Page 7 of M.A.Y.A (After the End #4)

Chapter Four

Isaiah reentered the house, signaling his Betas to give him a minute before they followed.

He found Maya sitting on the edge of the bed, similar to the way he’d left her.

Her big brown eyes looked confused and lost, and her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides.

If Isaiah had it his way, he would pick her up and hold her on his lap.

He’d stroke her hair, the long line of her naked thighs, and press a kiss against the curve of her neck to offer her the comfort she looked like she needed.

There was so much they still had to learn about each other, but she was his mate.

It was his responsibility to take care of her needs.

He may not have wanted this bond, but he’d figure out a way to make Maya feel safe, to feel wanted the way a mate should.

Right now, she was in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. He needed to gain her trust, and he needed to trust her before they could move forward with their relationship.

“I have my Betas with me,” he said when she looked up at him. “Two of them have specializations in computer engineering. If you’re amenable to it, they can take a look at your…ah, arm to make sure you’re okay.”

“Your Betas,” she said, her voice hollow as she looked up at him. “Interesting terminology. Is your world also militarized? Is Beta another word for soldier? You know their names though. Cindy and Sergei.”

So, she had heard his conversation outside, he thought. No human had that ability as far as he knew. There was some truth to the robotic parts of her physicality.

“They’ll be gentle.”

Her head swiveled at the sound of the front door opening, and her fingers fisted in the bedsheets. “I don’t want anyone to poke and prod at me. I’ve been an experiment for long enough.”

“We have to know if you’re being tracked, Maya. If there is a way that they could hurt you from a distance.”

Seconds later, Alex, Sonya, Sergei, and Cindy filtered into the small bedroom. Their eyes widened at the remnants of the earlier tussle.

“Kinky,” Alex mused as he scanned the holes in the walls and the dented dresser.

Isaiah growled at him, snapping his jaws in reprimand. “Show some respect to my mate.”

The bastard didn’t look sorry in the least. Instead, he slid his bag off his shoulder and began setting the food on the surface of the dresser.

“I’m sorry you’ve come all this way,” Maya said, her voice strong and rigid. “But no one will be touching me today.”

Sergei and Cindy looked at Isaiah.

Damn, taking care of her was going to be infinitely harder than he thought if this was how she was reacting to basic aid.

He stepped in front of her, blocking her view to the rest of the people in the room, then crouched so they were eye level. “What would you need to feel safe enough to have someone inspect your arm?”

Her lower lip trembled. “Nothing. I don’t feel safe being touched by others.”

Isaiah looked at her white knuckles, her frantic gaze scanning each of his packmates, and the way her bandaged toes began tapping the floor in an erratic rhythm.

“What if you have control over the situation?”

She cocked her head to the left, and the tapping stilled. “How so?”

Isaiah looked over his shoulder at Sonya. “Knife.”

His Beta’s eyes widened. “Alpha?”

“Knife, Sonya. Now.”

With a grumble, she produced a Ka-Bar from a sheath that was strapped to her thigh. She held it out on the flat of her palm.

Isaiah took the blade, then flipped it in the air so that he was holding the tip while offering the hilt to Maya.

“Take it,” he said. “I’m the most powerful wolf on the West Coast. You’ll have me at your mercy if they so much as breathe on you in a way you don’t like. You have the power here, Maya.”

There was a low hum of energy in the room as his Betas froze. None of them liked this idea. That was too fucking bad for them. He had to believe that his mate wouldn’t hurt him. Not intentionally.

Maya took the hilt and slowly rotated her wrist. “Are you sure about this?” she murmured. Her voice was hesitant, as if holding him at knifepoint was as distasteful to her as it was to his Betas.

Isaiah reached out, and using his index finger, lifted her chin so her eyes met his. They were dark, unsure, and filled with a loneliness that made him ache for her.

You’re not alone anymore, my Maya.

“I’m sure,” he said. “It’s important we take a look.” With their gazes still locked, he got to his feet and slowly unbuttoned his shirt to the middle of his chest. He watched her fascination grow at the sight of the tattoos that covered his skin from shoulder to shoulder.

Then he smelled a hint of arousal. It was barely there, but it was easily identifiable.

His Maya liked the way he looked. That was good, considering the fact that they’d need to be naked and intimate in order to complete the claiming ceremony.

He’d also be fooling himself if he didn’t admit that her attraction stroked his ego.

He was already hooked on her scent, on her hair, and the way those big brown eyes framed with dark lashes told him a whole story.

It was only fair that she liked the look of him, too.

Isaiah sat on the edge of the mattress at her side. She smelled just as delicious as the first time he’d met her, but he didn’t want to scare her by taking another whiff of her neck.

“I’m in striking distance,” he said. “You’re armed. The quicker they can look, the faster it will be over, and I can feed you.”

Maya glanced over at the betas before she angled her body towards him again. Her hand tightened on the hilt of the knife. Everyone in the room tensed at the move. The aggression in the air was palpable.

“Explain to me what you’re doing as you’re assessing,” Maya said to Cindy and Sergei.

“We can do that,” Cindy replied. She approached Maya first and then motioned towards her forearm. “Can you tell us what you know about your own body?”

Maya held her arm out in front of her, the knife in the other hand pointed at Isaiah’s chest. “The forearm panel is meant to read out my vitals and alert me if something is not within normal ranges. It’s also meant to act as an early detection system should any of the chips in my heart and brain begin to malfunction so they can be replaced before failing.

Since I have no intention of replacing anything, I have a feeling that any deterioration in the future will result in my death. ”

A growl erupted through the room loud enough to silence all of the occupants.

Maya gasped and yanked her forearm back. “What was that?”

“My wolf doesn’t like to hear you talk so casually about your death,” Isaiah said smoothly. “And you’re my unclaimed mate, so I might be a bit more possessive when it comes to you and your safety.”

There was an echo of snorts and chuckles in the room from his insolent pack members.

“I feel like you’re talking in riddles,” Maya muttered.

“What he’s trying to say is that with you around, Alpha is about to become unbearable,” Alex replied with a shit-eating grin. He stood against the back wall with his arms crossed over his chest like he was enjoying a show.

“This is all very strange to me,” Maya replied, but she extended her forearm again for inspection.

“What’s strange is this interface,” Cindy said. She began to fiddle with the display window and some of the mechanisms that were touch sensitive. “I’m going to go into the settings function to see what options are here, okay?”

Maya glanced over at Isaiah, then nodded.

Sergei watched over Cindy’s shoulder. “It looks like the same technology we used to have for cell phones ten years ago,” he mused. “It’s deceptively simple. If you are from an alternate dimension, then the technology might be where there is a deviation in timeline.”

“And the fact that all of you think you’re animals,” Maya replied. “Shifters, right?”

Isaiah couldn’t help but chuckle at her frustration. “I can’t wait to see your face the first time I shift, tiny warrior.”

“Tiny warrior?”

“It seems fitting.”

A few minutes later, Cindy got to her feet. “I don’t think you’re in any imminent danger, nor do I think you have any malfunctioning parts. We’d need scanners to really understand if you’re okay and to detect whether there is a tracking device or a detonation element.”

Sergei nodded and helped Cindy to her feet. “You’re going to have to tell us if you feel sick or if your system is warning you of any malfunctions until we can get a handle on how best to support you.”

Isaiah watched as Maya assessed his packmates and then lowered the knife so that it rested on the bed next to her hip. “I don’t trust any of you enough to allow for additional testing. I’m sorry. You’ll just have to trust that I am not here to bring you harm.”

His packmates didn’t like her response. He felt their discontent as if it was his own emotion. He knew they wouldn’t hesitate to say something that could potentially hurt her feelings, so he stood and motioned to the door.

“Let’s give her some space. Maya, go ahead and eat the food that Alex brought for you. If you don’t like anything, let us know and we can run out and get something else. I’ll

be back in a few minutes.”

He waited for her to nod before he followed his Betas out the door. He wouldn’t leave Maya alone with anyone unattended, even the people he trusted the most. She was his mate.

For now.

That could change if she rejected him after two weeks.

It all depended on whether she was willing to participate in a claiming ceremony.

Until that time, he’d become increasingly feral and protective, which were feelings that were only made worse by the open bunker portal between their dimensions that threatened his pack.

Based on what he’d seen of her so far, Isaiah was well and truly screwed.