Page 6 of M.A.Y.A (After the End #4)

Chapter Three

Isaiah stepped outside onto the front porch and used his satellite phone to alert his Beta pack members to meet at the safe house.

He asked for provisions, a few extra sets of clothes for himself and Maya, and a detailed report on the clearing where he and Alex found his mate.

Then he stood in the small field in front of the house, and while he waited for his Betas to arrive, he made another call.

This one was more personal than the rest.

“Hi, son.” His father’s gruff voice answered on the other end of the line. The soothing yet authoritative tone was enough to calm some of the tension Isaiah felt in his shoulders.

“Hi, Dad. How are things going with your retirement trip with Mom?”

“It’s an adjustment not working twenty hours a day, but I could get used to this life.

” Isaiah heard the sound of a door opening and closing on the other end of the line.

“But that’s not why you’re calling in the middle of the week, is it?

What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait until our Sunday catch up? ”

Isaiah rubbed the back of his neck as he began to pace the small porch area. “If I say the words ‘alternate dimension’ and ‘bunker portal’ to you, do you know what they mean?”

There was a long stretch of silence. “You found it.”

Isaiah let out a woosh of air. “Seriously? Don’t you think this is something I should’ve known when you transitioned authority as Alpha of our pack to me?”

“There were just stories,” his father said in his patient way. “Rumors from your great-grandfather. You must admit, it’s hard to believe that there is a tunnel to a different dimension somewhere in shifter territory.”

“I believe it now,” he said. “What do you know?”

His father grumbled like an old, agitated wolf, but answered the question anyway.

“Apparently, there was a group of scientists that were trying to bridge alternate realities. They found a cave opening that led to our territory. To close off the opening, a door was installed and then forgotten. The only relevant piece of information my father shared with me when transitioning authority was that the central Den was built close enough to it in an effort to both keep an eye on it, and to allow our wolves an escape route if something ever happened to us. I was never able to find a door to a different dimension in my time as Alpha, and it wasn’t a priority for me to send any Betas to look for it. Son, what’s going on?”

“Someone came through the opening near the Franz Ravine, and they’re warning us about those who will follow.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.” Isaiah shared the information he’d received from Maya, leaving out his mating. He still hadn’t processed that yet and needed more time.

His father let out a woosh of air into the receiver. “If you trust what this Maya automaton is telling you, then you know what you have to do. Help her destroy that opening. Find some way to keep the dimension intruders out.”

Isaiah pinched the bridge of his nose. He would never speak so openly, even with Alex, but this was his father. “I don’t know if I’m prepared for this,” he said quietly.

“You’ve been preparing for this your entire life,” his father said. “Not the exact scenario you’re in, but you have the skills you need. It’s all about making decisions to protect those you love and the pack that looks up to you.”

Isaiah nodded even though his father couldn’t see him. “Thanks, Dad.”

“If you need backup, your mother and I could come home early—”

“No, that’s okay.” The last thing he wanted was his parents in a situation where he didn’t know the threat level. “When it’s safe, I’ll let you know, and you can visit. But right now, just enjoy your vacation.”

His father’s deep chuckle did more to calm him than any speech could. Hearing him happy was a gift that came with taking over responsibilities for the pack, responsibilities that he’d honor.

“Have fun, Dad.”

“Good luck, son. Oh, and make sure you keep your call to your mother this Sunday. She’s going to want to hear about your new mate.”

The line cut, and Isaiah was left looking stupefied at his phone. How the hell had the old bastard known? With a shake of his head, he tucked his phone in his back pocket. He’d first have to talk to his mate about their situation before he could really explain it to anyone else.

And he’d have to come to terms with it himself.

Wasn’t he thinking that morning that he wasn’t cut out for a mate? Now that he had one, someone he didn’t know at all but was determined to protect, he had to balance his obligations as Alpha and mate.

Both were being threatened, and he couldn’t allow that to happen.

Just as he began to rehearse his speech to Maya about mating and shifters, his Betas arrived.

One by one, they appeared through the tree line and crossed the clearing in front of the safe house.

All of them looked different, but they carried the scent of a dominant wolf.

They were the most powerful in his pack, and they met each of the challenges required to achieve Beta status.

They were loyal his people, and more importantly, loyal to him.

Alex came first, a small cooler slung over his shoulders with what smelled like meat and a variety of cheese. As Isaiah’s oldest, most trusted friend and pack member, Alex had always been the first to stand at his side.

Then there was Drayden with his ever-present backpack filled with his computer and security equipment. His long hair skimmed his collarbone and matched his vintage T-shirts that he always seemed to wear.

Sonya was next, and although it looked like she’d arrived empty handed, Isaiah knew she had more knives strapped to her body than an artillery. Her parents came from Egypt by way of Georgia, which made her one beautiful and deadly Southern Belle.

Lastly there was Nako, Sergei, and Cindy. Nako moved into his territory from Japan when he was thirteen, while Sergei’s parents were Russian scholars. Cindy on the other hand, was adopted from Taiwan by her distant relatives who were members of the pack.

“What’s with the five-alarm fire, boss?” Sonya asked.

He motioned for all of them to come closer, and they moved as a unit until they stood a few feet away from him.

Nako was the first to recognize the scent. His eyes went wide, and his fingers pushed back his jet-black hair. “Mated? Alpha, you’ve found your mate?”

Isaiah nodded, as the realization hit them one by one.

“Who’s the lucky wolf?” Cindy asked. She was the smallest of his Betas, but her voice was as commanding as the rest of his leadership team.

Alex chuckled. “I can’t wait until you explain this to them, Alpha,” he said.

Isaiah growled, low in his chest. He didn’t need anyone giving his new mate shit for being different. “Maya isn’t a wolf. She’s half human.”

“Half?” Sergei asked. He looked at Alex, then back at Isaiah. “What type of half shifter is she then?”

“She’s half…robot. Cyborg? Automaton. Shit, I don’t know.”

There was a long pause, then his Betas burst out in laughter. All except Alex, who had a shit-eating grin on his face as if he was enjoying every moment of Isaiah’s unease. He hadn’t known until now that Maya was robotic, but he’d seen enough to guess something was different about her.

Sonya wiped a fake tear from her cheek. “Good one, Alpha. That’s hilarious. I didn’t know you were so imaginative that you’d come up with something like half cyborg. Have you been watching the Terminator movies or something?”

When he didn’t laugh in response, his Betas quieted. Their humorous expressions morphed into confusion.

“Wait, you’re not serious…” Nako said.

Isaiah looked back at the safe house. He wondered if his mate’s hearing would be able to catch this conversation out in the open field.

Hell, there was so much he still had to learn about her.

She was clearly superhuman to be able to fight against an Alpha wolf, but other than her beauty, intelligence and strength, she was a mystery.

There was also the pull that already had him aching to go back to her.

He turned away from the safe house and faced his six pack members—the friends and fighters who stood by his side as he ascended into his position as Alpha of one of the largest and strongest packs in the U.S.

“Drayden found an intruder on our lands,” he said.

“Alex and I went out to see if it was a hiker or a hostile entry. We found Maya. She was unconscious, without any clothes or provisions. The mating bond was instantaneous. Shit, it nearly drove me to my knees. I brought her here, and when she woke, we had…a conversation.”

He relayed the information about her journey through some mysterious portal.

The world she claimed to come from. The torture she must have endured to be torn apart and built back together with mechanical parts.

When he finished, his Betas were no longer smiling or laughing at him. Their expressions were hard.

“I can go back to the clearing to see if we can find any bunker or portal door that she mentioned and ensure its closed,” Drayden said. “If her story is true—”

“It is,” Isaiah said. “At least she believes it. I didn’t smell any lie.”

“She’s part robot, Alpha,” Cindy said quietly. “She could probably lie, and you wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“She’s also my mate, whether you like it or not,” Isaiah said, snarling. “She has no reason to deceive me. Hell, she can’t.” He turned towards Drayden. “Go. Take Nako. See if you find anything. If there is some sort of door, we want to hold off anyone else trying to get through.”

Drayden nodded. Then without another word, he and Nako turned on their heels and ran through the clearing into the tree line.

“Alpha,” Alex said slowly. “Isaiah. Look, I know she’s your mate, but you also have to think about the possibility that she’s a double agent. She claims she wants to destroy the bunker portal to protect or world, but we should still be wary.”

Isaiah recoiled at the thought of his mate being used as a tool to harm him. Logically he knew there was a strong possibility that she was a danger to his people, or to herself, but if that was the case and she was in trouble, then he’d do whatever he could to protect her.

“I’m still stuck on this alternate dimension business,” Cindy said. “I feel like we’re talking make-believe here.”

“At this point, we need to move forward as if we’re all believers,” Isaiah said.

“Personally, since my father’s heard about the alternate dimensions project and the portal, I think there is truth to them.

Also, nothing logical can explain Maya, nor can it tell us why she was randomly dropped in a field in wolf territory without any clothing. ”

“What’s the game plan then?” Sonya asked. She’d always been his Beta who cut straight to the point. “Are we supposed to just watch her in the safe house until Drayden finds the portal, or we’re attacked?”

Isaiah shook his head. “We’ll need to examine the mechanics in her arm, or the chips in her body to understand her better.

” And to make sure she’s safe. “I don’t know how advanced the science is from where she’s coming from, but it may be able to tell us something.

Cindy and Sergei, that’s where you come in. ”

“No time like the present,” Sergei said, then motioned to the front door of the safe house. “Permission to approach?”

No, Isaiah thought, already dreading the idea of letting any wolf near his mate. However, it had to be done.

“Let me go first,” he said, and turned to the safe house. His wolf was already growling deep in his chest, desperate to claim her.