In the Company of Wolves(58)

Kos grinned. An evil, nasty grin. “You do that, and when you get back, we need to talk about your place in this organization. I think it’s time to make a few changes in the wolf pack’s leadership, don’t you?”

Becker’s stomach twisted as he jogged down the steps. Kostandin might not have said it, but a change in leadership likely meant the Albanian intended to kill Liam. Becker didn’t think much of the other werewolf, but he sure as hell didn’t want him dead. Right now, though, he had bigger issues—like how to explain this whole thing to his own alpha.

He was still rehearsing his speech when he pulled into the parking lot at the compound twenty minutes later. He heard Gage’s shouts coming from the admin building as soon as he cut the Harley’s engine. A low, deep rumbling growl followed.

Shit. Gage was really pissed.

Becker leaned his bike on the kickstand, then strode over and walked into the building. Gage and Cooper were standing nose to nose, fangs extended and eyes glowing. Mike and Xander were doing their best to get between them, but if things turned ugly, it was going to take a lot more than those two to keep them from fighting.

On the bright side, Cooper looked better than he had last night after Becker had shot him in the chest at point-blank range with that shotgun. He hadn’t wanted to shoot Cooper, but at the time, he hadn’t been able to come up with a better way to stop the Albanians from killing Cooper while maintaining his cover. Becker knew it wouldn’t really hurt Cooper. Knock him on his ass, be painful as hell, for sure, but nothing permanent. The shotgun blast only a foot to the side of his head might have been a bit much, but his friend had immediately picked up on what he was trying to do and played dead like Becker had hoped. Thank God he’d been able to keep that Albanian from walking around the side of Cooper’s Jeep to check out the damage, because that would have screwed up everything.

“You’re going to tell me who the hell your informant is,” Gage growled. “And you’re going to do it right the fuck now!”

Gage’s jaw broadened to make room for his fangs. There was nobody in the Pack who possessed more control over their werewolf nature than their commander. If he was shifting that far, he was doing it because he was planning on ripping a huge chunk out of Cooper’s hide.

Cooper didn’t back down though. “I told you, I can’t do that. My source is confidential.”

“Not from me,” Gage snarled, his hands flexing as if he was imagining how good it would feel to wrap his fingers around Cooper’s neck and choke the living crap out of him.

Xander stepped in front of Cooper and put his hand on Gage’s chest. “Gage—”

But Gage shoved Xander aside. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded of Cooper. “Those Albanian bastards almost killed you.”

Becker swore silently. If he didn’t do something quick, Gage was going to explode.

“It wasn’t the Albanians.” Here goes nothing. “It was me.”

The whole pack turned to face him as one, a mix of confusion and disbelief on their faces. Off to the side, Tuffie was regarding him with an expression that said this was not the time for full disclosure. Becker dismissed the pooch’s concern, but it was impossible to ignore the looks on his pack mates’ faces.

Gage’s fangs retracted slightly, but his eyes still glowed gold. “What are you talking about? And why the hell are you even here? I thought you were in Denver with your sister.”

Becker met his alpha’s gaze levelly. “That stuff about my sister? That wasn’t quite true. Actually, it was bullshit. I’ve been staying in a loft on Canton Street with the Albanians and the other werewolf pack.”

Gage’s eyes narrowed and the temperature in the room dropped by ten degrees. “You’ve been doing what?”

“I sort of went undercover and infiltrated their operation.”

Becker braced himself for Gage’s wrath, knowing it was going to be epic. Gage strode across the room and wrapped one hand around his throat, slamming him against the wall with a feral growl.

Shit, that hurt.

“What could possibly have convinced you that lying to me about where you were, conducting an unauthorized undercover operation on your own, and shooting Cooper were good ideas?”

Gage may have been his alpha, but Becker refused to be intimidated. “It wasn’t really a what as much as a who, as in a female werewolf that I sort of let escape from that import/export warehouse earlier in the week.”

“A female werewolf you let escape?” Gage snarled.

It sounded worse when his boss said it. Becker opened his mouth to explain, but Cooper cut him off.