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

Chapter Two

The smell in the air was pleasing. Floral maybe? It had been a long time since she’d been exposed to a scent other than antiseptic and her own blood, but her olfactory senses remembered wildflowers from the time before the wars drove humanity underground.

She opened her eyes, ignoring the dull throbbing in her head, her aching feet, and immediately began to take stock of her surroundings. The stark lab lights that burned her eyelids were replaced with a dim glow from a window.

That was another jarring realization. When was the last time she slept in a bed in a room that had windows?

There was also a dresser, a chair in the corner, and a door. The room was painted in a pale cream color, and the bedspread had a small blue paisley design on it similar to the Rajasthani blankets her family used to stock in the guest room of the last home they lived in together.

Fearing she was in a dream, she lay still for a few moments longer, savoring the feeling of peace.

She knew this could just be a hallucination triggered by the scientists.

Even if it was, she’d take it over the reality where her waking hours were filled with torture, needles, prodding, and tests on her body that no longer felt like her own.

She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. If she could just stay—

The momentary reprieve was interrupted when the aroma in the room changed. It was familiar, yet wholly new to her, and it altered the pleasant floral notes. The intrusive scent was rich with an undertone of spice and what she imagined was cool spring water.

Her headache began to fade, the air warmed, and she heard a slight elevation in breath. She sensed that this stranger who moved with deadly silence was about to touch her.

Her gut instinct told her she was safe, but she hadn’t been able to trust her gut for so long. She reacted the way she knew she had to in order to protect herself. Her hand shot up and she gripped the wrist of the person who was perilously close to her shoulder.

When she turned to look at the intruder, she registered the shock, the surprise. He was handsome, but sometimes the most dangerous men wore beauty as a disguise.

Her heartbeat—or the computer chips that had been shoved into her chest cavity—went into overdrive, and her adrenaline spiked in awareness.

Then something happened in her head. She wasn’t sure what it was, or how she knew her biology was changing, but her senses dulled until all she could focus on was this man.

Oh no. He was just as bad as the scientists. He’d done something to her.

Danger, danger, danger.

She vaulted off the bed.

“Wait,” her intruder shouted, palms up. “You’re okay. You’re safe—”

It was too late. She was already striking out with a palm to the center of his chest. He flew across the room and slammed into the dresser.

“What in the world—” She heard him whisper as he straightened to his full, imposing height.

She dove for the exit door, and he blocked her, this time gently pushing her back with enough force that she landed on the mattress.

The strength it took for him to toss her so carelessly had more adrenaline pumping through her system.

She gasped and her body twitched as she rolled off the bed and repositioned herself in a fighting stance.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said slowly. “We found you in a field.”

“You did something to me then locked me in your room,” she replied, her voice rusty from lack of use. Then she attacked him, moving forward with the speed and agility that had been artificially added to her muscles and organs.

She saw his shock again, and hoped to use that to her advantage, but he blocked every blow and every strike until there were holes in the walls, the dresser was toppled over on the floor between them, and the bedframe had broken from where she’d tried to rip the headboard to use as a weapon.

She was heaving from the expended energy when he moved to her and swept her legs out from under her.

Before she could get back to her feet, he tossed her on the bed again, rolled her onto her stomach, and crossed her wrists at her lower back.

“No!” she shouted.

“Yes,” he snarled. The sound was so animalistic, so unhuman, that she froze. Her brain glitched because she was unable to process what she just heard.

“I told you I wasn’t going to hurt you, and I keep my word. Will you stop—”

“Never,” she snapped.

“Of course, I had to get a stubborn one,” he muttered, his deep voice distracted her, sending a shiver up her spine. Did he drug her? That had to be the only reason for the way her body was reacting to his touch and the sound of his voice.

“W-what are you?” she gasped.

“Your mate,” he snarled again.

Mate. What in the world was he talking about? That wasn’t a term she was familiar with.

It took her a moment to realize that he wasn’t hurting her. He’d just pinned her in place, waiting for her struggle to stop. They were both out of breath, but it was clear he was infinitely stronger than she was. Was he part machine as well?

She felt the rush of adrenaline slow, and her muscles began to tremble. He didn’t loosen his hold.

“Let me go.”

“Are you going to try to hit me again?”

“Maybe.”

“Then we’re staying right here,” he replied.

Great, she thought, even though she was starting to believe him when he said that he wasn’t going to hurt her. Not like her former captives. “Where am I?”

“Oregon,” he said.

Shock had her entire body going rigid. “That can’t be possible. Oregon doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Doesn’t exist? What…where do you think you are?” he replied.

“I was in the former state of New York. Wow, the dimensions have more differences than I thought.”

There was a long pause, and she breathed in his scent again. Spice. Cloves maybe? And fresh clear spring water.

“It looks like we need to have a conversation, so let’s do this again,” he said. “If I let you go, will you try to hit me?”

She weighed her options. He hadn’t hurt her so far, which meant her chances of survival were better than if she was stuck in the lab.

“I won’t fight you,” she agreed.

She felt his grip ease on her wrists, and then he stepped back from the bed. She scrambled to her knees and faced him, taking in his features as a man instead of an intruder.

He was…huge. There was no other word for it.

His shoulders were broad, and he toppled six five at least. His hair was long and curled at the nape of his neck.

His skin was light brown, but his eyes were dark, and his lashes were the only part of his face that could be described as delicately beautiful.

The rest of him was more striking and handsome.

She also realized that his biceps, holy hell, were the size of tree trunks.

And she’d thought she could win a fight against him?

She didn’t know the extent of her robotic power, but since she’d need a step stool to meet him eye to eye, it was clear that he’d be able to overpower her by his sheer size.

What was really disturbing was the realization that he wasn’t human. She wasn’t sure how, but her intuition when it came to this man was crystal clear. Was he an alien maybe? The wars began over space exploration and the discovery of life on other planets. Was he from an alternate planet, too?

“Who are you?” she asked, her voice still hoarse.

“Alpha Isaiah Star of the River Burns pack.”

She shook her head. It was as if he was talking in code. “Alpha? Pack?”

“Wolf shifters. You’re in wolf territory.”

“There is no such thing as—”

“As shifters?” he replied. He snorted. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those conspiracy theorists who doubt our very existence. That would make this mating very difficult.”

She rubbed a hand over her face. “I haven’t been on the surface in a long time.

Not since we were driven underground into bunkers.

I was separated from my family as part of a government testing group, so excuse me if I’m not clear on the new species that formed after the wars.

Oh wait, did you have wars in this dimension? ”

There was a long stretch of silence, and she looked up to see if he was still there. His face was blank and didn’t show a single flicker of emotion.

“Maybe,” he started slowly, “you should tell me who you are first. What’s your name?”

“I’m…I’m a machine artillery yielding automaton. Model M.A.Y.A. Unit Thirteen.”

“M.A.Y.A. Maya? Is that what they call you?”

“No, the scientists called me Unit 13, but since I… I suppose Maya can work.” She once went by a different name.

Gudiya. Her grandmother’s name from India, which translated into “doll.” It was a softer name that her mother used to say with love and affection.

That her father would call out when it was time to go to school.

But she was no longer that name. She’d mourned Gudiya and the person that she’d once been. That version of her died years ago.

“Maya,” he said again, and this time she felt like he was savoring the word. His firm mouth formed her name a second time, and a sharp zing, like a current, raced up her spine at the way his face softened when he spoke.

“Maya, how did you get here?”

She tilted her head, feeling a subtle change in the air but not sure what it could be. Something inside her craved the feeling of being close to him, as if she was itching to touch his skin. It was deeper than what she’d imagined attraction would be like.

Why was she so drawn to this man? This person who called himself an Alpha?

A shifter? When he moved, she could almost anticipate his next steps.

It was almost as if she could feel his emotions.

He was helping her, so chances were that he didn’t drug her.

She wondered if she was feeling off because something in her body changed when she went through the bunker portal.

That was the more reasonable explanation.

“Maya? How did you get here?” He repeated.