Hannah kicked out of her heels with a groan and leaned back against the closed door of her house. She took a few deep breaths, hoping to clear her head of the dinner at her parents’ house. She made sure she breathed in through her mouth, because the scent of the perfume her mother insisted she wear was giving her a headache.

Or maybe it was from the tension of keeping herself in check and not telling her parents exactly where they could stick their demands. She still wasn’t sure how she held back.

Hannah pushed away from the door and tossed her clutch on the table. She looked at her home, trying to see it from her parents’ perspective, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see it as anything except charming. She’d fallen in love with it instantly when she saw it, and it had just felt right, down in her bones.

The outside was white washed, with homey looking dark brown shutters around the large windows, and there was even ivy climbing up the walls. It had a red front door, which she adored, and a good size yard, enclosed with a white fence. Situated on a quiet street, occupied mostly by retirees, it was the perfect home.

The inside was all wooden floors and warm, inviting wall colors. It even had a small rock fireplace. The whole home was like something out of a fairytale. When she’d decorated, she’d gone for inviting and comfortable. There were very few places in her parents’ house where a person could actually relax. Very few pieces of furniture they even let a person sit on. It was all antiques, and furniture so hard, she felt like she was sitting on unforgiving stone.

Hannah unzipped her dress and headed to the shower, intent on washing the stench of the whole evening off her. Hopefully, the hot water would help her relax, too. She was way too wound up, her muscles far too tense to get to sleep, and she had to be up for work early tomorrow.

She turned the shower on and undressed as she waited on the water to warm up to the scalding temperature she preferred. When she stepped in, she sighed with pleasure, letting the hot water rain down on her and work its magic on her tense muscles.

She wasn’t sure how she was going to get out of her parents demands, but there was no way she was moving back in with them, trading in her Jeep, or quitting her job. Maybe she should just break off contact with them. She’d thought about it before, because all visiting her parents had ever done was make her feel worse about herself, but she hadn’t managed to cut them out yet. Whether they demeaned her constantly or not, they were still her parents, and the only family she really had left.

Hannah soaped up, working quickly now that her muscles were loose. She wasn’t going to stop being friends with Parker and Kelsey, either. Those two women were the only real friends she’d ever had, and she wasn’t going to give them up. If she fought her parents on any of their demands, that would be the one she went to war with them on.

She giggled a little as she imagined the expressions on their faces if they learned what she really got up to three times a week on MaKeltar land. Their precious Vanderguard daughter getting sweaty while she learned how to fight would probably be enough to send them keeling over in shock. Telling them would almost be worth it for that alone.

Hannah sobered as she shut off the water, stepping out to dry off before wrapping a towel around her hair. She’d been just like her parents for the majority of her life. Just like Wendy. How she’d acted hadn’t been how she’d really felt, at all, but it didn’t change the fact that she’d still been just as much of a snooty bitch.

She quickly dried her hair and then padded into her bedroom. She needed to relax, maybe get some reading in, before she had to go to sleep. She lay down on the bed, fluffing the pillows up behind her, and grabbed her Kindle from the bedside table. But when she opened it, her eyes were unfocused and she was a million miles away in her head.

She and Wendy had been friends since grade school. Their mothers encouraged their friendship. Both families were part of the same old money neighborhood, the same country club. They had been deemed appropriate friends and thrust together constantly.

Wendy had always been stuck up and mean, even when they were five years old. At first, Hannah didn’t approve or participate in what Wendy dished out. But as she got older, and it became clear she’d never have the acceptance from her parents she craved, Hannah started seeking that acceptance from Wendy.

The older they became, the nastier Wendy got, and Hannah followed her lead. She’d basked in Wendy’s approval, even though she hated the way she acted and the things she said. She didn’t think the guilt over how she acted, and the things she said, would ever go away.

Eventually she went to UCLA, leaving Wendy and her mom behind, although her parents sent her there because her then boyfriend was attending, as well. She hadn’t been able to get completely away from her life here, but it was enough. She threw herself into her studies, feeling better about herself as a person. She finally became the Hannah she was always supposed to be, despite Hunter’s influence.

Until she’d been forced to move back home, and fell back into old, bad habits.

Hannah slammed her eyes shut and shook her head vigorously. Enough. There was nothing to be gained from going over the past. It happened, and there was nothing she could do to change it. All she could do was continue to improve as a person, and never let herself fall back into old habits again.

She’d hurt enough people, and burned enough bridges, for two lifetimes already in her twenty-six years.

An image of Chase MacKeltar took shape behind her closed lids, and Hannah felt her heart squeeze painfully. She’d been half in love with him for most of her life, and there probably wasn’t a soul alive who hated her more. She didn’t think there was anything she could ever do to change his mind about her, but she deserved his disdain. She’d earned it.

Hannah tossed her Kindle aside and threw back the covers, deciding to get a glass of water and pop some Tylenol PM. Her ankle still throbbed, she needed to stop thinking about things she couldn’t change, and there was no way she was going to fall asleep while her mind was working so hard.

Chase grimaced as he climbed out of the tractor. His prediction of Ian kicking his ass had been one hundred percent accurate, and a couple days later, even with his shifter healing, he was still sore.

He stretched, fighting a grimace as his muscles protested, and locked up the equipment shed before he headed to the house for a hot shower and dinner. It was April and the farm was in full swing, so he’d spent most of his day cooped up inside the tractor while he planted crops in one of the fields. He was grateful yesterday when his brother, Ty, told him it was time to begin planting, sure any more physical activity would make his aches and pains worse.

But after two days in the tractor, he thought maybe the inactivity was worse. He didn’t have a chance to work out the kinks when he was sitting on a tractor seat all day.

Twenty minutes later, he was out of the shower and headed to the kitchen for dinner. His stomach growled when he smelled the delicious food, and he immediately made his way to where Leah, the cook and housekeeper, was standing by the stove stirring a pot. He leaned in and kissed her cheek in greeting, his hand darting out to snatch a piece of turkey off the bird sitting on the counter.

He burned his fingers and got a solid thwack on his hand with a wooden spoon from Leah for his trouble, but he decided it was all worth it when he popped the piece in his mouth and flavor exploded on his tongue.

“Chase MacKeltar, you know better,” Leah scolded with a twinkle in her eye. “I know I helped raise you better than that. Go sit at the table like a good boy and wait for everything to be done.”

Chase darted in for another kiss to her wrinkled cheek, this time in apology. He poured a glass of iced tea before making his way to the table where Parker and his nephew Connor where sitting. He put his glass down and greeted Parker before leaning in to tickle Connor, blowing raspberries on his chubby cheek.

“How’d your day go, Chase?” Parker asked with a smile.

“Good,” Chase replied while he took his seat. “Got the corn field planted. Two fields down, three to go.”

“Is that an old bruise on your jaw?” she asked, leaning in to see more clearly.

Chase shifted uncomfortably on his chair. “Yeah, I was sparring with Ian, and things got a little heated.”

Understatement, but it would do for an explanation. His brother walked in, pausing with his eyebrows raised when he saw Chase sitting at the table, just as Leah finished setting out dinner.

They filled their plates and were eating when his brother finally looked at him. “What are you doing here tonight, Chase? It’s Tuesday. You’re usually over at Ian’s today.”

Chase froze for a split second, forcing himself to shrug while fighting to look casual. “I’m not over there all the time, you know. Thought I’d have dinner with my family.”

Ty narrowed his eyes at him. “You say that like you don’t have dinner with us all the time. For the last few months, you’ve spent every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday over at Ian’s. I was starting to think you were training to fight with them. Don’t, by the way.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Chase replied, rolling his eyes and grabbing at the topic like a lifeline. “But so what if I was? There’s nothing wrong with it. You still haven’t gone to a fight with me. You’d see it was no big deal if you did.”

“Not this again. I gave Ian and his crew a place to live. That’s as far as I want to go.”

“You’re still being uptight, Ty. Come on. There’s a fight next week. Come with me.”

“You should go,” Parker told Ty softly. “Get out of the house, have some fun. Connor and I will be fine here. Take Garret with you, and I’ll have Kelsey over for a girls’ night.”

Ty looked at Parker in surprise. “I’d rather stay here with you and the baby.”

Parker shook her head. “Go. Seriously. Spend some time with your brother. Besides, I really do want a girls’ night with your sister.”

Ty studied her for a moment and reluctantly nodded. “Okay. I’ll go.”

Chase almost fell out of his chair in shock. For over a year and a half he’d been trying to get his brother to go to a fight with him. Argued, begged, nagged the shit out of him. And all it took was a soft word from Parker to get his brother to agree to it, however grudgingly. He should have just asked her to talk to Ty to begin with.

The conversation turned to other topics, and Chase breathed a silent sigh of relief. That had been a little too close for comfort. He couldn’t very well tell his brother he’d gone over, not to see Ian, but to spy on Hannah. He didn’t think Ty would understand it wasn’t because he liked Hannah. It had been so he could study her to find out if she’d really changed or not.

But all that was over now. Whether she was different or not didn’t matter. He’d still have to go to the fighters’ house. Ian was his friend, plus he’d promised to help fix the place up. Tyler wouldn’t accept rent on the old house across the river, but Ian and his crew wouldn’t accept charity. So the fighters were renovating a run down shack, not fit to live in, into a nice home.

Chase didn’t have to go when Hannah would be there, though. In fact, he’d make sure he didn’t. His, and his wolf’s, obsession with her ended now.

Hannah parked her Jeep behind the fighters’ house and walked to the side entrance of the gym where they trained. She normally didn’t train on Saturday’s, but she needed to work through some of her frustration.

Her parents had hounded her nonstop this week about when she was going to make the changes they demanded she make. Hannah’s aggravation mounted until, after the last call the night before, she felt the overwhelming urge to hit something. It occurred to her if she came to train, she actually could hit something, so she’d called Cammie and quickly set up a session.

She walked into the makeshift gym, finding it empty. She was a little early, and Cammie usually left her to warm up on her own. Hannah dumped her gym bag on the bench and started stretching. The pull of her muscles felt good, and she couldn’t wait to get started.

She’d worked on strengthening her bad ankle all week and she felt sure it would hold up well today. She jogged around the gym for a few minutes, loosening her body more, and it held up with no weakness or pain. This was going to be a good session, she could feel it.

Cammie walked in and greeted her, and after doing her own warm-up series, they started Hannah’s training. In no time, Hannah was ditching her shirt, leaving her in only her sports bar and form fitting yoga pants, her preferred training outfit.

They’d been training for the better part of an hour and Hannah was getting winded, her face flushed and sweaty. She was keeping up with Cammie fairly well, though, surprising herself.

She was just gearing up to do a roundhouse kick when a loud bang sounded overhead, causing Hannah to curse as she quickly tried to regain her balance.

“What the hell was that?” she panted.

Cammie smirked. “The guys are working on the house today. We’ve been fixing it up for a while, but they’re just now tackling the roof.”

Hannah walked over to the bench to grab her water bottle. She’d never seen the rest of the house before, but the outside was a little rundown, now that she thought about it. The scenery surrounding it, with the river running behind the house, usually had all her attention, so she hadn’t noticed details.

Cammie joined her. “This is as good a time as any to take a short break.”

Hannah collapsed gratefully onto the bench, trying not to chug her water too fast. They sat in silence for a moment while Hannah caught her breath. Cammie wasn’t even a little winded.

Hannah was just standing up again to test out her ankle when she heard a loud burst of masculine laughter outside the door. Her lips were quirking up in answering amusement when the door flung open.

Chase strode inside, mouth still stretched in a smile, and Hannah’s breath caught. It had been a while since she’d seen him this close, and usually when he was, his face was tight with a scowl from being around her.

He was one of the best looking men she’d ever seen, but when he smiled, he beat every single one, hands down. He was gorgeous.

He had sandy brown hair, cut short on the sides and back, longer and usually spiked up on the top. His eyes were a beautiful whiskey brown, set over a nose that was slightly crooked, like it had been broken at some point. He had a chiseled jaw, covered by a light dusting of a beard. She normally wasn’t into beards much, but it looked good on him, and emphasized his full lips. Now that his grin was in evidence, she noticed he had bracket like dimples on either side of his mouth, and she felt herself melting a little bit more.

She swallowed hard as her eyes followed his neck, thickly corded with muscle down to the rest of his body, and she realized abruptly he was shirtless. The breath left her body in an audible whoosh. She’d never seen him shirtless before, though, God knows, she’d tried. She’d thought she’d have a chance of catching a glimpse of him without a shirt while he was working the farm, when she visited Parker and Kelsey, but she never had. Until now.

Good gravy, he was something else. She shifted her thighs together, hoping to ease the ache that started deep inside her as she stared. She reached a hand up and touched her chin, trying to indiscreetly check for drool, surprised when she didn’t find any.

Chase turned slightly, giving her his profile, as someone outside shouted something at him. He threw his head back with a booming laugh before answering, but Hannah had no clue what was being said. She was riveted, not only by the sight of him, but at the sound of his rich laughter. Her insides clenched, half in desire, and half in longing to hear him direct that beautiful sound at her.

He turned back around, looking down and shaking his head as he walked closer, on his way to the rest of the house. He looked up and rocked abruptly to a halt when he saw her standing there, the smile instantly melting from his face. A gathering frown appeared on his brow, but she could have sworn she saw a flash of lust appear briefly in his eyes.

She had to have been mistaken, because the more he stared at her, the colder the expression in his eyes got. The stark contrast to the warmth that had been there just a moment ago was jarring, and Hannah felt her body trying to shrink into itself, as it always did when he directed his displeasure her way. Which, she acknowledged, was every time they were around each other.

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. So he didn’t like her. Fine. It would be nice if he gave her the benefit of the doubt, though she knew she’d done nothing to deserve it. But unlike with her parents, she refused to sit and take the harsh words he always threw her way anymore.

She wasn’t the person she used to be. And she might be dumb, but she wasn’t stupid enough to keep on taking the verbal hits he threw her way. She’d never heal or be able to move on from her past if she allowed it. So he could bring it on. Her training wasn’t just physical anymore. It was mental, as well.

Chase was still chuckling over the dumb shit Seth was spouting when he looked up and spotted Hannah. He stopped when he noticed her standing by the bench with Cammie, a water bottle dangling from the fingers of one hand.

He felt like he’d been stunned stupid, and all the blood was rushing from his brain to his dick as his eyes drank her in. Fuck, she was hot. She was always gorgeous, but right now, she was delicious in a way he’d never seen her look, and his thoughts were quickly turning X-rated.

She was obviously training with Cammie today, and she had nothing on besides a barely there hot pink sports bra and black yoga pants that clung to her long legs like a second skin. Her long, light blonde hair was scraped back into a high ponytail, and she looked like she didn’t have a speck of makeup on. She didn’t need it. Her creamy skin was glowing, and her cheeks flushed. Her beautiful green eyes shone brightly, not needing any help from mascara to make them stand out, and her full, bee stung lips were parted slightly, possibly in surprise at him being there.

He told himself not to look farther south, that it was a rabbit hole he’d never crawl his way out of. But he couldn’t have stopped his eyes from sliding down her body any more than he could stop the boner he felt popping up from forming. Hannah was tall and fit, but she had curves in all the right places. Her breasts were pushed enticingly together in her sports bra, and they would be more than a palm-full. He swallowed hard at the vision of himself filling his hands with them. Her waist dipped in before flaring out for the curve of her hips, and he suddenly longed to feel her long, shapely legs wrapping around his waist.

Chase ordered himself to look away, but when he tried to drag his eyes up, they caught on a bead of sweat forming on her stomach, and he couldn’t help following it as it slowly slid down her skin before absorbing into the waistband of her pants.

Since she’d started training with Cammie, she’d lost some of the softness she had before, her arms and belly becoming tighter and more toned. He honestly thought she was gorgeous either way, but he was suddenly grateful she was training. He wouldn’t have seen her looking like his ultimate wet dream come to life otherwise.

Hell, he was surprised he wasn’t drooling. He frowned, finally taking note of his wolf, alert in his chest. He might not have been drooling, but his wolf sure was.

Fuck. He suddenly realized he’d spent the last few moments gazing at her like a love-struck teenager. He shouldn’t be noticing her. He shouldn’t have spent the past three months watching her, for that matter. It had become an obsession, and he’d transferred that obsession to his wolf. That was unacceptable.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked her, more harshly than he’d intended.

“I’m training with Cammie, duh. I’d think that would be obvious,” Hannah shot back, a gathering frown appearing on her face.

Ignoring the surprise he felt at Hannah talking back to him for once, Chase rolled his eyes as he started moving again, intent on getting the hell out of there.

“Did you just say, duh? I don’t know why I’m surprised. It’s such a blonde girl thing to say. Is this really how you want to spend your Saturday? Maybe you should hit the mall. Go shopping, play with makeup, spend your daddy’s money. Isn’t that how girls like you usually spend your weekends?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Chase squeezed his eyes shut and cursed under his breath. He hadn’t meant to say that. He was a colossal ass, and he was frustrated as hell that he couldn’t seem to stop his mouth from running away from him when Hannah was around.

“Girls like me?” he heard Hannah mutter as he started to walk past her.

He sensed her moving a split second before she kicked her leg out, hitting him behind the knees and sweeping his legs out from under him. His back hit the floor hard with a thud, stunning the breath out of him. He looked up to see Hannah standing above him, hands on her hips, her chest heaving with the force of her anger.

“You’re a damn jerk, Chase MacKeltar.”

Turning, she grabbed her shirt and gym bag, and stomped her way out the door, Cammie cheering her on as she shoved it open and went outside.

“You totally deserved that, Chase. If it were me, I’d have done worse,” Cammie told him, disappointment in her eyes as she followed Hannah outside.

Chase groaned as he let his head fall back onto the mat, still sprawled out on the floor. They were both right. He deserved that. Hannah didn’t, and he was a dickhead for speaking to her like that.

This was a prime example of why it was best if he stayed away from her.