Never Yours (Peeta Mellark X Reader)

Chapter 26--The Final Sacrifice

"You know, I won't be surprised if the Gamemakers end up being the ones to kill off all the rest of the tributes," Peeta eventually joked as the two of you headed through the forest, still hand in hand.

You laughed uneasily, trying to shake off that latest prospect Peeta brought up. "I won't be so sure, actually. What with only 4 of us left..."

"But anything can happen!"

"Yeah, I guess," you smiled. "And what happens after that? Victor's village, Victory Tour..."

"Ahh, the Victor's Village," Peeta laughed. "And our new home with Haymitch to keep us company."

To this, you shook your head. "No way!" you laughed, as the day slowly turned into night. "Hang on...what time is it?"

"It's supposed to be mid-afternoon," Peeta confirmed with you. "So why is it..."

"Oh crap," you muttered, wrapping your jacket around you tightly and hugging yourself. "They dropped the temperature down too."

For a moment, Peeta stood at a conflict. In this kind of situation, he normally wouldn't hesitate to wrap his arms around you to keep you warm, but who knew how many times Cato did the same thing? Besides, if the Capitol firmly wanted him to return to Katniss, would keeping you warm be wise?

Stop it, Peeta. You only said you liked Katniss just to weaken her in the beginning. And you've already rectified your mistake, so what in the world is making you--

A wild shout, followed by a cannon, jolted the both of you out of your thoughts. Another tribute had just died. Three more would be left to play.

"Who was that?" you murmured, looking up at the sky. Sure enough, Thresh's face flashed in the sky for the final time, his image flickering in the darkness before it faded away. 

"No," you whispered. sinking onto the ground. What could have killed him? Maybe he wasn't the nicest tribute, but he did save your life at the feast. He did spare you...for the sake of your alliance with Rue. Though he never figured out that it was you who bombed the pile of supplies at the Cornucopia. But that wasn't important, was it? What mattered was, another person got killed, and it's now down to you, Peeta...and Cato.

Cato. The boy who promised that you and Peeta would be safe, that you would both be healed with time apart in the arena. The boy who protected you and stuck with you through a lot in the arena. It hurts to even think about him dying...but it hurt even more to think of Peeta dead too. Either way, if you wanted to win, Cato would have to die.

"Keep your guard up," Peeta murmured, already raising the knife you gave him in front of him, and you nodded as you nocked an arrow and pulled back at the string, your back pressed to his, your eyes sharply on the lookout. A rustle came from your right and you whipped yourself towards the sound...only to realize that it was nothing but a rabbit. Peeta readied his knife, about to throw the blade at it to kill, but you stopped him.

"No, Peeta. There could be much worse things around here," you muttered, and Peeta nodded, hefting the blade back in his dominant hand. 

Suddenly, a howl came from your left, and you again shifted your position, but the figure that ran through the woods was none other than Cato.

"(Y/N)! PEETA!" he cried, barreling his way towards you, halting the moment he came close and panting. "They're coming!"

"Who's coming?" you asked, putting your bow down and glancing at Peeta, who shrugged. "Who?"

"Them!" Cato said, pointing towards the trees. For a moment, you squinted, unable to see anything...before you saw glowing eyes, and several wolf-like bodies running towards the three of you.