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 doingwhat?”
“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 awhatas much as awho, as in a female werewolf that I sort of let escape from that import/export warehouse earlier in the week.”
“A female werewolf youletescape?” Gage snarled.
It sounded worse when his boss said it. Becker opened his mouth to explain, but Cooper cut him off.
“You didn’t reallylether escape. Considering you hid her in a crate so she wouldn’t be found, I’d say youhelpedher escape.”
Guess that was Cooper’s way of getting back at him for shooting him in the chest.
Gage glared at Cooper, then turned the full force of those gold eyes on Becker again.
He was so fucked.
* * *
The sound of voices in the hallway woke Jayna up. Recognizing Eric’s deep timbre, she jumped out of bed and padded over to the door in her tank top and shorts. She’d tried to talk to Eric privately several times last night but simply hadn’t been able to find the right words or the right time. Now, maybe she had.
But then she heard Kostandin’s voice, and her hand froze on the doorknob. Eric was saying something about going to the SWAT compound and figuring out which officer to target next. The words brought the events of last night rushing back, and her hand tightened on the knob as she heard Eric and Kos walk away. She rested her forehead against the door with a sigh, trying to make sense of everything that had happened over the past twenty-four hours.
The time she’d spent at Eric’s apartment yesterday had been amazing. She’d never dreamed that sex could be so powerful and moving. Just thinking about it made her want to chase after Eric right that minute and ask him to take her back over to his place for more of the same.
But it went beyond how good they were in bed. Eric made her feel safer and happier than she’d been in a very long time, and last night, she could have easily imagined spending the rest of her life with him.
Then he’d shot and killed his best friend. She knew he’d done it to save Megan and Chris, but that didn’t make it any better. She’d never wanted any of Eric’s pack to die, especially Cooper. The SWAT werewolf’s violent death was part of the reason she’d avoided talking to Eric last night. How the hell did you tell the man you were starting to feel so much for that you could never accept what he had done even if he’d done it for you?
But what if she hadn’t seen what she thought she saw last night? What if Eric and Cooper had faked the whole scene? It sounded crazy, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. By making it look like he’d killed Cooper, Eric had been able to save Megan and Chris without blowing his cover with the Albanians.
It might be hard to believe, but it felt right. And for the first time since last night, Jayna felt like she could breathe again.
