But Lelandi knew Silva wanted Sam, and he truly wanted her. She wasn’t sure how to get them to finally capitulate and become mates. Lelandi rubbed her stomach absently. She thought she’d gotten the two of them going in the right direction.
“Come on, Silva, let’s have some fun.” And she prayed that fun was all they’d have—and no male battles of wills.
Carol backed up closer to the woods, where maybe Ryan could sneak out and talk to her while everyone was busy playing tag. But then she saw four men combing the woods. Ryan would never manage to talk with her alone again.
“Come on, let’s get a ribbon,” Lelandi said, joining her and tugging at her arm to get her to move closer to a group of men and women, mostly men, who were dividing up ribbons. Blue for one team. Red for the other.
“Smile. The world isn’t going to end. We play games like this all the time, both as wolves and as humans, although not in mixed forms. It’s our nature to show solidarity, teamwork, and cooperation. It’s who we are and how we survive. Besides, Darien’s brothers will protect you from the big, bad wolves.”
Carol wasn’t worried about the game as much as she was worried about the battle that might ensue if Ryan showed up. And now she felt as though she was a pawn in the scheme of things—the much sought-after conquest of a bunch of mate-hungry bachelors.
Laughing at herself over that, she told herself she’d believe that when she saw it.
Lelandi motioned to Sam, Silver Town Tavern’s bartender. “He’ll watch that the males don’t get too frisky with you.”
At six-four, Sam was a formidable foe. He stroked his black beard, his dark eyes surveying the crowd, the breeze tugging at his shoulder-length ebony hair. He looked more like a grizzly than a wolf in disguise.
Carol was actually hoping for a bit of friskiness. Anything to show she was still alive. She didn’t think Sam would watch her as much as he would his waitress. Already, he was eyeing Silva with lustful interest as she joined Carol and Lelandi.
“Are we ready to play, ladies?” Silva winked at Carol. “Ryan McKinley is one determined wolf, so I’m betting he’ll be here. Despite,” Silva said, motioning to the woods, “Darien trying to ensure he doesn’t come that way again.” She waved her red ribbon. “What team are you all going to be on?”
Lelandi waited to say until Carol spoke. Carol let out her breath and took off toward the table. “Blue.” She glanced over her shoulder at Silva. “Then I can steal your tag. Without getting myself into too much trouble.” She smiled.
Silva laughed. “You’ll be fine, sugar. Never doubt yourself.”
His expression dark, Jake appeared out of nowhere. From the look on his face, Carol figured no one had seen any sign of Ryan yet. Jake headed in her direction, and she assumed that was the end of playing any game. But he gave her a small smile and took a blue ribbon from the ones piled on the table. “I’ll watch your back.”
That’s when Darien showed up. He saw Jake with Carol and then chose a red tag. Lelandi smiled and then tied a blue tag around her belt at her back. Since Darien was making Carol attend some archaic gathering that evening, she changed her mind about going after Silva’s tag and intended to target his instead.
Squeals from the kids—playing the same game but for junior-sized participants in another field—drifted to where Carol was, and then the signal came for the adult game to begin. Tom rushed to get a tag to join Carol’s team. She should have known the two brothers would be her knights again.
At first, it was a mad race, with everyone running everywhere to grab tags. Some of the more beta bachelor males didn’t look directly at Carol, but she had a sneaking suspicion they’d target her every bit as much as the ones who eyed her with a smile. That’s when Sam joined her, and she gave the bachelors a devious smile. She had a whole team of alpha male bodyguards to watch her back.
Darien observed Lelandi, who was eyeing him with a challenge. But as soon as he ran for her, she darted to get a tag from one of the bachelor males who went after Carol. Carol forgot about Ryan, about Darien’s desire to have her mated, about the bachelor males’ interest in her. She forgot about the gathering tonight and about shifting. All she thought about was getting Darien’s red ribbon while he attempted to get Lelandi’s blue one.
Close enough for her to hear, Jake chuckled and said to his younger brother, “Normally, no one but Lelandi would have the nerve to go after Darien’s tail. Except for you and me when the time is right.”
Deep down, Carol wanted the pack leader’s ribbon, if only to prove he wasn’t as much in charge of her as he thought.
She believed she was free to grab his tag when two men appeared in her peripheral vision, heading straight for her. They were not only protecting their teammate, but their pack leader, while also taking the chance to get her tag.
Like a hefty football player, Sam tackled the one man, landing the guy flat on his back with an “oof.” Jake went in for the kill, so to speak, with the other guy. Smiling, Jake winked at Carol in the interim, which gave her the go-ahead to try for Darien’s tag again.
Lelandi whipped around and danced in front of Darien, keeping him distracted as he tried to get her ribbon so Carol could snag Darien’s.
By accident, Carol groped his buttock, her face heating with embarrassment. Then she went for the ribbon prize with one last-ditch effort. And came away with… air.
Leaning against one of the tables piled high with ribbons, his arms folded across his chest, Ryan McKinley watched Carol glide and shift and dodge the brutes who went after her, her whole body in motion like a swiftly twirling exotic dancer. Exquisite and mesmerizing. He couldn’t recall a time when he’d enjoyed watching a game this much. Normally he preferred playing. Spectator sports were not his thing.
Carol, not any of the other women playing the game, was the one who captured his imagination. Her cute little ass wiggled in her tight jeans as she leapt back and forth, her hands outstretched and ready to grab Darien’s tag. Her agility, her quickness, and the laughter in her smile and eyes made her a pleasure to watch.
Her eagerness to go after the real prize, when no one else would dare, made Ryan smile. Too bad he was here just to clear up the matter of this psychic business. Although the mystery business with the red in the woods the previous night was another situation he needed to clear up by letting Darien know about it, if he didn’t already.
A man tried to reach Carol, shoving at Sam to get by him, and every muscle in Ryan’s body tightened. He fought against dashing out into the playing field to protect her. She already had such a force of bodyguards that she didn’t need him. And he didn’t want to dwell on why that bothered him.
He hadn’t expected her to play the game so enthusiastically. More reserved, a non-participant, maybe. But not as a wildcat going for the gold. And that gold was Darien’s ribbon. She had nerve, or maybe she didn’t realize what taking on the male alpha leader meant. The fact that she doggedly went after him showed real strength of character. Ryan couldn’t help being impressed. Damned impressed.
She ducked another man—an eligible bachelor, no doubt—and whipped around, stripping him of his ribbon instead. Already, she had three tucked in the front of her waistband, the vixen.
Lelandi caught Ryan’s eye, raised her brow, and smiled. At least she wasn’t against his being here. Her gaze shifted to where Carol was maneuvering again around Darien’s backside.
Silva suddenly noticed Ryan and shook her head. Then a tall man wearing barber’s quartet clothes attempted to approach Carol, but too many others blocked his path. The man danced around like a red-and-white barber’s pole, minus the blue stripe, as he tried to reach her.