Chapter 0171 +25 BONUS

Noah’s POV

Noah was weary of Drake’s blatant posturing, his constant undermining, his attempts to make Noah look foolish. He was tired of Drake manipulating Hannah into believing he was anything more than a superficial playboy.

“Guys, please don’t do this,” Hannah said, rising and brushing herself off. She placed her hands on her hips. “This is ridiculous. I’m here to train, not to watch you two have a pissing contest.”

But Noah didn’t care. He whipped his head toward Hannah, gritting his teeth. “Hannah, go sit on the bench,” he commanded.

Drake nodded before Hannah could refuse. “It’ll be easier this way. You can choose whoever wins as your sparring partner.” Hannah paused, her eyes flickering between them before throwing her hands up in exasperation. “Whatever,” she grumbled, brushing past them, pointedly nudging Noah with her elbow.

A soft growl rumbled in Noah’s throat at Hannah’s touch, his wolf surging within him. Maybe it was foolish, but his wolf wanted to impress her. And so did Noah.

Hannah’s POV

I stomped to the edge of the ring, ducking under the ropes and shooting Drake and Noah withering glances. Not that they noticed; they were already preparing to fight. Goddess, what a drag. I thought as I hopped down to the floor and made my way to the bench. I was here to train, to prepare to be a single mom and a female Alpha; but of course, they had to interfere.

They were like a couple of teenage boys, posturing to prove who was “better.” Yeah, well, I wasn’t inclined to pick either of them.

As they began warming up, I shook my head and pulled out my phone. A text from Viona in our group chat awaited: “How’s your training session going?”

“Horribly,” I typed back with an eye-rolling emoji. “They’re about to fight each other.”

Amber: “What? Why?”

Emma: “I can guess why.”

I rolled my eyes, mirroring the emoji. “Because they’re men,” I replied. “Plain and simple.” My friends dissolved into laughing emojis and jibes about Alpha male nonsense.

Up ahead, I saw Noah and Drake were in position, ready to fight. “You know you don’t have to do this,” I called out. “I might not pick either of you at this rate.”

But, of course, neither of them was listening. Only Noah replied, “Hannah, start the timer.”

Drake nodded. “I bet I can have you tapping out in three minutes.”

Noah gritted his teeth. “Very well. Hannah, set it for three minutes.”

“You’re ridiculous.” I opened my clock app and started the timer, though I didn’t care; my eyes were already flitting to the door, contemplating whether to slip out while they were distracted and let them duke it out. I could pay an actual trainer instead, someone who wouldn’t get caught up in this nonsense…

But as soon as I called out, “Go!” and the fight began, I realized I couldn’t leave them. They were out for blood. Like two coiled springs, Noah and Drake leaped at each other in a flurry of fists and fangs. They were a blur—each tapping into their wolves’ strength until I could barely distinguish which limb belonged to whom. Drake aimed an uppercut at Noah’s stomach, but Noah deftly dodged, whirling on his toes and landing a blow on Drake’s shoulder. Drake staggered, grunting, and lunged forward on one leg, his right arm swinging in a right hook, catching Noah in the side.