Chapter 7: The Message

My breathing stilled and I willed my legs to move backwards in order to get me out of this murder scene, but I couldn't feel them anymore. I tried anyway and stumbled back, bumping into something hard- Reed. I gasped for air,  feeling as though I had been holding my breath for minutes. My saw spots in my vision and felt my body swaying. My knees buckled and Reed caught me before I could crumple to the ground. 

He spun me around and held me to his chest. He supported my body weight while I hyperventilated, tears spilling from my burning eyes. 

"I've got you." He said, trying to prop me on my feet. "I've got you, Bri. It's ok. You're ok." My sneakers finally found the carpeted floor and Reed wrapped his arms around me, squeezing me tightly to his body. "Breath with me, calm down.." I clung to his shoudlers as I tried to control my rapid intakes of air. I felt his chest expand slowly beneath my head, his shirt wet with my tears. 

Reed cradled me in his arms for five more minutes before I was able to calm my body and let my shock subside. Tears still slid feely from eyes, but the stream had slowed. 

He leaned back tentatively and brought his hands up to either side of my face, wiping away the remaining teardrops with his rough thumbs. 

We heard footsteps from down the hall and I recognized one of the thundering gaits as Ivan's.

Reed whispered, "You can do this. I'm right here next to you."

He then did the last thing I had expected by leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on my forehead. His lips lingered for only a second before he released me, stepping back and turning his face to stone. I wiped the remnants of my breakdown away quickly, right as the Sigmas turned the corner and walked through the office door. 

I spun my body around in attempt to hide my weakened state and was confronted with the full scene in front of me.  Around Jospeh's' dead body, were the cluttered remains of his life's work. File cabinets and bookshelves had been toppled over. Torn, blood splattered papers littered the cream colored carpet. The leather chairs I had lounged in so often were tipped over and the stuffing burst from the sliced cushions.

And behind my dead analyst, the trusted man that I had known all my life, was a message on the far back wall. 

My feet moved on their own, drawn in by the crude lettering. Stepping over the debris and around the large mahogoney desk, I felt my stomach drop as I read out loud, "Your death is near, young Luna." It was written in blood, Jospeh's blood. 

I tried to hide the panicked rise and fall of my chest from the others in the room. I heard Reed's sharp, slow intake from the other side of the desk and knew he was trying to remind me to control myself. 

I inhaled and counted to three before I steadied myself enough to address my lead team. 

I put on a brave face, doing the best I could to mask how much I was affected by the shattering scene in front of me. As I turned to speak, I noticed the rest of them were equally disturbed. Linx looked around the room, mouth agape. A single tear escaped the corner of my female Sigma, Magda's eye. She stared at the decapitaited head, still wearing round glasses. Reed and Ivan stood with rigidity, gazes locked on the blood written message. The muscles in Reed's jaw twitched, and Ivan's eyebrows furrowed together. 

 "Who-" My voice came out strained and hoarse. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried again. "Who the fuck would do this?"

Linx was my oldest Sigma, serving under my father for many years, and stepped forward to answer. "We don't know. I just sent Paul to sort through all of the footage, but there were no alarms- no one saw anyone enter the building either.  The receptionist came in to tell him she was leaving for the night and found him just like this."

"No one saw anything? So someone just snuck in here and cut his fucking head off?"  I said as I pointed to the old man's corpse, which somehow held the same wise expression as always.  

I fought back the urge to vomit and contiued, speaking directly to Linx. "Take your team to help Paul. Look at all footage, in town and around the borders. The chances of an enemy wolf penetrating our defenses are slim to none, which means it was someone in this pack." The realization hit me as a I said the words. If whoever did this was someone I trusted, someone Jospeh had trusted, I would gut them in the most excrutiating ways I could imagine. "Sort through it as quickly as possible. Somone is going to pay for this."

Linx bowed, took one more look at Joseph's remains and left for Paul's office on the other side of the building. 

"The rest of us need to figure out if there is anything missing from the files. We should start by finding out if whoever was responsible for this was after something. 

Magda and Reed slowly started to shuffle their feet over the wreckage of the office, not sure where to begin their search. Ivan, on the other hand, instantly went towards one of the filing cabinets, uprighting it and trying to make sense of it's contents. And for what seemed like minutes, I just stood there frozen, trying to wrap my mind around the scene unfolding in front of me.

Jospeh had lived happily and protected under the command of two other Alphas. I had been in charge for six months, and he had been murdered right under my nose.

An hour later, we had discovered that all information we had on Phantom was gone. The folders on Alpha Slade and Mission Moonlight were missing, as were any files Joseph had kept on myself and my lineage. 

After exhausting all other areas of the room, we turned our attention the desk. I had sent Magda off to get her team so they could help remove Joseph's body and prepare him for a proper send off. They would be back any minute so this was our last chance to examine his remains. 

I stood facing the desk, Reed to my right and Ivan to my left. They were waiting for me to make the first move, giving me time I needed until I was ready.  I felt Reed brush the back of his hand lightly against mine, which was hanging down at my side. I took a deep breath to steady myself, and took a step to the desk- leaning over to inspect the instrument that was used as a spike on top of my old friend's head.  Bile rose in my throat as the smell of the injury mixed with man's lingering after shave.  I gripped the handle of the dagger and pulled up sharply, trying to block out the sound of ripping flesh. 

Reed stepped forward and tore off the bottom corner of his shirt, offering the material me so I could wrap it around the jagged blade.  

"What's that?" Ivan asked, peeking over my shoulder and pointing to the symbol on the handle.

I squinted my eyes and brought the knife closer to my face for a better look.  The ebony handle, five inches in length was forged metal, smooth and opaque.  In the middle, were three small dots moving up the grip in a line. 

"I have no idea. We'll have to ask-" I stopped myself. The person I would normally ask sat disassembled in front of me. "We'll have to find someone to ask." 

"I'd like to check his pockets, if that's ok with you." Reed said apprehensively, gauging my current emotional state.

I nodded and brought my attention back to the blade, turning it over in my hands to inspect it for more symbols.

"He's got a message on his machine." Ivan stated while leaning over the desk phone and hitting the voicemail button.

Reed pulled a small, gold, antique key out of the front pocket of Jospeh's blazer as my recorded voice rang out loudly from the speaker.

"Joseph, this is Briar. Hey, uhm, I've decided to hold off on the attack." I lunged at the machine, desperatley fumbling for any button I thought could end the playback while Ivan and Reed looked at each other in confusion.

The message continued, "I'd like you to set up a unity ceremony for Reed and I instead. Call me back when you-" I gave up on finding the correct button and yanked the power cord from the back of the office phone, albeit it too late.