Wolf Fever by Terry Spear

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 muchas 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