*
Jayna hugged Eric tightly as they rode through the dark streets toward the loft. Today would go down as one of the best days ever—and not just because she adored making love with him, although that was definitely incredible. She simply loved being with him. Even if she wasn’t too sure about the whole magical werewolf-connection thing, it didn’t mean she couldn’t recognize there was something special going on between them. To her, though, it was simply good, old-fashioned chemistry.
It was well past eight o’clock by the time they got back to the loft, and she immediately headed for the stairs to check on Megan. Eric trotted up behind her, but they barely made it halfway before they ran into Liam coming down with Moe and Joseph right behind him. Liam had a pissed-off look on his face.
“Where the hell have you been and why weren’t you answering your phone?” he demanded.
The hair on the back of Jayna’s neck stood up. “What’s wrong?” She glanced at Moe and Joseph. They both looked nervous as hell. “Where are Megan and Chris?”
Liam opened his mouth to answer, but Joseph was faster.
“Kostandin sent them out on a job.”
“What kind of job?” Eric asked.
Joseph started to answer, but Liam silenced him with a glare. “Kos sent them after one of the SWAT werewolves, along with half a dozen Albanian soldiers.”
It took a moment for Liam’s words to sink in, and when they finally did, Jayna couldn’t breathe. She almost reached for Eric’s hand to steady herself but caught herself at the last minute and grabbed the railing instead. While she was off having sex with Eric, two of her pack mates had been sent out to take down an alpha who was way out of their league. Oh God, what had she done?
“How could you send Megan and Chris after one of those SWAT werewolves?” she demanded, her fangs and claws coming out. “She’s not strong enough and neither is Chris.”
Liam opened his mouth to say something, but this time Eric was the one who cut him off.
“Where did they go, and when did they leave?”
For a moment, Jayna thought Liam would refuse to tell them just out of spite. But the look on Eric’s face must have changed his mind.
“The cop lives over in Lochwood, on Skillman Street. They left thirty minutes ago.”
Jayna saw Eric’s face go pale, but before she could even think of asking him why—which would have been hard to do in front of Liam and the others—he turned and raced toward the main entrance. She followed, ignoring Liam’s shouts that it was too late to make any difference.
Eric was already on his bike and about to pull away when she jumped in front of him.
“You need to move,” he hissed, the edges of his eyes glowing as he fought for control. “They went after Cooper.”
Dammit. She put her hands on the handlebars and refused to budge. “And Megan and Chris are with them. I’m coming with you.”
Eric looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he swore and motioned for her to get on the bike. She ran around and climbed on behind him, holding on tightly as he cranked the gas and tore off through town. She thought they’d been driving fast before, but now he was probably doing a hundred as he weaved in and out of traffic.
They were still several blocks away when Jayna heard gunfire. Her heart stopped. Liam had been right. They were too late.
Eric twisted the throttle and rode even faster.
Three big, black Escalades were pulled across the entrance to an apartment complex, blocking it. There was an olive green Jeep Wrangler parked just on the other side of the Escalades, as if the driver had turned into the lot just in front of the Albanians. She saw Cooper hiding behind the partial protection of the Jeep, blood running down his arms and chest from at least two gunshots.
Jayna flinched as she realized how badly wounded he must have been to be bleeding that much. But his attackers had paid the price to do that to him. Two Albanians were lying on the ground unmoving, and a third was leaning against the rear tire of one of the SUVs, both hands pressed to his head as he tried to stop the bleeding from a wound there.
She searched frantically for Megan and Chris. Her breath hitched as she saw Megan pressing her hand frantically against a wound in Chris’s side while he popped off shots in Cooper’s direction.
Jayna’s heart twisted. She didn’t want Chris to shoot Cooper, but she also didn’t want her friends to get hurt either. And Megan seemed so worried about Chris that she wasn’t even protecting herself. She was practically standing out in the open as she tried to tend to Chris. If Cooper wanted to hit her, she’d be dead.