"Biology," Serafina repeated flatly.
"Their warriors need it." Morgan's tone remained clinical, matter-of-fact. "They're wired differently than humans. For bonding to occur, they need to be... aroused by a certain level of violence first. A chase. Resistance. And then brought into acceptance."
Serafina stared at her. "You're telling me this alien needs me to fight him so he can get turned on."
"In simplified terms, yes."
"That's insane."
"It's how they're built," Morgan said. "I'm not asking you to understand it. I'm asking you to hear me out."
Serafina's hands were gripping the armrests of her chair. She forced herself to loosen them. "Fine. Keep talking."
"The Hunt would take place here on Earth," Morgan continued. "A remote location—a rainforest, an island. Somewhere isolated, away from civilians. We wouldn't take youoff-planet. Given your situation with your family, we thought it best to keep you close."
That, at least, was something. A small concession in a sea of madness.
"You'd be trained beforehand," Morgan said. "You have no knowledge of the Hyrakki, their tactics, their capabilities. We'd give you everything you need—weapons, bio-armor designed specifically for your body, a base camp with supplies and provisions."
"And then what?" Serafina asked. "I just wait for him to come after me?"
"No." Morgan leaned forward slightly. "You go after him."
Serafina blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You seek him out. You attack him at every opportunity. You fire on him, engage him, do everything in your power to take him down."
"And he just... lets me?"
"He won't harm you," Morgan said. "He won't fight back. It's forbidden. He'll evade, observe, try to wear you down over time. But he cannot hurt you. The Hyrakki have strict rules about this—rules they're honor-bound to follow."
Serafina tried to process what she was hearing. She was supposed to hunt an alien warrior. Attack him. And he would just... take it?
"Eventually," Morgan said, "he has to capture you. But he must do so without causing you harm."
"And if he does? Capture me?"
"Then you choose."
The words hung in the air.
"Choose what?" Serafina asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Whether to accept him," Morgan said, "or reject him. If you accept, the bond is formed. If you reject him, he lets you go.He won't pursue you. He won't contact you. He'll find another candidate and begin again."
"Just like that."
"Just like that." Morgan held her gaze. "The Hyrakki are honor-bound to accept the female's decision. It's not negotiable. It's not a loophole. It's the foundation of the entire ritual."
Serafina sat back in her chair. Her mind was spinning, trying to find the catch, the trap, the angle she was missing.
"So let me get this straight," she said slowly. "You want me to train with alien weapons, go to some remote jungle, hunt down a warrior who could probably kill me with his bare hands, attack him repeatedly while he doesn't fight back, let him eventually catch me, and then decide if I want to... what? Be his mate?"
"Yes," Morgan said. "That's exactly what I'm asking."
Serafina sat in silence for a long moment.
The words hung in the air between them—hunt, capture, choose, mate—each one more absurd than the last. She kept waiting for her brain to catch up, to process this into something that made sense, but it refused. The reality of what Morgan was proposing sat in her chest like a stone, heavy and immovable.
