Liberation: Oscar's Story

Chapter 35: Pt. 3

"It's clear her prejudice lies with the wolves, though," Stella added. "She's been killing the ones she could find in Bourdier. Humans have locked themselves in their basements."

"Luckily, she hasn't discovered the tenth district yet," Soley said. "Or maybe she did and she just didn't care."

"Probably." Ananya glanced at the ground. Wait a second...Her heart picked up its pace and her head whirled. "Where...where is she? The pup..."

"Here." Samiya came behind Ananya, holding the girl in her arms. "She's fine. She has minor bruises. You on the other hand...I'll need to patch you up in the hospital."

"Now?" Ananya was incredulous. "While they're fighting?" She jerked her thumb at Dhrys and Cai.

"Not now," Samiya agreed. "There's more in the pack. They attacked us when you went after Vicky."

"Vicky?"

The pup smiled shyly. "I'm Vicky!" She said, raising her hand like one would do during roll call.

Ananya smiled, weakly stroking her hair, and felt a laugh bubble inside her throat. "You are," she murmured.

"We can't go back to the pack," Soley said again. "There's a siege going on. We're doing our best to help, but we're outnumbered. Right now, I think we should retreat."

"I can't leave the injured wolves and humans there," Samiya said. "They're my responsibility."

"You're going to overwork yourself," Stella warned her softly.

"I don't care. My job is to protect them!" Samiya fumed. "I'm so tired of you all worrying about me! I'm perfectly fine! I have a job to do-!"

"You do," Ananya interrupted her with a nod, still leaning on Stella's chair. "Your job is to take care of the wolves in the pack..."

"Thank you!"

"But your job is to also take care of the pups you're carrying," Ananya finished. Samiya's victorious smile faded. "Look, I'm not saying that you haven't been taking care of them, but overworking yourself won't help them. The more you weaken your body, the more you weaken theirs."

"I..." Samiya was at a loss for words.

"HI-YA!" A roar came suddenly from behind them, and with a rush of wind Ananya caught streaks of blue rushing into the fight.

"Kathie?!" She exclaimed. How many people are needed to take this wolf down?

"TAKE THAT!" Kathie smacked June over the head with the back of a chair, hitting her repeatedly with a sense of vigor that Ananya didn't know Kathie could possess. "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR MESSING WITH MY FRIEND!"

Stella blinked. "Well...I guess it's working?"

"I think so..." Ananya caught the metal poles in Kathie's hands. "Oh, it's silver! The poles are silver poles...that must be why it's affecting June."

"Are they? They look artificial," Soley said, squinting.

"They're real silver," Samiya said with a nod. "She must have gotten it from the patrol wolves, but those things are usually locked in the cellar and only the Alpha has the key...unless..."

They exchanged looks, and as the meaning behind Kathie's weapon computed in their slow minds, a chorus of howls arose from the pack.

"They came back!" Samiya exclaimed. She began to move toward the border. "Come on!"

"Let's go, Ananya!" Soley pulled her and Stella began to move her chair, but Ananya hesitated. She looked back at June, who was struggling under Kathie's assault.

"I..." she met June's gaze, and when the woman - whose face was streaked with blood - spit on the ground, Ananya's gaze hardened. She glared at June, and although her body was still shaking, she raised her head with confidence. "Don't kill her, Kathie," she told her friend coldly. "Keep her alive. Let her suffer behind bars, then she'll see what true control feels like."

"Aww, but I wanted to be a hero," Kathie moped, slamming the head of the chair on the side of June's head. "Can't I?"

"Kath." Ananya smiled weakly. "You're already my hero. You too Dhrys, and you, Cai," she added after a beat.

"Yeah, well, that spoiled it," Dhrys muttered, though he was smiling. His talons were unsheathed, dripping with blood just like his fangs.

"It's better than nothing." Cai grabbed June by her scruff and lifted her. "You're lucky the Luna is being lenient with you. If it had been the Alpha, you'd be dead."

June's eyes narrowed and she spit again. "I know," she taunted. "He's the son of a murderer, after all. Like father, so son."

"Banastre was never my father." Oscar, his clothes torn and his skin covered in streaks of blood, strode over the yellow border and past Ananya so that he was facing June. "Banastre was a killer. He was my enemy, and he did nothing but make my life a living hell. His actions don't coincide with mine, and whatever he's done are things that I never want to be associated with." He was face-to-face with June. "You attacked my pack. You almost killed my mate and a child. Your sentence should be death, and I should kill you with my own hands."

"Then do it!" June exclaimed. "Kill me! Prove to everyone that I was right."

Oscar's lips thinned. "Killing you proves nothing, and I won't kill you because I want you to suffer." A glint appeared in his eyes; a devious, wicked glint that suggested he was going to do something worse than killing her. "Cai put her with our dear friend Egon. Show her what happens when you betray your kind."

Cai nodded, and he and Dhrys picked June up, their heads tilted back to avoid her kicking, punching, and shrieking.

"What happened to Egon?" Stella, who didn't leave with Soley and Samiya, whispered.

"I don't know," Ananya said with a shrug. "I thought he was just imprisoned."

"He killed himself." Oscar turned, peeling the last bits of his shirt off. Sweat glistened on his body, shining like a topcoat of paint over the blood on him. He approached Ananya and put his hands on her elbows. "Being in that cell, alone with his thoughts, was too much for him. It's a shame, really. I had hoped to put him in rehabilitation, but that's not an option for June."

"That is sad," Ananya mused. Her body swayed, the events of the past hour finally developing and computing in her system. Her knees buckled and had Oscar not been holding her, she would have fallen. "Ugh..."

"She hurt you." Darkness bled into Oscar's eyes. "She fucking hurt you. She could have killed you."

"Could have, but she didn't." Ananya tried to remain positive while her strength seeped. "I was able...I was strong..."

"You were." Oscar held her against him and kissed her forehead. "You were strong, my darling."

"I'm gonna throw up," Stella muttered. "It's sickening how cute this is."

"Oscar!" Karsten ran up to them. His uniform was ripped and just like Oscar, blood-streaked his exposed skin. "Dafowick's come with backup! They're back to fight!"

--()--()--()--

June came back to pick a fight with Ananya, but is the war over yet? What will the humans do?