In the Company of Wolves (SWAT, #3)(74)

The blow wasn’t very powerful—Megan was too weak—but the move was such a surprise that Liam released her. She dropped to the ground like a rock. It gave Jayna the opening she needed, and she covered the last two yards separating her and Liam in the air.

Liam must have sensed her coming because he jerked his head up just before impact. Jayna slammed into him so hard that every bone in her body felt it. She landed astride him with a snarl and raked him with her claws, ripping the gun out of his hands and sending it flying across the graveled courtyard.

He took a vicious swipe at her with his claws, but she blocked him instinctively, like her arms just naturally knew what to do. In the same motion, her own claws—longer than Liam ever dreamed his could be—slashed across his face, cutting deep.

Screaming, he threw up his hands to protect himself. “Jayna, please. I’m begging you!”

Jayna hesitated. But all it took was one quick glance at Megan, crumpled motionless on the ground a few feet away, to remind her who she was dealing with.

Growling, she glared down at the werewolf who used to be her alpha. Now, he was nothing to her. The rage that filled her at what he’d done to her pack was almost too much to control. “Alphas never beg—ever. Isn’t that what you told me?”

Liam’s lips curled into a snarl, his eyes glowing. He took another swipe at her face, aiming for her eyes this time. She knocked his hand away, hearing bones break as she did. Liam howled and went at her with his other hand, going for her throat.

Jayna hated the idea of killing Liam, even after everything he’d done, but Megan needed her too much for Jayna to mess around with him anymore. Lifting her hand, she raked her claws across his neck, feeling them dig in deep. Then she was rolling off him before he even stopped breathing, leaping to her best friend’s side at the same time Eric reached them.

Megan’s eyes were closed and Jayna had to put her ear to her friend’s chest to hear if her heart was still beating. It was, but very faintly.

She looked at Eric to ask what to do and saw him pulling Kostandin’s big knife out of his own chest while he dialed his cell phone. He was bleeding from what looked like a dozen wounds too, and his face looked a mess.

“Oh God, you’re hurt!” she cried, wanting to pull him into her arms but terrified of leaving Megan’s side.

“I’m fine,” he assured her as he tossed the blood-covered blade on the ground, then put the phone to his ear. “Keep talking to her. Help will be here any second. She needs to know you’re here.”

Jayna leaned over and grabbed Megan’s hand, whispering in her friend’s ear that help was on the way while keeping one eye on Eric. How the hell could he be okay after getting shot up like that and stabbed almost all the way through his chest?

She blinked back tears. She couldn’t lose Eric. Or Megan.

Not now. Not ever.

*

Jayna was kneeling beside Megan, holding her hand, Eric by her side, when Trey and Alex slid to the ground beside them. Jayna wasn’t sure how long it had been since she’d killed Liam—maybe a minute or two—but it felt like a lifetime. Since then, she’d sat there holding her friend’s hand and counting every beat of Megan’s heart.

Eric took Jayna’s free hand and held it tightly. “She’ll be okay.”

Jayna wasn’t quite as sure, but she nodded anyway.

Trey immediately got an oxygen mask on Megan, while Alex ripped open her shirt and injected her with some kind of shot that made her heart beat stronger.

Alex carefully rolled her over to check her back, then gave Trey a pointed look. “No exit wound.”

Panic gripped Jayna. “Is that bad? Is she going to die?”

Alex’s face was glum. “I don’t know. An alpha’s body won’t start the healing process while there’s foreign material in the wound. If she were an alpha, we’d be going in for the bullet fragments, but with a beta, I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure what would be harder on her—leaving the bullet in or the shock of taking it out.”

“Take it out,” a calm, commanding voice ordered from behind them.

Jayna looked over her shoulder to see Sergeant Dixon standing there, concern on his face. The rest of Eric’s pack was gathered around too, but kept their distance. They looked just as worried as their commander.

Moe and Chris ran up then. Ethan and Kathryn followed behind, helping support Joseph. Blood ran freely down one leg of his jeans.

Could this get any worse?

“Take out the bullet,” Dixon repeated. “She’s a beta, but the same rule applies. The bleeding won’t stop until you get it out.”

The SWAT medics exchanged looks, like they really weren’t sure about this, but after a moment, Alex reached into his bag for a pair of long forceps and gently eased it into the wound above Megan’s bra. Jayna didn’t want to watch, but she couldn’t look away. She knew Alex was being extra careful because he didn’t want to cause additional damage, but it was all she could do not to shout at him to hurry up.

“Heart rate is dropping,” Trey announced urgently. “Get the bullet and get out of there before she goes into cardiac arrest.”

Jayna squeezed Megan’s hand. “Hang on, Megan.”

Suddenly, Dixon was down on one knee on Jayna’s other side. “Keep talking to her. You’re her alpha. If you tell her to fight, she’ll fight. But you have to be calm and you have to project confidence. She needs to feel your strength. Be the alpha she needs you to be.”