Do Not Get Out of Jail Free

永程

"While you can run, there will always be someone faster than you."

Faster than you. Faster than you. The words resounded in his head, knocking around his skull. Wasn't that exactly how he had been caught? Cheng's paws stilled. Heat burned in his lime-green eyes, a stinging, prickling heat. Gods, he was stupid. But he had to keep a straight face, keep a stoic expression, and hope to whatever higher powers existed that nobody would notice his ruse.

He turned his head groundwards, unwilling to let the queen see his eyes moisten. Yong Cheng tried to blink whenever he thought she wasn't looking, subtly blinking away the water that had started to gather at his lower eyelids. He wanted to run. He wanted to scream. He wanted to put on a mask and dance away the frustration that welled up inside him, looking for all the world like he was a happy wolf in a happy pack, doing things that happy people did.

But he wasn't.

"I'm very fast." He whispered, mostly for his own ears to hear. Maybe he was trying to reassure himself that he could have made it. Maybe he was trying to convince the queen that he was as speedy as he looked. His voice nearly thickened, and Yong Cheng spoke no more.

Thankfully, his alpha carried on talking, and Yong Cheng schooled his voice into a buoyant, enthusiastic tone.

"I can do that," he said, looking up. "When do I begin? And how may I address you?"

""
OOC: