The Mating Run

Chapter 60

In His Eyes: Nightmare Zeke’s POV Inside the cabin, an atmosphere of tension hangs in the air, the suffocating silence only emphasizing the gravity of the situation.

Alina, with her delicate frame, appeared even more vulnerable as she was trapped in the woman’s malicious grasp. In the midst of an impossible decision, | raise my arms in surrender, hoping for reason to triumph over the impending danger.

“Drop your weapon!”

Shouting with urgency, my voice carries across the room. As | let go of the weapon, it made a loud clatter as it hit the floor, its sound echoing the defeat | felt in every fiber of my being. Regrettably, | had to earn the woman’s trust, and this was the lone option.

With a smoldering rage, the woman narrows her eyes in response to my surrender. | glance over at Alina, only to find her unmoving, her eyes concealed by a blindfold and her mouth muffled by a gag. The sight triggers intense anger within me, but | must stay composed to ensure Alina remains unharmed.

As the woman’s eyes locked with mine again, she pressed the knife against Alina’s delicate throat, sending a shiver down my spine. | understand her intentions she’s reminding us of the fragility of this equilibrium, one that could be disrupted by even the slightest tremor.

“Drop it. Please.”

| raise my voice again, the desperation evident in my plea as it echoes through the stifling air of the cabin. The woman, however, remains unmoved, her eyes reflecting the weight of her despair. The sound of her laughter bounces off the walls, devoid of joy, intensifying the weight of our predicament.

“Enough games,” Growling, my words are tinged with frustration. “Release her! If you're pissed off at me, take it out on me. Alina never did a damn thing to you!”

“Zeke, you fool,” With a sneer, the woman’s laughter transforms into a venomous retort. “Did you really think surrendering would change anything?”

Her words, filled with contempt, sliced through the air, shattering the delicate optimism | had clung to in my desperate attempt. My teeth grind together as frustration courses through my body.

| know the woman, at least by her familiar name and recognizable face. She’s working at the supermarket and decided to participate in the mating run. She couldn’t have been more than 19. She’s got her whole life ahead of her.

She’s not among the individuals | need to terminate, but if she persists, she'll become a target. I'll make her death a mirror image of the pain she’s subjecting Alina to — searing and relentless.

“Let her go,” | pleaded again, my voice filled with the urgency of a heartbeat pounding in my chest. | watch as the woman's posture stiffens the moment | start moving forward. | stop abruptly, my hand shooting up in surrender for the second time. “Listen, | apologize if | took out your mate, but my own survival has to come

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“Survival? He wasn’t even bothering you.” The woman spits, her eyes burning with an anger that | struggle to understand. “We were so close to getting out of this goddamn game. We talked about having a whole bunch of babies! Why do you get to have a happy ending and | don’t? This bitch never did shit to me, but what did | ever do to you?”

Her words, heavy with bitter disappointment, lingered in the air like a dense fog. The woman, however, remains unyielding, her grip on Alina a vice that tightens with each passing moment, leaving Alina gasping for breath.

Worry consumes me, making it impossible to ignore her words, no matter how much | want to. But I don’t have much of a say in the matter. She just doesn’t get it, does she? Every pack member here is treated as nothing more than pawns, while the Alpha and his family enjoy all the privileges on a silver platter.

| know her mate, | think | might have caught a glimpse of him at the beginning of the run. Even though he is a man, he exudes a small and shy demeanor, as if he were a timid little thing. He appeared to be around my age, or perhaps a bit older. He was on the list, and the Alpha’s strict instructions echoed in my mind.

He was not only clever but also cunning, making a profit by selling pictures that revealed the secrets of our pack to others. It was a reasonable expectation that the Alpha would want him eliminated, and he was fully aware of the danger he was facing. His cleverness, unfortunately, only extended to matters of money and nothing beyond that.

| couldn't fathom why the fool would agree to attend the High Council's invitation to participate in the Mating Run. There was nothing else | could do. When the Alpha gives me an order, | can only obey without question.

But she’s in the dark about it. In her eyes, I’m seen as a heartless killer who took the life of her kind-hearted mate. And there’s a chance that he could be. He had the ability to exhibit both kindness and treachery, even towards the pack that had been his source of care and security.

He might have had a chance at survival if he had done those things to a different pack. But in the Springcrest pack, traitors were dealt with harshly.

“Trust me, you don’t want this to turn into a fight.”

“I'm fighting for what should've been taken care of days ago!”

“Let her go and we can talk.”

“Talk?” Her eyes blaze with fury as she scoffs, defying all reason. “You don’t get it, do you? This isn’t about talking. It’s about justice, about making things right.”

My frustration simmers beneath the surface, a cauldron of conflicting emotions In His Eyes Nightmare that tests my composure.

“| know you want me dead,” | admit, my voice carried the weight of exhaustion. Any attempt to have a conversation with her proved to be pointless. If | want to spare her life, | need to brainstorm a different solution. Anything. My eyes scan the entire cabin, but in the dimness, everything is shrouded in shadows. “But holding Alina hostage won't solve anything.”

Her piercing scream reverberates through the air, sending shivers down spines and leaving a lingering sense of unease. The woman’s eyes burned with an intense ferocity, bordering on madness, as she pointed the knife at me, demanding my silence.

“Shut up!” With a snarl, her words lashed out like venom, suffocating the air with their toxic intensity. “You should pay for what you've done, you f**king asshole. If someone does something to you, it’s only fair to do it back, right?”

As she speaks her declaration, an eye for an eye, the cabin becomes suffocated by an oppressive sense of doom. “Alina didn’t do anything to you, | did!”

“Look at you,” Her lips curl into a sneer as she utters her words, her voice oozing with contempt. “A killer who thinks he can escape the consequences. | might have thought you were a loyal mate, but maybe you're just waiting around and planning to kill her as well. I’m probably the one saving her from you. Well, it’s time to pay the piper.”

My heart races, pounding so hard that it feels like it might burst from my chest, leaving me breathless. | scanned every camera in the vicinity, feeling a surge of unease as they all seemed to be aimed directly at us. | could feel the weight of the audience’s gaze, knowing that every pack member was watching. They’re probably all shouting with excitement, placing bets, oblivious to the fact that someone in this cabin will meet their demise tonight.

With that in mind, words effortlessly spill from my lips without a second thought. In His Eyes: Nightmare “lm not not even her mate.”

| reason, my words a feeble attempt to drown out the thunder rumbling in the distance. The woman, however, scoffs at my protest, her laughter echoing through the room, taunting my feeble defense.

“Not her mate?” Her retort comes out as a hiss, filled with venom and anger. “You think I’m blind? I’ve seen the way you look at her, the lengths you'd go to for her. You’re more tangled in this mess than you realize.”

The woman's accusation, like a sharp knife, tears through the flimsy walls of denial I’ve constructed. A mocking cadence escapes her lips in the form of a harsh laugh, echoing through the cabin.

“Zeke, just accept it. You’re as crazy about this woman as | am about my mate. Your hands are stained with the same blood that stained mine. You're a heartless murderer and she’s the only one who has your heart. How poetic is that?”

My hands, once tools of the Alpha, now shake under this burden.

Am | in love with Alina? | have no idea.

All | know is if | am, | shouldn't be.

I'm at my breaking point. The woman’s laughter, a chilling cacophony that adds to our shared torment, sends shivers down my spine. | survey the cabin again, my eyes darting from one object to another, seeking any sign of an advantage.

Then, | notice a coil of rope tucked away in the corner, a sight that offers a glimmer of salvation. A lifeline in the suffocating darkness of this cabin. With a slow and deliberate movement, | carefully keep my eyes on the woman, ensuring she remains unaware of my intentions to reach for it.

| can feel the intensity of her gaze as her eyes, swirling with anger and grief, watch me. Her gaze pierces through me, a burning intensity that fills me with a sense of impending danger at every step.

Suspicion etched into every line of her face, her narrowed eyes scanned the room.

“What are you doing?” With a sneer on her face, she held the knife with deadly precision. | raise my hands in a gesture of false surrender, hoping to distract her and keep her focus on me. “Stop f**king moving!”

However, the woman sees through the deception. Her piercing gaze sees beyond my fake surrender, exposing the truth beneath the surface.

“You think I’m stupid?” she snaps, the knife quivering with menace. “No, of course not.”

| can feel the weight of the woman's distrust as her eyes remain locked on my every move. Alina’s shallow and tense breaths echo through the cabin, intensifying the urgency of our shared plight. | seize a calculated moment and swiftly make my move, leaving no room for hesitation. The anticipation builds as | creep closer, the sound of my own breath drowning out all other noise, the rope tantalizingly close. Sensing the shift in the air, the woman tightens her grip on Alina, anticipating something amiss.

“Stay back!”

The sharp sound of her command was followed by the swift swing of the knife, narrowly missing me as | barely managed to dodge. | flinch as the knife’s tip grazes my chest, and a sharp pain shoots through my body as blood begins to trickle down my skin.

Right, enough is enough.

With a single fluid motion, | seize the rope and dash off, disappearing into the cabin’s faintly illuminated darkness. The woman, taken aback, releases a scream that shatters the silence and lingers in the air. The knife moves swiftly through the air, leaving behind a faint metallic scent as it dances in the woman’s hand. The pounding of my heart drowns out all other sounds as adrenaline courses through my body, pushing me to stay one step ahead of her.

| circle back, the rope tightly coiled in my hands, its texture rough against my palms.

“You think you’re so clever, but I’ve still got her in my hands, loverboy!” Her roar echoes in the air, the knife in her hand glimmers with a menacing intent. She lifts it up in the air, her laughter growing louder and more unhinged with each passing moment. “Say goodbye!”

With a sudden burst of speed, | lunge forward, the rope aiming for the woman’s

n*ck.