In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(49)

“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.