In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(71)

He got there in time to see Kostandin with his Colt .45 aimed right at Moe’s head. The look on Jayna’s face told Becker everything he needed to know—Kos was about to start shooting.

The hell with a plan.

Becker dug his claws into the wooden frame of the kitchen door, then yanked, letting the rage he usually did a good job of controlling come out with a vicious snarl. Tossing the door aside, he reached in and grabbed the two Albanians nearest the door, pulling them out. He slung one across the gravel courtyard between the house and the barn, then turned back to deal with the second guy. The man twisted in his grip, pointed his MP5 at Becker, and fired.

Becker knocked the barrel aside with a growl, slashing his claws across the Albanian’s throat, ignoring the gurgling noise as the man died. But he was so worried about Jayna and her pack that he didn’t have time to think about it.

Becker spun around just as the first man was getting to his feet and lifting his weapon. For a moment, Becker contemplated diving for the MP5 the now-dead Albanian had been holding, but he didn’t have time. So instead, he flung the body at the first Albanian just as the man pulled the trigger. The move distracted the gunman, letting Becker close the distance between them, then put the Albanian down in the most efficient way he could, regardless of how much blood was spilled.

Snatching up the man’s MP5, Becker checked the magazine, then flipped the weapon’s selector switch one click up from full auto to single-shot semi. He quickly moved to the left, aimed for the first Albanian inside the house he could see clearly, then put a single shot through the guy’s chest. Becker would have preferred to take out Kostandin or Liam, but they wouldn’t oblige by making a nice target of themselves.

All hell broke loose in the kitchen as the rest of the Albanian thugs started shooting in his direction. Becker doubted any of them could see him in the dark, but he sure as hell could see them. He started peppering the Albanians with carefully aimed shots. He wasn’t necessarily looking to hit them, just keep them from going after Jayna and the others.

His plan worked too well. The Albanians came charging out the recently renovated kitchen door, weapons blazing. Becker returned fire, dropping two of the men. But then his ammo ran out.

Shit.

One round clipped his hip, another his right thigh just above the knee. Becker bit back a howl as his leg fractured. The pain only got worse when he was forced to turn and fall back to the barn. He would have rather stuck a fork in his eye than turned tail on those jackasses, especially Kostandin. But trying to stand up against a group of well-armed thugs with nothing but claws and fangs was the definition of stupid, and he liked to think he was smarter than that.

He made it to the barn without getting his ass shot off—just barely. His leg hurt like hell and felt like it was going to give out on him any second.

His initial plan was to haul ass through the barn, slip out the back, then loop around to hit the thugs from behind. That plan changed as soon as he slipped inside the tidy four-stall structure and saw that it didn’t have a back door or any windows.

Well, shit.

Becker could hear Kos’s men reloading just outside the door and knew they’d be coming in soon. He glanced around, looking for a place to hide, but other than the stalls currently occupied by four terrified horses, there weren’t any. Hell, there weren’t even any decent sharp-edged farming implements hanging from the walls. What kind of frigging barn was this anyway?

He turned to face the door, his leg throbbing. He was going to have a hard time facing so many bad guys with his leg this screwed up. On the bright side, he’d gotten the Albanians away from Jayna and her pack. At least they were safe. That had to count for something, right?

*

Jayna was running full speed as she cleared the Stones’ front porch. It wasn’t hard to track Liam and Megan. The scent of Megan’s blood was so strong it made Jayna want to cry.

The moon wasn’t out yet, but she had no problem spotting Liam making his way through the rows of fruit trees along the left side of the property. He was moving slower than normal. Then again, he was dragging Megan with him. Jayna briefly wondered why Liam didn’t just let Megan go and get the hell on his way. But the answer was simple: he was keeping Megan to use as a shield or a bargaining chip.

As if catching a whiff of her scent, Liam looked over his shoulder at her. Instead of continuing toward the main road like he’d been doing, he changed direction, heading toward the barn.

Jayna growled and ran faster. She could still hear Megan’s ragged breathing and faint heartbeat. But she was getting weaker by the moment.

Oh God, please don’t let Megan die, Jayna prayed. Not that—anything but that.

Thoughts like that should have made Jayna so weak in the knees that running would have been impossible. But she wasn’t feeling weak. She was feeling furious—furious that Liam had shot the most fragile and gentle member of a pack he used to call his own, furious that he was running with her now like she was nothing but a disposable means to an end. Jayna wanted to kill him for being so cruel.

Liam was just up ahead. Jayna tensed to launch herself at him when she caught sight of Kos and his soldiers running into the barn. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why. She assumed Eric had lured them out of the house on purpose. The fact that he was holed up in the barn didn’t make sense. Wouldn’t he just be trapped in there?

Gunshots sounded inside the barn. Her blood ran cold. Every instinct in her body screamed at her to run into the barn and save Eric.