In the Company of Wolves

by Paige Tyler

  Cooper glanced at Eric. “From what Becker has been telling me, getting your pack out of trouble is worth the pain in the ass all of this has been.”

  Eric grimaced. “Have Gage and Xander been giving you grief?”

  Cooper’s mouth twitched. “They’re a little pissed that I have a confidential informant inside the werewolf crew and won’t tell them who it is. It’s nothing I can’t handle though.”

  “You tell anyone else on the team?” Eric asked.

  Cooper shook his head. “Nah. All the guys would back you up on this, and Khaki too. But if someone’s going to get in hot water, I don’t want it to be them.”

  Jayna understood why Cooper would risk getting into trouble to help Eric because she’d have done the same for any of her own pack mates. “Well, thank you, Cooper. My pack and I appreciate it.” She brushed Eric’s fingers with hers. “I’m going to get cleaned up a little. I’ll be right back.”

  He nodded and went back to his conversation, but as she walked toward the bedroom, she could feel his gaze on her. She smiled, liking the way it felt.

  * * *

  “Damn,” Cooper said. “She’s beautiful.”

  Becker knew that already, but after watching her walk back into his bedroom, he could understand why Cooper might point out the obvious. And if any other guy had said the same thing, he might have been jealous. But Cooper was like a brother.

  “Oh yeah,” Becker agreed. “If there was ever a woman made to wear yoga pants, it’s her.”

  Cooper shook his head. “What is it with you and those damn yoga pants? I mean, she definitely looks good in them, but sometimes I think you have a psychological condition when it comes to your obsession with the things.”

  “Maybe. But did you know that twenty percent of women can orgasm while doing yoga?”

  “How the hell would I know that? More importantly, how the hell do you?”

  “I read it in Cosmo a while ago.”

  Cooper opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. Finally he just shook his head. “I’m not going to ask because I don’t want to know.”

  Becker laughed. “Probably not. You want to hang around? We can order pizza or something.”

  Cooper shook his head. “Nah. I only stopped by to feed your fish. I’m going home to get some sleep. I haven’t gotten more than an hour or two a night since you went undercover. I need to find a bed before I crash and burn.”

  Becker could sympathize with that.

  “So Jayna’s The One for you, huh?” Cooper asked.

  “Definitely.” Becker grinned. “I thought she might be that first day I saw her in the warehouse, but now I’m sure.”

  Cooper shook his head. “It’s crazy that you stumbled over the one werewolf you’re supposed to be mated to for the rest of your life in the middle of a robbery. Makes you think there really is some cosmic force out there.” He got to his feet. “Okay, I’m gonna get out of here.”

  Becker walked him to the door.

  “Have you figured out how this is all going to end?” Cooper asked, turning to look at him. “At some point, the Albanians or this pack alpha you told me about are going to figure out you’re the one tipping off the cops. We can’t keep doing this much longer.”

  “We won’t have to,” Becker said. “Jayna and I have the Albanians and omegas distrusting each other. In a few days, their whole organization will collapse from the inside. We just need to keep the pressure on until then.”

  “Be careful.” Cooper opened the door. “Tell Jayna it was nice meeting her.”

  “I will,” Becker promised.

  “Cooper left already?” Jayna asked as Becker closed the door.

  He turned to give her a smile. “Yeah. He was beat. You want something to drink?”

  “Sure.”

  Becker grabbed a couple bottles of water from the fridge, then joined her on the couch.

  “I overheard you and Cooper talking before,” she said. “What did he mean when he asked you if I was ‘the one’ for you? He seemed to imply it was more than just your standard romantic attraction.”

  Becker stared at her, the bottle of water halfway to his mouth. He thought she knew more about being a werewolf than he did. “You don’t know about The One?”

  “The one what?”

  He stared down at the bottle of water, trying to get his thoughts straight. “This is going to be complicated, but according to werewolf legend, there’s supposed to be one true mate out there in the world for every werewolf. When they meet, there’s this automatic connection between them.” He grinned. “Kind of like how we felt that spark the first time we met.”

  Jayna looked dubious. “You make it sound like we’re magically meant to be together.”

  “Is it so hard to believe that people as unique and special as werewolves are meant to find that one perfect person who accepts us for what we are?”

  “Yes, it is that hard to believe,” she said. “I prefer to think that the way I feel about you is purely because of the person you are, not because of any werewolf magic.”

  Becker tried not to let his disappointment show. After what had happened to Jayna, it wasn’t surprising she didn’t believe in magic and happily ever after.

  Jayna must have picked up on his mood because her expression softened and she leaned in to kiss him. He slipped a hand in her hair and kissed her back, telling himself that it didn’t matter why she felt the things she did for him, as long as she felt them. He had her, and that was all that mattered.

  “Do you think we need to head back to the loft yet or can we stay here a while longer?” she asked, her blue eyes turning green.

  They’d already been gone a few hours, but…

  “I think we have a little bit of time.” He grinned. “Do you have something in mind you want to do?”

  She nodded with just a hint of that shyness he found so damn cute. “I was thinking we could make out again before we go. Just a quickie, you know?”

  “Yeah, I do know,” he growled. “Though I don’t think there’ll be anything quick about it.”

  * * *

  Jayna hugged Eric tightly as they rode through the dark streets toward the loft. Today would go down as one of the best days ever—and not just because she adored making love with him, although that was definitely incredible. She simply loved being with him. Even if she wasn’t too sure about the whole magical werewolf-connection thing, it didn’t mean she couldn’t recognize there was something special going on between them. To her, though, it was simply good, old-fashioned chemistry.

  It was well past eight o’clock by the time they got back to the loft, and she immediately headed for the stairs to check on Megan. Eric trotted up behind her, but they barely made it halfway before they ran into Liam coming down with Moe and Joseph right behind him. Liam had a pissed-off look on his face.

  “Where the hell have you been and why weren’t you answering your phone?” he demanded.

  The hair on the back of Jayna’s neck stood up. “What’s wrong?” She glanced at Moe and Joseph. They both looked nervous as hell. “Where are Megan and Chris?”

  Liam opened his mouth to answer, but Joseph was faster.

  “Kostandin sent them out on a job.”

  “What kind of job?” Eric asked.

  Joseph started to answer, but Liam silenced him with a glare. “Kos sent them after one of the SWAT werewolves, along with half a dozen Albanian soldiers.”

  It took a moment for Liam’s words to sink in, and when they finally did, Jayna couldn’t breathe. She almost reached for Eric’s hand to steady herself but caught herself at the last minute and grabbed the railing instead. While she was off having sex with Eric, two of her pack mates had been sent out to take down an alpha who was way out of their league. Oh God, what had she done?

  “How could you send Megan and Chris after one of those SWAT werewolves?” she demanded, her fangs and claws coming out. “She’s not strong enough and neither is Chris.”

 
; Liam opened his mouth to say something, but this time Eric was the one who cut him off.

  “Where did they go, and when did they leave?”

  For a moment, Jayna thought Liam would refuse to tell them just out of spite. But the look on Eric’s face must have changed his mind.

  “The cop lives over in Lochwood, on Skillman Street. They left thirty minutes ago.”

  Jayna saw Eric’s face go pale, but before she could even think of asking him why—which would have been hard to do in front of Liam and the others—he turned and raced toward the main entrance. She followed, ignoring Liam’s shouts that it was too late to make any difference.

  Eric was already on his bike and about to pull away when she jumped in front of him.

  “You need to move,” he hissed, the edges of his eyes glowing as he fought for control. “They went after Cooper.”

  Dammit. She put her hands on the handlebars and refused to budge. “And Megan and Chris are with them. I’m coming with you.”

  Eric looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he swore and motioned for her to get on the bike. She ran around and climbed on behind him, holding on tightly as he cranked the gas and tore off through town. She thought they’d been driving fast before, but now he was probably doing a hundred as he weaved in and out of traffic.

  They were still several blocks away when Jayna heard gunfire. Her heart stopped. Liam had been right. They were too late.

  Eric twisted the throttle and rode even faster.

  Three big, black Escalades were pulled across the entrance to an apartment complex, blocking it. There was an olive green Jeep Wrangler parked just on the other side of the Escalades, as if the driver had turned into the lot just in front of the Albanians. She saw Cooper hiding behind the partial protection of the Jeep, blood running down his arms and chest from at least two gunshots.

  Jayna flinched as she realized how badly wounded he must have been to be bleeding that much. But his attackers had paid the price to do that to him. Two Albanians were lying on the ground unmoving, and a third was leaning against the rear tire of one of the SUVs, both hands pressed to his head as he tried to stop the bleeding from a wound there.

  She searched frantically for Megan and Chris. Her breath hitched as she saw Megan pressing her hand frantically against a wound in Chris’s side while he popped off shots in Cooper’s direction.

  Jayna’s heart twisted. She didn’t want Chris to shoot Cooper, but she also didn’t want her friends to get hurt either. And Megan seemed so worried about Chris that she wasn’t even protecting herself. She was practically standing out in the open as she tried to tend to Chris. If Cooper wanted to hit her, she’d be dead.

  Fortunately, Cooper was focused on the remaining three Albanians, who were shooting at him. Eric slammed on the brakes and slid the bike to a stop just outside the perimeter established by the three SUVs as another Albanian went down.

  Jayna immediately jumped off the Harley so she could pull Megan and Chris out of the line of fire while Eric launched himself at the last two Albanians with a speed and grace that she and her pack mates could never hope to achieve.

  But instead of tearing into the Albanians trying to kill his best friend, he bent and scooped up a shotgun beside one of the dead men. Pumping a shell into the chamber, he leaped over the SUV in front of him and hit the ground on the far side, then, just as quickly, cleared the hood of Cooper’s Jeep.

  The move caught her by surprise, and all she could do was gape as Eric aimed the shotgun at Cooper’s chest and fired. Cooper’s shocked look was the last thing she saw before he flew back and out of sight behind the Jeep. Eric advanced on him, pumped the shotgun, then pointed it at his best friend. Even though the Jeep was in the way, she could tell from the angle of the weapon that he was aiming at Cooper’s head.

  Jayna was moving toward them before she even realized what she was doing. But the boom of the shotgun going off stopped her cold. Under the Jeep, Cooper’s legs jerked once, then went still.

  Her heart slammed against her ribs. Eric had just shot his pack mate in the head. He had killed one of his own to protect hers.

  Eric turned and strode back over to where she still stood immobilized. In the distance, sirens echoed in the night, coming closer.

  “Cops are on the way,” he said in a flat, emotionless voice. “Let’s go.”

  “Not until I see what that dog looks like,” one of the Albanians said.

  Eric stepped in front of the Albanian, his eyes flaring gold as he lifted the shotgun and put the end of the barrel against the man’s forehead.

  “I can show you what it looks like—from the inside.”

  Jayna never would have imagined Eric could sound so cold and emotionless, but then again, he’d just killed his best friend. Her legs almost gave out as she slowly helped Megan get Chris to his feet and over to one of the SUVs. She didn’t want to believe Eric could have done something like that, even if he’d done it for her. She didn’t want to be the reason he’d killed anyone, especially Cooper. Her eyes burned with tears as she remembered the way the other werewolf had told her he’d do anything to help Eric.

  The Albanian squaring off against Eric muttered something in his own language, then turned and quickly helped his wounded friends get in the other Escalade. A few moments later, two of the SUVs sped away, leaving her alone with Eric and the dead Albanians.

  Eric didn’t look at her as he walked over to his bike and climbed on. She glanced in Cooper’s direction, torn between needing to know and not wanting to know. But the engine of the Harley rumbled to life and she had no choice but to climb on the back. As Eric squealed away, she looked over her shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of something—anything—to convince her that she hadn’t seen what she thought she had.

  All she could see were flashing blue lights as the cops converged on the scene. Then Eric turned a corner, and her view was obscured. Not that it mattered. Her mind had no problem replaying those last few moments over and over, as if it wanted to make sure she never forgot.

  Chapter 11

  Before the sun was even up the next morning, Becker headed for Jayna’s room. The way Jayna looked at him last night outside Cooper’s apartment complex had torn out his heart. He needed to get her to understand why he’d done what he had. But between the Albanians and omegas congratulating him, Kos and Frasheri wanting details about what happened, then digging two bullets out of Chris’s stomach, privacy had been in short supply last night. While the beta werewolf was healing, he wasn’t doing it very fast, so he hadn’t felt right about asking Jayna to leave his side.

  After he explained things to her, he had to go to the SWAT compound so he could talk to Gage and Xander before the shit hit the fan—more than it already had at least. And last night wasn’t something you could explain over the phone or in a text.

  Becker was only a few doors down from the apartment that Jayna and Megan shared when Kostandin’s voice stopped him.

  “Where are you going at this time of the morning?”

  Becker had been so focused on what he was going to say to Jayna that he hadn’t even realized the mob underboss was coming down the hall. Becker walked past Jayna’s door as if he’d been heading for the stairs all along.

  “To the SWAT compound,” he said. “See how they’re reacting to the death of one of their own, maybe try to figure out which one we should go after next.”

  Kos grinned. An evil, nasty grin. “You do that, and when you get back, we need to talk about your place in this organization. I think it’s time to make a few changes in the wolf pack’s leadership, don’t you?”

  Becker’s stomach twisted as he jogged down the steps. Kostandin might not have said it, but a change in leadership likely meant the Albanian intended to kill Liam. Becker didn’t think much of the other werewolf, but he sure as hell didn’t want him dead. Right now, though, he had bigger issues—like how to explain this whole thing to his own alpha.

  He was still rehearsing his speech when h
e pulled into the parking lot at the compound twenty minutes later. He heard Gage’s shouts coming from the admin building as soon as he cut the Harley’s engine. A low, deep rumbling growl followed.

  Shit. Gage was really pissed.

  Becker leaned his bike on the kickstand, then strode over and walked into the building. Gage and Cooper were standing nose to nose, fangs extended and eyes glowing. Mike and Xander were doing their best to get between them, but if things turned ugly, it was going to take a lot more than those two to keep them from fighting.

  On the bright side, Cooper looked better than he had last night after Becker had shot him in the chest at point-blank range with that shotgun. He hadn’t wanted to shoot Cooper, but at the time, he hadn’t been able to come up with a better way to stop the Albanians from killing Cooper while maintaining his cover. Becker knew it wouldn’t really hurt Cooper. Knock him on his ass, be painful as hell, for sure, but nothing permanent. The shotgun blast only a foot to the side of his head might have been a bit much, but his friend had immediately picked up on what he was trying to do and played dead like Becker had hoped. Thank God he’d been able to keep that Albanian from walking around the side of Cooper’s Jeep to check out the damage, because that would have screwed up everything.

  “You’re going to tell me who the hell your informant is,” Gage growled. “And you’re going to do it right the fuck now!”

  Gage’s jaw broadened to make room for his fangs. There was nobody in the Pack who possessed more control over their werewolf nature than their commander. If he was shifting that far, he was doing it because he was planning on ripping a huge chunk out of Cooper’s hide.

  Cooper didn’t back down though. “I told you, I can’t do that. My source is confidential.”

  “Not from me,” Gage snarled, his hands flexing as if he was imagining how good it would feel to wrap his fingers around Cooper’s neck and choke the living crap out of him.

  Xander stepped in front of Cooper and put his hand on Gage’s chest. “Gage—”

  But Gage shoved Xander aside. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded of Cooper. “Those Albanian bastards almost killed you.”