In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(57)

But Frasheri had his weapon pointed at Liam, not her. The omegas had theirs pointed at Frasheri. And the Albanians had theirs pointed at the omegas. All it would take is one little sneeze to start everyone shooting.

Jayna glanced at the guys still sitting on the couch. They were tense but alert. Both Moe and Joseph had one arm draped over Chris’s shoulders. If things went from bad to worse, she knew they’d get Chris out of here.

She turned back to see that Liam’s fangs had retracted. But his eyes still swirled with gold.

“I won’t bother to ask if you and the other members of your pack consider Eric your alpha now. I think that’s obvious,” Frasheri said, his gun still pointed at Liam’s head. “But I do have one question.”

Jayna’s breath caught in her throat. Crap, what had she missed?

“You said that Eric is so attracted to you he was willing to turn his back on his career and his pack, but you haven’t said anything about whether you feel the same.”

She frowned. Why the hell would Frasheri ask her something like that?

She knew the easy answer would be to say she felt the same about Eric. But she couldn’t. She knew she was extremely attracted to Eric, more than she’d ever been to any other man. She wasn’t quite so sure of anything beyond that though. While Eric might have bought into the whole The One thing, she was still on the fence about it.

But as the silence stretched on, she knew she had to say something. She couldn’t make anything up either, on the off chance that Liam might pick up on the lie. On the other hand, she needed to say something that would satisfy Frasheri, or that big gun in his hand was likely to be pointed at her next.

“When I’m alone with Eric, I feel happy for the first time in…well…ever,” she said softly.

Her answer must have satisfied Frasheri because he didn’t turn his weapon her way. Liam, however, was staring daggers in her direction.

Frasheri seemed to be considering what to say next when the door opened and Kostandin strode in with two of his own soldiers. Kos regarded the scene, his mouth twitching as he took in the weapons.

“I leave for a few hours and I miss all the fun,” he said. “Who wants to fill me in?”

Liam swung his gaze to Kos. “I discovered that Eric is one of those damn SWAT werewolves. The *’s been playing us the whole time.”

“Son of a bitch,” Kos muttered. He glanced at his uncle. “So why is everyone sitting around in here instead of hunting that traitor down?”

“Because Jayna has him believing Eric abandoned his pack for her,” Liam said. “That he’s in love with her or some shit like that.”

The look Kos gave Jayna made her skin crawl, and she had to fight the urge to squirm in her chair.

“I can certainly understand why a man might throw everything away for a chance to be with a woman like our she-wolf,” he said.

Liam snorted. “That doesn’t explain why Eric let those drug dealers you told him to kill walk away.”

Kostandin’s head jerked up. “What did you say?”

“He didn’t kill those drug dealers like you ordered.” Liam turned to her. “Maybe Jayna can tell us why.”

Jayna felt the full force of Liam’s gaze. Crap. What the hell was she going to say to explain why Eric had done that?

She threw a quick look in Frasheri’s direction to see where he came out on this. But instead of regarding her, he was locked in a staring contest with his nephew. That’s when she remembered how much the two Albanians distrusted each other.

Did she dare exploit that?

“Well, Jayna?” Liam prompted.

“Eric said he let them go because Mr. Frasheri told him to,” she said as innocently as she could manage. “Something about them working for us.”

Frasheri jerked his head back to look at her so fast she thought he might hurt himself. He stared at her in confusion, his bushy brows coming together to meet in the middle.

Kos pulled out a big handgun and pointed it at his uncle. “You piece of shit. I knew you were trying to f*ck me over.”

Frasheri opened his mouth to say something, but Kos pulled the trigger before he got the chance. Jayna wasn’t sure if the bullet found its target because the whole room erupted in gunfire. Frasheri’s and Kostandin’s men began shooting at each other while the omegas shot at anyone and everyone, including each other.

Jayna leaped out of the chair, scrambling on her hands and knees over to where Joseph, Moe, and Chris had taken cover behind the couch. She didn’t make it more than a few feet before the sound of the shattering glass made her whole body lock up.

She threw herself flat, covering her head with her arms as something exploded. The blast was so loud, she couldn’t even think, much less figure out which way the couch was. She carefully lifted her head to get her bearings, but thick smoke swirled in the air, making it hard to see who was moving around her, who was shooting whom, and most importantly, who was winning.

Then someone grabbed her by the hair, yanking her to her feet and dragging her from the room. Her heart thumped as she caught Brandon’s scent. She growled and lashed out with her claws. They dug into something, but it didn’t seem to bother the big omega. A moment later, she figured out why. Instead of flesh, she’d shredded his heavy leather jacket.

Dammit!

Within seconds, Brandon had her out the door and was dragging her down the hall.