by T. A. Grey
This was her day! She could beat Alex.
Wait. Not could. Would.
Overcast shadows began filtering over the sky covering up the blazing morning sunlight, dampening it. Darkening the sky into a gray-blue wash of color that distorted the light of the forest into a shadowy copse. Heavy canopies of brilliant green leaves, bouncing in the breeze, bled dark as the shadows dampened overhead, leaving the forest like that of haunted foliage.
Hanna flew past soldiers gasping for air and glee spiked through her bloodstream like a shot of vodka. She could actually do this. Might not be fast enough to win the whole race but if she could only surpass Alex no-good Thompson then she would be a happy woman.
With that determination in mind, Hanna pushed herself harder. Her breaths raged through her mouth like a dog on a beat-hot day. Her tongue felt dry as cotton, sweat flew from her forehead, staining her hair with wetness that spilt into the corner of her eyes to burn her retinas. She squinted through the discomfort and pushed her legs harder up the rocky incline she’d skidded down before.
Her foot slipped and she yelped as she went sliding back down the rocky cascade. But she caught her foot on the edge of a sharp rock and held tight to the wall. Slowly but surely, with scraped knees and all she climbed all the way back up. Her teeth were grinding, her mind only that of an animal’s need to survive.
Hanna launched over the wall and she took off without hesitation. Eyes widening, she caught sight of that shaggy head of dark hair came into view. It was him! She had him in her sights and he didn’t even know it.
Moving swiftly, Hanna curtailed to the right, the corners of her mouth quirking up in excitement as she neared him. She was catching up.
Then, something awful happened. Hanna felt something, or rather, someone slam into her from behind. It felt like a shoulder nailing her square in the middle of her spine. A cry of pain and she stumbled harshly, landing dazed on the ground.
Someone had hit her. Twice.
Maybe Alex hadn’t hit her the first time because he was still ahead of her. She swore she saw a head of blond hair dash by—much like Tom’s.
What the hell? She blinked as she stared blankly at the sideway-facing trees in her line of vision. Sweat dribbled into her eyes making her squeeze them shut to stop the acidic burn.
“Damn.”
She meant the curse. She’d been so close to him. Maybe fifteen feet away from catching up to that wretched man. He’d said he could beat her! He’d implied, straight up, that she’d suck because she was a girl. That moron needed a good ass whooping and she’d wanted to be the one to deliver the blows. In the form of winning this dang competition.
Her bruised back deemed that impossible at this point.
Then, leaves rustled bringing her attention back up, up, up.
“It’s you,” she said miserably.
Alex’s hand rested on his hips with the elbows flared out. It was a pirate’s pose. All he needed was a log to set his boots up on and an eye patch and he’d look the part.
“Sure is. What have you gotten yourself into?” He sounded like he thought this was all so funny.
That tweaked her anger a notch higher. Gritting her teeth, she forced her bruised body to get up. She would not let him know how much her back hurt her. It would only be an excuse.
“Someone hit me while I was running. Twice.”
Surprise flared in his clear gray eyes.
“Who was it?” he asked.
“I didn’t see who did it.”
He cocked his head. “Are you sure you were hit?”
What nonsense. Was she certain? She’d taken a hard fall to the ground. It had felt like someone struck her. Of course she was certain. But, she did not say any of that. Instead, she simply gave him her soundest glare. The MacKellen Glare. The likes of which would have made her mother proud. His silly question would receive no response from her. Thank you very much.
“Fine, fine,” he said. “Enough with the icy glare already. I believe you. You ready to go finish this thing?”
She glared, but nodded. It looks like she might still get her chance to beat Alex after all. And, with that thought, she glowed with renewed energy. She had a spring to her toes, a hitch to her breath. Oh yes, Alex. Meet your doom, she thought.
“First to the end wins,” Hanna challenged. She gingerly dug her toe into the earth, garnering an edge for her imminent take off.
Alex’s laughter was mocking. The sound ringing with that condescending chuckle, the kind of laugh that clearly showed he did not view Hanna as a threat. That was his mistake.
“The winner has already passed the finish line, I’m sure. Jo was ahead of me by a long shot. We’re about two miles out still. So I’m sure the race is over by now.”
Two miles to the finish line. It didn’t matter who’d really finished the race. Only this competition between the two of them mattered. And it mattered greatly to her.
“We still have two miles to go, then,” Hanna said, casually leaning into her runner’s stance.
Alex’s sharp gaze watched her. He studied her posture, the aggressiveness in her stance, then he hunkered down, a determined glint in his eyes. “Fine. Challenge accepted.”
She nearly cursed aloud. Her heartbeat was suddenly and frantically beating erratically in her chest.
“Go!” he said. Without warning.
He leapt before she could, beating her to the punch.
No! She instantly regretted not moving quickly enough. But, she refused to let him beat her. She would win this! Hanna focused her mind to this one task, all other thoughts filtered out. There was only these two miles.
She took off like a bullet. No thoughts to perfecting form or carefully treading over logs. No, she simply ran. And ran. As if the grim reaper himself was chasing her with his scythe raised high, ready to swipe the head clear off her body.
Only this time there was no reaper behind her. In fact, she was the reaper. And she was behind Alex.
* * * * *
His long legs ate up the difference, separating him from his challenger. Alex didn’t know what to think about her little challenge. Did she really think she could beat him? He had more than a foot on her in height and about a hundred pounds of muscle on top that.
He heard something behind him. His ear twitched until he peaked behind him to get a look. Damn!
She was closer than he thought and judging by the look in her eye, she had the idea to beat him. He wasn’t gonna have any of that though. Fuck no. He wasn’t gonna allow Hanna to wipe the floor with him like some pansy, suit-wearing, Mercedes-driving momma’s boy. The pansy.
Alex was so caught up in his bothersome thoughts that he lost focus for a second. Not long. Maybe five seconds he’d been only running, not being aware of his surroundings. He realized, as he failed to hear Hanna’s soft footsteps behind him, that he’d made a poor mistake.
Alex flew past the one-mile marker, a yellow stick in the ground with a one painted on it.
No longer able to hear her, he came to a stop. Sweat dripping from him, his breaths harsh from his mouth. His eyes scoured the forest, left and right, then faster, again and again. She was gone. But this couldn’t be. Alex started to backtrack, fear an emotion he was not used to, spiking his heart rate with adrenaline.
“Hanna!” Fear in his voice, clouded it darkly. He wanted to roar, his eyes were wide open and frantic. He made it back to the last mile marker where they’d made the bet. He searched every inch for signs of her, his worry growing. Nothing. Not a damn sign of her anywhere.
Then, faintly he heard it. The sound of a bird’s whistle. Alex searched out the sound, found it to be coming back from where he’d just come from.
“What in the hell...”
He squinted, and there, just barely through a barrage of trees he caught sight of golden-blonde hair. The color of custard, one of the only foods he knew how to make. A flash, then, a hand wave furiously at him. She was waving at him, with a big grin, from the one-mile marker
.
Alex’s jaw slid open slowly as he processed what had just occurred. He truly, almost couldn’t believe it if he hadn’t done it himself. She had just tricked him.
“That little minx!”
He took off on a sprint and swore he heard her panicked yelp from a mile away. Damn right, she better be scared. He didn’t know what he was gonna do to her when he got his hands on her, but it was going to hurt.
By time he flew past the mile marker, even giving his best time yet, he knew it wasn’t enough. He ran through the forest and broke back into the valley. Hart and the others waited at the finish line. Several others had completed the course by now, but Alex didn’t care about that. The only person he cared about right now was standing behind her brother Gavin. As if he could protect her. Not with how he felt right now. He’d been duped into losing that race. She hadn’t played fair at all.
Alex wasted no time in grabbing Hanna’s wrist and pulling her away from the crowd. Her wide, panicked eyes looked up to Gavin for help, but he was lost deep in conversation with Hart and Jo. Jo had indeed past the finish line first.
There wasn’t much privacy out here, so he dragged them behind some parked trucks on the lawn.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she all but hissed.
“Gonna have a good talkin’ to you. I can’t believe you cheated.” He turned on her with his words, backing her into a green pick-up that had seen better days. Rust peeled back from the chipped paint, corroded orange.
Her mouth floundered open and closed before she settled on a snobbish pout and a cross of her arms. Her whole princess thing might get her somewhere with these pansy-ass men she dated but he was made of sterner shit than that.
“I do not know what you are talking about.”
Alex cocked his ear closer, cupped his hand behind it to get better amplification. ‘Cause he couldn’t have heard that shit correctly. “Say that again, sweetheart?”
Her pert nose tipped upward an inch. Now she was practically staring down her nose at him. He wondered briefly what she’d do if he called her Princess Hanna to her face.
“I said,” she sucked in a breath. “I do not know what you’re talking about, Alex. Now if you’ll please.” She made to scoot passed him.
Alex shot him arm out straight to block her path quicker than a rattlesnake pouncing on a field mouse. Snap! She went back into the truck, grimace in place.
“Whatever I’m talkin’ about? Woman. I saw you waving at me after making me backtrack.” That at least got him some reaction as she flushed pink with color. Ha! He smelled victory in sight. She was guilty as sin. He caught her red-handed. “You cheated. Now just what were you thinking?”
She sighed delicately, then tossed her loosened ponytail over one shoulder. “Listen, I had to do what I had to do.”
“So you admit to cheating. At least that’s something.”
Her lips pursed. “Yes, well. As I explained. I had to do what I had to do.”
“Even by means of cheating?” he pushed.
Finally, a shrug was all he received. He almost howled in victory. Yes!
“I knew it,” he said.
“You don’t have to sound so excited about it. But yes. I did win.”
Alex couldn’t believe it. He shook his head at her. “You actually sound smug. You know you only beat me by cheating, right?”
“That’s only something losers say,” she quipped smartly.
He grinded his teeth, then laughed at her audacity. Who was this springing vixen snapping her jaws at him? He didn’t know whether to throttle her or be throttled by her. Fuck. An enjoyable experience either way.
“It’s not really a win, Hanna if you did it by cheating.” He held his hands up, finished with this conversation. He’d said his peace and that was that. Or so he thought until Hanna laughed at him. Her head tipped back, lost in teasing laughter, irritating him beyond belief. The wind changed directions sending to him a whiff of her scent.
Salty, sweaty woman. He found his chance and zeroed info the kill.
“You stink.”
Fuck.
So much for slam-dunking that one.
Hanna’s stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. She did not appear to know whether to laugh or be insulted.
“Huh...I mean...what?”
That’s it. He was not going to let her get away with cheating without at least giving her a licking of her own. So, with that thought in mind, Alex narrowed his eyes on her, leaned in close and dealt the final blow.
“You stink, MacKellen. You stink big time.”
Like a fish, her mouth opened and closed. For a moment, her lykaen beast flared in her eyes. The red rage of the beast. The hint of a feral growl snarled at him from her throat. But in a flash, any signs of rage vanished. In its place was the Hanna MacKellen he’d always known. Sharp, intelligent blue eyes, sharp blonde brows arched pointedly at him, imposing, hand cocked on her hip.
“You are so stupid.”
That’s it! Victory tasted oh so sweet.
He’d won. Her lame comeback failed and she knew it. Her expression crestfallen as her blow didn’t even sting, because he knew he was right. She’d cheated.
“So you cheated. How’d you do it?”
That brought sparkle back to her eyes. She grinned at him. “You don’t know?”
“Not a clue.” Unfortunately for him. “You were behind me...then you weren’t.” He shook his head, still confused over how she managed to pull this trick on him.
“I sprinted until I nearly could touch you.” He scoffed and her smiled widened. “It’s true. And then I leapt up a tree, a dark maple where I knew my clothes would blend in well. I hid while you ran all the way back in concern. I must say that’s awfully sweet of you.” She peered at him as if with wonder. “You surprised me. I thought I’d have to tackle you to get the advantage. Really it worked out better than I’d planned.”
Yeah, probably ‘cause she never had much of a “plan” to begin with.
Alex had to admit, begrudgingly, her idea had worked. There was no way he’d be able to beat her after her little stunt.
“All because you’re sweet on me.”
Dangerously, his cheeks flushed. Her statement caught him off guard. He felt his defenses flare up in an instant. His response came harsh and shaded with anger. “Yeah, right, MacKellen. Keep dreaming.” He stepped back this conversation was over. It had already gone on for far too long already.
Alex meandered back to congratulate Jo MacKellen, a big rough fella, on winning the challenge. Gavin sidled up too, gave the heads up to Alex. “Whatcha talking to Hanna for?”
His lip twitched. “Nothing. She just...we had a bet and she cheated. Not surprisingly.” He nearly grinned. He was really beginning to enjoy her little game. Maybe because he liked dangerous things.
Gavin cracked a smile. “Hanna won did she? I’m not surprised by that in the least.”
“Yeah, spoken like a true big brother.”
“Winning is winning,” Gavin said. Hart barely bit back a smile.
“I’m getting outta here.” If he had to hear it from one, he had to hear it from all. Damn MacKellens. They were alike in so many ways.
Alex headed to his bike, on the way shaking his head at Hanna’s antic. As he walked by her, he caught her answering her phone. He heard the excitement in her voice, the catch in her breath.
“A date? This Saturday? Great!”
Alex hopped on his bike, roared his engines, then spewed gravel as he raced off.
He wondered if the date was with The Prince.
Why should he care if she went out on a date?
He should stop thinking about her is what he should do. They weren’t a thing, after all. And he was damn certain she didn’t want a thing from him--except to kick his ass in competitions. But damn this newly open Hanna was driving him crazy.
Chapter FOUR
“What am I gonna wear? Nothing matches and he’s gonna be here any minute. This
is turning out to be a disaster!”
Hanna slumped on her bed in defeat, head hanging low to her chest. Her sister Kaity tried everything to appease her, but nothing could fix this rut. Hanna had a date tonight with Remi Gerioux and she couldn’t even find the right outfit. It had taken them an hour just to choose the right bra and underwear to ear. A task as difficult as choosing the perfect dress was more than a challenge.
“Why is this so difficult?” Hanna said.
Kaity shrugged, shaking her head, miserable like everyone else. “Because you can’t choose an outfit maybe?”
Hanna glared at her younger sister. “Do not go there.”
Sure she’d maybe gone through more than two dozen outfits. But tonight had to be perfect! Remi was driving her up north to an upscale, French restaurant in his pack. She wanted to have fun, and maybe, finally, have a little one-on-one time with Remi. That was a difficult thing to do when he only visited her in her own pack. Where Hanna couldn’t go anywhere without running into one of her family members. It was hard to be romantic with Remi and squeeze in that first kiss when you had a brother popping up around every corner.
On top of that, her stomach wouldn’t stop growling, she couldn’t find anything good to wear, and Remi was supposed to be here any minute. Not good.
“There’s no time,” Hanna stated, resigned to her fate. “Just give me that dress over there. I don’t even care at this point. I’ll wear a garbage bag just so long as I have clothes on.” She pointed to a white A-line that stopped above the knee and accented her hourglass shape. The dress didn’t scream sexy but it didn’t scream nun either. It had a colorful floral pattern which was simple but pretty. It wasn’t a dress to be worn at the Oscar’s but it would do. “This is just going to have to work.”
Kaity helped her into the dress like a regular seamstress. “Quickly! He’s going to be here soon!”
Alicia handed Hanna a pair of platform wedges to wear. “These will go well.”
The doorbell rang and like deer in the night, their heads swiveled as the bell ding-donged throughout the house.
