Liberation: Oscar's Story

Chapter 18: Pt. 1

Oscar sat at his desk, studying the papers strewn over the dark birch rectangle that was supposed to be a place where he could organize his thoughts. To his dismay, though, it only took a month after cleaning the place for it to become messy again. He didn't want to ask for Samiya's help a second time, knowing that she was already uncomfortable to be around him.

"That looks like a pain," Cai noticed from the doorway. The Beta had been leaning against the frame for a few minutes, patiently waiting for Oscar to beckon him inside. "What's it all about?"

"Paperwork for the case," Oscar replied. "Some of it is, at least. Most are for the impending alliance with Bourdier."

"You're really going through with that?"

"Why not? It's high time we put aside this childish behavior and finally live in peace with one another." He scribbled his signature on a sheet and put it aside. "Don't you think so?"

"I do, but it's not an easy thing to do. If we could simply say that we were done with discrimination and let everyone sing kumbaya then we'd all be together by now. It doesn't work like that, though. There are so many technicalities. I don't think we'd get it all doesn't in our lifetime."

"I know, but we should start trying now rather than never." Oscar put his pen down. "I also would like to speak with our wolves. I know many of us here are hostile toward humans. I don't want them to prove the suspicions to be correct, especially since my mate is a human."

"You're finally acknowledging it, eh?" Cai grinned. "What changed?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Before you didn't acknowledge your mateship with her. What changed?" He smirked. "Are you finally letting your dick speak for you?"

"No." Oscar scowled. "I just decided not to hold myself back anymore. Working on that case made me realize how short life is. I can't spend it wasting my youth doing nothing but work."

"Yeah? And seeing four humans murdered helped you figure that out?"

"Partially. The other part..." he frowned. "was Egon's doing."

"Egon? How so?"

Oscar stopped writing. "That boy was too young, Cai. He's being charged with murder and could very well spend the rest of his life in prison. I'm furious at what he did, but I also can't help but pity him. He reminded me so much of myself when I was young."

"I suppose so. He was a nervous boy. Sadly, he let his anger get the best of him," Cai mused. "I never knew he was a hybrid. I always thought he was a wolf."

"I never paid much attention to that either. Cathy kept him by her side constantly, so her wolf's essence must have rubbed off on him." Oscar pulled out Egon's folder. "When they transferred here, Egon was a child. We didn't need to know a lot about him because he wasn't considered a threat."

"Do you think there's anything we can do to know more about his hybrid nature?"

"I doubt it. Unless we call in a favor from one of our witch allies, which I really don't want to do." He scowled. "They'll either demand a huge reward or pull some prank, and it takes weeks to clean up their messes. As long as Egon's werewolf side doesn't become the dominant part of him, I think we'll be fine. Just to be safe, we should keep him in the silver cell."

"I'll have Adam on it," Cai said. "I wanted to get Karsten to keep an eye on the boy, but I couldn't find him anywhere in the pack."

"Really? That's odd. He's usually milling about somewhere. Did you check the training grounds?"

"That was my first guess." Cai shrugged. "He's probably out shopping for his mother. I know he mentioned needing to buy groceries for her."

"That's fair. My mother used to make me do that as well." Oscar chuckled fondly at the memory. "She would have Anvi and I go to the human realm to buy food. It was amusing to watch them scurry away from us." His smile faded. "I didn't realize that we scared them."

"Some of them are cowards. I can't say it's all our fault," Cai said. "What's so scary about two werewolves buying groceries? It's not like we're always in our wolf forms. I like to think we look human for the most part."

"If you exclude our height and aura, then yeah, sure." Oscar shrugged. "I spoke with Mayor Dafowick about what we could do to help ease tensions. He suggested celebrating on the Seventh Night."

"The Seventh Night?" Cai's jaw dropped. "Is he insane? Doesn't he know what happens on the Seventh Night?"

"I informed him, but he was adamant. He wanted humans to see us at our worst. He wanted them to understand that even when influenced by the Moon Goddess, we won't hurt them." Oscar tossed some papers into a nearby wastebasket. "It's a terrible idea, honestly, but Lance can be stubborn when he wants to be."

"You have to get him to change his mind. Having humans and wolves interact on the Seventh Night will only have them running at us with their guns!" Cai slammed his hands on the table. "They'll label us monsters and try to kill us all!"

"Their guns are useless against us unless they have silver in them," Oscar said. "I'll try again to persuade him, but I can't promise anything. If he decides to continue on the Seventh Night, then we'll have to brief the pack."

"Aren't you going to speak to them now? Why don't you tell them?"

"It's too early. Nothing is set in stone yet. Besides, the Seventh Night is a month away. We have other celebrations in the meantime." He stood and put his pens away. "Rally the pack, Cai. Have them waiting at the pavilion."

"You're going to brief them now? That's a bit random, isn't it?"

"I have other things to do later. I'd rather get this done now."

"By other things, do you happen to be describing a certain dark-haired woman who's bound to you through heart and soul?" Cai snickered.

Oscar rolled his eyes. "Precisely. Now get a move on. I don't want to rush."

"Fine, fine." Cai trudged out of the room, but he wasn't annoyed. His curiosity was heightened by Oscar's changed demeanor. Ananya had certainly rubbed onto the Alpha. He was worried, though, about how the pack would react to her.

Oscar stayed in his office for a moment. His phone rang and he picked it up. "Hello?"

"Oscar, hi!" Ananya's giddy voice returned his greeting, and a flood of golden warmth filled Oscar's system. "How are you?"

He smiled. "I'm doing well, thank you. How are you, Ananya?"

"I'm good! I'm just relaxing."

"Is that so? Is everything okay?"

"Yes. I...just wanted to talk to you." He could see her blushing. "Are you busy right now?"

"Not busy enough that I can't spare a few moments to speak to you," he replied. "I'll be briefing my pack about our recent success on the case once Cai manages to rally them all."

"Oh, really? That should ease their minds. Did Mayor Dafowick say anything about telling Bourdier?"

"He said he'd like to do so in a month, once all the paperwork has been filed and Egon's transfer is completed." Oscar hesitated. "We'd also be installing our alliance there."

"That's awesome!" Ananya exclaimed. "Things are moving fast, then, and they seem to be going in a good direction! Why do you sound worried?"

"You caught on that, huh?" He chuckled. "I'm always worried, Ananya. It comes with the job. I can't be sure that humans will be fine with an alliance between our kinds."