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 to keep moving.”

Zeke lifts me again, and we’re outside, the night air cool against 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

mind.

Zeke lays me down on a narrow cot, and I watch

ask, my voice shaky.

Zeke replies, his gaze steady. “It’ll help with

Victor’s bite.”

clear liquid. He finds a vein and injects the medicine. I flinch, a sharp sting

“Better?” he asks.

the medicine come from?” I ask,

falters, a flicker of unease crossing his face. Zeke changes the

20

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

but I’don’t

admit, my stomach rumbling

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

mischief in his eyes. “I have my

an eyebrow, my curiosity piqued. “Your

sound that carries a

a knack for finding things.”

porridge into a bowl, I

warmth of the food in front of me is too inviting to resist. Zeke hands me the bowl, and I take a hesitant spoonful. The taste is surprisingly

tease,

“I have my

makeshift meal, the silence between us filled with the clinking of spoons against the bowl. The porridge is a balm to the gnawing hunger within

air is charged with unspoken secrets, and I

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

eats more of his porridge.

I had simple dreams. Dreams of days spent with Ettie, the sun warming our faces as we laughed. Maybe even

challenges of the Mating Run together, support each other. But as the days passed, something changed in her. Maybe it was the pressure,

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

gnaws at me.

he would betray me. His charm, his smooth words – they were a mask hiding the

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

I never expected Victor to be the one to turn against me. In the beginning, he 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

I had known how things would turn out, would I have taken a different path? Would I have avoided the Mating Run altogether, chosen a simpler

Thoughts

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