Imprisoned By Love

Chapter 4

Peeta

I pace in my room as Katniss takes a shower. I don't know why. Maybe because she's finally in my possession or because I know how uneasy we are with each other. I just know I have no idea how to act around her.

I don't remember much about my mother, the Luna when my father was his most powerful. I don't know what she even really looked like. The only woman who I remember calling Mother was the one who gave birth to Johanna. She didn't like me much and had I been a girl, I'm sure she would have pitted Johanna against me for my father's throne. All I do know is that my father was never the same after my mother died giving birth to my younger brother who followed her just two days later. Those who were around said he turned colder and cruel, much like how I had been acting without Katniss this last year. Johanna's mother just softened the blow a little for my father but considering I don't want to be the kind of man my father was, Katniss is the only option. There is no substitute for my mate.

I'm brought from my thoughts as Katniss comes out of the bathroom. Her dark hair falls in semidry curls across her shoulders and nearly down to her elbows. She has her arms crossed over her chest, obviously uncomfortable in Johanna's less than modest wardrobe.

"Did you find everything okay?" I ask. She nods.

"Yes, thank you," she says, looking down.

"How are you feeling?" I ask. She looks at me and sighs.

"Confused," she says. "But better now that I've had a little time to think." She walks slowly over to my bed and sits on the edge of it. I sit down beside her. "I just, I don't understand how all this is supposed to work." I chuckle.

"Yeah, I suppose humans don't really do things the same way, huh?" I say. "After all, humans date and mess around with each other." She looks at me with confusion.

"You don't?" she says.

"Of course not," he says. "It's unthinkable. You don't give anything away that should belong to your mate. Not even your first kiss. We give absolutely every piece of importance in our lives to the one who holds the other half of our hearts." She looks at me with quite a bit of curiosity.

"You've never even-," she starts and I shake my head. "It's just, you know I was kind of a misfit so I never had a boyfriend or anything. The most I've ever gotten or given was a kiss on the cheek."

"It wouldn't have mattered much to me if you had," I say.

"So what's supposed to happen now?" She asks. "Now that you have me here, how does this work?"

"Well, typically Alpha bloodlines intermingle. The daughters of another packs Alpha would be the perspective Alphas of other packs so I wouldn't have to explain all this," I say. "You would have known too if you had just been born in a neighboring pack. But humans are very dull creatures."

"Hey!" She says.

"Sorry," I say. "We're getting off topic." I look at her very uneasily. "In most cases, it comes in five stages. But since you are human, you have six. Some of the stages are a painful. Others can be very enjoyable. They are called The Marking, The Shift, The Blood aka the wedding, The Heat, The Mating, and The Birth."

"And that means what exactly?" She asks.

"Well, when you decide you want me to, I will mark you as mine," I say.

"How?" She asks. I reach out and move her hair off her bare shoulder. She watches intently as I lightly touch the junction of her neck and shoulder.

"I have to bite you," I say. "Right here. And when I do, it will leave a scar and I will infect you with the mutation that separates us from the humans. Your shift will come when the full moon is at her highest. And that, I can promise you, will hurt a great deal, what with the day of fever before followed by the breaking of every bone in your body as it learns its second form. Some of the females with children swear that they found labor and childbirth to be less painful and pleasant. But that is the only time it will ever hurt like that. After, it just feels like popping all your joints the way you pop your knuckles."

"And then I'll know you weren't lying to me," she says.

"Do you still think I'm lying to you," I ask.

"If I hadn't just seen you turn into Dusty, I might be skeptical," she says. "But I feel like I'd be kidding myself if I didn't have faith that you knew what you were talking about." I smile at her and she gets up. She walks to the window and looks out. "The full moon is just a few days from now."

"Katniss, I'm not going to make you do that," I say.

"Tell me the rest," she says, still looking out the window.

"We don't need to-" I start but she cuts me off.

"Tell me the rest!" She says sharply. "Don't leave me in the dark about the rest of my destiny, Peeta. I want to know so I can prepare myself." I sigh and go to turn out the light.

"At least come to bed," I say. "It's getting late and I know you didn't sleep well last night." She looks at me uneasily across the dark room as I walk over to the side of the bed and get into it. She stares for a moment before making her way, cautiously like a wild animal, to the bed and lays down at my side.

"Tell me the rest," she says for the third time.

"After you have your shift, we will get married at the new moon," I say. "And the reason it's called The Blood is because we have to slice the middle of our palms with a ceremonial blade before joining hands and proving that we truly are mates by healing each others wounds with our blood.

"After we exchange blood, you will become very um," I pause, trying to find the right words. She lifts herself up on her elbow.

"Considering it's called The Heat and we are kinda speaking on terms of mating, I believe that the word you are looking for is horny," she says and I give her a look and she blushes. "Or I guess maybe receptive?"

"Yeah," I say, a little uncomfortably. "Receptive. Let's go with that."

"Meaning after that we will physically mate until it goes away and nine months later, I will be giving birth to your child," she says before adding. "I'm guessing, from you know, the fact that the rest is called The Mating and The Birth." I nod and she chuckles.

"What?" I ask her.

"It's not as bad as I thought," she says. "A little overwhelming, but it's not bad. I just, it is very strange."

"Its what we are taught our whole lives," I say. "Something planned out in the stars for every pair in every pack in every corner of the world." She blinks at me and then leans in and kisses me softly on the cheek. I feel her move closer to me and her head rest on my shoulder.

"As I said before, it will take some time for me to get to know you and be ready for everything that comes with being with you, but I think I can say that I think I will be happy here, being part of a family again," I look at her as she blinks up at me. "I think I'll be happy with you." She lays her hand on my chest, over my heart. I lay my hand over hers and gently kiss the crown of her hair.

"It makes me so happy to hear you say that."