In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(24)

“You smell good, she-wolf. Like a peach.” He gave her an oily smile. “I like peaches.”

Jayna tried to walk past him, but he moved with her, blocking her path and gazing down at her with an unnerving glint in his eyes. She growled, reaching for the rage she’d just unleased on the omega only a few minutes ago. But that powerful rage—and the werewolf who’d shown it—now seemed to be AWOL. In its place was a frightened seventeen-year-old girl facing not a sadistic mobster but a sadistic stepfather. For a second, she was so scared she could barely think, much less defend herself.

Then something angry reared up inside her—the same thing that had refused to let Darren rape her so many years ago.

Lifting her hands, she shoved the big Albanian so hard that he stumbled back a few feet. The power and rage she’d felt earlier still wasn’t there, but her claws were out and ready to do some damage if Kostandin didn’t get the hell out of her way.

But before she could use them, Kos chuckled and moved aside to let her pass. Jayna hesitated, waiting to see if it was some kind of trick. When Kos only lifted a brow, she slowly walked past him and headed for the door, but his voice stopped her cold.

“I know you do not enjoy the things you’ve had to do lately, things your pack leader has been making you do,” he said softly. “I could change that. If you were a bit…nicer to me…you wouldn’t have to go out and do those things again.”

Jayna whirled around with a growl. “I’d rather take my chances getting shot and killed than spend one second being…nice…to you.”

For a moment, Kos let his normal, expressionless mask crack a little, and Jayna saw a depth of hatred and evil there that nearly took her breath away. But just as quickly, the look was gone, replaced by the cold, dead stare she was used to. She turned and started for the door only to be stopped once again by a voice that was so emotionless she wasn’t sure it was even human.

“Perhaps I will make the same offer to your friend…the little wolf pup. She hates going out there even more than you. Do you think little Megan will be nicer to me?”

Jayna had no problem finding her rage now. Her eyes blazed as her claws and fangs extended even farther than they had in the lobby, and she spun around to advance on Kostandin, ready to tear him to pieces.

He didn’t even flinch as he reached behind his back and pulled out a really big handgun. Jayna didn’t know much about guns beyond loading and pulling the trigger, but this one looked big enough to do a whole lot of damage, even to a werewolf. And Kos had the barrel pointed calmly at her head.

She stopped, not going any closer but damn sure not backing off either. “You go anywhere near Megan—or any members of my pack—and I’ll tear you apart. I swear it.”

Kostandin wasn’t fazed by her threat. Instead, he kept the automatic pointed at her head for a few more seconds before casually slipping it into the holster behind his back. Then he chuckled again and brushed past her.

He stopped just outside the door and looked back. “Your pack, Jayna? Does Liam know you’ve taken over?”

Jayna didn’t offer a reply. That was okay because Kos didn’t seem to expect one.

Still trembling with anger, she headed for the stairwell. She had one foot on the steps when Liam’s voice stopped her this time. Dammit. Was the whole world trying to piss her off today? She turned around to see him jogging to catch up with her. Fifteen years older than her, she used to think of Liam as the big brother she never had. Now, she didn’t know what to think of him.

“Where have you been all day?”

Normally, she would have come up with a good lie, trusting in her ability to talk her way out of most tight corners. But after the run-in with Kostandin, she wasn’t in the mood to play games with Liam. Right now, she wanted to make sure Megan was okay.

“I was out taking care of something.”

His eyes narrowed. “What kind of something?”

Jayna felt her fangs slip out at the suspicion in his voice. She forced them back in and regarded her alpha with what she hoped was a calm expression. “I had to get out of here for a while.” She jerked her head toward the lobby. “Away from all…this.”

Liam frowned. “Why would you want to get away from this? It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to us.”

If she’d had any doubt that he’d lied about Frasheri forcing them to work for him, she didn’t now. “Best thing that ever happened to us? You’re kidding, right?”

His face darkened. “Why do you always have to act like this? I’ve never done anything but try to take care of all of you. Frasheri and Kos are going to look out for us…protect us.”

She’d thought Liam had simply looked the other way when it came to all the illegal crap the Albanians were into, but now she realized he really was indifferent to the danger he’d put the pack squarely in the middle of.

“Protect us from whom?” she demanded. “The only people who are likely to hurt us are these new friends of yours. Or haven’t you seen the way Kostandin and his buddies look at Megan and me?”

Liam actually looked like he didn’t know what she was talking about. Maybe he didn’t.

She turned and started up the stairs, done with the stupid conversation. But apparently, Liam wasn’t.

“Kos values us too much to risk pissing me off.”