Liberation: Oscar's Story

Chapter 15: Pt. 2

"I can smell the fresh wounds on you," he said softly, almost sadly. His jaw was clenched so tightly that he thought he'd break a tooth. "I don't want to see someone else stuck in the same position that I was. It...it hurts me to see you so...diluted."

"I'm fine, Oscar." Ananya shoved past the voice of common sense and shot him a smile, one that made the young Alpha feel like his insides were melting almost immediately. "Trust me, I'm doing well. I'm not leaving immediately, anyway, and I still have time to change my mind. Moving is a difficult process, after all." She felt like she was lying to herself, though, and to Oscar as well. Rutuparna would quicken the process, she knew. There'd be no excuse when the time came.

"If you say so," Oscar said at last, nodding. He patted her shoulder and squeezed, reluctant to pull away. Ananya also didn't want his touch to leave, but she didn't say anything for fear she'd cross a line.

They continued to stand around for a while, occasionally glancing at the body or offering a flimsy suggestion as to what could have conspired between the two. Eventually, they heard the crunch of leaves and a howl. General Karsten appeared from the thickets, carrying a very pissed Officer January Bayor on his back. When he shifted, his expression wasn't that far from hers, and he had a large red handprint on his cheek.

"That woman is insane," he growled, stalking into the trees behind Oscar. "She's a fucking psychopath."

"Says the man who woke me up by tapping my window and proceeded to stare at me," January Bayor snapped. She glared at Oscar, then Ananya. "You both better have a good reason to be waking me and the guys up - holy shit!" She jumped back when she finally noticed the bodies, and Ananya restrained a groan.

"They're fresh. Same MO. Probably the same killer," she said, her tone monotonous. She noticed that behind January Bayor, more officers were arriving on the backs of wolves, all whom shifted after setting their rides down and trudged behind Oscar, grumbling under their breaths. The humans didn't look too happy either.

"We have to work with werewolves?" They scowled. "This is some bullshit."

"I'm not touching them," another one spat.

"Ugh, they probably did this and are using a case to hide the evidence," multiple voices chorused, each with their own version of the same idea.

"Enough blabbering, all of you," January Bayor said with a sneer. "We got work to do. Yellowbridge! Rodriguez! Get the stretchers. Everyone else, get a buddy and scout the area."

"Each of you follow a human," Karsten ordered the wolves. "Serve as protection and use your nose for good use. Find whatever you can. Leave no stone unturned. Is that understood?"

There was a mangled chorus of 'Yes General' and 'With them, General?' before the humans and wolves begrudgingly dispersed.

Karsten scowled. "I think we need to have more friendship training," he muttered. "Though I can't blame them. Humans are hard-headed pieces of cruel shit."

"Humans, eh?" January Bayor flicked her flashlight off and stomped in front of him. His height didn't daunt her and she stuck her face up to his. "What about your smelly, dirty-ass wolves? Do we say anything about them?"

"No, because you never let them five feet within your chicken human asses before y'all go screaming that a wolf's gonna eat you," Karsten arrogantly shot back.

"Yeah? Well that's what my momma did, and now she's dead, thanks to your lot," January Bayor retorted angrily.

"Officer..." Ananya attempted to intervene.

"Oh, so it's our  fault that your dumbass mother didn't know when to open the door and to who?" Karsten retaliated harshly. "What about my parents, eh? They were just minding their own business when your kind shot them dead in the woods. They weren't even doing anything!"