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.

one place for long.

against my skin. I cling to him, feeling a strange mix of gratitude and vulnerability. We

mind.

smells of musty wood. Zeke lays me down on a narrow cot, and I watch as he rummages through

I ask,

medicine,” Zeke replies, his gaze steady.

Victor’s bite.”

a chill 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

“Better?” he asks.

did the medicine come from?” I ask, my voice a

Zeke changes the subject, his eyes searching for a

20

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

blush, but I’don’t deny it.

admit, my stomach rumbling

small pot beside him, and the 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

raise an eyebrow, my

a sound that carries a trace

just say I have a knack for finding things.”

ladles the porridge into a bowl, I can’t help but

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 comforting, the simple flavors a welcome reprieve from the complexities of our circumstances.

I tease, trying to lighten

have my

balm to the gnawing hunger

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

the empty bowl aside, “There’s more

answering me, Zeke eats more of his porridge.

days spent with Ettie, the sun warming our faces as we laughed. Maybe even with Victor, his cocky grin and

I never expected that. We were supposed to navigate the challenges of the Mating Run together, support each

become 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 mind. The person I thought I knew so well has become a stranger, and the fear

gnaws at me.

words – they were a mask hiding the true

down. It all seems like a cruel joke now. How could I have been so blind? How did I not see the danger

me. In the beginning, he was a

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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