18

"Sienna, you should enter that tournament thingy Tom was on about. It would be so hilarious if you beat him," Scarlett said, only to change the subject away from Riley's sad family situation.

"Oh." Sienna looked down and picked at the corner of a beer mat. "I'm not as good as him."

"I am," Adrian declared with so much certainty that it didn't even sound arrogant--it was just a fact. "I'll go."

"We should all go," Scarlett suggested. "I'll be fun."

As the others nodded in agreement Scarlett glanced around the bar. A couple of blokes in suits had arrived for after-work drinks, but aside from those, only the regulars remained. One was a guy they called 'Chris-the-Piss' who sat way too close to the television screen, talking back to the football commentator. The other, Aussie Daz, sat with his new American girlfriend at the table by the window, drinking red wine and arguing loudly about who should win the X-Factor.

One of the business types was openly staring at Sienna's behind as she leaned over the pool table to take a shot. He shifted his gaze to the window, pretending he hadn't been looking once became aware of Scarlett's attention focusing him like an angry laser.

"Bend over like that again," Adrian said.

'No, Adrian, don't,' Scarlett thought as he swung the pool cue back.

When he whacked her the combined sound of the thwack and her cry of pain caused everyone in the room to turn and stare.

Adrian collapsed in a fit of giggles as Sienna jumped up and down on the spot, desperately rubbing her bum.

"Hurts?" he asked, smirking.

Sienna nodded, looking at him with pitiful, tear-filled eyes.

"Touch your toes," he ordered, spinning the pool cue in his hands like it was a weapon of some kind.

Sienna did it but let out a small, pitiful whine as she bent over.

"Don't, Adrian," Scarlett protested, getting up from her seat to try and stop him. She wasn't the only one. The guy who'd been checking out Sienna’s backside not moments ago also sprang to his feet.

"Hit her again and I'm gonna fill you in," the young man said. As he reached Adrian his eyes flitted up, realising the height difference, but he held his ground. It was too late for him to turn back now and retain any kind of dignity.

"Sienna, do I have permission to hit you with this pool cue?" Adrian asked.

"Yes, Sir," she said.

"You ain't hitting her," the guy said, ignoring Sienna's response with steely determination.

"I can do what I want," Adrian said. "She's mine."

"And you can stop staring at her arse," Riley chimed in with a sneer. "Acting like Mr White Knight when you've been objectifying her for the last half hour."

The guy blinked, turning red in the face as his mate returned from the bathroom. The sound of the hand dryer followed businessman number two as he joined the others, frowning.

“What’s happening?” the guy asked, talking slowly.

"What's happening is I'm about to drag your mate outside and beat the living fuck out of him," Riley said, balling his fists in preparation.

"Let's just calm down and not fight," Scarlett begged, trying to defuse the situation. She didn't want Riley getting into trouble, especially over her dumb stepbrother not being able to behave in public. It wasn't fair. “Please, guys.”

Sienna had remained in toe touching position throughout the whole ordeal. Being a limber little gymnast, it was no trouble for her.

"Oh, please hit me, Daddy," Sienna cried. "I've been a naughty girl and I need to be punished."

"Oh my God," businessman number two muttered. "Come on, let's just go."

As the pair left, Adrian shouted in a gruff voice, "Run away, little girl, run away." It was a quote from some game he used to play—some instance referencing the little red riding hood. Fitting, considering he was quite literally the big bad wolf.

"Aww," Riley moaned. "I wanted to beat his stupid face in. I'm all riled up now."

"Save it for some poor sap tomorrow," Adrian said and shrugged. "That was hilarious, Sienna. You should have seen the look on his face. I'm sorry you missed it."

"May I stand up now?" Sienna asked.

"Yeah," Adrian replied. "I guess I'll let you off."

They finished their drinks, still talking about what a total douche bag that guy had been. Scarlett laughed along, but secretly thought the guy had a point, and that he'd been very brave to stand up to two much taller, larger guys.

"I still wanna punch his face into a puddle," Riley said. Scarlett could tell by his face that he meant it.

"You really like fighting, huh?" she asked. She’d figured his knuckles were dashed from fighting other wolves, not beating up humans. Hurting humans wasn’t banned but was frowned upon. Killing them… now that was a different story. Killing a human would attract attention and that was never a good thing. It was a fast way to get kicked out and being packless was no life at all. The others would hunt you down endlessly, plus there were other supernaturals to worry about. For werewolves, safety in numbers was their main defence. Other supernaturals—such as vampires and dragon-shifters—were far more powerful on an individual level. Luckily, they were also far rarer.

"It wouldn't have been a fight," Adrian scoffed. "It would have been Riley punching that guy until he cried or passed out in a pool of his own blood."

For reasons she couldn't define, the idea of Riley beating someone brutally and mercilessly excited her. Maybe it was her primal wolf instinct.

'That or I'm some kind of weirdo,' she thought.