— 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 —

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"I think we should kill him. End his suffering."

"Absolutely not."

"Juneaux—"

"Killing in self-defense is one thing, but he's unarmed and injured."

"Then we should just leave him here to die. The temperature is only going to continue to drop. We need to find shelter."

I could hear the voices actively discussing my fate while I laid there, bleeding and simultaneously freezing. My head was pounding, but much of the rest of my body felt numb. I was too dizzy to think of an escape from my situation, so I continued to lie there, accepting my fate. I barely managed to pry my eyes open. For if I was to die, I would die with dignity, looking my enemy in the eye.

And perhaps it was my delusional state of mind from the blood loss and exhaustion, but I swore there was a golden halo of light surrounding the ginger locks of the angel who spoke on behalf of the gods.

"Fine..." Her tone was bitter as she begrudgingly agreed with the tall, muscled figure beside her. However, her attention was stolen by the small cherub at her side tugging her sleeve. "Harlan?"

"He could've killed Honey and me," the cherub's meek voice added another side to the untold story, swaying the angel's decision. "He let us go. Now, he needs help."

"Juneaux," the blond devil on her shoulder tried to force his reason upon her. "He's a career. If we help him, we'll just be digging our own graves."

The angel turned her head, looking out toward the horizon. "Says who? The gamemakers? Rex... don't you think it's time we play by some of our own rules?"

I didn't remain conscious long enough to hear the final decision. My eyes rolled back inside my head and the world went dark.

I lost track of the time spent dwelling in the dark, and I can't recall when the light came shining through. However, this light burned like fire and seared the edge of my soul. It felt as if my consciousness was torn between a battle of tug-o-war, briefly touching the icy tendrils of death and the scorching mists of life.

Like two sides of a coin, flipping back and forth. Once landing on the head of the wolf then switching to the Latin inscription veni, vidi, vici. Those words had been inscribed on every crest of my family home, a motto instilled to prove our worth. And now that scratched out phrase rested immortal on the back of Atticus's gifted coin. The coin that weighed heavily in the pocket of my cargo pants as a threat to prove myself worthy of the Lovera name.

It was laughable really, that a parent would send their own child off to war. Because either they were willing to let that weak child die... or if the strength of a survivor was apparent, that child was mangled for glory and fortune. And if I did not claim the role of champion, they had heirs to follow in my footsteps. My twin sisters who also lacked a heart, perhaps that was my fault. That hidden somewhere deep in the crevasse of my chest, there was a still-beating heart that was overflowing with grief. I was but one side of a broken coin, and the worse one at that. And yet that flaw remained despite the beatings and the torment. So perhaps this was a fitting end and war was finally over...

Those hopes were dashed as I sat upright with wide eyes and a deep gasp, scaring the ginger girl treating my wounds enough that she flinched and backed away.

"Where am I?" My voice was hoarse and the sound painfully scratched at the interior of my throat.

"Drink some water." She regained her composure, handing me a canteen like it wasn't an option but a command. She noticed my hesitance and frowned. "It's not poisoned."

"She turned that option down," the boy leaning against the cavern wall scoffed and grunted. "I still think we should have left him to die in the snow."

"So why didn't you?" I asked, lowering the canteen from my lips once I was refreshed. My head continued to pound and the room still felt like it was swimming, but at least the initial nausea had settled.

"Because I don't play by those rules," she answered, drawing closer to continuing changing the bandages wrapped around my side. "I'm Juneaux by the way. You tried to kill me, but we never had a formal introduction. I thought you might like to know."

Her sarcasm was strong although the inflection of her tone didn't change all that much. It also did little to alleviate the confusion clouding my thoughts. My eyes danced back and forth between Juneaux and her guard dog along the far wall, unable to determine how to interpret the situation.

"Romulus," I finally said, breaking the tense silence that had followed her introduction. "It wasn't personal. Just business."

"Sure felt personal," the boy scoffed. "I'm Rex, in case you wanted to know who was responsible for your concussion."

"Districts Nine and Ten." I nodded my head, but regretted the motion as it felt like my brain was rattling side to side inside my skull.

"We're more than just numbers," Juneaux contradicted. However, her eyes remained trained on the salve she was applying to my infected wound. I winced at her touch and recoiled from the pain. "Any idea what your partner coats her blade with?"

"You mean Rena?" I blinked, struggling to focus on even this conversation. "How long was I out?"

"Almost a week," Juneaux replied, rewrapping the wound that was already beginning to bleed again. "Despite how you must be feeling, this is actually an improvement compared to the first few days. Your fever broke last night."

"Some haven't been so lucky," Rex noted, spitting on the ground beside his feet. "So what poison does she coat her blades with?"

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," I admitted, but my eyes screamed defiance and the boy interpreted my words as a lie.

"Bullshit." Rex kicked off from the wall, storming over to pull me up from the ground by my shirt. "She stabs you, Juneaux, and Honey with the same blade, and every wound receives the same flesh-eating infection. That's not a coincidence."

I cleared my throat, trying to pull away. "Believe it or not, Rena didn't share all of her secrets with me. She wants to kill me just as much as the rest of you... Well, now that I think about it, there's a pecking order. If she had her way, she'd kill Juneaux first, then me, then the rest of you. And if you're right and she did poison her blade, then she's likely fuming that the cannons haven't signaled our death yet."

"Meaning what exactly?" Rex scoffed.

"That she'll be hunting you down," I replied as if it should have been obvious. "The only reason she hasn't done so already is because I kept her in line."

"And why would you do that?" Juneaux asked, gathering the supplies once she finished dressing my wound. It was then I noticed the bandage wrapped around her own calf—likely the scratch from her scrap with Rena—and the beads of sweat lining her forehead. Finally, our eyes met: her shimmering green against my blue and gold. I knew we'd faced one another at the cornucopia, but I'd forgotten her eyes reflected both a raging fire and the torrent tides of the ocean. Those eyes now admitted how much pain was spilling over the top of her walls, yet she continued to act as if everyone else needed care first.

I blinked, snapping free of the trance once Rex expectantly cleared his throat. "Pardon?"

"Why would you not lead the careers toward us?" Juneaux repeated her question. "You outnumbered us in the beginning. You had the advantage. So why wait?"

"Honestly? I didn't believe you'd make it so far," I admitted. "Your score just didn't add up—it still doesn't add up—So I thought, why waste the energy."

"I still think we shouldn't risk keeping him alive," Rex crossed his arms, bitterly muttering under his breath. "We're wasting medications that should be reserved for Honey. For our injuries."

"Is he awake?" the young blond boy with tussled hair and a thin frame—the one who never left Juneaux's side—came running eagerly into the room. "Is he hungry?"

My stomach answered for me, growling louder than anticipated and the boy snickered with amusement. Rex's frown deepened as he gently took the berries from the boy then purposefully kept them out of my reach. "So now we're feeding him too?"

Juneaux rolled her eyes. "Why would we bring him here, dress his wounds, then let him starve?"

"Although I don't like it," I shot Rex a nasty look before conceding as I turned back to Juneaux. "Your ally is right. Why are you wasting your resources to nurse me back to health?"

"Because you have something to offer in return," she replied. My brow only furrowed further. She took the berries from Rex, and although the tribute from district ten was displeased, he didn't fight her. "I want you to train us."

Rex and I both released the same confused, disgruntled outcry of disbelief.

All the while Harlan eagerly nodded his head as if he'd been in on this deal from the start. "Juneaux says you could teach us how to use a sword."

"I know how to wield sickles as a tool," Juneaux admitted. "But when it comes to using them as weapons—or any other actual weapon—I lack the coordination and refinement."

"Then how'd you score a perfect twelve?" My confusion remained, reflecting on the details of the past that hadn't clicked.

"I poisoned my opponent during the personal session," Juneaux replied as if she hadn't just released a scandalous secret on live television. There was no doubt in my mind that we were still being watched by the public. "I got lucky. The only reason I could get close was because the peacekeeper wasn't fighting to survive. Rena won't make that mistake lightly. Ergo I need your skills to stand a chance."

"You want me to train all four of you?" I scoffed, slowly looking around the room at the three present.

Rex shook his head, contradicting the statement. "You wouldn't catch me dead accepting help from a career."

"That's because a career wouldn't help you before killing you," I retorted, matching his attitude.

"I can protect Honey just fine on my own," Rex announced storming toward the chamber that likely led to another division of the cavern. However, he turned as he reached the entrance, turning back to look at me with a hardened glare before his gaze softened as it shifted to Juneaux. "I don't need a career's arrogance to get the job done. We don't need him, Juneaux."

Juneaux slowly shook her head. "We've only survived this long by hiding in caves and relying on other people... I need to know I can rely on myself. Remember why we're here."

Rex brusquely turned back around with a frustrated huff. I could hear his footsteps stomping down the cavern with clear frustration.

It was like my eyes were trying to see around the corner into the corridor as I listened to his footsteps fade. "He's not coming back with an axe or something to finish the job, right?"

Juneaux chuckled and shook her head. "He'll leave you alone."

"He listens to Juneaux," Harlan agreed. "I know he looks tough and mean, but he's really nice when you get to know him."

"He's just got his sister to look out for," Juneaux explained. "He's protective."

"He's not the only one," I noted. "It's almost admirable."

Her face had grown flushed sometime during our conversation, and my first thought was that she was hiding the symptoms of a fever. Yet there was something else too... in the way that she looked at me with the same fascination that I did her, as if racing to pry the secrets from each other's mind before our own were unveiled.

"So?" Juneaux questioned, extending her offer with her hand. "Will you teach me?"

My fingers twitched. Hesitantly, as if questioning the nature of truth behind her motive, I accepted her hand in mine. While shaking on this so-called deal, I added just once more clause. "I'll teach you what I can, but I'm the one who deals with Rena when the time comes."

"Deal," Juneaux agreed. Despite the gravity of the situation, she still smiled. "We'll start as soon as you can stand."

And suddenly the fates of the wolf and the goddess were entwined... or perhaps they always had been and we just finally reached the crossroad intersection. For as the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome.

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𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 | And so ends the second act! How are we feeling so far? We're down to the final six and I don't think anyone is prepared for everything that is planned to come next. I may take about a week break as the holiday season rolls around, just to finish plotting so that I complete each character arc the way I'm envisioning them. There's already been so much foreshadowing that I need to make sure everything is neatly tied up. As always don't forget to vote and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Thanks for reading!