Page 37 of M.A.Y.A
“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.Youshould 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.
“Really? I was only worth ten-armed guards with guns? I thought I was more special than that. And the fact that you have Drayden and our two security guards on their knees with guns pointed to their heads doesn’t bode well for your attempt at a peaceful negotiation,” she said. She met Drayden’s eyes and saw his abject fury. She hoped that her stern glare conveyed that he shouldn’t shift—otherwise he’d be putting both himself and the other security detail at risk.
“You’ve found your voice now that you’re out of your little room, haven’t you?”
Maya’s arm beeped erratically as the guards stepped aside and a shorter man wearing a padded vest came into view. Her main tormentor. The one who took sick pleasure in the way he inflicted pain and had forced her to experience agony without an ounce of sympathy.
“I’m a failed experiment,” she said, praying for nonchalance. “Why did you even bother coming to retrieve me? You’re planning on destroying the world anyway. Might as well get rid of me as collateral damage. It’s obvious you’ve made more automatons. I’m assuming you’ve refined your technique with other captives.”
