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A kick to the thigh
Last Updated:
2025-04-12 17:14:55
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The Mate Games The deal and a plan
ALTHEAI don’t move.I don’t speak.Sophie’s eyes stay locked on mine, her smile sharp like the edge of a blade. I’m still frozen from the sound of her voice, from the fact that she caught me. That I saw something I was never supposed to see.But just when I think she might attack, or threaten, or even do something worse, her face suddenly changes. The tension breaks.“Oh goddess,” she breathes, pressing her fingers to her lips. “Althea, I—I didn’t mean to scare you.”I blink. “What?”She takes a shaky step back, then another. Her eyes flicker, no longer sharp but wide. Nervous. “You weren’t supposed to see that. I wasn’t thinking. This—this is a mistake.”I stay silent, still trying to catch up. What’s she playing at?Then, to my shock, she laughs. A bitter, broken sound. “I know what you’re thinking. I know how it looks. Me with him. But I swear to you, it’s not what you think.”I cross my arms. “It looks exactly like what it is.”Her face crumples for a second. Then she looks up at
The Mate Games A rendezvous
ALTHEAEven after I’m discharged from the hospital, I don’t leave my room for two days.The nurses have stopped checking in every hour, and I’m fully healed now. At least on the outside. Earlier this evening, a guard brought a note from Lady Ivanna which was sharp and cold, and whose contents was about “duty” and “decorum” and how if I don’t return to lessons soon, I’ll be marked as “resistant to training.”I’d crumpled the letter without reading the rest and toss it into the fireplace.Let it burn.Aaron still guards my door.He doesn’t speak. Doesn’t knock. He just stands there like a statue, his silence louder than any words. I can feel him through the walls—solid and steady, a weight pressing down on my chest. It’s like he’s punishing me by being close. Or maybe I’m punishing myself by not telling him to leave.By the third morning, I finally give in.I dress slowly. My fingers run over the soft sleeves of the new gown left by the maids. Pale blue. Elegant. Too nice for how I feel
The Mate Games Hiding
ALTHEAI still can’t wrap my head around the sight before me.Aaron.Standing there like he belongs. Wearing the royal crest. Holding his posture like a trained soldier. His eyes fixed just above mine, not quite meeting them.Of all the people to walk through that door, it had to be him.A few days ago, I overheard one of the palace administrators mention some rotation in the guard assignments. I remember it only because they were arguing about scheduling in the hallway while I was rushing to one of Lady Ivanna’s long-winded lessons on court etiquette. I barely had time to wonder if Aaron would be moved.Well, now I have my answer.He’d been moved after all. And not just anywhere—here. To me. Assigned to watch me.Asher catches on fast. He narrows his eyes, flicking them from me to Aaron. “Gray,” he says, voice curious, “do you know this young man?”I force a breath. My heartbeat is thundering in my ears, but I manage to lift my chin and nod. “Yes,” I say, my voice steadier than I fee
The Mate Games A surprise
ALTHEAMy eyelids feel like stone.Heavy. Aching. Every time I try to lift them, they drop back down. But then, finally, I manage. Light floods in, too bright and too white. I wince, blinking fast, my dry eyes adjusting slowly to the glow. Everything is clean. Too clean. Pristine white walls. Pale curtains fluttering slightly from the breeze coming through a half-open window. The sharp smell of disinfectant tickles my nose.A hospital?My chest tightens as flashes return–red. Blood. Water. Pain so sharp it turned my bones to jelly. I remember falling. I remember the trees blurring as everything slipped away.I remember him.“Asher,” I whisper before I even realize I’m speaking.Was he real? Or just another cruel trick of my imagination?The door creaks open. A woman in a long white coat steps in. She looks tired but kind. She smiles when she sees me awake.“You’re lucky,” she says gently, walking over to check the monitors. “You were brought in just in time.”Just in time.So it wasn’
The Mate Games I’ve never been more afraid
ASHER Althea is too stubborn to give up, and that’s probably going to be the very thing that undoes her. Even with all the cameras placed around the forest, giving us full access to every moment, my eyes keep going back to her. I don’t care how it looks. I try to act neutral, like I’m just another official watching the games. But I’m not. Not when it comes to her. From the start, there’s been this tight feeling in my chest. Like I’m waiting for something bad to happen. And every time she stumbles or cries out, that feeling gets worse. I sit there, frozen, trying not to let it show on my face. Trying not to feel anything. I’m supposed to be strong. I’m supposed to be cold. The future king, as my father keeps reminding me. But when she fights? Goddess, when she fights—it’s like I forget to breathe. She doesn’t attack like the others. She’s not cruel or careless. She watches. She waits. She plans. She moves like she knows she’s losing blood but still refuses to stop. I watch her
The Mate Games If you die, I’m going to kill you
ALTHEAEvery part of me is breaking.It’s been hours since I last saw Caroline. I thought getting her bands would give me some kind of advantage. And it did. For a while. But the pain hasn’t gone away. My wounds are worse. The blood keeps leaking through the bandages, and I’m running out of clean cloth.Still, I keep going. I hide during the day and move at night, tracking other girls. Most of them are too injured to fight back. One of them, Lena, I found sleeping against a tree. She was pale and shivering, her face scratched, her arm twisted wrong. I took her bands gently. She never even woke up.The second one, Marcy, saw me coming. She tried to run, but she was limping. Her ankle was swollen. I didn’t want to fight her. I told her to just give me the bands, and she laughed like I was joking. So I tackled her. It was fast and ugly. She screamed when I grabbed her wrist, but I yanked the bands off and stumbled away before she could chase me.The third was the hardest. Her name was No
The Mate Games A stream
ALTHEAEvery part of me burns.Burns with pain, thirst, and hunger. My skin is sticky with sweat and grime. My shirt clings to my back like glue. My legs feel like they’re moving through thick mud.If I can just find some water, I can wash off the blood, clean the dirt from my wounds, and maybe—just maybe—think straight again.I hope so.My eyes are barely staying open. Every step feels heavier than the last. I keep walking, dragging my feet across the uneven forest floor, branches scratching at my arms.Then I see it.A soft, orange glow. Flickering between the trees ahead.I blink hard, trying to make sense of it. It’s blurry, like everything else right now. Is it real, or am I imagining it?My hand tightens on my bow, though my grip is shaky. My fingers are slippery with sweat, and I’m not sure I even have the strength to pull the string back if I needed to shoot.Still, I move toward it. Step by slow step.The fire is small. Flickering quietly in the middle of a small clearing. Th
The Mate Games The bands
ALTHEAI nearly swallow a mouthful of sand. My eyes flutter open and I cough into the hard ground beneath me. I roll onto my back, crunching on moss, twigs, and rocks as I blink against the sunlight streaming through looming, tall trees.Goddess, where am I?The chirpings of birds had awoken me from the sleep I finally managed to drift into when I was finally able to settle in bed.Trees crowd the vibrant blue sky above, most of them tall, ominous pines that extend fingers of foliage high into the clouds.I’m in the bloody forest.I stand to my feet, feeling dizzy, drained, and drugged. An odd pressure at my right forearm has me looking down to see a bow and arrow strapped around it, the ends fused together tightly. It would be cutting off blood circulation completely if it were any tighter, leaving my arm utterly useless. The sun beats down on me as I spin slowly in place, scanning my surroundings. There is nothing and no one but trees, rocks, and uneven forest ground beneath me, cag
The Mate Games A clandestine affair
ALTHEAThe walk back to the palace is quiet.Not the awkward kind of quiet. It’s something else. Heavy, but not uncomfortable. Like we’ve said everything that needed to be said, and now we’re both just… thinking. Processing.We don’t speak at all. Not even when the gates come into view or when we make our way through the secret passageways. Not until we’re safely in his room.As I make to leave through the door, Asher pauses with his hand on the handle. His eyes sweep over me, lingering a little too long, like he’s memorizing something.Then, with a nod, he says, “Good luck tomorrow, Gray.”I roll my eyes, but the smile breaks through anyway. “Well, with the selection of girls you have to pick from, you might need it more.”He laughs. The sound is low and warm, and it sneaks down my spine like it has no right to. Then, slowly, he closes the door behind him.And I’m alone again.Without him to distract me, the noise in my head comes rushing back. It’s hot and angry, but I barely acknow
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