Page 4 of M.A.Y.A
Cranberries with a slight metallic sting. It coated his tongue until he was consumed. In the span between one heartbeat and the next, his world tilted on its axis and everything he’d ever worked for was no longer his reason for living.
She was.
His breath hitched. His heartbeat thrummed at an erratic pace. His senses dulled, and all he wanted was her.
No. No, this couldn’t be happening. This was the wrong time, the wrong place, the wrongAlpha.Not now, not ever. Not to him. This had to be a trick, a way to disarm him.
Isaiah shook his head, trying to focus on the target.
She was a weapon who’d just shattered his heart into so many pieces, he’d never be able to reconstruct the person he was moments ago. Now, he had to see the truth for himself.
Despite his racing pulse, his trembling limbs, he moved silently through the brush until finally he glimpsed his prey. The smell was stronger here, and something about the scene in front of him had his vision going blurry at the edges, then laser sharp.
The woman lay on a bed of moss, naked and smeared in streaks of blood.
Alex’s words broke through his shock and confusion. “Is she naked?”
It could still be a trap—bait, he thought, as he continued his slow approach. Every instinct in him stood at attention, roaring to life. Cranberries. Rain. A slight metallic taste. Who did this to her? Who bloodied this creature?
Mine.
She’s mine.
His blood pounded in his ears, his wolf snarling inside his head. As everything around him faded except for the woman, he managed to call out to his Beta. “Alex, message Drayden to see if there are any additional heat signals.” His voice was hoarse, barely audible over his heartbeat.
A few seconds later, Alex responded. “None, she’s the only one.”
“I’m moving in,” Isaiah said.
He inched closer, keeping his approach slow and easy, his pace quiet over a forest floor that welcomed each step. Despite the dimming light, he was able to see her form. Then he was by her side, and his life was irrevocably changed.
His breath stopped. He felt a woosh of air rush through the small clearing where she lay. His canines elongated, and the final gears in his head clicked into place.
She was his future. She was his everything.
Isaiah fell to his knees, sweat gleaming at his temples as he accepted that the bond was now fully engaged. The force of the connection was powerful enough to level him.
“Alpha!”
Alex rushed into the clearing and crouched at Isaiah’s side while simultaneously snarling at the unconscious woman. “What happened? Did she do something? Let me get?—”
“No!” Isaiah said, his voice a hoarse roar. “No, don’t t-touch her. Just…wait.”
Alex looked confused for a moment, then his nose twitched, and his eyes bulged at the realization of what had happened.
“What the fuck?”
“Yeah,” Isaiah said with a shuddering breath. “We have to move her to my safe house. It’s halfway to the central Den.” He unbuttoned his shirt and carefully covered her. Even though nakedness was a normal part of his way of life, he wasn’t sure if she consented to be seen like this. She obviously wasn’t a shifter.
As his fingers brushed against her skin, against the metal plate on her arm, every protective instinct in him roared to life. His senses sharpened, and he had to ruthlessly rein in his wolf so that he didn’t force a shift.
Mine.
“Want me to get Cindy out here to assess any damage?”
Isaiah shook his head. “Not yet.” He could hear the easy breath from the woman’s mouth, and intuitively, could sense that she wasn’t in any pain. “I’d…I’d feel if it was something more serious. I think she’s in a restorative sleep. She has some bruising. Cuts on her feet. I can’t…I can’t feel her heart. Something is off with her heart and her arm, I think?”
The wolf inside him was pouncing, desperate to get out. Like a steady thrum in his mind, the animal demanded that Isaiah claim what was his.
