Page 47 of M.A.Y.A
When she entered the open room that served as the lab, as her prison, she saw Isaiah’s wolf. Her beautiful shifter stood on all fours next to a shattered pile of glass and what was left of her box. Around him were littered bodies of guards that must have come from the second level.
Maya ran at full speed toward him. Isaiah lowered his head so that she could wrap her arms around his neck. She sunk her hands into his fur and felt his low, warm growl.
As much as her fear suffocated her when she thought about returning to the place that had nearly killed her, she felt stronger knowing Isaiah was here, and that she’d never be alone again.
Isaiah’s wolf nuzzled her one last time before nudging her toward an opening against the far wall. It was the same opening she’d escaped through when she ran away a few weeks ago. They didn’t have time to discuss how he knew where to go, but she planned on asking Isaiah about it later.
Right now, they had to evacuate quickly. As she moved through the exit, Maya looked over her shoulder to make sure Sonya didn’t get left behind. The familiar white wolf was right on their heels.
They ran down a wide hallway until they reached an intersection. Maya was surprised when Isaiah took the lead and turned left, as if he was the one who had already used the path to escape. He motioned to the stairwell with a sign that read “Service Exit,” another familiar marker, and ushered her through.
“Two minutes.” Drayden’s voice came clear through her earpiece.
Two minutes until the rest of the bombs went off.
“Two minutes!” she repeated so Sonya and Isaiah knew how quickly they had to move. She froze halfway up the first flight of stairs when she realized the wolves wouldn’t fit in such a narrow passageway.
That’s when she saw both Isaiah and Sonya naked in their human forms, sweaty with tangled hair and blooming bruises on their bodies, racing after her.
“Move, baby,” he called, and then they were taking the steps two at a time until they reached a nondescript opening which led them to the street. The plunged into the darkness and onto the cement sidewalk.
“We need to get away from the lab,” she called out. “You should shift back so we can run?—”
“Oh, my goodness!” The voice had Maya ready to swing to defend her mate, when she recognized the woman standing in front of her.
“Margaret?”
Margaret’s eyes were wide in shock as she clutched the tablet in her hand. “Thirteen!”
“We’re taking her with us,” Isaiah said to Maya as he reached her side. “It’s a debt we owe to Margaret for helping you, for helpingus.”
“Yes, of course,” Maya replied. Margaret was the only person she trusted in the lab, and she hated that the woman hadn’t been able to escape with her. “But Margaret, if you hurt my mate or my pack in any way, I’ll kill you just the way I killed your boss.”
Green eyes blinked owlishly behind glasses. “Yes, of course.”
“No time to chat,” Sonya called out. “We got to move!”
Isaiah and Sonya shifted back into their wolf forms, and Doctor Sullivan screamed at the sight. She stumbled back, but Maya grabbed her arm to hold her steady. “Panic later. Right now, let’s go.”
She made the quick decision to toss Margaret over Sonya’s back before she started running. Isaiah stayed by her side at Sonya’s heels even though Maya knew he could outpace her as Alpha in wolf form.
They reached the Empire State Building just as the bombs went off over the lab bunker. The ground shook under them, and a cloud of cement smoke licked at their backs as the building collapsed onto what was once her hell. In the dark, she could see the first flicker of fire.
Maya heard Margaret sob, and she desperately wanted to cry too. It was over. Her torture was finally over, and she was free. The weight that rested heavily on her heart slipped away.
She only had one last step to complete her mission.
“We have to hurry,” she said as she led her mate and pack members through the lobby. Before they reached the stairwell, Isaiah and Sonya shifted again. As humans, they navigated the narrow walkways through the sub-basement to the chamber that encased the bunker portal entrance. When Margaret fell behind, Sonya ignored her cries, leaned forward and tossed her over her shoulder.
It took them another two minutes to reach the steel-enforced door that closed off the bunker portal’s entrance. When they walked inside, Drayden stood at the edge of the bunker portal, gripping the handrail and leaning over the hole.
“Let’s move!” Drayden shouted. “Everyone else is already through.”
“I’ll go last,” Isaiah said, pointing at Drayden.
“I have to set the explosives,” he replied.
“Then you and me together.”
