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.

for long. We need

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

mind.

this time in a cramped space that smells of musty wood. Zeke lays me down on a narrow cot, and I watch as he rummages through

I ask, my voice shaky.

steady. “It’ll

Victor’s bite.”

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

“Better?” he asks.

the medicine come from?” I ask, my

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

20

hungry?” he asks, a forced cheerfulness in his tone. “I know you are, I heard your stomach rumbling a

I’don’t deny

could eat.” I admit, my stomach rumbling

air. I glance at him in surprise. “Where did you get that in the middle of the forest?”

mischief in his eyes. “I

an eyebrow, my curiosity

that carries a trace of

say I have a knack for finding

ladles the porridge into a bowl, I can’t

me the bowl,

I tease,

have my

balm to the gnawing hunger

The air is charged with unspoken

empty bowl aside, “There’s

of answering me, Zeke eats more of his

Ettie, the sun warming our faces as we laughed. Maybe even

me. Her eyes, once filled with 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, something changed in her. Maybe it was the pressure,

know when it happened, the shift from trust to trepidation, but it’s there, a lingering shadow in the corners of my mind.

gnaws at me.

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

guard down. It all seems like a cruel

on my soul. 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

different path?

Thoughts

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