In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(62)

Becker held his breath. He found Jayna’s hand, interlocking his fingers with hers. It was his way of letting her know he was on her side—and her pack’s.

Gage’s mouth curved slightly. “If I were going to arrest you and your pack, you wouldn’t be in the back of my operations vehicle. You’d already be in jail.”

Some of the tension left Jayna’s shoulders, but the rest of her pack didn’t seem as convinced.

“Why are you letting us go?” Moe asked.

“Because Becker said that none of you actually ever committed any serious crimes. That’s good enough for me,” Gage said.

“What if Frasheri tells the DA about us, hoping to make a deal?” Megan asked. “Or Caleb?”

“The DA is interested in putting away mob bosses like Frasheri, not people who worked for him,” Becker said. “Frasheri is probably scared shitless of you testifying against him.”

“And as for Caleb, ratting you out wouldn’t be in his best interest,” Gage added. “All he has to do is say he was the muscle Frasheri brought in to follow orders. I doubt there’ll be any way to pin him to any specific crime. He keeps his head down, he’ll be out of prison in less than two years.” He glanced at Becker. “Did you come up with anything out there?”

“It looks like Liam and Kostandin got away, along with a few of the Albanians,” Becker said. “I tracked their scent for a block before it disappeared.”

Gage swore. Becker silently did the same. He didn’t like the idea of Jayna’s former alpha being anywhere but in prison. She and her pack looked just as alarmed.

Chris pushed himself up on an elbow. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead from the effort and he bit back a grimace. “Liam’s going to come for us. We’ve got to get out of Dallas before he does.”

Megan and Joseph both put a hand on Chris’s shoulder, gently pushing him back down.

“Hey, that medic guy said you’re supposed to take it easy, not get on the first bus out of here,” Joseph said. “That means none of us are leaving either. At least not until you’ve healed up.”

“Joseph’s right,” Megan said. “Besides, just because Liam got away, that doesn’t mean he’s going to come after us.” She looked at Jayna. “Right?”

Becker could practically see Jayna’s shoulders bow under the sudden weight of so much responsibility. He knew without having to ask where her mind was headed. She was wondering if she should take her pack and get as far away from Dallas, Frasheri, Liam, and Kostandin as they could.

“Megan’s right, Jayna,” Becker said. “Liam and Kos are no doubt long gone from here.”

If Liam did come after Jayna and her pack though, going on the run was more dangerous than staying in Dallas, where he and the rest of his SWAT team could protect them. But if they were hell-bent on leaving, he’d go with them.

“Jayna?” Moe prompted when she didn’t answer.

She looked back and forth from her pack to Becker, anguish clear in her eyes. He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her that he’d make everything better, but she had a pack that depended on her. They needed her to figure out what to do, not him.

“I don’t know if Liam will come after us or not, but Chris is in no shape to go anywhere right now,” she finally said. “We should have enough money between us to lie low at a motel for a few days until we figure something out.”

“Or you could stay with me,” Becker suggested.

It wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t a command either. Jayna might be new to this alpha thing, but he wasn’t going to impose his will on her, ever. That didn’t mean he couldn’t still be persuasive as hell. Right now, all he was trying to do was show her that she and her pack didn’t have to go it alone. She had him now, and his pack would help hers.

Jayna gave him a skeptical look. “All five of us? I don’t think we’d fit.”

He shrugged. “We can make it work.”

“I’m not sure about that, Becker. I’ve seen how small your apartment is,” Gage said. “But I think I might know a place where Jayna and her pack can stay without falling over each other every time they turn around.” He looked at Jayna. “If you’re okay with that?”

She exchanged looks with her pack mates, then gave Gage a nod.

Relief coursed through Becker’s body. Jayna and her pack would be hanging around Dallas long enough for him to convince them to stay permanently.





Chapter 14


“You want something to eat?” Eric asked, tossing his keys on the table inside the door of his apartment.

Jayna started to say no, then stopped. She’d eaten a huge breakfast just a few hours ago, so she shouldn’t be hungry, but she was famished again. She’d been eating like a bear since yesterday. Eric and Cooper said it was because she needed the extra energy to heal the damage her body had sustained during the fight with Brandon. She supposed that made sense, considering Trey had told her she’d broken four ribs and fractured several bones in her back bouncing off that column. What didn’t make sense was how fast she’d healed. As a beta, it should have taken days to recover, but she was feeling almost back to normal already.

Eric must have taken her silence for consent and jerked his head at the couch as he headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll dig us up something to eat. You can turn on the TV if you want.”