by Paige Tyler
Megan laughed. “I’m no smarter than I ever was. I’m just bright enough to know something good when I see it. The question is—do you?”
For once, Jayna decided not to overthink a simple question. She was just going to say what her heart told her to say.
But before she could, a sound from outside caught her attention. The horses were stirring in their stalls and neighing, like they had when they’d first gotten a whiff of her and her pack of werewolves. She glanced at the doorway to the kitchen, checking to see if the guys had gone out to the barn again. After Moe, Joseph, and Chris had spent most of the afternoon in there helping Ethan, she didn’t think the horses would still be afraid, but it was possible. All three guys were in the kitchen though, helping make dinner and laughing at some joke Ethan had just told them.
She headed for the kitchen before she even realized what she was doing.
“Jayna, what’s wrong?” Megan asked.
She didn’t know what was wrong. Something just…was.
Then, a scent she never thought she’d smell again hit her.
Crap.
Jayna ran the last few steps into the spacious country kitchen. “Ethan, do you keep a gun in the house?”
Everyone turned to look at her in confusion. She opened her mouth to ask again when the back door suddenly burst open. She whirled around with a growl to see Liam come sauntering in. He was followed by Kostandin and a whole bunch of nasty Albanians. They were all carrying weapons.
Liam didn’t say a word as he aimed his pistol at her chest and squeezed the trigger.
Chapter 15
Becker twisted the gas on the big Harley and it surged forward, but it didn’t help. The two trucks behind him were moving too fast. They were going to hit him.
He swerved to the side, avoiding one SUV a fraction of a second before it could smash into his rear tire. The violent maneuver almost put him and his bike on the pavement, but he got control of it just as the vehicle sped past him. He turned to shout at the idiots, but his words froze as he recognized the driver. It was one of the Albanians. He should have figured it out sooner, since both the cars were big, black Escalades.
He was still trying to wrap his head around that when he was forced to slam on his rear brakes and swerve sideways again to avoid creaming into the rear bumper of the Escalade that had just zipped past him and slowed down.
The second car quickly moved in behind him. Becker didn’t have to look to know it was another one of Kostandin’s crew. If they slammed into his rear wheel, he was toast. Even a minor thump at this speed would send him flying and almost certainly get him run over. He wasn’t sure even an alpha werewolf could live through something like that.
He darted a quick glance to the side, praying he could get off the main road before some unsuspecting driver came along and got in the middle of this mess. But that wasn’t an option. The edge of the road along this stretch of highway was lined with barricades and steel guardrails. Slamming into those would be as bad as getting hit by one of the SUVs trying to run him down.
The vehicle in front slowed down even more, making it easier for his buddy to get Becker from behind. Becker slammed his right foot down on his rear brake pedal again, putting the bike into a sideways slide, then let up on the brake and gunned it, slipping around the left side of the Escalade by mere inches. He would have been home free if the Albanian in the backseat hadn’t leaned out the window and started shooting at him with one of those MP5 automatics the mobsters seemed to love so much.
Becker veered to the left but couldn’t go far because of the guardrail. Most of the spray of bullets missed him, but one 9mm round hit him in the thigh and another clanked into something important-sounding on the bike. Blood ran down his leg at the same time his bike made a grinding sound and began losing speed. He twisted the accelerator as far as it would go. Nothing happened. So much for getting past the front car.
One look in the rearview mirror told him he was doubly screwed. And with the second SUV coming right up behind him, he couldn’t drop back, either. He was completely boxed in with the first SUV on his left, the guardrail on his right, and the second truck behind him. On top of that, his bike wasn’t running well enough for him to get ahead.
The driver of the first Escalade must have realized that at the same time because he immediately jerked the car to the left. Becker would either get crushed against the guardrail, or the jackass with the MP5 was going to get close enough to put a lucky shot through his head.
Becker decided to go for option three. He yanked the handlebars to the right, slamming into the side of the SUV. Before he could lose control of the bike, he was up and leaping off it, landing on the hood of the Escalade. His move caught the driver completely by surprise, giving Becker enough time to punch his clawed hand through the hood and get a grip on something before the stunned driver could recover and try to toss him off.
He tried not to listen as his beautiful, not-even-paid-off-yet bike hit the asphalt hard and was promptly run over by the second Escalade. But it was impossible to ignore the fact that these assholes had just destroyed a frigging work of art.
Becker shifted, cutting loose a growl and climbing the hood, his hands punching through the thin steel with every lunge forward. The guy in the backseat was trying to lean far enough out the window to get a shot at him, but the driver was swerving around so much that he couldn’t get a clear pop at him. The same went for the guy in the passenger seat with the handgun. All he was able to do was hold the semiautomatic pistol blindly out the passenger window and shoot in Becker’s general direction. A few rounds nicked him, but nothing that caused any serious damage. Having a partially shifted werewolf on the hood of his vehicle probably had something to do with his poor marksmanship.
As an added bonus, the driver’s wild attempts at slinging him off were also keeping the second Escalade from passing, so Becker only had one vehicle to worry about.
The gunner in the backseat finally said the hell with it and tried to shoot him through the windshield. All the guy accomplished was pelting the driver with brass cartridge cases and getting the windshield out of Becker’s way. The driver freaked out and almost lost control of the car when Becker reached through the shattered window and ripped the guy with the handgun out of the passenger seat and tossed him aside…where he was run over by the second SUV. Somewhere, the soul of Becker’s Harley was growling its approval.
The move didn’t come without a price though. The guy in the backseat shot him through the same damn shoulder he’d been hit in a couple days ago. Damn. It hurt like a son of a bitch. Ignoring the pain, he crawled into the passenger seat to yank the gun out of the guy’s hand, then grabbed the asshole’s arm and dragged him out too.
The driver kept yanking the steering wheel from side to side right up until the moment Becker ripped out his throat. Unfortunately, the dead man’s foot wedged against the gas pedal, and instead of slowing down, the Escalade raced forward.
Becker swore and reached in to grab the wheel. He got the car going in a straight line, but it was still gaining speed. He needed to get the damn driver out of the way.
Thankfully, the driver hadn’t been wearing a seat belt, so Becker just had to shove the guy out the door, then climb into the driver’s seat.
Once he got control of the vehicle, he jerked into the left-hand lane, then immediately slammed on the brake, forcing the other SUV to swerve to the right. The moment that Escalade was even with him, he yanked the wheel to the right and smashed into it, causing it to hit the metal guardrail and slide along the barrier for a few feet, then crash through it and flip a few times before coming to a halt.
Becker slammed on the brakes, screeching to a loud, tire-squawking stop. He was out of the car before it stopped rocking. Jumping the guardrail, he ran to the other SUV. He wanted nothing more than to kill every last son of a bitch in there, but he controlled his rage. There might be more going on than just an attack on the SWAT officer who had taken down their crime fa
mily. If there was, he needed to know about it.
The Albanian who’d been driving was already dead, but the other one had gotten out and was dragging himself toward the tree line a good twenty feet away. When he realized Becker was following him, he rolled over onto his back and took a shot at him. Becker avoided the gunfire, then lunged forward and ripped the gun out of the man’s hands.
Becker grabbed the Albanian’s shirt and yanked him off the ground with a snarl. “I’m guessing Kostandin sent you, so you have one chance to tell me where he is.”
The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Kostandin had us watching the SWAT compound, waiting for you to come back. He told us to follow and kill you, no matter what we had to do. The rest of us wanted to get the hell out of Dallas, but Kos said we had things to take care of before we left.”
“That’s not what I asked you.” Becker bared his fangs, making sure the Albanian got a good look at them. “Where the fuck is he?”
“I don’t know!” The guy swallowed hard. “He and Liam said they were going to some farm near here, that he was going to kill every one of those werewolves who betrayed them. That’s all I know. Please don’t kill me!”
Becker dropped the Albanian to the ground with a growl. As much as he hated to let the guy go, Becker wasn’t a cold-blooded killer, and he didn’t have time to mess with him.
He jumped over the guardrail and ran to the Escalade with the shattered front window. He knocked the remaining pieces of glass out of his way before climbing in and speeding toward the Stones’ house.
Digging his phone out of his pocket with one hand, he hit the speed dial for Gage. As the phone rang, Becker’s gut clenched so tightly he almost couldn’t breathe. He floored the gas pedal, but he still couldn’t make the Escalade go fast enough. Something told him that he wasn’t going to get there in time.
* * *
Jayna fell to her knees beside Megan, slapping her hand over the bullet hole in her friend’s chest, trying to stop the blood from pouring out. But it was no use. It just kept flowing out between Jayna’s fingers.
It had all happened so fast. One moment, Liam had been pointing a handgun at Jayna, and the next, Megan had been flying in front of her as the gun went off. She was breathing and her heart was beating, but her eyes were closed and she was getting paler by the second. Moe, Chris, and Joseph were at her side in seconds, begging Megan not to die, while Ethan and Kathryn were stunned into silence as they took in the gun-wielding men and the girl lying on the floor of their kitchen slowly bleeding to death.
Jayna glared at Liam. It was hard to see him clearly through the tears in her eyes, but he clearly didn’t even care that he’d just shot a girl who had been like family to him.
“What the hell have you done?” she screamed.
His lips curled in a sneer. “Her fault for getting in the way. If she’d minded her own business and let me deal with you, I might have let her live. The guys too, even though they betrayed me just like you did.”
“Betrayed you?” Jayna wiped the tears from her face with her free hand. “They never betrayed you, and neither did I. You’re the one who sold your pack out to these pieces of crap.” She motioned with her chin toward Kos, who was regarding them with amusement in his hard eyes. “We told you we didn’t want to be part of this.”
“You don’t get to decide what you want to be part of!” Liam shouted. He took a step toward her, eyes flaring as he raised his pistol to point it at her head. “I was trying to give us a better life, something you would have realized if you and your cop boyfriend hadn’t been so busy trying to take over my pack.”
Jayna’s heart began to race. Liam was about to kill her and there wasn’t anything she could do about it—not without taking her hand off the wound in Megan’s chest. And she wasn’t going to do that.
So she knelt there beside the girl who was like a sister to her as Liam’s face twisted into an animal snarl. Ethan and Kathryn were behind him, so they couldn’t see the creature he’d become, but they must have heard the growls and had to know that something bizarre was happening.
“You always thought you were better than me, always looking down your snout at me when I asked you and the others to do the things that were necessary for us to survive,” Liam sneered. “And then, when we get here, when we finally have a chance to be part of something that would let us stop scratching in the dirt for pennies and nickels, you decide you know better what the pack needs. You decide to betray me with that fucking cop! Well, his ass is dead now, and yours is about to be.”
Jayna’s heart thudded to a stop. Liam was lying. Eric couldn’t be dead. She was so busy convincing herself of that, she didn’t realize Liam had closed the distance between them and put the barrel of the gun against her forehead.
She held her breath, bracing for the bullet that would take her life, when someone shoved Liam aside. She blinked, staring up at Moe standing in front of her and Megan. Joseph quickly moved to stand at Moe’s right, while Chris took up position on Moe’s left. Jayna didn’t have to see the guys’ faces to know that they’d shifted. The look of shock on Ethan’s and Kathryn’s faces told her that. Not that it mattered. The Stones weren’t going to make it out of there to tell anyone what they’d seen.
“Get out of the way,” Liam growled as he altered his aim and pointed his weapon at Moe. “This is between Jayna and me. I know she’s the one who turned you against me. She’s the only one who has to die.”
Moe didn’t move. Neither did Joseph or Chris.
“She didn’t turn us against you,” Moe said. “You did that all on your own. And if you want to kill Jayna, you’re gonna have to go through us.”
Liam growled, but Jayna knew he’d shoot them without even thinking about it. She wanted to stand up to protect them, but she was terrified of leaving Megan’s side. She looked down at her friend and was surprised to find Megan looking up at her.
“Stop him,” she whispered. “Don’t let him hurt anyone else. Please.”
Fresh tears pricked Jayna’s eyes. Typical Megan. Always so selfless.
“This is all very touching,” Kostandin said. Stepping forward, he pointed his gun at Moe, then thumbed back the hammer. “But the she-wolf will not be helping anyone. Liam may have come here thinking he could take back his pack from her, but I came here to kill every last fucking one of you.”
Jayna jumped up and lunged for Moe just as the kitchen door exploded off its hinges and disappeared into the night. Jayna was still trying to figure out what had just happened when a blur of movement caught her eye. Her heart surged as Eric’s scent filled the kitchen, but before she could even blink, he’d grabbed two of Kostandin’s men and disappeared outside with them.
Gunshots echoed in the night, making Jayna jump. Terrified shouts quickly followed, then a loud, menacing growl. After that, an eerie silence descended over the whole farm. Even the horses out in the barn seemed to be holding their breath.
Then, a single gunshot sounded from outside, and one of the Albanians over by the granite-topped island crumpled to the floor without a sound. The eight remaining Albanians aimed their guns at the row of windows over the sink and started shooting while Kos turned to fire at Moe.
Jayna knocked Moe to the floor, then threw herself at Chris and Joseph, taking them down too. She glanced over at Ethan and Kathryn. The couple was on the floor, wedged up against the other side of the island, Ethan shielding his wife with his body.
More bullets whizzed through the opening in the wall, sending Kos and his men scattering. Leaving the guys with Megan, Jayna used the distraction to herd Ethan and Kathryn toward the living room. Joseph and Moe showed up to take over for her before they got more than a few feet.
But then Kos caught sight of them. He shouted for two of his men to stay and finish them off. “The rest of you, come with me. We’re going to kill that asshole cop right now.”
Jayna froze. Eric may have been an alpha werewolf with SWAT training, but she was still terrifi
ed at the thought of him taking on Kos and the six Albanians by himself. But right then, she had to push her fears for Eric out of her head. If she didn’t find a way to get her pack and the Stones to safety, she wouldn’t be around long enough to worry about what happened to Eric.
But when she went back to grab Megan, all she found was a trail of blood leading out of the kitchen. For a moment, she thought Chris had gotten her to safety, but he was helping Moe and Joseph with Ethan and Kathryn. Crap.
That was when Jayna realized the front door was already wide open. She didn’t have to get a whiff of the two distinct scents leading in that direction to know Liam had taken Megan.
Heart in her throat, Jayna jumped up and ran for the door, ignoring the bullets zipping past her head and missing by mere inches.
“Get everybody somewhere safe,” she growled as she sped past Joseph and the other guys.
Jayna hoped the oldest werewolf in the pack was up for the task because all she could think about right then was saving Megan.
* * *
Becker had just cut the engine and was letting the Escalade coast down the Stones’ gravel driveway when he heard the gunshot. He threw open the door and was running for the house before the SUV came to a stop.
He slowed and dropped to one knee, reaching for his off-duty Sig 9mm he always kept clipped inside the top of his motorcycle boot. And swore. Before going undercover, he’d locked his weapon in his gun safe in his apartment, and in all the craziness of the past couple days, he hadn’t gotten it out.
Cursing his stupidity, he headed for the front door of the house, fully intending to kick it in and start tearing people apart with his bare hands. But one glance in the living room window stopped him. He could see Liam standing in the kitchen, a gun in his hand and a body on the floor, thick, red blood pooling beside it.
Becker’s heart stopped. He couldn’t see who’d been shot, but his mind was filling in the blanks.
Jayna.
