Tomorrow is the reaping for the Hunger Games, and I can't stand being cooped up in the house. I look over to where Lupine sits hunched over the desk in the living room, sketching out yet another design. His shoulder-length black hair – a mirror image of my own – falls forward into his face as he frowns in concentration, his black eyebrows furrowing over his dark green eyes. I want to do something fun, but I know that Lupine won't be up for it. Rule one for dealing with my older brother: Don't bother him while he's sketching.

So, naturally, I look to Randolph. He's sprawled out on his stomach on the wooden floor and trying to focus on his Algebra 1 homework. I know what you're thinking. He's fifteen, and he's still in Algebra 1. Most everyone in our district is through with Pre-Calculus by now. It's embarrassing that he's so behind, as he can't even take a basic engineering course yet. And most of the times I'm a good brother and help him focus on his schoolwork. But today, I'm simply too restless. I want to morph. I want to run. I want to hunt. But I don't want to go alone.

"Hey, Randolph," I say, and my younger brother looks up at me where I sit on the couch. "Do you want to go hunting?"

Randolph smiles and nods, his green eyes sparkling in relief. He begins to rise from the floor, but Lupine's voice stops him. "Randolph, if you get held back in mathematics again this year, father will have your tail."

Randolph's smile vanishes and he sinks back to the floor. "Sorry, Wolfgang. I want to keep my tail. I happen to like it."

From his place at the desk, Lupine snickers. I sigh and stand up from the couch. It seems that I'll have to go alone after all. "Fine," I moan grumpily. "But if something happens to me out there, I'm blaming you, Lupine."

Lupine ignores me and keeps sketching. I walk out the front door.

The morph is slow and unhurried today, and I relish every minute of it. Euphoria takes over as I take off into the trees. My ears hear everything. My eyes miss nothing. And it isn't long until I'm running after a rabbit. I pounce on it and catch it in my hands, but I don't kill it. I stroke it gently a few times before letting it go. I like the chase mostly. The meat is tasty too, but I don't need the extra food today. District Six isn't as poor as some of the other districts, though we aren't rich either. The Capitol knows that we need to be well fed in order to think clearly enough to design them nicer cars and things, so we rarely go without. Be we aren't spoiled like those Capitol kiss-ups in District One.

I spy a squirrel running by and begin to chase it. I have it treed within seconds and I scramble up the branches as quickly as I can, after my prey. I hear a voice and I freeze, listening. The squirrel gets away, but I don't care anymore because I'm so focused on that sound.

There's a girly giggle, and then words. "Ereed, stop it," says Hemi's voice. But she doesn't sound like she wants him to stop at all. "Do you know how much trouble we could get in for even being out here?" The girl sounds impressed, and I catch sight of Ereed's chestnut hair as he passes beneath my tree. Hemi is two steps behind him with her blonde, wavy locks.

"Relax, baby," Ereed soothes. "Who's going to punish us? My dad is a peacekeeper. He can pull strings. And he probably won't have to. Even if we do get caught, which we won't, the peacekeepers won't record my actions. It would look bad on them if a peacekeeper's son got caught doing something illegal, now wouldn't it?" He stops under my tree and turns to face her.

Ah, crap. Now I'm the one who's treed.

"As – as long as you're sure, Ereed," Hemi says shyly. "I don't want to get in trouble." It doesn't take my keen wolf-mutt hearing to tell that she is lying. The girl is ecstatic to be out here. I can smell her adrenaline and pheromones from twenty feet up. She is embarrassing herself.

"We won't," Ereed comforts. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Mm-hmm," Hemi nods in reply.

"Good," Ereed smirks. He leans in close to her face and kisses her. She squeals in delight and responds. I can hear her kiss back. I can see her kiss back.

So now I'm left with a choice. Do I stay up here and listen to them get all hot and heavy? Or do I come down and spoil their moment and get Ereed even more ticked off at me? I decide upon neither, because the squirrel comes back. The chase is on again, and it's a decent enough distraction. I begin to scramble after the squirrel until I hear Hemi mumble, "Do you hear something?"

I freeze again. But this time my foot misses its hold and slips, and I end up falling. The leaves around me rustle as I crash through the branches. I land hard on the ground and it hurts badly. I can't help it. I yelp like an injured dog. It's a good thing I'm half wolf-mutt. A fall like that probably would have killed a purebred human, or at least have left them severely wounded.

I look up and notice that Ereed is glaring at me. "Wolfgang Canis," he growls through gritted teeth. And suddenly he's the one that seems more feral, regardless of the animal appendages that sprout from my body.

I chuckle nervously. "W- What are you talking about? I'm Randolph," I stutter. But the lie is totally unconvincing on my lips.

"And I'm the president," Ereed snaps. "What are you trying to do, Canis? Ruin my date?" His hazel eyes are wild and angry. How does he always manage to make me feel weaker than him?

"No way!" I shout immediately. "I was just out for a run to loosen up for… tomorrow. And then I heard voices."

"So your first instinct was to climb a tree?" he raises a skeptical eyebrow at me.

"Sweetie, leave him alone," Hemi sticks up for me, and that ticks Ereed off even more.

He glances at her quickly before glaring back at me. Then his mouth settles into a smirk and his eyes light up. All of a sudden, I'm confused. Until he speaks, this is. "I can get you into so much trouble for this," he says victoriously. The sound makes me sick at my stomach. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Neither are you," I shoot back. I figure that I look like an idiot sitting on the forest floor and cowering in fear like some little pup, so I stand up and grin, displaying my morph-sharpened fangs. "If you tell your father about me, he'll want to know how you knew I was out here. And then you'll have to tell him that you were out here too. Face it, Ereed. You're stuck." I am enjoying this so much.

"You mutt of mutts!" Ereed bursts. "You won't be finding this funny come tomorrow!"

"So you're going to tell on me anyways?" I ask, raising my eyebrows. "You really think the peacekeepers will do a thing about a wolf-mutt in the woods? I'm sure they prefer me to release my animal side out here, rather than walking around and releasing it on random citizens of District 6."

Ereed starts to look nervous, and I know I have him. It's always a battle of wits with us, and I usually win. It only provokes him more for next time, but the worst he ever does is calling me names. Why am I so scared of him, anyway? He should be scared of me. But I shouldn't be thinking like that. If I let my wolf pride run away with itself, I'll end up killing him. And then my entire family would suffer for it. No. I must control myself.

Ereed glares at me one last time before saying, "Let's go, Hemi." He turns and leaves, and just like that, I've won again. But Hemi doesn't follow him. She just stands there and ogles me lustfully. I wrinkle my nose at her and Ereed snaps, "I said come on, Hemi!" The blue-eyed-blonde pouts and rushes after her hot-headed boyfriend. I shake my head. Those two deserve each other. I morph back before going home.

The television is turned on that night. There is an announcement from President Ice. She stands and smiles into the camera. "As you all know, this year is going to be no ordinary Hunger Games. This year is the 175th Hunger Games, and that means that it is time for the Quarter Quell." Ah crap. I had forgotten that it's Quarter Quell this year. "This is the seventh Quarter Quell for the nation of Panem. And every Quarter Quell adds a small twist to the traditional Hunger Games." The president continues to describe the events of past Quarter Quells. "In the first Quarter Quell, each district had to vote for who would be their tribute, as a reminder that the peoples' own actions caused their fall. In the second Quarter Quell, we had double the usual number of tributes, to remind you all that the cost of rebellion is high. In the third Quarter Quell, as a reminder that even your strongest cannot defeat the Capitol, we drew the tributes from your existing pools of victors. On the Centennial Quell – that is, the fourth Quarter Quell – we reminded you that the change is bad, as each tribute was surgically altered for their harm before the games." I balk a bit at that one. How sick are these Capitol people? "For the fifth Quarter Quell, we reaped only twelve-year-olds, to remind you that even those with the odds in their favor may not always get a favorable outcome. And for the sixth we reaped only eighteen-year-olds, as a reminder that just when you think the punishment for your rebellion is over, your odds get worse." She pauses and a child comes out onto the stage, holding an open box full of yellowed cards. President Ice grins and pulls out a card. "And this year's Quarter Quell, for the 175th Hunger Games shall be…" she pauses again for suspense, and then resumes. "As a reminder that those good souls loyal to the Capitol will betray your rebellions, there are two small changes this year. The first is that we will not be allowing volunteers at the Reapings this Quarter Quell. The second is that the child who is reaped will not participate in the Games. Instead, they must choose someone else from their district to take their place."

I sincerely hope that Ereed Tys does not get reaped.