Katniss' pov
The alpha didn't look pleased with my display of self defence. His eyes bled a dark amber, his gaze was burning and sharp, almost like he was starring into my very soul.
Soon after Mr Grumpy pants here had recovered, I sent Peeta away to calm down. Much to his displeasure, he has this ludicrous idea that I'll get a gatekeeper injury the moment he leaves my presences. Then again, I do get the same idea sometimes. I guess that's how mates work.
I brushed away the ghost of fear, leaning against Alexander's desk. It creeks with effort, rutting back wearily.
I remember him telling me a story about this desk, something about how his ancestors had built it to stand in his manor, each time someone new in his family would take possession of it, they would engrave a word into the underlying, the word would represent who they were as a person.
He had let me look at them, promising to keep it a secret, his oldest known ancestor had craved the word free into it. The first vampire in his bloodline had been a slave, beaten and overworked until his hands were blooded and his limbs were dead. Eventually, due to a war, the exact war I don't know, he escaped. They had more worries occupying their minds than a mere slave.
He fled to the nearest village, starting a life, I recall him having a job as a iron worker, he fell for a girl, Minnie, who turned him when they married. Turns out, vampires can have children, I didn't have the guts to ask him how that worked out, seeing as they were dead and the reproductive system would have partially rotted away.
Anyways, over the years, more and more words have been carved, leading up to the latest one. Alexander hasn't written one yet, claiming he doesn't know who he is as a person yet, but I'm not so sure. A low growl snapped me out of my superior.
"Well!?" The alpha spat, glaring across at us.
I rubbed my face tiredly, I don't have time for this. It's one thing after another, it's like my life is a poorly written fan fiction by a thirteen year old loner.
"Mr alpha, I don't have time for your family drama, thirty minutes ago I found out my ex-boyfriend is my cousin. That's traumatic, even for me. I mean, how come my parents didn't tell me? They must have known. That's so messed up"
Alexander cleared his throat, a fond look tinting his stoic expression. I blinked, blushing lightly. I look across to the alpha, hoping he was still there and didn't run away to eat some babies while I was rambling about incest.
"You could have married your brother for all I care, I just want to know where rose is!"
"I don't have a brother. Anyways, I can tell you where rose is." I replied.
"Why not?" He snarled. I smiled, biting my lip.
"Because, it's a secret."
"What?!" He demanded. I blinked, sighing exasperatedly.
"A surreptitious between us. Confidential information. A skeleton in the cupboard, if you wish. A secret." I shrugged sympathetically.
"You either tell me where she is, or I'm going to tear each member of this pack apart!"
"Now, now. We're both adult, we should handle this in a orderly fashion. Threatening me isn't going to help you."
"I swear to god, if you don't tell me where she is, I'm going to kill you."
"That's quite idiotic, don't you think?" I inquired, leaning on my palms.
"I'll take your silence as an answer." I replied dryly. "If you think we've got your daughter held captive, wouldn't killing us put her in danger?" I add, nonchalantly.
I watched his Adam's apple bob nervously, he clenched his fists, looking up at me.
"What do you want in return for her?"
Alexander and I shared a tense look, before something languid settled in the air. I breathed in, exhaling through my nose, giving Alexander a sharp look.
Why I am always the pack speaker? Doesn't he have a guy for this?
"Nothing serious. Don't worry. Just your help when we call on it and maybe, for once, listen to your daughter. Don't force her to do things she doesn't want to do." He blinked, his whole resolve disintegrating as I walked away.
Just as I placed my hand on the brass door handle, i placidly turned and smiled, before muttering.
"And maybe a good recommendation for a psychologist"
+++
I finally tracked rose and Lucas down, they were sitting by the lake. October was approaching fast, i could practically feel Samhain In the air as I walked. The leaves had faded from their bright greens and yellows, now shaded in murky browns and calm reds.
"Come on!" I called, gaining their attention. "We need to be heading back now, it's getting late"
"Has he left?" Rose asks timidly, taking slow strides towards me.
"No. But I've fixed it. You and Lucas will talk to him, Alexander will supervise" I say, turning my back to them.
Lucas jogs over to where rose is following my pace, he places a hand on my shoulder wearily, almost expecting me to bite it off or something.
"What about you? We need you!"
"No. You needed somebody to talk some sense into him, and maybe freak him out a little." I laugh, my arms brushing against roses as we walk.
"Oh." Rose mutters. "How did you freak him out?" She inquires a moment later.
"A little incest, some hand on hand combat. Seems fitting for my life as of late"
"Incest?" Lucas pulls a face, I frown at him.
"Hey! I'll have you know that many teenage girls, like myself, are okay with shipping incest. We did it with the mortal instruments and we'll do it again"
Rose giggles, covering her mouth. Lucas makes heart eyes at her for a moment, before crinkling his nose up. He looks up at me for a split second, shyly looking down to my feet and back up again.
"You're a teenager?!"
I throw my head back and laugh. For the first time in weeks, I double over with laughter. It feels good. Rose and Lucas look at me like I've commuted a case of genocide, with their wide eyes and largely parted lips.
"Dude, no. Not anymore at least. I turned twenty this year."
"Ew. Age" Rose grimaces
"There's nothing wrong with a little age. Just don't live until you're fifteen thousand years old and slaughter half a country"
"There goes my plans" Lucas grumbled sarcastically.
The rest of our short journey is silent, only the crunch of leaves under our feet and the occasional tweet of a bird breaking through. As we walk into the cleaning in front of the house, I notice Lucas tense up.
Looking around, I notice people looking at us incredulously. They look away once I clear my throat.
"I guess I'll see you guys later. Don't cause any trouble" I say, waving as I walk towards the garage.
"Oh, we won't be the ones causing trouble" Rose replies dryly.
I roll me eyes and shoot her a reassuring smile.
+++
"So, my friends, why are you gathered in my garage?"I inquire.
Finnick lets out the most feminine squeal in history, jumping away from my baby. He gives me a worthless glare, leaning closer to Annie.
"Calm down barbie. I didn't scare you that much." I dismiss, pulling up one of the stools. "Actually, how come I scared you? Shouldn't you have heard me?"
"Plot holes" Clove mutters.
"To answer your previous question. We are in here to avoid Mr anger issues in there" Peeta says, leaning back on the tool boxes.
"It's sorted. Where's gale?"
"Trying to get your mother to erase his memory of high school" Natalie chimes in.
"Oh. I'm quite offended. If I was him, I'd be pretty proud I scored a hottie like myself." Johanna rolls her eyes, so hard I thought they'd get stuck to her eyelids, while grimacing.
"You're cousins!"
"More the reason to be proud."
I stand up, kicking the stool underneath the bench in a swift movement. I pace across to my baby, running my hand over the hood.
"You guys have to take care of her for me. I don't want such a beauty rusting away in here."
"What?!"
"My car. You've gotta look after it. Cars like this need a lot of attention." I reply, running my finger over a scratch
Damn. When I find out who did that...
"No. I understood that, I'm not dumb. But, why won't you be looking after her?"
I sighed deeply, giving her a knowing look. Either she didn't see it, or just chose to ignore it.
"The not-so-much-elephant-in-the-room. My inevitable death."
"Katniss. You aren't going to die."Johanna snaps.
"Yes, actually I am. In less than a month."
"Who says?"
"Fate. It's been established that our lives are like a crappy fanfiction. So, really, I wouldn't expect anything else really."
"We can rewrite fate kat. Did you really think that we're going to let you die. Go down without a fight?" Marge asks.
I shake my head, replying; "No one ever said anything about going down easy. I'm fighting until the inevitable end."
Finnick frowned, glaring at his shoes for a moment. The others grumbled unhappily, especially Peeta. Who made his displeasure very, very clear. Looking up, his eyes darkening knowingly, finnick answered;
"That's probably what's going to get you killed 'ya know. The whole, I'll throw myself into danger without a second thought, thing you've got going on."
"It's better than just rolling over and admiring defeat!"
"No one said anything about that, okay!. All I'm saying is, maybe if you stayed away from the fight, you might survive."
"I'm not letting you all get killed!" I snap, baring my teeth down.
"Who says we would? You underestimate us. We can save our own asses you know."
"I know you can, you've proven to be quite able over the past year. But this is a fight you won't win. Snows ruthless, he'll stop at nothing to kill me." I answer, ignoring the growls and snarls.
"You can't expect us to let you walk to your death." Annie yells. I jump, staring at her incredulously. It's unlike Annie to yell.
"I'm not expecting you to let me do anything. It's my decision. You don't need to stick around to watch if you don't want to." I answer languidly, turning to leave.
I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Leaving arguments instead of letting let run out. I suppose I've learnt a few things over the years.
I ignore the yells of protest and frustration. I know they won't let this go, I know Peeta won't, god help me when he wants a heart to heart.
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Hey children, how are you?
It's me. Who else would it be? Actually, a demon could have possessed me and wrote this....
Anyways, I finally updated. Yay!. I'm feeling a little better today, I've go for a few walks, visited my favourite spot, talked to my internet friends. So, yeah, today's been good. Have you had a nice day?
I hope you enjoyed this well-deserved chapter. Thanks for waiting! X
Stay safe,
I love you xx
- scarlet, Carly, Carwy. Whatever