Page 47 of Alpha Chase

“Hey now, I’ll go easy on her,” Levi reasons, clearly not wanting to miss out on his opportunity to manhandle me. Hell, it may be his only one- it was fun to flirt with Levi in the beginning, but his whole overly charming, disingenuous ‘nice guy’ act is starting to bore me.

“Don’t,” Fallon snaps, folding her arms over her chest. She turns to me, smirking slyly and tipping her head. “Go on, Vee. Show him what you’re made of.”

My lips pull into a grin as I step away from Fallon and Chase, taking my position across from Levi. A few of the groups around us have stopped sparring, looking on with curiosity as I sink down into a defensive crouch opposite the much larger male, giving him a nod to indicate that I’m ready to begin.

Levi’s a big guy, but he’s not overly bulky. Judging by the cut muscles of his upper body and the fact that he chose to do push-ups as a warm-up rather than jogging around the track like me, I’d be willing to wager that he relies on his strength in a fight. That means he’s likely lacking in agility and prone to tiring out quickly, which works for me since I’d never match him for strength. I’m all about endurance. Fallon knows a thing or two about employing agility and endurance to outlast an opponent- and luckily for me, she taught me everything she knows.

His first attempt to come at me is half-assed. Even though Fallon told him not to take it easy on me, it’s pretty clear that he ignored her, because his advance is slow and clumsy, like he’s holding back. It’s almost too easy to dodge his blows, ducking under his arm and kicking a foot out to hit the back of his knee, rendering him off balance and sending him stumbling sideways. When he finds his footing, his face flushes with embarrassment at how easily I caught him off guard, his wolf flashing silver in his blue irises. Now that I’ve poked the bear- or the wolf, in this case- he’s done holding back.

Good.I don’t want the hollow victory of taking him down when he’s not making a full effort. His second advance is faster, his maneuvers more precise. I’m not expecting him to be as quick as he is and I catch a fist to the jaw that rattles my teeth, but I stay on my feet, bobbing and weaving as he gets increasingly more frustrated with my evasive technique.‘This is how you take the big boys down’,I remember Fallon saying when she was doing some one-on-one training with me a while back.‘Tire them out, then go in for the kill’.

That’s what I do. I’m practically running circles around Levi, making him chase me as he becomes more and more agitated, a growl of frustration tearing from his chest when I duck under his arm again and use the same move- a kick to the back of a knee that makes him stumble forward.Can’t believe he fell for that again.He regains his balance, but he’s a little shakier on his feet, his breathing more labored. He doesn’t even see it coming when I suddenly go on the offensive, using another move that Fallon taught me- I juke to the right, then to the left, then kick out one of my legs to sweep his out from under him.

Levi goes down like a sack of potatoes, his big body hitting the ground with a thud. In seconds, I’m on top of him, my knees pressing into his thighs and my arm pinned against his throat.

“Fuck yeah, Vee!” I hear someone yell, looking up to realize that this little matchup drew in quite an audience. My friend Kyla beams down at me with glee, clapping her hands, while Levi’s friends chuckle at his expense. As I climb off of him, my eyes find Chase’s, the gold flecks swimming in his irises a dead giveaway that his wolf is close to the surface. I’m half-expecting him to make some snide comment, but for once, it seems he’s actually speechless.

Guess it’s finally dawning on him that I’m not as weak as he assumed. He can take his damn assumptions and shove ‘em.

“Never underestimate your opponent,” Fallon announces, and I see her make eye contact with Brock across the circle, tossing him a wink. Then she turns to Chase, smiling smugly as she reaches out to pat him on the chest. “Us squad girls can take care of ourselves, baby Alpha. We don’t need big boys to fight our battles for us.”

Chase frowns, the muscle in his jaw ticking as Fallon turns her back to him and struts over to me, holding out her fist. “Way to give him hell,” she smirks as I bump my knuckles against hers. “C’mon, let’s team up today and leave these two to duke it out.”

I follow her to the other side of the arena, feeling Chase’s eyes burning in my back the whole way.

I toss my duffel on the passenger seat and climb into my rusty little car to leave the complex after training, muscles sore and body buzzing with endorphins. The workout today was solid- taking Levi down was nothing compared to sparring with Fallon for an hour afterwards. They don’t call that girl the Barbie Beast for nothin’. Leaning across the center console, I tug at the zipper of my bag, reaching in to retrieve my water bottle when my hand grazes the small rectangular box.

That damn phone.

I was going to return it to Chase today, but after that display of toxic masculinity in the arena and the snide comment he whispered in my ear, I deserve to keep the damn thing. It’s with that thought that I find myself tearing open the packaging, lifting the new phone out of the box and running my fingertips along the smooth, uncracked screen. Fuck Chase Walker and the horse he rode in on- I’m keeping the phone. He owes me. It’s a small price to pay in exchange for my dignity.

I turn it on, the screen glowing as it boots up. It’s a lot fancier than the phone that met the floor of the Norbury packhouse- the latest model with all the bells and whistles. As I scroll through the pre-loaded apps, I realize that there’s already a contact programmed in.Chase.

Inspiration strikes and my lips stretch into a smirk as I open up the camera app, turning it on selfie mode. I’m sure Chase is expecting some show of gratitude for his generous gift, and I’d be remiss to leave him hanging. Holding the phone away from me with one hand, I raise the other beside my face, smirk still on my lips as I extend my middle finger and snap a photo. Then I open up a message to Chase, attaching the image with a message, keeping it short and sweet.

Vienna:thanks for the phone.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Chase

“SoIseeyoudecided to keep the phone,” I grumble as I slide onto a stool at the lodge bar.

Vienna’s eyes flicker up to meet mine, a spark of chaotic energy passing between us as soon as they connect. Her pouty pink lips tip into a feisty little smirk as she tosses her hair back and throws a hand on her hip. “Got my message, huh?”

“Loud and clear.”

I don’t tell her how I damn near dropped and cracked my own phone when it came through yesterday, opening it up to see those big brown eyes staring back at me, brimming with mischief and mayhem. The middle finger she was holding up may have been saying ‘fuck off’, but between the deviant expression on her face and the tantalizing peek at her cleavage spilling out of her white sports bra, it obviously failed to land. That selfie was sexy as fuck. She should’ve known that it wouldn’t push me away, but draw me in.

Maybe that’s what she wants.

“Why are you here, then?” Vienna asks, tone laced with annoyance as she arches a dark brow.

Or maybe not.

“Just keeping an eye on things,” I shrug, glancing around the empty restaurant. The more time I spend up here, the more I’ve picked up on the ebbs and flows of traffic in and out. The timing of my arrival during the afternoon slump was no accident- I don’t like when her attention is divided, and I sure as hell don’t want to risk running into that tourist after Gray specifically warned me away from this place until he checks out on Sunday.

Even though there aren’t any customers for Vienna to wait on, she busies herself with menial tasks behind the bar- washing and stacking glasses, wiping the counter. Pointedly ignoring my presence. She drags the white bar towel across the counter in front of me and I reach out to catch her wrist, her eyes snapping up to mine.

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