Liberation: Oscar's Story

Chapter 17: Pt. 1

Oscar and Ananya sat side by side in the waiting room adjacent to the check-in desk at Bourdier City Hall. Apart from the elevator music playing in the background, there was not a sound between them. Oscar's dark eyes swiveled from wall to wall as he observed the paintings hanging on the pale yellow pillars while Ananya paged through a magazine, occasionally glancing at her phone when it rang.

"Somebody's looking for you," Oscar teased. "A lover?"

Ananya smiled. "I wish," she said. "It's my aunt. She's asking about the case."

"Did you tell her that we solved it?"

"Er, yeah, I did," Ananya flushed and looked at her knees. "I did..." her phone pinged again, but this time she didn't check the message. "Actually, no, I didn't." Her flush deepened. She was always a terrible liar. For some reason, she felt physical pain when she lied like her heart was being torn and her lungs punctured.

"Really?" Oscar's brow furrowed. "Why not?"

Ananya shrugged, attempting to give him an indifferent smile. "I'll tell her in time. I don't think she'd be interested to know anyway. She has her things to do. Her last concern is my progress on this case." Her eyes dimmed. "She never wanted me to be a detective."

"I picked up on that when I met her," Oscar said. "Why not? She doesn't approve of you working for the government?"

"Partly. She also wants me to run her company. She has a tutoring business." Ananya sighed. "Honestly, running a business isn't my cup of tea, you know? Everyone's good at something, but, I just don't see myself sitting in a stuffy office signing papers and dictating jobs to others. That's not my style of doing business."

"You have very good people skills, though," Oscar noted. "Like when we arrested Egon. You managed to keep calm despite what he'd done to you."

She shrugged. "He didn't do anything. All he did was grab and shake me. We had that a lot during training."

"Didn't he hurt you?" Oscar studied the curve of her spine. "He was pretty rough. Cai and Karsten had trouble containing him."

"I was fine. I've been hurt in much worse ways." Ananya stretched her arms. They didn't quite reach above her head, her elbows bent when she tried to lift them any higher, like gravity was weighing down on her.

"Those scars on your arm, what are they from?" Oscar questioned quietly.

"Surgery, mostly," Ananya said. "When I was in third grade they tried to release my tight tendons, but they quickly contracted again. I guess it was partially because I didn't do the exercises I was supposed to do." She laughed. "I was such a lazy child, and a stubborn one too. I'd get scolded nearly every day by my nannies."

"Your nannies?"

"My aunt was always working, as was my uncle, so I was often looked after by tutors or nannies." Ananya frowned. "I rarely saw my aunt. In fact, it wasn't until she had a falling out with my cousin that she became more involved in my life." She gave an indifferent raise of her shoulders and shook her head, brushing long tendrils of hair against her back. "She was a strict, no-nonsense kind of woman. Sometimes I'm not sure if I feared her or respected her." She laughed awkwardly and rubbed her arm. Her thumb ran over the deeper marks of her skin, places where leather had torn across her body instead of knives.

"She sounds a lot like my stepfather," Oscar murmured. "He was a hard-headed man, but I think he was much crueler than your aunt is. He was a living nightmare."

"I can imagine. I've heard stories about him," she said. She glanced at him. "A lot of people compare you to Banastre. It's confusing. You're not like him at all."

"They fear that I can become like him. Many say I have his temper...which isn't unfounded. You saw that yesterday," Oscar explained. His gaze dropped to the ground, his expression graying. "It's as though I can never escape from him, even though he's been long dead, you know?" He lifted his head abruptly and laughed. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. I doubt you'd want to hear my sob story. Werewolves are a danger to your kind, anyway. I can't blame you for not caring."

"I never said that. I do care about you." Ananya's pink lips scrunched up in a scowl. "Who told you to make assumptions about me? It's a little offensive that you'd compare me to the others in Bourdier. I have never judged you because of your species. Werewolf or not, you've never done anything to make me fear you. I...I've felt more at ease around you than I have with anyone else." Her skin flushed and gave a slight eminence of heat. "You kept your faith in me even though nobody else in the department wanted me in this case. It's because of you that I have a chance to become an official detective." And get away from Mausi for good.

Oscar blinked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. You're right. I'm in no place to make assumptions." He smiled. "I'm honored that you trust me. You're an intelligent woman, Ananya. I knew from the moment I met you that you had unrestrained potential."

"Oh, now you're buttering yourself up?" Ananya teased. Her phone beeped incessantly and she muted it, shoving the device into her pocket. "But yes, I do trust you, Oscar." She grinned. "You're a good man, even if you doubt that."

"I hope one day I can see that for myself," Oscar said with a smile. The elevator doors dinged and out stepped Mayor Dafowick, followed by January Bayor and Anthony Willis. Oscar and Ananya briskly stood, the latter taking longer to get to her feet.

"Good day, Alpha." Mayor Dafowick beamed and shook Oscar's hand. "I see you and my team solved the case. Officer Bayor briefed me on the happenings."

"Yes, sir," Oscar said. "Thanks to the combined efforts of my pack and your men, including the aid of Officer Bayor and Ananya, we were able to arrest a wolf in my pack, Egon Eglebert, for the murders. He's a hybrid between human and wolf, which is why we couldn't trace his semen or DNA. There was no evidence of sexual assault." He added quickly. "We have him contained in my pack at the moment for questioning. I have reason to believe that he's working with a rogue group to try and stage a coup."

"Is that so?" Mayor Dafowick frowned. "Well, that's certainly concerning." He glanced at Ananya. "Oh, hello. Are you a student? Do you need help?"

Ananya blinked. "Um...I'm Ananya Kaushikh. I work here..."

"Ah, right. I forgot." Mayor Dafowick nodded, and under his breath, he murmured. "Our diversity hire."