In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(33)

Eric frowned. “What do you mean?”

Jayna shrugged. “Megan wanted to die, and she would have kept trying until she found something that worked. So Liam had me stay with her 24-7 for weeks. That was when our bond formed, and with it, she somehow found the will to live again.”

Jayna wiped away the tears, remembering those long, dark days, when suddenly Eric was there at her side and his arms were going around her. She didn’t stiffen or feel the sense of panic that usually came when a guy got in her space. She just felt warmth.

She relaxed against him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest. A few more tears slipped out, but she decided to ignore those in the comfort of the moment.

But on the heels of that warm, comfortable feeling, another sensation crept in, and Jayna’s heart started beating faster as her jaws and fingers started tingling—like she was on the verge of shifting. She wasn’t stupid. She knew what was happening. She was aroused—so aroused it was almost bringing on an involuntary shift. The intensity of it scared her.

She tried to breathe through it and get herself under control. She’d had sex in the years following Darren’s attempted rape—more to convince herself that she was normal than because she wanted it. The sex had been mechanical and meaningless, a way of assuring herself that Darren hadn’t broken her.

But she wasn’t feeling anything mechanical or meaningless now. Right then, she wanted to have sex with Eric. She wanted it with a hunger that literally had her shaking.

She shouldn’t have even been thinking about something like that after telling him Megan’s story.

Jayna took a step back. Then another. Eric didn’t follow. He simply walked back over to the counter he’d been leaning against before, giving her space to collect herself. Her mind raced to find words that would fill the silence dominating the large, open space around them and the sudden cool gulf that separated her from Eric.

She ran her hand through her long hair. “So, um, what’s your plan now that you’ve gotten yourself into the building?”

It was a lame segue out of the uncomfortable situation, but her mind wasn’t working at full efficiency just then.

“It’s simple really,” Eric said, as if the elephant in the room didn’t even exist. “Every time we figure out where the Albanians are planning to strike, we get a tip to my pack mate, Cooper. He’ll make sure the info gets to my alpha, who will make life damn hard on Frasheri, Kos, and their pet omegas.”

She frowned. “That might work once or twice, but don’t you think they’ll figure out someone in this building is ratting them out at some point?”

“The fact that there’s a gang of mobsters trying to take over control of organized crime in Dallas is about the worst-kept secret in town,” Eric said. “Frasheri and Kos have to know every rival gang and thug in the city is watching this place, waiting for them to make another move. We just have to make sure it looks like one of their rivals is tipping off the cops. It shouldn’t be too hard since we were waiting for you at the warehouse the other day.”

Jayna wondered how SWAT had known they’d hit the warehouse, but she didn’t ask.

“How do we make sure that none of my pack gets caught in the crossfire between the cops and the Albanians?”

“I’m going to personally make sure that none of your pack is there when the shooting starts,” Eric promised. “You have my word on that.”

Coming from anyone else, those words would have been hollow, but Jayna believed them from Eric.

*

After working out a few more details of their plan to bring the Albanians down, which included Eric giving her Cooper’s contact info, Jayna headed back to her room with her head spinning. What a freaking day.

Megan yanked open the door the minute she knocked. “Finally! You’ve been up there showing the new omega his room for an hour. Since when do you hang around with omegas?”

Jayna felt terrible for worrying Megan, but she couldn’t tell her who Eric really was. Not yet.

“I don’t hang around with them.” Jayna locked the door and wedged the chair underneath the knob. “I was just being polite and making sure he got comfortably settled in.”

She didn’t look at Megan as she walked into the tiny kitchen and grabbed the bag of Doritos sitting on the table. She opened it and reached in for a handful of chips.

“You were just being polite,” Megan said. “And I suppose being polite required you to clean his scratches for him?”

Jayna almost choked on a chip. She turned to look at Megan “What?”

Megan pointed at her hand. “There’s blood on the back of your hand. Don’t even bother denying it belongs to him. His scent is very unique.”

Jayna twisted her hand around until she saw the tiny smear. She scrubbed it off with a paper towel. “Um, yeah, I helped him clean up. I thought it’d be a good idea to be friendly to him. We might have to go out on a job together, and it would be nice to have an omega covering our backs and not stabbing us in them.”

That line sounded suitably dramatic to her, but Megan didn’t look like she was buying it. “Uh-huh. Whatever you say. Will you be helping Brandon and Caleb clean up next?”

Jayna shoved a handful of pointy Doritos in her mouth and crunched loudly.

Megan laughed and waved her hand. “Okay. Go ahead and keep your secrets for now. But if you come up here with Eric’s scent all over your clothes again, I’m going to think you’ve been getting busy with the new guy.”