In the Company of Wolves(72)

“Joseph’s right,” Megan said. “Besides, just because Liam got away, that doesn’t mean he’s going to come after us.” She looked at Jayna. “Right?”

Becker could practically see Jayna’s shoulders bow under the sudden weight of so much responsibility. He knew without having to ask where her mind was headed. She was wondering if she should take her pack and get as far away from Dallas, Frasheri, Liam, and Kostandin as they could.

“Megan’s right, Jayna,” Becker said. “Liam and Kos are no doubt long gone from here.”

If Liam did come after Jayna and her pack though, going on the run was more dangerous than staying in Dallas, where he and the rest of his SWAT team could protect them. But if they were hell-bent on leaving, he’d go with them.

“Jayna?” Moe prompted when she didn’t answer.

She looked back and forth from her pack to Becker, anguish clear in her eyes. He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her that he’d make everything better, but she had a pack that depended on her. They needed her to figure out what to do, not him.

“I don’t know if Liam will come after us or not, but Chris is in no shape to go anywhere right now,” she finally said. “We should have enough money between us to lie low at a motel for a few days until we figure something out.”

“Or you could stay with me,” Becker suggested.

It wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t a command either. Jayna might be new to this alpha thing, but he wasn’t going to impose his will on her, ever. That didn’t mean he couldn’t still be persuasive as hell. Right now, all he was trying to do was show her that she and her pack didn’t have to go it alone. She had him now, and his pack would help hers.

Jayna gave him a skeptical look. “All five of us? I don’t think we’d fit.”

He shrugged. “We can make it work.”

“I’m not sure about that, Becker. I’ve seen how small your apartment is,” Gage said. “But I think I might know a place where Jayna and her pack can stay without falling over each other every time they turn around.” He looked at Jayna. “If you’re okay with that?”

She exchanged looks with her pack mates, then gave Gage a nod.

Relief coursed through Becker’s body. Jayna and her pack would be hanging around Dallas long enough for him to convince them to stay permanently.





Chapter 14


“You want something to eat?” Eric asked, tossing his keys on the table inside the door of his apartment.

Jayna started to say no, then stopped. She’d eaten a huge breakfast just a few hours ago, so she shouldn’t be hungry, but she was famished again. She’d been eating like a bear since yesterday. Eric and Cooper said it was because she needed the extra energy to heal the damage her body had sustained during the fight with Brandon. She supposed that made sense, considering Trey had told her she’d broken four ribs and fractured several bones in her back bouncing off that column. What didn’t make sense was how fast she’d healed. As a beta, it should have taken days to recover, but she was feeling almost back to normal already.

Eric must have taken her silence for consent and jerked his head at the couch as he headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll dig us up something to eat. You can turn on the TV if you want.”

She curled up on his big, comfy couch, but ignored the TV remote. She didn’t feel like watching television, and she definitely had no interest in what the news channels were saying about yesterday’s shoot-out at the loft. So instead, she leaned back into the cushions, trying furiously to figure out what she should do with the pack she had become responsible for overnight.

She barely felt capable of taking care of herself on most days, much less four other werewolves. For one horrible minute back in the SWAT operations vehicle yesterday, she’d almost considered walking away from Eric. She hadn’t wanted to do it, but being responsible for the rest of her pack meant she had to put other people’s needs ahead of her own, especially if it meant keeping them safe from Liam.

But fortunately, Sergeant Dixon, the very large and very intimidating alpha of Eric’s pack, had come up with a solution—staying with his future in-laws, Ethan and Kathryn Stone. Jayna still couldn’t believe the couple had opened up their beautiful home to people they didn’t know, but they had, and for that, she was extremely grateful.

She and Eric had talked about her pack staying at the compound instead, but quickly decided against it. Living in close proximity to seventeen extremely alpha werewolves would have made her pack jumpy as hell. And if Liam and Kos were still in Dallas, there was no way they’d find them down near College Station.