Galaxies | Cato Hadley

Chapter One

- One Month After The Quarter Quell -

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WREN

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WREN HATED DISTRICT THIRTEEN AS MUCH AS SHE HATED THE CAPITOL. The rules, the training, the President- it was all the same. The others may think that it's for the best, but Wren knew better. She could see through Alma Coin's lies and propaganda. It was clear to the girl from Ten that the leader wanted nothing more than to become the new President of Panem. Wren could almost hear it in her voice that she wanted to continue the Games, but not with the people of Panem. Wren was disgusted with Alma Coin.

The brunette sat on the bathroom floor with multiple thoughts running through her head, many of which consisted of figuring out a way to de-throne President Coin before it was too late. A knock on the bathroom door caused Wren to jump physically. She reached up, her hand slightly shaking, and opened the door. Cato leaned against the frame.

He was shirtless, his scars and muscles in all their glory. Wren's eyes shifted from scar to scar. They were all healed, some a different shade than the next due to the deepness of the wound. His muscles tensed under her watchful eye.

"Good morning," his voice was scratchy. His blond hair stuck out in multiple directions which told her he slept well. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"Thinking," Wren stated.

"About?" Cato dragged out as he slid down the doorway to sit beside her. He hissed lightly as the coldness of the frame pressed into his back.

"A lot of things," Wren told him, her eyes meeting his steel blue ones. His eyebrows raised which signaled for her to continue. She sighed. "Just living here, the Games, you, myself-"

"What about us?" he asked. His cheeks acquired color as he thought about the two of them.

"About our future," she admitted. Cato felt his fingers twitch, he was itching to get the ring on her finger. "About our lives together."

Cato didn't say anything, he only nodded. She looked over at him. "Do you ever think about our future?"

"All the time," he said without missing a beat. He glanced at her left hand. "All the time."

Wren smiled. "Would you ever want to get married?"

He leaned over and placed his lips on her forehead. "Yeah."

"Really?" Wren's voice was airy as I'd she was shocked. "You'd marry me?"

Cato chuckled lightly before speaking. "I'd be an idiot not to."

She smiled to herself. Her cheeks tinted pink as Cato squatted down to her level.

"I fought like hell to find you and I never plan on letting you go."

The couple looked at each other briefly before Cato pointed at the shower, the water dripping from the faucet into the full tub. He pointed at it, "I'll leave you to it, Dollface."

Wren bit her lip to stop herself from blushing harder at the nickname. Cato said it whenever he got the chance and it still made her weak in the knees. Wren was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the bathroom door was shut. She picked herself off the ground and submerged her body in the water. Her hair fanned around her as she became lost further in thought.

Thoughts of her family. The Hunger Games. Her friends. The war.

After her shower, Wren stood before the mirror in the bathroom. Her eyes shifted to the various scars that were scattered along her body. The teeth marks on her neck from Enobaria. The small circle on the other side of her neck from the flower that poisoned her. The scrapes and scratches from competing in the deadly Games. She sighed as she ran her finger over her covered stomach. The scar that started it all; the mark from Katniss Everdeen's arrow.