In the Company of Wolves(67)

He edged a little closer to the window, staying out of sight of whoever was inside but near enough that he could pick up Jayna’s words. She was saying something about him digging a bullet out of Chris. It was obvious she was stalling for time. Pride surged up inside him.

That’s right, babe, keep them talking just a little longer. Give us time to get everyone in place.

It had taken him and the rest of the SWAT team barely ten minutes to get to the loft on Canton Street. He’d been tense as hell the whole way. Every time he thought about Jayna, he had a horrible vision of her lying there hurt—or worse. He kept telling himself she was fine, that he’d know if something had happened to her, that he’d feel it in his soul. But that hadn’t stopped him from looking at his watch every two seconds and growling at Alex to drive faster.

As soon as they’d pinpointed Jayna’s location on the second floor, Gage had sent him and Cooper up to the roof. Now, they were just waiting for Gage and the rest of the team to get into place to take down the other Albanians and omegas scattered throughout the building.

There was only one problem—no one else on the team knew what Jayna’s pack mates looked like. If one of them aimed a weapon at anyone in the SWAT pack, they were going to get shot. It was up to Becker to get Joseph, Moe, and Chris out of there. And save Jayna.

Becker shifted a little, so he could see where Jayna’s pack mates were or if they were even in the room at all, when he caught sight of Kostandin barging into the room.

Shit.

Becker immediately pulled back, worried the Albanian would see him. But the brief glimpse he’d gotten of the inside of that room had scared the shit out of him. There were at least nine bad guys in there, and every one of them had a weapon pointed at someone.

“Gage, we have a situation,” he whispered into his mic. “I don’t know what’s going on, but we have a Mexican standoff up here. There are weapons pointing everywhere. Cooper and I might need to go in early.”

“Roger that,” Gage said. “I need another minute to get the last of the team into place, so hold if you can, but go if you have to. We’ll improvise from there.”

Becker was about to confirm receipt of the instructions, but the sound of gunfire stopped him.

“We’re going in!” he shouted at the same time he kicked away from the wall and swung toward the window. A movement to his right told him that Cooper was doing the exact same thing.

When he reached the apex of his swing, he lifted his M4 and put a three-round burst through the window. Pieces of shattered glass were still falling as he and Cooper swung into the room. Becker yanked the quick release on his rappelling harness and dropped to the floor. There was a light thud beside him as Cooper did the same. The second their feet touched down, they both tossed stun grenades, immediately followed by smoke grenades. Becker ducked, covering his eyes from the brilliant flash; then he was up and wading into the smoke-filled room, searching for Jayna and her pack, slugging whoever got in his way.

His nose led him to an overturned chair in front of Frasheri’s desk, then across the room to the flipped over couch. Behind it, he found Chris flat on his back and in pain, with Moe and Joseph kneeling over him holding pistols and shooting anyone who tried to get near them. Relief crossed their faces when they saw Becker.

“Where’s Jayna?” he shouted.

Panic flashed in Moe’s eyes as he frantically looked around. “She was here just a second ago.”

Shit.

“Cooper,” he said into his mic. “I’m going to find Jayna. Her pack is over by the couch near the wall. Three males—one African American, two white, one injured.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when he heard Jayna shouting his name. Becker ordered Moe, Joseph, and Chris to stay put, then raced for the door, slowing only long enough to rip the MP5 away from the Albanian blocking his way and smacking the man aside with it. He charged down the hallway in the direction he’d heard Jayna’s voice.

Becker growled as he caught sight of Brandon dragging Jayna into a room at the far end of the hall. He’d never felt the urge to just plain tear someone apart before, but seeing the omega manhandling Jayna made him want to do that and more. He should have killed Brandon that first day he’d shown up here.

Becker ran through the doorway, skidding to a halt to avoid falling through the huge opening where the floor should have been. Thanks to the construction crew, sections of the floor and walls were gone, revealing rebar, plumbing pipes, electrical conduits, and AC vents. That should have made disappearing difficult, but parts of the floor were piled high with junk, toolboxes, and other construction materials, all of which provided excellent places to hide.