Page 80 of The Mating Games

A hope that she might choose to stay with me.

That she might see something in me worth pursuing beyond this captivity.

A shared future, where our worlds collided in the best of ways.

Pushing the lid of the pod open, I blinked against the harsh light of the arena.

My focus was razor-sharp.

The plan was simple:

Find Aurora, mate, and end this round.

Once we were together again, this game would draw to a close, and we could chart the course of our intertwined fates.

Drawing upon my internal compass, I headed towards where I remembered Aurora’s pod was located.

The underbrush crunched beneath my feet, and the distant calls of strange alien fauna echoed around.

I pictured her face, imagined the relief we’d feel when our eyes met again.

I yearned to hold her, to reassure her that this was almost over.

I dodged past thick vines and leaped over large boulders, driven by the singular goal of reaching her.

But as I arrived at the clearing where her pod should have been, I was met with… nothing.

An empty space, devoid of the familiar cylindrical shape of her capsule.

The realization was like a splash of cold water.

I stopped, heart sinking, as the weight of the situation hit me.

She wasn’t here.

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind.

Did the Malquarans alter the game again?

Had they shifted our pods as a twist in their game?

Was she all right?

I felt a rush of panic.

The easy plan, the certainty I had felt upon waking, had evaporated.

The arena felt vast, the task insurmountable.

I was back in the game, and the stakes had never felt higher.

Drawing in a deep breath, I tried to calm the storm of emotions raging within.

I had to think.

Analyze.

Understand.

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