103: The last straw

**Light sexual content**

Eventually I made my way to what seemed to be a lake. Its crystal blue waters lured me in like a thirsty desert traveller would be lured to an oasis. I quickly neared it and then lowered my head, lapping at the cool water. I needed this. I needed the feeling of the cool mud beneath my paws, the feeling of the wind rustling through my fur and scent of the clear, cool air surrounding me. For a moment, just one single, perfect moment, everything was fine. There was no more pain of loss, no more worrying about Liam, no more hating myself for what was to come and the killings I’d have to commit. But just as soon as that moment appeared, it left like a brief memory of happiness, when I heard footsteps nearing me.
I turned around with a growl, ready to attack, but relaxed slightly when I was greeted by the familiar figure of Demetri.
“You know it’s not good to run away from your problems,” he said throwing a bundle of clothing towards me. I sniffed at it before growling. At this point, I wasn’t ready to calm down just yet and to go back to the mess that awaited me in Tenebris.
Demetri held his hands up in front of him and then raised his brows. “Fine, fine. I’m not here to force you into anything. Mind if I join you though?”
I grunted, ignored his question and then turned back towards the water, staring down at my reflection. I was startled, however, when I saw another reflection next to mine, this one belonging to Demetri. His fur was a soft silverish colour and his eyes were the same pools of red and gold that they turned to every time he let his wolf side control him. He moved closer towards me and rubbed his fur against mine. At first, I wanted to resist the temptation of giving in to him, but eventually I couldn’t hold back, and I moved closer towards him as well. We stood there in silence, just observing the water and the wildlife ahead of us. But the more we stared out into the distance, and the more time I had to think, to actually just be surrounded in silence and think, the sadder I grew. Eventually, I didn’t even have the anger and strength left in me to sustain the wolfish form I was currently in. Instead, I began to transform back into my human form. My fur returned to short hairs on my skin, my large paws turned into small, delicate hands and my wolfish limbs turned back into human arms and legs. And as my naked body lay against the softness of the grass beneath me, the tears began to leave my eyes. My cries began as soft little sobs and then turned into choking gasps. That was when Demetri returned to his human form too and welcomed my nakedness with his as his body engulfed mine into an embrace.
Almost instinctively, my lips found his and we kissed in a passionate, emotion-driven frenzy. All I could feel was the heat between our bodies and the softness as our skin collided. And as our kisses intensified and our tongues touched, his hands began to wander down my body, touching at my legs, my hips and even my breasts. I moaned into his mouth, and he growled lowly before moving his mouth to my neck. I arched into him as he bit into my flesh and then moved his hands down to my hips. He was forceful and rough with his movements, but I needed his roughness and his dominance. I needed it to consume me, just as my anger, hatred and sadness had consumed me moments earlier. Eventually his hips found their way to mine, and he began thrusting into me. I panted as he moved roughly against me and wrapped my legs around his back. We never said anything to each other. We only growled and moaned and groaned as pleasure consumed us. The more he thrusted deeply into me, the more my walls contracted around his cock as the excitement in the pit of my stomach built up and the heat between us grew hotter. Soon we were both so consumed by pleasure that nothing else in the world surrounding us seemed to matter. Not the coldness of the breeze blowing against the both of us, not the sound of the birds in the trees, not even the feeling of rain as it began to fall on our naked bodies. His lips found mine again, and this time he kissed me more intently than he had before, making sure to savour the feeling of our lips and the slipperiness of our tongues. That was when I finally gave in to the unbearable pleasure and he followed soon after. We lay next to each other with nothing but the sound of our panting and the soft falling of rain surrounding us. The moment was never spoken of again, not when we got dressed, not even when we began our journey back to the palace where we had ample opportunity to say something to each other. Instead, I held his hand, too scared to let go.
I was reminded of Felicity’s death the moment Demetri and I entered into the city of Tenebris. The festive spirit that had once overtook the streets had disappeared. Instead, it was replaced by a dark, grey gloominess which hung in the air like a thick fog. The thing that made Felicity’s death so different than the deaths in the games previously, was that Felicity died when she was not playing them. Instead, she was murdered at a time when we were guaranteed our safety, our joy, our mourning. It was almost like a slap in the face to myself and the nobles and as we walked towards the raven statue, under which Felicity’s parents now prepared to burn the dead body of their child, I could tell by the faces of the other nobles who’d gathered to mourn Felicity’s loss, that this was the last straw for them.
Sebastian stood near the front, along with Liam, Xavier, Aaliyah and Alice. As soon as Demetri and I neared them, Aaliyah and Alice walked towards me and engulfed me into a tight embrace. It was then that I could finally let go of Demetri’s hand. We watched closely as Felicity’s parents set their daughter aflame and her body was consumed by fire. I tried to keep it in, to remain composed, but watching her burn made it all feel so final and so I couldn’t help but cry. Time felt endless, standing there and mourning Felicity’s death and the grief felt painful and overwhelming. However, it soon became clear that Meera could not have cared less at that point. Instead, she emerged from the crowd, eyes only slightly wet and red.
“It is such a shame that a young, bright soul like Felicity has now disappeared from the world…”
As soon as she began to speak, I blocked her voice out immediately. I didn’t feel like listening to her meaningless words, especially when I was almost certain that she had some sort of involvement in Felicity’s death. However, it wasn’t until her next few words, that I actually began to take note of what she was saying.
“… we do need sixteen contestants for the Games tomorrow, and so we have decided to choose a contestant out of the remaining disqualified members.”
My heartbeat began to quicken in anticipation, almost as though I knew exactly what she was about to say next.
“And we have chosen Xavier Chase.”
There was no cheering, no sounds of joy or happiness. Instead, everyone turned towards Xavier and glanced at him in grim sympathy. Xavier, however, turned towards me and surprised me with an apologetic look on his face, as if he somehow had something to be sorry for. The only person who had to be sorry was Meera. First Felicity, and now Liam and Xavier. How much more did she want to take away from me? And as I thought this, I noticed her eyes on me. They watched expectantly, analysing my expression and if I only assumed she had something to do with Felicity’s death before, I was now certain.
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Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!