In the Company of Wolves(69)

The careful way he touched her neck, his fingers tracing Brandon’s claw marks as he said the words, it was like they pained him more than the wound in his chest. She was going to cry—she knew it.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to you in time to stop this,” he said brokenly.

While his voice was just as soft, there was fire in his eyes, and she pressed a shaking finger to his lips. The thought that he blamed himself for the minor scratches on her neck was ridiculous and precious at the same time. No one outside her pack had ever cared about her until now. But his concern for her went beyond that of a pack mate. As her heartbeat slowly began to return to normal now that his arms were around her, Jayna admitted that maybe her feelings for him went further than she’d thought.

Eric started to say something else, but she shushed him. “I got scratched, that’s all. And like you said, it will heal. You got here in time. That’s all that matters.”

Leaning forward, she kissed him on the mouth. Eric cupped her face, kissing her back. She gasped a little, startled by how fast the fire kindled in her body at the touch of his lips. There was no way in hell she should have been thinking those thoughts at a time like this, not when Eric had just been shot and stabbed. And definitely not when she should be worrying about her pack mates.

Oh God. She hadn’t even thought to ask about Megan. Was she okay? Had she been arrested?

Jayna pulled back so suddenly Eric almost fell over. His eyes flew open in surprise, revealing beautiful gold irises. She pushed that distracting observation aside and focused on her first priority—her pack.

“Where’s Megan? Is she all right?”

Eric blinked, obviously caught off guard by the question. But then he grinned. “She’s okay. She’s waiting for you downstairs in our operations vehicle.”

Jayna opened her mouth to ask if Megan was in trouble with the law—if all of them were—but then a cough from the doorway interrupted her. She looked over to see Cooper standing there with that same lopsided grin he’d had on his face at Eric’s apartment. She smiled back, happy that she’d been right about Eric not killing his best friend. She’d never doubted it for a second—okay, maybe for a second.

“Speaking of the operations van, maybe it’s time we get you two down there,” Cooper said as he walked over to them. “This place will be crawling with uniformed officers and crime scene techs before long.” He looked down at Brandon and grimaced, then turned back to Eric. “What, you couldn’t just shoot him?”

Eric stood up and did that manly handshake thing that involved grabbing the other guy’s shoulder and squeezing the hell out of it while trying to crush the hand you were shaking at the same time. Eric didn’t even complain when Cooper put pressure on the shoulder that had the bullet hole through it. Jayna thought the men in her pack were strange—the ones in Eric’s pack were even more bizarre.

Eric shrugged as he reached down and gently helped Jayna to her feet. She couldn’t help but wince as she straightened up. Crap, she must have really done some damage bouncing off that column. Eric immediately had an arm around her waist, that concerned look on his face again—the one that made her heart beat funny.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded, giving him a small smile. “Just a little sore.”

Eric frowned but didn’t press. He glanced at Cooper. “How’d it go down there?”

“Most of the omegas didn’t go down easy—the animals lost their frigging minds. But a good portion of the Albanians and even some of the more rational omegas gave themselves up once they realized they were outgunned.” Cooper pointed at the radio earpiece hanging in tatters against Becker’s tactical vest. “You would have already known that if you’d left your earpiece in.”

Eric ignored the comment, turning back to her. “You want me to carry you down the stairs?”

Jayna was touched. While the idea of her big, alpha werewolf carrying her out of there held a certain romantic appeal, how would it look for him to carry her when he was bleeding all over the place and all she had were some bumps and bruises?

“I’m okay. I’ll just walk slowly.” She smiled at him. “But thanks.”

He nodded, keeping his arm around her as he guided her toward the door. In the distance, Jayna could hear what sounded like hundreds of sirens approaching the loft. “Eric told me that Megan’s okay, but what about Moe, Chris, and Joseph? They haven’t been arrested or…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

“They’re all fine,” Cooper said. “They’re down in the operations vehicle with Megan. One of our medics is looking at Chris.”