Chapter 16

“You guys throw these things year-round, even when the weather is this cold?” Jayna asked as she and Eric cuddled together on one of the picnic benches at the SWAT compound, watching Cooper work the grill.

“Year-round,” Trey answered from beside Max on one of the other nearby benches. Alex was sitting opposite them, devouring a burger. “If it gets really cold, we move most of the party inside. Except for the grill, of course. Whoever’s cooking gets stuck outside for most of the day.”

Jayna shook her head. Yep, these SWAT guys were officially crazy. It had to be fifty degrees out here and most of them were in shorts and T-shirts. Heck, Cooper wasn’t even wearing a shirt as he stood over the grill flipping chicken and ribs. But she had to admit, while he might be crazy, the man knew how to cook. The food was amazing! And watching Cooper run around with his shirt off didn’t make her complain either. She was totally and insanely in love with Eric, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a fine specimen of manliness when she had the chance to gawk.

She wasn’t the only one. Tuffie, the pit bull mix and pack’s resident mascot, was glued to Cooper’s side as he cooked. Okay, the occasional piece of food the SWAT cop tossed her way may have had something to do with it, but Jayna was pretty sure the pooch didn’t mind admiring those rippling abs of Cooper’s. The girl was practically grinning, she looked so happy to be standing beside the hunky guy.

Eric had been planning to man the grill for the day, but Cooper had volunteered to do it instead, so Eric could spend most of his time with her and her pack. Even if Cooper was Eric’s best friend, it was still a nice thing for him to do.

It had only been two weeks since that night at the Stones’ place, but she and the rest of her pack already felt at home in Dallas—and at the SWAT compound. Mostly because everyone had gone out of their way to make them feel so welcome. In fact, Sergeant Dixon—Gage—had put on this cookout especially in their honor to officially welcome her pack to the area. If there was one way to win over her pack, Jayna knew it was with free food. The fact that the food was so good only made it that much better.

“So, how did the session with Internal Affairs go?” Xander asked as he and his girlfriend, Khaki, sat down at the table with them.

Both SWAT officers had their plates piled high with food, mostly of the meat variety. Jayna could understand why. Since becoming an alpha, she’d noticed a desperate hunger for meat more than anything else. But her body was stronger and faster than it had ever been, her senses were sharper, and her natural werewolf weapons—claws and fangs—were still filling out to their full size. She guessed all those changes took a lot of protein.

Jayna jerked her attention back to the conversation as Eric mentioned Detective Coletti. That was the nosy Internal Affairs guy who’d had Eric on limited duty ever since the situation out at the Stones’ farm. As far as the district attorney was concerned, they had no problem at all with anything Eric had done.

According to Gage, the DA was only concerned about Frasheri, and after they’d flipped a few of the low-level Albanians, the case against the mob boss was moving ahead at full speed. With all the money, drugs, and weapons Eric had led them to in the self-storage unit, Frasheri was going away for decades. The DA couldn’t care less about why Kostandin and his men had shown up at the Stones’ house, but the detective from Internal Affairs was a different matter. He’d questioned Eric almost every day since that night. Gage assured Jayna that Coletti was just doing his job, but as far as she was concerned, the guy was a complete ass.

“He asked me the same questions we’ve been going over for the last two weeks,” Eric said. “Why do I think Kostandin and his thugs attacked the Stones’ home? Have Jayna and Megan ever had any dealings with the Albanians? How did Kos and Liam end up with their throats torn out?”

Eric had kept his story simple. Jayna and her pack were just some friends visiting from out of town. Kos and Liam must have gone out there looking to get some revenge against Gage’s future in-laws, and Jayna and her friends had just gotten caught in the crossfire. Eric had suggested he was only guessing and that he didn’t know why bad guys did what they did.

“Coletti might think there’s more going on than I’m telling him, but he’s got nothing to back it up,” Eric added. “I finally think he’s ready to give up and move on. Officially, he’s waiting on the medical examiner’s report to close out the investigation, but I heard she turned in her report this morning.”

“You mean that hot blond in the lab coat at the Stones’ farm that night?” Trey asked as he bit into a burger. “She was so checking me out.”

Max frowned. “Why the hell would she do that?”

Trey grinned. “Because she finds me incredibly attractive, of course.”

“Dude,” Alex said. “She works in a room surrounded by dead people all day. I’m not sure her thinking you’re attractive is a good thing. She could be measuring you up for a body bag for all you know.”

Everyone laughed except Xander. He was regarding Eric thoughtfully. “And you’re sure there’s no loose piece of evidence floating around out there that can come back and haunt us?”

Eric shook his head as he slipped an arm around Jayna’s waist. “Nah. We’re okay.”

That seemed to settle the issue, and everyone got down to some serious eating. Jayna was glad to see the guys from her pack joining in with the fun, ribbing and joking like they’d been part of the SWAT pack for years—just another sign that staying here had been the right thing to do. Chris, Moe, and Joseph were more relaxed and outgoing than she’d ever seen them. Hanging out with all these mature alphas was good for them.

She’d been a little worried about that, concerned the guys would be on edge all the time with alphas around to remind them of Liam. But that didn’t happen because none of Eric’s pack were the least bit like Liam.

Her bigger concern, however, had been finding a place to live and jobs for all of them. But all those fears had turned out to be as silly as all the rest. Eric’s entire pack had busted their butts looking for jobs that would work for them, but it was Ethan and Kathryn Stone who had come through in the end.

The older couple had been a little freaked out when they’d discovered there were werewolves in the world and that their daughter was marrying one, but they’d gotten over it surprisingly quickly. And after seeing how well Chris, Moe, and Joseph had handled the horses, Ethan had talked to a few friends and gotten all the guys, Megan, and Jayna jobs working at a horse rescue and rehabilitation center. The facility took in wild as well as domesticated horses and racehorses that had been injured or mistreated. The place was privately funded, and while the pay wasn’t great, it allowed them to all work together. The people who owned it had immediately picked up on the fact that the injured and abused horses were amazingly calm and relaxed around her pack, which was something that even Gage couldn’t explain. Megan and the guys adored working there, and in the end, that was all that mattered.

Mac helped find them a really nice multiple bedroom loft apartment in a renovated furniture factory over by Baylor University’s Dallas campus. The place had five bedrooms, a big, central kitchen, and best of all, allowed pets, so they’d not only be able to have Tuffie visit, but also get a dog of their own, something Jayna really wanted. With its proximity to the campus, the place would have normally been way outside their price point, but Mac had promised the owner’s college-aged daughter an internship at the paper where Mac worked in exchange for reduced rent. Plus, Eric had moved in with them, so they were sharing the cost with more people.

Jayna had been afraid the rest of her pack would have an issue with Eric moving in so soon, but they hadn’t even batted an eye. Jayna was still getting used to the fact that her whole pack knew every time she and Eric had sex though. It was a bit unsettling.

All in all, everything was going absolutely wonderful. If there was anything negative to pick out, it had to be what had happened to Eric’s bike. Jayna had gone out to the highway with him the next day to find his precious bike in pieces. Highway patrol had been picking them up and putting them in cardboard boxes. Jayna had thought Eric was going to cry, and she still felt terrible about it two weeks later.

She’d been all ready to help him pick out another Harley, but he’d surprised her by getting an SUV instead.

“Your whole pack won’t fit on the back of a Harley,” he’d told her with a smile.

Yet another reminder of why she loved him. But she was glad he hadn’t suggested a minivan.

Outside, a car pulled up to the fence. Eric immediately got up to unlock the gate so Megan could get in, but Max beat him to it, Alex on his heels. Jayna laughed. At least half the guys in Eric’s pack had a thing for Megan. There was something very intriguing to them about the small, quiet werewolf that went way beyond sex appeal and pheromones. Megan had risked her own life to save her pack leader, something every guy in Eric’s pack understood and respected.

But Megan had been busy recovering from the gunshot wound and working part time at the horse rehabilitation center, so she hadn’t hung out much with the guys in Eric’s pack. This would be her first real chance to socialize with them, and they were all more than a little eager to talk to her. It was like her debutante ball.

Eric’s pack mates stopped as soon as they saw that Megan was holding hands with Zak Gibson, Mac’s photographer and best friend. A person would have had to have been blind not to see the connection between the two of them. Megan was grinning from ear to ear, and there was a light in her eyes that Jayna had never seen before.

Jayna jumped up and hugged her friend. “I’m so glad you felt up to coming out today.”

“Dr. Saunders said it would be good for me to get out in the cold air for a bit.” Megan grinned. “Even if he hadn’t, I would have come anyway. There was no way I was going to miss this cookout, not after Zak told me how much fun they are.”

Saunders was a doctor Gage had developed a friendship with over the years. As crazy as it seemed, Gage had actually told Saunders they were werewolves, figuring they would need a doctor they trusted in case he or any of his pack ever needed serious medical attention. Jayna was already starting to realize the alpha of the SWAT pack was light-years ahead of her when it came to thinking of all the different ways to take care of your pack. She looked forward to learning from him.

“Sit,” Zak said to Megan. “I’ll go grab us some food.”

Eyes twinkling behind his glasses, he flashed her a grin, then jogged over to where Cooper was working the grill.

“Seriously, Megan,” Max said. “What’s Zak got that we don’t?”

Megan blushed but didn’t say anything.

“A brain,” Khaki said, and everyone laughed.

“Maybe it’s as simple as Zak being The One for Megan,” Eric said.

Megan’s color deepened even more at that, but luckily Zak came back just then and saved her from any more embarrassment.

“One what?” he asked, setting down two plates on the table, then sitting down beside Megan.

“I’ll tell you later,” she said softly.

Jayna caught the flash of green in Megan’s eyes as she hastily took the can of soda Zak held out. She hoped Eric was right and that Zak was The One for Megan. It would be like icing on the cake if her best friend could find the same kind of love she’d been lucky enough to stumble on with Eric.

“Hey!” Moe called from over by the volleyball net. “We’re starting another game. Any of you guys want in?”

Trey downed the rest of his burger in one bite and eagerly headed over to play, along with Xander, Khaki, Max, and Alex.

Jayna looked at Eric. “Aren’t you going to play?”

He leaned over and kissed her. “Nah. I’d rather make out with you instead.”

She laughed, not sure how much making out they’d be doing with his pack and hers barely twenty yards away, not to mention Megan and Zak sitting at the other end of the picnic table. Although they were so into each other, they probably wouldn’t have noticed what she and Eric were doing.

Jayna was the one who leaned in to give him a kiss this time. “Thank you.”

“For what?” he asked.

She gestured with her hand. “For all this. I don’t even like to think where my pack and I would be if you hadn’t gotten us out of the mess we were in.”

Eric brushed her hair back from her face with a gentle hand. “You would have gotten them out all by yourself. That’s what an alpha does.”

Jayna wasn’t sure about that, but it made her feel all warm inside to know that Eric thought so. She might be her pack’s alpha, but Eric was hers. He saw things in her that she never would have seen for herself. But she guessed that’s what happened when you found The One. They made you better than you could ever be on your own.

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Her Fierce Warrior

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