Page 5 of M.A.Y.A
He rubbed his fingers against the crease between his eyebrows, where his head was throbbing from the sudden blow of the mating bond.
There was a beep, and both Isaiah and his second scanned the clearing before finding the source of the sound. It was the arm plate on his mate.
Alex let out a low whistle. “Looks like a prosthetic. Maybe that’s why you can’t feel it.”
“Maybe,” he mused. He gently scooped her up in his arms. She was light, too light, and he could feel the sharp edges of bones pushing against skin. Her head rolled back, and he wanted to bury his nose in her throat and breathe her in. Her face was set in smooth lines and sharp angles that hinted at South Asian features similar to his mother’s side of the family. She had a deep, creamy brown skin tone that he wanted to explore. He also wanted her to open her eyes so he could see if they were as beautiful as the rest of her.
Soon, he thought as he got to his feet. Soon. The wolf inside of him wanted to roll in her scent and celebrate that his mate was real, that she was here. But the man needed answers. No matter how much he wanted to focus on the other half of his soul, he’d made a promise to his pack, and regardless of this life change, he’d honor his obligations.
Isaiah was going to be Alpha first.
ChapterTwo
M.A.Y.A. Unit 13 wasn’t in the lab anymore. As she slowly rose to consciousness, the distinct difference between her current circumstances and the situation she’d been in for the last few years became apparent. Instead of the cold slab she had been forced to sleep on, she found herself on soft sheets and an even softer mattress.
The smell in the air was pleasing. Floral maybe? It had been a long time since she’d been exposed to a scent other than antiseptic and her own blood, but her olfactory senses remembered wildflowers from the time before the wars drove humanity underground.
She opened her eyes, ignoring the dull throbbing in her head, her aching feet, and immediately began to take stock of her surroundings. The stark lab lights that burned her eyelids were replaced with a dim glow from a window.
That was another jarring realization. When was the last time she slept in a bed in a room that had windows?
There was also a dresser, a chair in the corner, and a door. The room was painted in a pale cream color, and the bedspread had a small blue paisley design on it similar to the Rajasthani blankets her family used to stock in the guest room of the last home they lived in together.
Fearing she was in a dream, she lay still for a few moments longer, savoring the feeling of peace. She knew this could just be a hallucination triggered by the scientists. Even if it was, she’d take it over the reality where her waking hours were filled with torture, needles, prodding, and tests on her body that no longer felt like her own.
She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. If she could just stay?—
The momentary reprieve was interrupted when the aroma in the room changed. It was familiar, yet wholly new to her, and it altered the pleasant floral notes. The intrusive scent was rich with an undertone of spice and what she imagined was cool spring water.
Her headache began to fade, the air warmed, and she heard a slight elevation in breath. She sensed that this stranger who moved with deadly silence was about to touch her.
Her gut instinct told her she was safe, but she hadn’t been able to trust her gut for so long. She reacted the way she knew she had to in order to protect herself. Her hand shot up and she gripped the wrist of the person who was perilously close to her shoulder.
When she turned to look at the intruder, she registered the shock, the surprise. He was handsome, but sometimes the most dangerous men wore beauty as a disguise.
Her heartbeat—or the computer chips that had been shoved into her chest cavity—went into overdrive, and her adrenaline spiked in awareness. Then something happened in her head. She wasn’t sure what it was, or how she knew her biology was changing, but her senses dulled until all she could focus on was this man.
Oh no. He was just as bad as the scientists. He’d done something to her.
Danger, danger, danger.
She vaulted off the bed.
“Wait,” her intruder shouted, palms up. “You’re okay. You’re safe?—”
It was too late. She was already striking out with a palm to the center of his chest. He flew across the room and slammed into the dresser.
“What in the world—” She heard him whisper as he straightened to his full, imposing height.
She dove for the exit door, and he blocked her, this time gently pushing her back with enough force that she landed on the mattress. The strength it took for him to toss her so carelessly had more adrenaline pumping through her system. She gasped and her body twitched as she rolled off the bed and repositioned herself in a fighting stance.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said slowly. “We found you in a field.”
“You did something to me then locked me in your room,” she replied, her voice rusty from lack of use. Then she attacked him, moving forward with the speed and agility that had been artificially added to her muscles and organs.
She saw his shock again, and hoped to use that to her advantage, but he blocked every blow and every strike until there were holes in the walls, the dresser was toppled over on the floor between them, and the bedframe had broken from where she’d tried to rip the headboard to use as a weapon. She was heaving from the expended energy when he moved to her and swept her legs out from under her. Before she could get back to her feet, he tossed her on the bed again, rolled her onto her stomach, and crossed her wrists at her lower back.
“No!” she shouted.
