Chase pushed himself harder as he ran through the woods in wolf form. From the corner of his eye, he caught a bunny darting away and he veered off to give chase, but he was much faster and caught up too quickly to have any good sport.

Slowing to a stop, he huffed as he watched the bunny hop away as fast as it could. He didn’t eat in this form, but the chase was sometimes fun. Just not today. Maybe he just had too much on his mind.

His wolf whined, turning his head in the direction of the fighters’ house, but Chase forced him back toward Red Moon. He knew what the wolf wanted. He wanted to see Hannah again, but Chase still didn’t think it was a good idea.

Loping through the woods, he headed back toward home, taking his time. He’d been trying to distract himself all day, all week really, and so far it wasn’t working. But he had a fight to go to tonight, and those always managed to take his mind off whatever shit was weighing him down.

Chase trotted up to the tree line behind the house where he left his clothes when he shifted, and focused his energy to become human again. With the loud snapping of his bones reforming, and a brief, blinding moment of pain, he was standing on two feet again, hurrying to dress. He still needed a shower before he left for the fight.

Creeping warily through the house, he made his way to the bathroom and turned the shower on. He hated that he had to hide in his own home, but Parker had heard of his little confrontation with Hannah last week, and she hadn’t stopped giving him hell since. Avoiding her at all costs was the name of the game right now.

It was his own fault, though. He should have kept his damn mouth shut, or kept on walking past her. Something had to give. Avoiding her obviously wasn’t working out well for him, since she was showing up when he wasn’t expecting her. Maybe he really should take a moment to talk to her. Have a real conversation with her, one that didn’t consist of him hurling insults at her, and her taking it in silence.

He still didn’t get that. The old Hannah would have stripped his hide from him with the sharp edge of her bitchy tongue. So either she was good at whatever game she was playing, or… she really had changed.

Stepping into the shower, Chase let the hot water beat down on his achy muscles. All week, he’d been pushing himself physically, trying to distract himself and wear himself out so thoroughly that he didn’t think about Hannah. It wasn’t working, so it was time to switch it up.

He overheard Cammie telling Jax yesterday that Hannah was going to be at the fights tonight. Originally, he planned to stay on the other side of the ring and avoid the hell out of her, but now he thought he would try to find a moment to approach her, feel her out.

Shifters could hear lies, so he would be able to tell if anything she said wasn’t the truth. He didn’t think he could outright ask her if she really had changed. He didn’t want to do or say anything that might spark another one of his uncontrollable outbursts. He was genuinely remorseful for the hurtful things he said in the past, and he didn’t want to risk losing his cool on her again. But he could still get a sense of whether the person she was right now was genuine or not.

Really, he should have done this sooner. Talked to her, learned the truth for himself. But he didn’t think he would have been able to. Look at all the shit he said to her in the past, without provocation. He was feeling calmer now though, more in control of himself, and more importantly, his mouth.

Maybe she knocked some sense into him when she knocked him to the floor. A smile quirked his lips for a moment. He didn’t like to admit anyone, besides the fighters, could get the best of him, but she did it with ease. He expected it to piss him off more in regards to her, but it only amused him, for some unfathomable reason. And he couldn’t help respecting her a little more for it.

Quickly soaping himself up now that he felt more relaxed, he found himself wondering how Hannah would react to the fights tonight. It didn’t seem like her kind of scene, but then she was training with Cammie, so maybe it was. The human fights were tame enough, but the fights between the shifters were intense.

The shifters went at each other with everything they had, and since they were stronger and faster than humans, it was pretty hardcore. Not many shifters could fight like that. The immense control it took to keep their human skin, and not allow their animal out, was impressive. Chase liked to think he could do it, but if he was being honest, he probably couldn’t manage it. But Ian and his crew made it look easy.

He shut the shower off and quickly toweled off before dressing. Ty wanted to go over some farm issues before they left for the fight. Chase hated being in the office for long. Every shifter had a unique gift of their own, and his unfortunately happened to be organization and management. Such a boring gift, but there was no changing it. So while Ty did all of the actual desk work for the farm, Chase still had to sit down often with his brother and help get things sorted out. He hated it, but it was necessary. The farm was struggling and they were on the verge of losing it when their asshole dad passed away. So every effort had to be made to first save it, and then make it profitable again.

Whatever that involved at any particular moment, they did it, whether it was something they wanted to do or not.

He left the bathroom and headed to meet Ty in the office. He’d make sure they got this over with quickly so they could head out. He still couldn’t believe Ty and Garret were going to a fight with him, and he was planning on gloating to Ty about how Parker talked him into it so easily. Any opportunity to tease his serious older brother, he took.

Anticipation filled his veins as he bounded down the stairs, but he wasn’t sure it was anticipation over Ty going. No, this felt like something else. Something regarding a tall, blonde goddess he was going to talk to tonight. Uncomfortable with the thought, Chase shut it down. None of that. This was purely about finding the truth out for himself, nothing more.

Nodding firmly to himself, Chase sat down at the desk across from Ty, resolved to get this over with so he could get out of this room and breathe again.