The Mating Run by Leeka

Chapter 48

Thoughts

My head hurts, throbbing like a drum beaten by invisible hands.

Darkness surrounds me, a heavy shroud that muffles the world. I try to open my eyes, but they feel glued shut. Slowly, I manage to pry them open, squinting against the harsh light. I see Zeke’s worried face hovering above me, lines of concern

etched on his forehead.

“Alina, can you hear me?” he asks, his voice a distant echo in my foggy mind.

I nod weakly, unable to find my voice. Everything feels fuzzy, like I’m floating in a dream. My body aches, and my limbs feel heavy, as if they’re made of lead. Zeke’s hand presses against my forehead, and I flinch at the cool touch.

“You’re burning up,” he mutters, more to himself than to me. “We need to keep moving.”

Moving? Where are we?

My memories are a jumble of disjointed images, like a broken movie reel playing in my mind. I remember Victor, his teeth sinking into my flesh. The pain was searing, intense, but now it’s just a dull ache, a distant memory.

Zeke helped me escape, but from what?

Where are we running to?

Zeke lifts me effortlessly, cradling me in his arms. The world tilts, and I close my eyes against the disorienting sensation. When I open them again, we’re in a

―

different place a dimly lit room with a flickering lantern. Zeke eases me onto a makeshift bed, and I can feel the scratchy fabric beneath me.

“Drink this,” he says, holding a cup to my lips. I glance inside and see clear liquid. Water, maybe? I take a sip, the coolness soothing my parched throat. It’s a small victory, a step toward clarity.

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Thoughts

“Where are we?” I manage to mumble, my voice hoarse.

“Somewhere safe, for now,” Zeke replies, his eyes scanning the room as if expecting danger to burst through the walls. “You have a fever. I thought it wouldn’t get worse, but it did.”

“Oh…”

Zeke sighs, his jaw clenching.

can’t stay in one place for long. We need

and vulnerability. We walk, or rather, Zeke walks while I’m carried like a fragile

mind.

musty wood. Zeke lays me down on a narrow cot, and I watch as he rummages through a bag. He pulls out a small vial and a syringe,

ask, my voice

gaze steady. “It’ll help with the

Victor’s bite.”

down my spine. I hold my arm out hesitantly, watching as Zeke fills the syringe with a clear liquid. He finds a vein and injects the medicine. I flinch, a sharp sting coursing through my arm, but it fades quickly. Zeke watches me carefully, his eyes searching for any signs

“Better?” he asks.

I

unease crossing his face. Zeke changes

20

cheerfulness in his tone. “I know you are, I heard your stomach rumbling a few

blush, but I’don’t deny

admit, my stomach rumbling in agreement.

aroma of porridge fills the air. I glance at him in surprise. “Where did you get that in the middle of

grins, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “I have

my curiosity piqued. “Your

sound that carries a trace of playfulness.

I have a knack

porridge into a bowl, I can’t help but

the bowl, and I take a hesitant spoonful.

decent cook,” I tease,

smirks. “I have my talents.”

bowl. The porridge is a balm to the gnawing hunger within me, a reminder that even in the midst

the feeling that there’s more Zeke isn’t telling me. The air is charged with unspoken secrets, and I wonder if the darkness that haunts us goes beyond the immediate

setting the empty bowl aside, “There’s more to this, isn’t there?”

answering me, Zeke eats

warming our faces as we laughed. Maybe even with Victor,

warmth, now hold a glint of something darker. I never expected that. We were supposed to navigate the challenges of the Mating Run together, support each other. But as the days passed,

Ettie, who was supposed to be my ally, has become a threat. I don’t know when it happened, the shift from trust to trepidation, but

gnaws at me.

betray me. His charm, his smooth words – they were a mask hiding the true nature of the predator

Victor’s smile, his whispered promises, the moments when I let my guard down. It all seems like a cruel joke now. How could I have been so blind? How did I not see the danger lurking beneath the

was a presence,

different path? Would I have avoided the

Thoughts

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