open the door, I'm surprised to find Arden sitting on the floor of the dark room. I'm about to switch on the light when he interrupts me.

"Don't," he begs. "Don't switch on the light."

I stop in my tracks, not sure what to do or say, so I just step closer and sit down next to him. For a while we both stay silent. "Can I touch you?" I ask gently.

He nods, and I make sure to wrap my arms around him, feeling how he trembles slightly. I don't need to prompt him to talk. He starts all by himself.

"I focused on finding Night, but during a break, I decided to look into something else. You know," he mutters. "Neither Vander nor I were subtle about who we dated, so people knew, but yet, something felt off. I don't really believe in gut feeling, but this time I listened to it."

"What did you find out?" I ask quietly.

He wordlessly hands me a sheet of paper. One is a caller log, the other a sheet with transactions. "One is a list with transactions, nothing out of the ordinary there. But the in and outgoing call protocols to and from a certain number," he says. "I had them delivered to me. There is an unknown, suppressed number that called every other day, always at the same time, and once a week the other called a burner phone."

"Whose phone number was it?" I ask, dreading the answer already. It can't be good. I know it can't be good, or Arden wouldn't look so defeated.

"It's my father's."

I hold my breath at his revelation. I was hoping it wouldn't be his dad. I could argue with Arden now, try to prove to him that there could be valid reasons, but he has connected the dots, and his gut feeling already tells him the truth. "I'm so sorry, Arden," I say sadly, hugging him tighter.

"Thank you for believing me," he says quietly. "This will destroy Vander," he adds.

"Vander…" I say. "How is he holding up?"

"He is a mess," Arden says. "But Lion and Tori are with him. They are great."

"How about we join them?" I offer.

"I can't tell him yet," Arden mutters. "Not before I have real evidence, and not before I find the courage to do so."

"You don't need to tell him anything, now. Let's just spend some time with him," I say, hoping it will be good for Arden too.

"I knew he didn't love me," he says quietly. "But I thought he at least would feel for Vander."

I'm not sure what to say. Anything I could say feels empty because I grew up with a loving family. My father's love for us is unconditional. Even when he is mad at us, I have never been scared of him. He always supported us and our dreams. When Felix wanted to take up surfing, Dad made sure he could go to classes and even gifted him a surfboard. When I wanted to learn self-defense and martial arts, I got his full support. Marius went through a phase in which he was interested in mythology, and Dad made sure he got to see every exhibition possible and got the books he wanted. He never laughed about anything we wanted to do or were interested in.

And I know if Mom passed away, he would never take it out on us. He would never sully her memory by abusing us.

"How am I going to face this, Aurelia?" Arden asks tiredly.

I take his hand, holding it tightly. "I don't know, but I will make sure to be at your side when you do. You are not alone, Arden. I'm going to be there all the way."

"You promise?" he asks, sounding so broken my heart clenches. "Tell me you won't leave me, although my life is so pathetic."

"Arden, nothing about you is pathetic," I say, taking his hand to lead it to my neck. "I'm proudly carrying your mark. You are mine with everything it entails. I'm not going anywhere."

He leans his forehead against mine. "I am truly lucky with the Goddess's blessing," he says, kissing me softly. He draws back after a while. "Come," he says. "Let's see how your friends and my brother are coping."