Liberation: Oscar's Story

Chapter 26: Pt. 2

"Yuen." January Bayor nodded coldly at him. "You've heard about Egon, I presume?"

"I have. I'll be working on recapturing him with Mayor Dafowick," Oscar replied with an equally chilly tone, scooting closer to Ananya.

"So will I," she said. "I've got my team scouting the perimeter of the town. In fact, I have a meeting with the head of the groups right now."

"Good, good. Write up your findings in a report and send it to me soon," Mayor Dafowick said. "Ananya, you're doing the reports, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir!" Ananya stammered and blushed. "I am...but Sir, have you heard anything about me possibly becoming a detective? I don't want to seem impatient, especially with this new development..."

"I'll check up on the progress," Mayor Dafowick said and turned to his phone.

Ananya deflated a little. "Of course," she mumbled, then smiled again. "I'll keep waiting!"

Oscar frowned, noticing the interaction, but said nothing.

They came to the first floor soon and filed out of the shaft while a group of businessmen huddled around them. Oscar didn't get a chance to even touch Ananya when January Bayor whisked her away.

"Bayor's good, but she's stubborn," Mayor Dafowick said, mistaking Oscar's silence for being offended. "Come. The cell is this way."

He led Oscar past Anthony Willis's office and into a corridor with hundreds of silver-rimmed portraits, all of the previous mayors. As he followed behind Mayor Dafowick, Oscar found that an invisible weight had fallen on his chest. His brow furrowed as a haze swept over his eyes and a fissure of pain began to crack in his mind.

The silver here is intense, he thought with a soft groan. Of course, older silver would be more powerful. He shook his head. Usually, silver didn't affect him as much as it affected other wolves, being that he was stronger than most. But the compiled amount of old silver particles with the new ones, plus the hefty quantity, could even knock out a wolf as powerful as the Alpha King.

Mayor Dafowick turned, noticing the tight clench of Oscar's jaw. "Are you okay?" His voice was what Oscar imagined cursive to sound like. "Shall we return or keep going?"

"Ugh..." Oscar groaned. He tried to keep his wits about him, but the silver lashed his senses and his knees shook dangerously. "I..." he ground his teeth and felt his fangs elongate. "Just...I'll trust what you said."

Mayor Dafowick nodded with a little smile. "Alright." He placed his fingers along the crook of Oscar's arm and led him to the waiting area again. Once they were in front of Anthony Willis's desk, Oscar felt a sweep of relief blow through him like a whirlwind, freeing him of the effects of the silver. He caught a deep, fulfilling breath and rolled his shoulders.

"I'll have to leave. I have more work to do now," he said. "I'll send my Beta, Cai, or General Karsten to collect more information in a few days. They might be detained to help with the cleanup though..." he paused. "Speaking of, what are we going to do about the party?"

"The party?"

"We had agreed to have a celebration in Bourdier for the capture of Egon and the impending alliance between our kinds. I'm not sure we should still do that."

"Why not?"

"Well, Egon's escaped. There's no reason to celebrate."

"You worry too much, Alpha," Mayor Dafowick said with a lackadaisical wave of his hand. "We'll find him in no time. I say that the party is still on. We'll celebrate our brotherhood and sisterhood. We won't tell the community that Egon has escaped."

"Is that wise, though?" Oscar frowned. "I don't think, in this case, that ignorance is bliss."

"If we tell them, they'll get anxious. Everyone will be on alert, and it won't be good for us. We should keep this to what little people we can. It'll be safer that way, for everyone," Mayor Dafowick insisted.

Oscar mulled over his quickly-spoken words. "I suppose so," he said a bit hesitantly. "But--"

"Mayor Dafowick!" Anthony Willi's ferret-like face popped from under the table, his hot breath staining the glass in front of him. "You have a meeting in five minutes!" He disappeared under the table again.

Mayor Dafowick shook his head. "He's like a cuckoo clock, I swear," he muttered. "I should be going. I'll talk to you soon, Alpha. Keep me updated."

"You as well..." Oscar murmured.

~***~

"You're getting bigger!" Ananya gasped, stroking Samiya's belly with a smile. "Is that even possible at the stage you're in?"

The breeze brushed around the two girls and swirled a few leaves in the air. The bright green and yellow colors fell over them like confetti and sprinkled on the ground and armrests of Ananya's chair.

"It is. They're moving around a lot," Samiya said and laughed. "Sometimes I worry that they'll come out earlier than they're supposed to."

"Let's hope not. At least you have your hospital bag packed."

"I've had it packed for two months. You should always pack your bag two months before giving birth," Samiya said. She popped a slice of mango into her mouth. "I'm so ready for these kids to come out, though. It's exhausting carrying more weight than necessary."

"I can imagine. I remember when I used to tutor this one girl, I'd sometimes help her pregnant mother. There was a lot of yelling in that house." Ananya rolled her eyes at the memory. "The woman was nice, though. I liked her." She removed her hand and pulled out a knife to slice the mango that Samiya was eyeing.

"You do well with kids," the Beta Female mentioned. "They seem to grow easily attached to you."

"Do they? I'm glad. I love kids."

"Do you plan to have any?"

"One day, yes." Ananya handed her the slices. "But, I mean..." she thought for a moment. "Egon was a hybrid. If Oscar and I have kids, they'll be hybrids too."

"So?"

"What if they become like Egon?"

"I doubt it. Egon was probably influenced by outside sources, rogues, or even his mother. Cathy never liked Alpha Yuen," Samiya explained. "You do know, though, that if you decide to have kids, you'd have to do a bunch of testing, right?"

"I know. I've already done a few. I've taken more pregnancy tests than my aunt and her sister combined since my period is always late."

"Not just those tests. Tests to look at your genealogy and your genetics. Tests to make sure that the baby is..." Samiya stopped.

Ananya gave a pitying smile. "Normal?" She grinned a little sadly. "I know. I've been told as such. I don't mind. I'll happily do those to give my children a better life."

Samiya smiled. "I know you would. And hey, if it doesn't work, there are always other options."