Page 22 of M.A.Y.A (After the End #4)

Chapter Fifteen

“Are you sure there is no other way?” Alex asked her.

Maya looked around Isaiah’s desk and faced the six Beta Council members. Her mate stood at her back as a supportive presence.

“We can’t sever a connection between worlds once it’s been established,” she said. “Based on the information I found earlier today in the pack archives and what I know from my time in the Control Dimension, we don’t have the technology to permanently separate timelines.”

“But is blowing up a mountain really the only way?” Sergei asked. “I mean, we’ll do it if we have to, but that’s going to change our landscape permanently.”

Maya understood his skepticism. She would be questioning the plan as well if they were talking alternate dimensions.

When she felt Isaiah’s hand at her lower back, urging her to speak her mind, she continued. “If there was time, we could probably come up with something that had more finesse, but we’re out of options. They’re coming for us, and they won’t be nice when they do.”

* * *

Maya felt…off the moment she opened her eyes. She was disoriented from the lack of sleep as she sat up in bed and rubbed her palms over her face.

Last night, Isaiah had called the Beta Council together, and they’d reviewed plans for the bunker portal.

They finally crawled into bed at four in the morning, and Maya burrowed into Isaiah’s chest with happiness blooming inside her.

She told him honestly for the first time that she really believed she could succeed in carrying out her plans.

But now she was awake again, and after two hours of rest, her senses were dulled.

She looked down at Isaiah and saw that he was still sleeping soundlessly next to her. His naked body sprawled over most of the bed. His arm tossed possessively over her torso as if he was laying claim to her, even in his sleep.

Maybe she woke because there were three days left until the claiming ceremony, and Maya had yet to make a decision.

Was she ready to be selfish? To throw Isaiah’s world into chaos because some magical intervention of fate decided that he deserved less than perfect?

How could she be okay with the fact that her very existence put the pack in danger?

It wouldn’t be the first time that her anxiety about her relationship—her very new, very confusing relationship with Isaiah—was the reason for her insomnia. But as the sleep cleared from her eyes, she knew something else was off.

She cocked her head, focusing on her intuition, and the answer came to her.

Her gut twisted, and her pulse began to race.

There was an issue with one of Isaiah’s pack members.

She didn’t know how she knew, but a part of her was so certain that there was no time to waste. She had to get to the bunker portal.

Sliding out from under Isaiah’s arm, she dressed quickly in her workout clothes.

A part of her wondered if she should wake him and tell him that she was following a weird hunch, but he needed rest. He was even more exhausted than she’d been.

In addition to their late-night brainstorming session, Isaiah had taken the last two days off from his Alpha business because his wolf was increasingly becoming more feral.

According to Alex, it was common for wolves to unravel at the end of the claiming period.

No, she’d just check out the bunker portal herself and then run home. It was hopefully a minor concern, and she wouldn’t bother Isaiah if she didn’t have to.

Maya glanced at the large windows facing the gorge and saw the first sliver of light cresting the rock face in the distance.

She’d be back before sunup, she thought.

She opened the front door and stepped out into the clearing.

After stretching her neck to the left and right before checking her vitals on her control panel, she ran toward the bunker portal.

Hopefully, she was just being paranoid because of the last intruder.

Isaiah had done what he could to ensure that the bunker portal was covered again, albeit temporarily.

He also stationed additional security detail around the perimeter that operated twenty-four seven.

Besides, if something was amiss, Drayden or Alex were appointed as leads for the operation.

Everything was under control. And safe. Everyone was safe too. The women and children that were living in or near the Den were relocated to the remote backcountry. The armory had been restocked, and ally packs were put on notice.

We’re fine, she repeated to herself, even as the twisting in her gut became painful.

The control panel on her arm began beeping, and she pushed herself harder as she ran through the forest, cutting through the narrow pathway that had become so familiar to her now after less than two weeks of living in wolf territory.

She turned left and was close to the glen when a figure stepped into her path.

Her hands moved up to defend herself when Alex’s sharp features came into view.

He made a clear signal to keep quiet. Maya opened her mouth to issue a retort, but she could tell that his wolf was in his eyes.

They were piercing gold and black, bright in the dim early morning.

Because her gut had led her this far, she slowly approached him, her head cocked in confusion.

“What are you doing out here?” he whispered so softly that even with her enhanced hearing, she had to lean in to catch every word.

“I woke up with a gut feeling that something wasn’t…right. I just wanted to check out the portal. What are you doing here?” He was still in the same clothes he’d worn during the meeting a couple hours before.

“The portal was breached again,” Alex said.

“What?”

“There’s more than one heat signature. They have our security team and Drayden, which is why we weren’t alerted. Whoever arrived is currently waiting to ambush pack members in the glen. I bet they’re expecting you.”

Maya had to expend all of her energy to focus on her breathing, to make sure that her panic didn’t rise to the surface.

“What’s the plan?” She knew they’d come back for her, knew that after killing her, they would destroy everything that was her salvation in this new dimension if she couldn’t do something to stop them.

Alex shoved his hands through his thick, long hair. “There is no plan that involves you, Alpha’s mate. Isaiah would kill me if he knew that you were here without his protection.”

She took a step towards him and shoved her index finger in the center of his chest. “Alex, if they’ve taken the security team and Drayden, then we don’t have a lot of time to debate whether or not my mate should be here. We must move now.”

My mate.

She realized what she’d said the moment the words were out of her mouth. She’d claimed him aloud in a way she shouldn’t have a right to. Not yet. Not until the door was officially closed and locked on her past. Then there was a chance she could be what Isaiah needed.

“Maya, we still need to call Alpha. I don’t have my phone with me. Did you bring one?”

“There is a device in the safe house,” she whispered. “I remember Isaiah installing one there. You’re faster than me. You go make the call. I’ll see what I can do to stall them.”

Alex shook his head. “You aren’t going near them! You aren’t ready for combat, despite the fact that you know more about these people than anyone here. Isaiah would want you safe. You should go to the safe house and make the call. Then stay there until he comes.”

“And risk you getting captured as well?” she hissed. “Absolutely not.”

“Alpha’s mate, I’m demanding you—”

“You have no authority to demand anything of me,” Maya said, pushing her shoulders back and lifting her chin. “And from what I understand of the hierarchy within the pack, my word comes before yours.”

“If you are a claimed mate,” he said, his words hard. She could hear his growl vibrating through his chest. “You have yet to make the decision to stay.”

“Well, I’m deciding fucking now,” she hissed. If that’s what it took to protect the man that had come to mean so much to her, then so be it. Whether or not she was ready didn’t matter in the heat of battle.

Before Alex could stop her, she stepped around him and bolted toward the glen.

“This is Unit Thirteen,” she called out loud and clear through the forest. “I am unarmed and here to negotiate a peaceful transfer of captives in exchange for myself.”

There was a rumbling in the distance. She heard the whisper of one voice and then another before she was able to make out at least six distinct individuals.

“Come out, Unit Thirteen,” a familiar rasp responded.

Her steps faltered.

No. It couldn’t be him. Fear jolted through her nervous system, and she wanted to gag at the thought of that same man taking her back to the underground lab.

“Does it hurt?” The scientist whispered as he shoved another current of electric heat through her veins.

She felt like she was on fire, like her skin was melting off her face.

She screamed, and he smiled at her torment.

“We’re just getting started, Thirteen. But when we’re through with you, you won’t even remember what it’s like to be human. ”

Maya shook her head, clearing the memory as quickly as she could. She’d had so few of them over the last few days, but one whisper of that voice brought them all back.

She’d have to get control of her emotions, get control of her fear. There were people worth fighting for that needed her to focus.

There was a pack that Isaiah loved that she had to protect.

Maya walked into the glen with her hands palms out, facing forward. She quickly surveyed the scene, keeping her breathing even as her gut twisted in horror. She prayed that Alex was still in hearing distance and hadn’t abandoned her yet.