Page 16 of M.A.Y.A (After the End #4)

Chapter Ten

“You’re not using your legs,” Sonya said as she circled Maya on the mat. Her voice had a delicate lilt to it, an accent that reminded her of some of the movies about the South that she used to watch when she was younger.

“Why use my legs when I can punch you?”

“They’re stronger than a fist. It’s important to utilize the weapons that you have.”

“I feel like a frog with all my limbs flailing about,” Maya said as she turned to keep Sonya in her line of sight. The she-demon looked like she hadn’t broken a sweat, while Maya’s workout clothes were already damp from exertion.

“It’ll get easier the more you do it.”

“Sure, if you say so.”

She’d been practicing with the Betas for the last three days, and every time she thought she was getting better, she’d be tossed on her ass. Literally.

Sonya was her least favorite to spar with because the Beta didn’t hide her apprehension when it came to Maya’s presence in Isaiah’s life.

Wiping the perspiration from her brow, Maya advanced, fists raised, bracing herself for another ass kicking.

“Stop dancing,” Sonya snapped.

“I’ll show you dancing.” Maya lunged and managed to land a blow against a shoulder. Sonya blocked the next strike and then hit Maya in the thigh hard enough for her to worry about a fracture.

“Ow! What the hell?”

Sonya smirked. “Is that what you’re going to tell your assailant when he tries to hit you?”

“No, but we’re just sparring.” Maya went for a throat punch.

Sonya barely managed to pull back in time. “Use your legs, cyborg!”

“Call me that again, and you’ll really find out what it’s like to fight with a fucking robot,” Maya snapped back.

“That’s what we want.” Sonya tried to tackle Maya to the mat, but Maya managed to slither out of her hold and got to her feet and backed away.

“It’s our job to protect our Alpha, and you have become his greatest weakness.

Can you handle your own, or are we going to have to compensate for your failures? ”

“You’d rather let me fall, wouldn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

Realization dawned, and Maya stumbled on the edge of the mat. “You still think I’m a threat to him. You think I’ll be the one who attacks him.”

Sonya held her hands up, palms out. “You said it, not me.”

The fact that Sonya was validating her fears only made her angrier. She vaulted forward and landed a solid punch against Sonya’s cheek. The Beta’s eyes darkened at the impact.

“Bitch!” she hissed.

“Takes one to know one,” Maya replied. It was a juvenile comeback, but she was tired of Sonya’s bullshit.

This was exactly why any conversation with Isaiah about mating was fruitless.

Maya didn’t belong in his world. Even though they were compatible in bed, it didn’t mean they were good for each other.

Isaiah had obligations to his pack, and the pack had the same beliefs as Sonya—they were not her biggest fan.

Before Maya could slam Sonya to the ground, an alarm blared through the gym. Sonya’s fighting stance relaxed, and she walked over to her discarded sweatshirt at the edge of the mat. Retrieving her phone, she read the screen.

Maya didn’t miss the eye roll.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Alpha wants me to bring you to dinner. We should head out now so we can shower. You don’t want to be late. We’ll be dining with just the Betas tonight, but even though there are only six of us, we can clear a table faster than the kitchen can deliver it.”

Her anger retreated like fog under sunlight. Was that it? Was Sonya just going to threaten her and then…tell her to come to dinner?

More importantly, dinner with the Betas was a first. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was a test, or another way that Isaiah was trying to bring her into his world.

Either way, she wasn’t going to embarrass him by ignoring the request. Regardless of what was going to happen to them during the last seven days before their two-week mating period came to an end, she’d show him the respect he deserved. It was the least she could do.

And because she wasn’t sure if he would still want her nearby once their mating period ended, she had to talk to him about going back to the portal site. She’d move forward with her plan to destroy the opening. That was the only way she could keep this shifter pack safe.

* * *

It took them less than twenty minutes to shower and then meet in the corridor of the Den.

Sonya led the way in silence to the main dining hall.

As they walked through the central bypass in the cave, Maya met a few of Isaiah’s packmates.

Most families lived in homes aboveground, but the single shifters who were in school stayed in the Den until they mated or found jobs in other regions within the territory.

They were all polite but reserved with her.

Hello, Alpha’s mate.

Good evening, Alpha’s mate.

Alpha’s mate. Alpha’s mate. Alpha’s mate.

As if she was reduced to a title, the same way she’d been called a number when she lived in a glass box and was used as a science experiment.

As if she didn’t belong.

No, she thought. It was unfair to continue comparing Isaiah’s affection and home to the torture she’d endured. Despite the cold reception of some of the pack members, she was free. She was safe.

When she entered the cavernous dining space decorated like some sort of castle hall, Maya noticed that Isaiah and all the other Betas had already taken seats around the long, scarred wooden table.

Isaiah got to his feet and held out a hand before she made it to his side.

His eyes were locked on hers, even as he continued his conversation with Nako.

He still wore the same outfit he put on that morning, which meant that he hadn't been lured into another sparring match or shifted spontaneously. She’d quickly learned the reason why he always had his clothes stashed everywhere—his need to shift could be unpredictable.

Every time his body morphed, he lost another outfit.

“Hi,” he said.

Despite her irritation with the sparring lessons that he’d been the one to encourage, Maya walked to his side to receive his kiss. He pressed his mouth against hers in a way that made her feel like he cherished every touch, every moment with her.

And didn’t that just make it all the more difficult to put him at a distance? To try to think logically about whether or not she belonged? About whether or not she should mate?

When he pulled back, his serious expression relaxed, and his eyes warmed as they scanned her face. “How was—”

“Don’t,” she said, cutting him off. “Don’t ask me how it went when all I want to do is strangle you for putting me through that bullshit.”

He chuckled. “Come on,” he said and motioned to the empty chair on his left. “I figured you could use a change of pace with dinner. Instead of eating by yourself in my home, it would be good for you to eat with my Betas. Your rank as my mate surpasses theirs, and you deserve a seat at the table.”

“Do they know that?” Maya mumbled as she motioned to the Betas that were now openly staring at them.

“Of course, and they want you to be here, too.”

Isaiah hadn’t lied to her since she’d first arrived in his dimension, but telling her that the Betas wanted her in their presence sounded perilously close to a fib.

Sonya was still glaring at her, while Drayden and Nako went back to ignoring the fact she was even there.

Alex was the only one who even smiled in her direction, while Cindy gave her a casual wave before reading something on her phone.

Sergei was leaning over Cindy’s shoulder, trying to see her screen.

Maya lowered herself into the chair next to the man she was close to loving.

Love.

She swallowed hard. Damnit, even her gut told her that she’d found her soulmate.

“Maya?”

She looked at Isaiah who was watching her closely. “Everything all right?”

No, she thought. Nothing was all right. She was addicted to him, and he could break her. “Are all of you seriously comfortable with the fact that you have to make a decision about fate and the rest of your life within fourteen calendar days?”

Every single Beta nodded.

“Great,” she muttered. “Fine.”

Isaiah leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her jawline. “Different dimension, different rules. We have one week left so you better make it count, tiny warrior.”

Two staff members wheeled out carts filled to capacity with trays and bowls. The smells were familiar, reminding her of her childhood.

“Is that…is that Indian food?”

Isaiah smiled and nodded. “I figured you might enjoy it. I know it’s not rationed and freeze dried, but we do our best here.”

Maya felt her heart skip a beat at his consideration.

She had made a passing comment yesterday about the type of food they both grew up eating.

His mother was a few generations removed from her South Asian origins, but she used to make Indian food for him, the same way Maya’s mother tried her best to keep their culture alive in the kitchen.

Just as Isaiah shoveled some of the biriyani onto her plate in an effort to feed her first, a habit that he seemed to enjoy, alarm bells went off throughout the dining room.

The atmosphere grew tense, a low animalistic rumbling came from various individuals seated at the table, and every single soldier checked their wristwatch and cursed.

“What?” Maya asked. She turned to Isaiah. “What is it?”

“It looks like there was a breach from the bunker portal,” Drayden said. He produced a tablet from somewhere under the table. “One of the Omega pack members was out on patrol nearby and heard a disturbance.”

“Is the pack member safe?” Isaiah said. His voice was filled with a quiet rage that lifted the hair on her arms. It took her a minute to process what Drayden was saying.

Bunker portal.

Oh my god.

“No, please don’t tell me that someone came through.” She trembled as she got to her feet. She was out of time. They were coming for her. They were coming for Isaiah’s world.

Her mate’s face remained a mask. His words hollow and devoid of the charm and affection he’d given her all week. “Baby, can you go back to our home? I need to speak to the Betas.”

The request was like a knife twisting in her gut. Was he seriously dismissing her when she was the one who was responsible for leading people directly to his pack territory? Her hands fisted at her sides.

“No,” she said with the same authority that she knew she commanded as well. “If someone came through the bunker portal to look for me, I have every right to know. Or better yet, I should be consulted.”

“Not yet,” Isaiah replied. “You just escaped with your life. This is my pack, and I’ll handle it as I please, which means that you need to go back to our home.”

He turned his back on her, effectively dismissing her presence. “Drayden, are you seeing any signs of aggression? Do they look like they know how to get to the Den?”

Drayden glanced at Maya then shook his head. “Heat signature shows that they are moving in a sweeping pattern as if they’re still searching for it, but they’re getting close.”

Conversation continued in a hushed, urgent tone. When Isaiah realized that Maya hadn’t left yet, he stood from the table and cupped her elbow. His touch was both firm and gentle, a coaxing that was almost reprimanding in nature. “Please go back to our rooms.”

“You don’t trust me,” she said, and hated that her voice quivered. “That’s why you don’t want me here. Even though this is about me.”

“That’s not—”

“I need to be here, Isaiah. I need to know what’s going to happen to that bunker portal, and to my future. I am the one who has to destroy it. You know that I need to be the one to do it.”

His expression went lethal, and he became the Alpha of a powerful wolf pack again. “Fine, I’ll come and talk to you once I’m done here.”

She could feel her frustration building and boiling over. “That’s not good enough. You just told me I belong at this table. What happened to that? Or is it just when it’s a social gathering and nothing of importance?”

“You aren’t ready for more than social gatherings yet, Maya,” he snapped. The sound echoed off the walls, followed by pin drop silence.

“You really mean that, don’t you?” she whispered. Here she thought he respected her like she was just as strong as an Alpha female.

She could see the flicker of annoyance, of awareness that he was hurting her, yet he continued to push her away.

“I don’t want you here because you still are not part of my pack.

Not until we’ve officially claimed each other.

This is pack business and pertains to the safety of more than just you. As Alpha, I’m demanding you go.”

Oh, this son of a bitch did not just pull rank on me.

Knowing that all eyes were on her in the room, she moved away from the table. “Drayden,” she called out. “Was the heat signature the same as mine? With chunks missing from the overall frame?”

Drayden glanced past her shoulder to Isaiah before responding. “Yes, it looks exactly like yours.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile as lethal as her mate’s. “That’s all I need to know.”

With her head held high, she strode out of the dining room.

If she couldn’t count on Isaiah the way he claimed she could, then she’d deal with this intruder on her own whether he liked it or not.

She was going hunting.