Page 19 of M.A.Y.A (After the End #4)

Chapter Thirteen

Maya awoke to the feeling of a palm pressed on her waist and the deliciously hot warmth of a hard body against her side.

She knew it was Isaiah. His deep-brown eyes focused on hers, and his sharp angular face was covered in a thick beard.

It was unruly after a few days of growth.

His wavy hair fell over his forehead as he looked down at her.

Before she could say anything, Isaiah nipped at her lower lip. His sharp teeth stung, and he quickly ran the tip of his tongue over the bite to sooth her.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was an idiot, and I never should’ve treated you that way in front of my Betas. I was worried for you, and I let that cloud my judgment. It won’t happen again. You belong at that table for every conversation, no matter what. I won’t let my fear hurt you again.”

Maya digested his words for a moment, then let out a sigh. “You couldn’t have held back on that apology, so we could’ve at least fought about it?”

His mouth curved in a wide grin before he nipped her chin. “If you want to, I’m happy to oblige, but I’d rather use our time in other ways.”

She was about to tell him no out of principle, when she remembered what she’d done.

The details of the fight came crashing down on her, and she was forced to contend with her unwanted reality.

She could still hear the sound of bone crunching when she’d snapped the intruder’s neck.

She remembered the taste of bile in her mouth when she’d thrown up in the trees.

Her heart filled with horror, and her voice cracked when she said his name.

“I know, baby,” he crooned, and cupped her face in his wide palms. “The first time is hard. I’ve only had to fight in my territory twice, and in both circumstances, the deaths disturbed me, even as an Alpha with predatory DNA.”

“I can’t believe I did that,” she whispered. Her eyes began to burn and then filled with tears. Her throat was raw, and her chest tightened to the point where her arm panel beeped. Isaiah crooned as if soothing a child, before he shut off the alarm on her control panel.

His thumb brushed away the first tear. “You were so brave. The fact that you feel guilty is a testament to your humanity, Maya.”

“He made the most horrific sound when he died, but he had to go. He was dangerous and he could’ve risked everything. He wanted to take me back. I’m not going back there, Isaiah.”

“No, you’re not,” he replied. “I won’t let you go anywhere without following right behind you. You’re my mate, my forever, and without you, there is no Alpha Isaiah. Neither man nor wolf.”

She looked up at his face and wanted desperately to believe him. “I still don’t know if I’m good for you,” she whispered.

“If you don’t trust fate, then trust me to know what I want,” he whispered back.

“You want a robot killer?”

He shifted closer to her, and she felt safe in his arms. Her muscles relaxed when she heard the soft rumble of his wolf before he spoke. “Maya, you have to realize that this is the way of shifters, too. What do you think we would’ve done when we found him?”

The thought hadn’t crossed her mind, but he was right. No matter who the intruder fought, he had to die. He would’ve died.

She pressed her cheek against his chest. “Am I weak for wanting to stay with you like this for a few more hours? I know we have to figure out a solution now that we have a ticking timeline, but I don’t want to go anywhere just yet.”

“Then we won’t go anywhere.” Isaiah looped an arm over her hips. “And no, you’re not weak. You’re simply acting the way a person does when they find their mate.”

* * *

Maya had a nightmare again. Isaiah woke just as her body tensed.

He pulled her into his arms and stroked her back while she trembled and cried.

When a scream ripped from her lungs and filled his room, he carried her to the bathroom and gently lowered her in front of the toilet just as her eyes popped open in panic.

Then he held her hair back as she emptied the contents of her stomach.

She was mostly dry heaving since she hadn’t eaten much for dinner.

When she finished, she leaned against the vanity and brushed her teeth in drunken-like moves.

Isaiah waited until she was ready before he picked her up again and carried her back to bed.

He pressed his fingers into the knots between her shoulder blades as she clung to him, hoping to unravel some of her tension, but she continued to curl tighter and tighter against his chest, as if trying to fold herself into a ball and hide away from him and the rest of the world.

The mating bond was getting stronger, because even he was beginning to feel the effects of her nausea, of her panic and despair. After twenty minutes of cuddling her close, he knew that she wasn’t going to go back to sleep any time soon. She was still spiraling, even though she hadn’t said a word.

“Come on,” Isaiah said quietly as he slipped out of bed and stood. “I’m going to take you somewhere you can relax.”

Maya remained curled in the fetal position. “I really don’t want to go anywhere right now, Isaiah.”

He kissed her brow. “Trust me, baby. This will be good for you. For both of us. And we’ll do it together.”

He helped her to her feet, then picked up his shirt that he’d discarded the night before from the chair in the corner of the room. He tugged it over her head so that she was covered in his scent.

The hem of the shirt reached her mid-thigh, and he made quick work of folding the sleeves and slotting each button in place. His knuckles skimmed the sides of her breasts and triggered a delicate shiver, reminding him how much of a woman—how much of his woman—she would always be.

Because she was still sore with fresh bruises from her fight, Isaiah swept Maya up in a bridal hold and strode out of his bedroom, through his living room to the clearing outside.

As he made a left off the main path, he found peace in the way that she pressed her face against the side of his neck and breathed in his scent.

Maybe this time away would be good for him too.

The thought of losing her was still a novel fear that he doubted he’d ever get used to.

“Hold on,” he whispered, quickening his pace to a run. Maya clung to him, and even though she’d tightened her hold, her body was slowly losing the tension that had claimed her muscles in their bedroom.

Thankfully, they didn’t run into any packmates on the way.

It was no secret that they remained unclaimed.

His pack didn’t know that they’d made a promise to each other to wait the full two weeks.

To the shifters in the central Den, something was wrong because Isaiah hadn’t completed the claiming ceremony.

He wouldn’t put it past them to poke and prod and ask questions if they had the opportunity to do so.

Isaiah stepped over a fallen log and then angled his body to protect Maya from the brush as he made his way closer to the sound of running water. They approached the small, hidden pond that was fed by a waterfall.

“You can look,” he whispered against Maya’s temple.

She turned away from his neck to take in the landscape and surroundings.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the waterfall and the sparkling shimmer of the pond that glittered in the early dawn.

Tendrils of steam danced over the calm surface.

Because there was a hot spring that ran under the pond and the waterfall was fed by a mountain river, the temperature was perfect for a warm bath.

As a treasured spot for his pack, Den mothers made sure to maintain it so wolves could enjoy it throughout the year.

“This is beautiful,” she whispered.

Without wasting another moment, he set her on her feet and tugged her shirt over her head. He proceeded to then reach over his shoulder and remove his shirt as well. One by one, he undressed them both.

“Isaiah,” she said, even though there was a lack of indignation in her voice.

“Let’s go for a little dip,” he replied, then led her into the water.

When he first heard her sigh, he realized this was the best decision for both of them.

They needed a moment away so that she could relax and just be.

So that they could spend more time together.

They already knew each other well through their late-night conversations and their plans for closing the bunker portal.

But every moment with Maya was precious, healing, and Isaiah craved time with her more than he’d craved anything in his life.

“I’m so tired,” she whispered as she ducked her hair back to wet it. “I’m so tired of wondering and waiting and trying to figure out if I’ll ever be human again.”

The moment of vulnerability made his heart ache for her. His poor tiny warrior was torn over what she couldn’t control, and he wished he could do something to take the pain away.

“Why don’t you stop trying then?” he finally said, pulling her close so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. The move was so natural it made him smile.

He kissed her upturned mouth. “Stop trying to figure out how to be what you once were and start trying to understand what you can be now that you’re Maya. Now that you’re my Maya.”

Her voice was so small when she replied, her fingers digging in his hair at the base of his neck like a lifeline. “I don’t know if I’ll like who that’ll be.”

“The only choice you can’t make is reclaiming an identity before your captivity. There is no going back to that version of yourself. But the future is yours to do with what you want.”

She looked up, her big brown eyes so vulnerable with him, and so guarded with everyone else. “There’s no going back for me, but for you—”

“No,” he snapped. “There is no going back for me, either.”