"I brought an addition today," he said. "Gang, meet Chloe."
Eight pairs of eyes locked onto the woman at his side.
"Hi," she said. "Nice to meet you all. Thanks for including me in your game." Her smile was wide and friendly but he noted the hesitation in her tone as if she were unsure of her welcome.
"More the merrier," Kate said, glancing at her friends as if to see if the statement had their support.
"So how are we doing teams today?" he asked, pulling Chloe further into the group of wolves.
"Uh, well we had been planning on girls versus boys," Chad piped up, batting back the red hair falling into his eyes.
"But that might need to be adjusted," Sasha, the quietest of the group, said, staring directly at Chloe.
"Because I'm here?" Chloe asked. "Why does that make a difference?"
The younger wolves glanced at each other.
"The rules of the game prohibit fully turning," Kieran explained, "but anything the humans won't notice as unusual is allowed."
"It gets rough," Kate added.
"She's right. You need to be on my team."
Chloe looked up at him. "Why?"
"So I can protect you," he replied. His inner wolf growled in agreement. It liked the idea of keeping her close, keeping her safe.
He caught the female wolves rolling their eyes and the boys whispering to each other. No doubt about how they'd have to make allowances for a witch. It was to be expected, though. No one would expect Chloe to play as rough as they did. It wasn't in her nature.
He should have known from the way Chloe narrowed his eyes he'd made a mistake.
"How sweet," she said before snapping her fingers.
His legs shot out from under him, dumping him on his back on the ground. To a casual observer, it would have looked like he'd skidded on some dewy grass-well within the bounds of what a human wouldn't notice.
"But I think I have it covered." Stepping over him as if she didn't have a care in the world about dropping an alpha wolf, she walked over to the group of girls. "Play with me and there's no way we can lose."
"Done," Kate said, staring down at him with wide eyes.
He pushed to his feet with a barely contained growl. "No using magic on the ball," he ordered as the girls ushered her over to their side of the field.
"Wouldn't dream of it," she called back, a mischievous grin lighting her face. "Though that leaves all sorts of opportunities."
Pleasure rolled through him. All wolves liked to play, and it appeared Chloe would make an excellent opponent.
As he joined his team to strategize, all thoughts of numbers and spreadsheets vanished from his mind.
"I can't believe you just did that."
"Why not?" Chloe replied to the girl who'd spoken.
"Sasha wouldn't say boo to a ghost," Kate said. "Still, it's not often anyone messes with the alpha."
Chloe snorted. "He might be strong, but he's still a man. Sometimes he needs a reminder he's not the boss of me."
Four girls stared at her with a look akin to awe.
"I can't imagine living with him," Sasha said. "Too scary."
"You do realize you turn into a creature with sharp claws and teeth," Chloe pointed out.
"Kieran's a different kind of scary," another girl said. "I'm Jenny, by the way. And if you can cause some of the boys to wipe out during this game, I don't care who you are, I'm in love."
Chloe grinned. "Well, I've got to bring something to the table. I'm not as fast or strong as you guys."
"The boys can be pretty rough," Jenny agreed. "But we give as good as we get."
"Kieran says you do this every week."
Kate nodded. "We're all young, according to the pack at least, and it takes more control for us to be able to handle our wolves. Events like this act as a stress release for us."
"Makes sense. You come and smash each other to bits then go home feeling refreshed."
"Something like that," Jenny said.
"It also gives us a chance to socialize," Sasha said. "Rachel and I are roommates." She waved to the fourth girl by her side. "But the others don't cross paths during their normal days."
"Well then, thanks for letting me drop in on your game. I appreciate it. Kieran has just started introducing me to his pack, and it's great to meet some people closer to my own age."
"My mom mentioned you were still in your first century," Kate said. "That's kinda amazing. I don't think I could handle being in a relationship with someone like Kieran. At least, not yet."
Chloe shrugged. "You never know what you're really capable of until you get dropped into a situation where you're forced to handle it."
Jenny sighed. "But falling for the alpha. How romantic."
"Like a Cinderella story," Chloe said. Or it would be, if any part of their ruse were true. "Still, we're not here to talk about boys. Let's play some ball."
The girls nodded, going over their strategy quickly as they moved to meet their opponents who waited in the center of the field.
"Ready?" Kieran asked when they were all in position.
"Ready," Kate replied.
Chloe blinked and the game was on.
They hadn't been exaggerating when they said they played rough. In the first few minutes, she caught quiet Sasha elbowing an attacker in the face when he'd tried to take the ball from her. The redheaded boy managed to swoop in when her guard was down and steal the ball. He then proceeded to race across the field at the speed that, while still within the bounds of human capabilities, was at least reminiscent of an Olympian.
Kate was hot on his heels and leaped through the air. Together they slammed into the ground as Rachel streaked by and took possession of the ball.
"I warned you," a voice whispered in her ear.
Turning, Chloe found Kieran behind her. "Sure you don't want to switch teams?"
A flick of her fingers had him on the ground again. "Not on your life, wolf."
Leaving her fake lover behind, she dove into the game.
Though she couldn't run as fast as her teammates, sending a lick of magic to both feet made her kicks highly accurate. Not to mention she had the agility to dance around the boys as they tried to stop her from reaching her teammates. By the time her team had scored the first goal, the boys had developed a new strategy.
One that left Kieran in charge of blocking her.
Laughter escaped her as she tried to duck around Kieran only to have him wrap an arm around her waist and spin her back.
"No fair," she cried, feinting left in a move he easily countered.
"Says the woman using magic."
"Hey, you guys have all the super speed."
"Come on, Chloe!" Kate shouted as she raced past them headed for the boy's goal.
"Shoo," Chloe said, shaking her hands at Kieran. "Shouldn't you be chasing after the ball?"
"I think my team would vote you are the biggest threat."
"Little old me?" She dodged right and wiggled her fingers when he lunged for her. A root erupted from the ground to wrap around his ankle as she streaked away. His laughter followed her as she rejoined the game, stealing the ball away and aiming it for Sasha.
As the game wore on, Chloe realized this wasn't the average human match in more ways than one. The ticking clock had no effect on her teammates. Three hours after the start of the game they still played like they were fresh to the field, whereas her lungs were on fire. More and more she had to rely on magic to outwit her opponents, instead of her own natural abilities.
Kieran in particular showed no signs of tiring.
All that stamina. Think of all the ways one could put it to good use, her inner voice mused.
"Shut up, brain," she whispered.
"You're dragging, witch," one of the boys, Chad if she remembered correctly, yelled to her.
Calling on the depths of her energy, she raced forward.
"Last goal," Kieran shouted.
She refused to look at him, knowing the time limit had been set because of her.
The order merely amped up the energy of the others. Blood sprinkled the grass as the younger wolves fought each other for the ball. Determined to help her team, she chased after the others. One wolf lunged himself at her and she flicked her wrist, sending him flying past her as she pressed forward.
"Chloe!" Rachel called, kicking the ball to her.
Dancing around the others, she kept the ball out of the boy's reach until Kate was open. Aiming carefully, she let the ball fly.
The other woman charged toward the goal, ball firmly in control. Chad made a last ditch effort to stop her but it was too late. With a powerful kick from Kate, the ball soared into the net.