The Angel of Death || Peeta Mellark x Reader

Out Of The Woods

i'm so sorry everyone, i haven't updated in almost a week! i've been so overwhelmed lately with sports, school, working, and just people in general. but i promise all of my exams for this week are done so i am free to update!! again i'm really sorry, but thank you for all the support, i appreciate everything! 300+ reads is insane!

As soon as the cannon rings across the almost empty arena, I feel Peeta's eyes on me. We both know what this means, it's only us and one other person. I mentally review the options for the final battle, either Thresh or Cato. I wish it didn't have to end like this.

I don't know if I could physically bring myself to harm Thresh, he reminds me too much of Rue, his kindness and sense of justice. 

But not facing him meant facing Cato, who I knew was equally as strong and capable of murdering both me and Peeta.

"Hey, talk to me. What's wrong?", Peeta whispers, laced with concern.

"I don't know who I'd rather that cannon belong to. I don't think I could bring myself to kill Thresh, but I don't think I'd stand a chance against Cato".

But before he can respond, his sapphire blue eyes break mine after an unnatural sound cuts through the silence. It was dark and eerie, no animal I knew of could make that noise. But this is the Hunger Games, and this is the finale. The audience is probably gripping their seat, nervous with anticipation. But their anxiety doesn't even come close to mine.

I feel my stomach churning, the very little food I had eaten today was threatening to reappear. Peeta and I scan our surrounding, searching for the source. It didn't matter, since it made itself known.

The rabid dog, responsible for the ugly noise, leaped out of a nearby bush, it's hideous fangs barred. It was disgusting, and it's precise and incredibly powerful nature revealed it to be unorthodox, probably made by Capitol workers in their air-conditioned leather seats. A weapon created to kill us.

But I didn't have much more time to inspect all of the freakish details of the mutation, instead I watched in horror as it pounced on Peeta, flexing its claws to paw into his chest.

When I reached to grab my weapon that had been previously tossed aside after we found Foxface, I was met with nothing. But when I looked around, desperately trying to find the one thing that could save Peeta, I heard a wail coming from his direction instead.

 "Peeta!", I cried, not ready to let him go.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I killed it".

I looked down at the sight, the wild dog dead on the floor, dark red blood spilling out from the gash in its side. I saw Peeta holding my silver axe, and everything made sense.

I rushed over to his side, embracing him tightly over the corpse of our once enemy. Even though he was safe in my arms, I couldn't help but think of how human-like the dog's cry had sounded. The thought terrified me to my core.

But the moment of safety was interrupted by the sound of more dogs crashing their way through the forest, trying to get to us. I grabbed Peeta by his jacket, hastily picked back up the axe, and began to sprint as fast as my body could take me.

Somewhere in all the chaos, I felt Peeta's hand reach for mine, and we ran through the woods together. We hopped over all the logs and rocks littered in our way, most of which I was certain hadn't been there before. Peeta had the idea of going to the Cornucopia, where we could get height over the animals, where they couldn't reach us. But we were still at least a mile out.

I felt my breath quicken, now gasping for air in between the long strides I was forced to take to keep up with Peeta. My eyesight seemed to get blurrier,a result of my debydration. I hadn't drank anything today, and honestly, I regretted it. But while I was caught up in my own thoughts, I felt the boy beside me trip on a tree root, and fall to the ground.