In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(52)

“Okay.”

“Is Eric in love with you?”

Jayna opened her mouth to deny it but closed it again. Would Eric go to all this trouble if he didn’t love her?

“He thinks he is,” she finally said. “He believes in a legend that says there’s a perfect soul mate out there for every werewolf, and they’re destined to be together. He called it The One.”

“And he thinks you’re his One?” Megan asked.

Jayna nodded. “I know it’s silly, but he really believes it.”

Megan gave her a small smile. “After everything we’ve been through when we became werewolves, you don’t think it’s possible God would give us someone who could love us for what we are?”

Sometimes, Jayna forgot how idealistic Megan was. Other times, she wished she could be that idealistic herself. “It’s because of what happened to us when we became werewolves that I don’t believe in it.”

Megan let out a sigh. “Forget the legend then. How do you feel about him?”

Jayna looked down at her hands but didn’t answer. How could she describe what she felt for Eric when she wasn’t sure herself?

“I don’t know,” she finally admitted. “I know that I love being with him. And I know that he makes me happy. And I know that I felt like we had some sort of connection the moment I saw him in that warehouse.”

Megan grinned. “A connection, huh? Sounds like maybe that werewolf-soul-mate thing might be true after all.”

Jayna didn’t say anything.

“So what’s Eric’s plan for getting us out of this mess?” Megan asked, changing the subject.

Jayna explained how she and Eric had been trying to undermine the gang from the inside. “It’s working, but it may take more time than we have. I think he’s with his pack right now, figuring out how to end this sooner rather than later.” Knowing he was at the SWAT compound planning to take down the Albanians should have scared the hell out of her, but it didn’t. “He promised to protect us and get us out of here safely, and I believe him.”

“All of us?” Megan asked.

“All of us,” Jayna confirmed, then added, “Well, maybe not Liam. He’s in really deep with Kostandin and Frasheri.”

Megan frowned but didn’t seem surprised. “We should tell the guys what you just told me.”

Jayna nodded, but Megan had already hopped out of bed and was changing out of her pajamas. Jayna did the same, exchanging her shorts for a pair of yoga pants; then, she and Megan headed for the apartment the guys shared on the fourth floor.

Joseph and Moe were in the small kitchenette, nursing energy drinks, while Chris was lying on one of the three air mattresses set up in the middle of what was supposed to be the living room. He was resting so quietly Jayna thought he was asleep, but when she and Megan walked in, he opened his eyes and smiled at them.

Jayna smiled back as she sat down on one of the other mattresses. “You doing okay?”

He nodded as Megan knelt beside him to check the bandage. “Yeah. My stomach still hurts like hell, but it’s getting better by the hour. I’ll be good as new by tonight.”

Jayna hoped so. Before getting involved with the Albanians, all of them had been injured to some degree and had always healed, but none of them had ever been wounded this seriously.

“Is Eric around?” Chris asked. “I wanted to thank him for patching me up.”

“He went out for a while.” Jayna glanced at Joseph and Moe. “Actually Eric’s the reason Megan and I are here.”

Moe frowned as he and Joseph came over to sit down on the other air mattress. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.”

Jayna hesitated, trying to figure out how to explain everything. But there was no easy way to ease into the situation, so she took the same direct approach she’d used with Megan—minus the part about her and Eric sleeping together, of course.

The guys exchanged looks but didn’t say anything for a long time. It was Moe who finally broke the silence.

“Do you trust him?”

Jayna nodded.

“And you really think he can find a way to get us out of this mess?” Chris asked.

The realization that Megan and the guys were willing to trust Eric because she did almost brought tears to Jayna’s eyes.

“Yes,” she finally managed. “But there’s more to this than simply getting away from the Albanians. Leaving them could mean leaving Liam too.”

She braced herself, expecting the guys to rush to their alpha’s defense.

“Liam left us the moment he tricked us into coming here. This was never about him owing money to these people; it was about him getting power and control over a larger pack,” Joseph said.

Jayna hadn’t thought the guys knew about Liam’s betrayal, but obviously they’d figured it out too.

“If you lead us, we’ll follow,” Moe added.

Jayna did a double take. What were they talking about? She wasn’t an alpha. But when she pointed that out, Megan smiled.

“We might have followed Liam, but like I told you before, you’ve been the heart and soul of this pack for a long time,” she said.

Jayna didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t understand how they could expect her to be in charge. She wasn’t any stronger than the rest of them. She opened her mouth to tell them that when Moe stiffened.