In the Company of Wolves(80)

Digging his phone out of his pocket with one hand, he hit the speed dial for Gage. As the phone rang, Becker’s gut clenched so tightly he almost couldn’t breathe. He floored the gas pedal, but he still couldn’t make the Escalade go fast enough. Something told him that he wasn’t going to get there in time.

* * *

Jayna fell to her knees beside Megan, slapping her hand over the bullet hole in her friend’s chest, trying to stop the blood from pouring out. But it was no use. It just kept flowing out between Jayna’s fingers.

It had all happened so fast. One moment, Liam had been pointing a handgun at Jayna, and the next, Megan had been flying in front of her as the gun went off. She was breathing and her heart was beating, but her eyes were closed and she was getting paler by the second. Moe, Chris, and Joseph were at her side in seconds, begging Megan not to die, while Ethan and Kathryn were stunned into silence as they took in the gun-wielding men and the girl lying on the floor of their kitchen slowly bleeding to death.

Jayna glared at Liam. It was hard to see him clearly through the tears in her eyes, but he clearly didn’t even care that he’d just shot a girl who had been like family to him.

“What the hell have you done?” she screamed.

His lips curled in a sneer. “Her fault for getting in the way. If she’d minded her own business and let me deal with you, I might have let her live. The guys too, even though they betrayed me just like you did.”

“Betrayed you?” Jayna wiped the tears from her face with her free hand. “They never betrayed you, and neither did I. You’re the one who sold your pack out to these pieces of crap.” She motioned with her chin toward Kos, who was regarding them with amusement in his hard eyes. “We told you we didn’t want to be part of this.”

“You don’t get to decide what you want to be part of!” Liam shouted. He took a step toward her, eyes flaring as he raised his pistol to point it at her head. “I was trying to give us a better life, something you would have realized if you and your cop boyfriend hadn’t been so busy trying to take over my pack.”

Jayna’s heart began to race. Liam was about to kill her and there wasn’t anything she could do about it—not without taking her hand off the wound in Megan’s chest. And she wasn’t going to do that.

So she knelt there beside the girl who was like a sister to her as Liam’s face twisted into an animal snarl. Ethan and Kathryn were behind him, so they couldn’t see the creature he’d become, but they must have heard the growls and had to know that something bizarre was happening.

“You always thought you were better than me, always looking down your snout at me when I asked you and the others to do the things that were necessary for us to survive,” Liam sneered. “And then, when we get here, when we finally have a chance to be part of something that would let us stop scratching in the dirt for pennies and nickels, you decide you know better what the pack needs. You decide to betray me with that fucking cop! Well, his ass is dead now, and yours is about to be.”

Jayna’s heart thudded to a stop. Liam was lying. Eric couldn’t be dead. She was so busy convincing herself of that, she didn’t realize Liam had closed the distance between them and put the barrel of the gun against her forehead.

She held her breath, bracing for the bullet that would take her life, when someone shoved Liam aside. She blinked, staring up at Moe standing in front of her and Megan. Joseph quickly moved to stand at Moe’s right, while Chris took up position on Moe’s left. Jayna didn’t have to see the guys’ faces to know that they’d shifted. The look of shock on Ethan’s and Kathryn’s faces told her that. Not that it mattered. The Stones weren’t going to make it out of there to tell anyone what they’d seen.

“Get out of the way,” Liam growled as he altered his aim and pointed his weapon at Moe. “This is between Jayna and me. I know she’s the one who turned you against me. She’s the only one who has to die.”

Moe didn’t move. Neither did Joseph or Chris.

“She didn’t turn us against you,” Moe said. “You did that all on your own. And if you want to kill Jayna, you’re gonna have to go through us.”

Liam growled, but Jayna knew he’d shoot them without even thinking about it. She wanted to stand up to protect them, but she was terrified of leaving Megan’s side. She looked down at her friend and was surprised to find Megan looking up at her.

“Stop him,” she whispered. “Don’t let him hurt anyone else. Please.”

Fresh tears pricked Jayna’s eyes. Typical Megan. Always so selfless.