Jayna opened her mouth to tell him that wasn’t true, but he cut her off. “I never understood why you kept asking why women couldn’t be alphas, but now I do. You wanted control of the pack all along.” He motioned at Megan with his pistol. “Well, you’ve been pack leader for all of a day now. Tell me, how’s it working out for you? How’s it working out for the rest of the pack?”
Jayna started to push herself to her feet, but she froze when he pointed the gun in her direction again. She held up her hands in a gesture she hoped would placate him.
“You’re right, Liam. I did betray you. But I never wanted to be the pack leader. I just wanted us all to be safe and together. If you want to kill me for that, fine. But you don’t need to hurt Megan. She, more than any of us, doesn’t deserve this. She deserves to live.”
Liam stared at Jayna so long that, for a minute, she thought she might have gotten through to him. But then he snorted.
“Still trying to act like the alpha,” he sneered. “Saying anything you can think of to save your precious pack. But a real alpha understands that you can’t always save everyone. Sometimes the pack has to pay for their alpha’s bad decisions. What kind of lesson would it be for you if I let Megan live?”
Jayna shook her head as he turned the weapon away from her and pointed it at Megan’s head. “I think it would be fitting if I let you watch me kill your precious little Megan before I shoot you. She was always more loyal to you than me anyway. That way, you can die knowing you completely failed as an alpha.”
Tears stung Jayna’s eyes. “Liam, don’t! I’m begging you.”
“Begging?” He let out a harsh laugh. “Yet another reason you could never have been a pack leader. An alpha never begs—ever.”
Jayna held her breath as he pressed the muzzle of his handgun against Megan’s temple. She curled her good leg under her, ready to launch herself at Liam even though she knew she’d never get to him in time.
Megan opened her eyes and looked straight at Jayna. She was obviously weak and in a lot of pain, but it was clear that Megan knew exactly what was about to happen.
A sudden howl of pain came from the barn, and Liam chuckled.
“Doesn’t sound like it’s going too well for your cop boyfriend. Maybe we should wait for Kos to finish Eric off so he can drag him out here for you. Then you can see two of the most important people in your miserable little world die before you go out. Or should I just go ahead and pop Megan before she bleeds out on me?”
Jayna knew she should beg some more, say anything to give Megan another minute to live. But she knew Liam would never grant that minute.
“You’re a complete piece of crap, Liam, you know that?” she growled, her fangs extending farther than they ever had. The nearly uncontrollable anger coursing through her made her muscles vibrate and twist so much she was trembling. “And you were always a worthless alpha.”
Liam laughed. “I guess that answers my question—Megan it is.” He cocked the hammer on the pistol still pressed against Megan’s head. “Say good-bye, Megan.”
*
Becker was hit more times than he could count, but he ignored the pain and threw himself into the Albanians’ midst as well as his screwed-up leg would let him. They hadn’t been expecting that and it limited their ability to shoot out of fear of hitting each other.
He tore into them with claws and fangs, letting himself slip further into his wolf form than he’d ever been. His claws ripped into clothing and flesh alike, shredding material and spraying blood. Their shouts of terror and panic mixed with his snarls as he fought for his life—and Jayna’s. He couldn’t let any of these men leave that barn, no matter what it cost him.
As tightly packed in the small barn as they were, the men still kept shooting. He ignored the stabs of pain as one bullet after another tore into him. He pushed the pain down deeper, thought about Jayna, and kept fighting, ripping out a throat here, breaking an arm or leg there. He even grabbed one of the men and tossed him into a stall with one of the fear-maddened horses, smiling to himself as the horse stomped the man to death.
Becker wasn’t sure how long the fight took—everything blurred together—but at some point, he realized there weren’t any more men to fight. And that he was bleeding a lot.
He dropped to his knees as a wave of weakness hit him and his broken leg gave out. Oh shit. He hadn’t been hit in the heart, but it really felt like he was on the verge of bleeding out.
A sharp sound made his head snap up and he saw Kostandin leaning against the wall just inside the doorway, clapping his hands.
“That was impressive, Eric,” Kos said. “I don’t believe any of those omegas that Liam brought in, or even Liam himself, could have done that. It’s a pity you had to be a cop. You could have been very useful to me.”