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.

stay in one place for long. We need to

my skin. I cling to him, feeling a strange mix of gratitude and vulnerability. We walk, or rather, Zeke walks while I’m carried like a fragile doll. The world becomes a blur of shadows and

mind.

down on a narrow cot, and I watch as he rummages through a bag.

I ask, my voice

replies, his gaze steady. “It’ll help

Victor’s bite.”

the syringe with a clear liquid. He finds a vein and injects the medicine. I flinch, a sharp sting coursing through my arm, but

“Better?” he asks.

come from?” I ask, my

gaze falters, a flicker of unease crossing his face. Zeke changes the subject, his eyes searching for a distraction.

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a forced cheerfulness in his tone. “I know you are, I

but I’don’t deny it.

my stomach rumbling

fills the air. I

mischief in his eyes. “I have my

an eyebrow, my

carries a trace

I have a knack for finding things.”

into a bowl,

of our supplies. However, the warmth of the food in front of me is too inviting to resist. Zeke hands me the bowl, and I take a

cook,” I tease, trying to lighten the

“I have my talents.”

filled with the clinking of spoons against the bowl. The porridge is a balm to the gnawing hunger within me, a

me. The air is charged with unspoken secrets, and I wonder if the darkness that haunts us goes beyond the immediate

bowl aside, “There’s more

of answering me, Zeke eats

At the beginning of the Mating Run, I had simple dreams. Dreams of days spent with Ettie, the sun warming our faces as we laughed. Maybe even with Victor, his cocky grin and charming words

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

a threat. I don’t know when it happened, the shift from trust to trepidation, but it’s there, a lingering shadow in the corners of my

gnaws at me.

would betray me. His charm, his smooth words – they were a mask hiding the true nature of the predator within. I trusted him, foolishly believed that he might

memories replay in my mind like a broken record. 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

was a presence, a force that seemed untouchable. Now, he’s a threat, a reminder that even the ones who seem the least likely can be the ones to cause

path? Would I have avoided the Mating Run altogether, chosen

Thoughts

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