So ol’ Bones was shacking up with some chick, huh?

Riot and I were both surprised to hear that, considering he was just about the most straight-laced of all us Gods. It was about fucking time, though. I was pretty sure he got his jollies off shagging hot nurses all day, but he would never admit that.

I was interested to see this girl, though, because we’d finally be able to see what his type was. Riot and I had a bet going. I was sure she’d be a petite, fiery redhead and Riot thought she was most likely some tall, mysterious blonde.

I guess we’d see.

Apparently, she was potentially in a bit of trouble. Ryder called and told us to get right over to Bones’s place and check things out. So, here we were, riding up on our bikes after winding through the ritzy part of the West Hills.

I wanted the girl to be alright, so don’t get me wrong when I say I wouldn’t mind a bit of action. Since getting married and settling down with Diana and our rapidly growing little boy, excitement wasn’t something I got much of, outside of the bedroom, of course. Motherhood hadn’t fizzled out Diana’s wild side in the least and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.

Since our boy starting sleeping through the night, we’d been going at it like rabbits again. It was nice. It was thrilling. Invigorating, even, but outside of that, well, the excitement in my life trickled in with little spurts.

Things like this.

Solid Ground was going strong, but basically we were the muscle. Nobody really needed muscle for long periods of time, so we had to be ready to go, ready to hit it hot and fast and hard and then quit it just as quickly.

That’s what we were good at.

So, to say I was ready for a nice, long fight was an understatement.

If there was some nefarious asshole there at Bones’s causing trouble, well, there was no doubt Riot and I could end it pretty quickly. Maybe we’d draw it out a little, though, just for fun…

It was a sunny day, the bright blue sky a gorgeous background to the fancy-ass houses and pretty flowers that lined their sidewalks and front porches.

A perfect day to kick some ass, if you asked me.

We drove up on our bikes like the couple of bad-asses that we are. Besides me, Riot was the toughest dude I knew. We went way, way back and I’d be proud to stand beside him in a fight any day.

We were tight as brothers and just as I knew he had my back, he knew I had his. Together, nothing could break us.

We cut the engines on our bikes and heard shouting right away.

A man was shouting from the side of the house. We ran over, listening as we came up on him.

“Scarlet, you made me do this! If you’d only opened the fucking door!”

We rounded the corner and came face to face with the one and only fucking Luke Sullivan!

I took a double-take, sure I was wrong at first. But as soon as he opened his mouth, I knew it was him.

“Who the fuck are you, mates?” he asked, his Irish accent unmistakable.

“What are you doing?” Riot asked, glancing at the broken glass on the ground. I could hear a baby crying inside and a dog barking and growling. I knew that had to be Chester, Bones’s shepherd and Ryder hadn’t mentioned a baby, but the sound of a baby crying always got me riled up.

Ain’t no good reason for a baby to be crying like that.

“I’m just picking up my son,” Sullivan said.

“You’re Luke fucking Sullivan,” I muttered.

“Yeah, bitch, so what?”

“Bitch?” I asked, squaring up against him, my anger rising to ten at once. “You just call me a bitch, motherfucker?”

“I don’t know who the fuck you are in your little matching leather outfits, but you two bitches can step the fuck back. This is a family matter. And you ain’t family!”

“We’re the Gods of fucking Chaos, motherfucker, and we’re going to fuck your shit up!” I said.

He laughed, scoffing at me, small bits of spit landing on my face.

I could only take so much. You know?

I had one motto. Hit hard and hit first.

Once I snapped, once you stepped over the line, like he’d just done — well, shit. I couldn’t be responsible for the ass-kicking you were about to receive.

And that was it. No more talking needed.

My fist landed on his jaw and he flew back, landing on his ass with a satisfying thump.

“Slade!” Riot yelled and I wasn’t sure if he was admonishing me, but what the fuck else was I supposed to do? Let some prick call me a bitch? I think not. I ignored him, standing over Sullivan and laughing at him.

“Who’s the bitch now, bitch?” I taunted. “You ain’t so fucking tough outside of the ring, are you, asshole?”

Quickly, he jumped to his feet and threw his fists up. We squared off again and just as I went to punch him again, a blur appeared in my peripheral vision and a blow slammed up against the side of my head. His foot and my body landed back on the ground at the exact same moment.

I shook my head, shaken by the force of his kick, unable to raise myself to my knees. I heard, rather than saw, Riot and Sullivan grappling on the grass next to me and within seconds, Sullivan was on top of him, pummeling Riot’s face.

“Fuck,” I growled, trying to get up, trying to regain my strength, not to mention my pride. It was shattered in one fucking kick to the head and I couldn’t fucking believe I’d let that happen.

After a moment, Sullivan stood up, leaving a bloody Riot lying unconscious next to me. I struggled to get to my feet, but I finally found the strength to stand up and face him again. He looked at me, his face swaying in front of me. I could hear the dog still barking, growling menacingly from inside the house and the baby crying and the girl, that I’d yet to even lay eyes on, screaming hysterically.

“What a couple of fucking pussies,” Sullivan growled, spitting on me again.

“Fuck you,” I spat back. “I’m going to fucking kill you, you bastard.”

I rushed him, both of us falling to the ground together. I punched him, landing two hard blows to his face, splitting the skin right under his eye as his blood sprayed over my fist. I went to punch him again, but he threw his elbow up under my arm, deflecting the punch away from him and grabbing my arm and twisting it behind me until he had me down and was on top of me again.

He slammed my face into the ground, hard, the sound of my nose cracking exploding in my head. Then, he turned me over, straddling me as he laughed again.

He hit me again, harder this time, so hard everything faded away.

His ugly fucking face.

The barking dog.

The screaming girl.

The crying baby.

Riot, still motionless beside me.

All gone.

Nothing left but me…

Just me, in the fucking darkness, licking my goddamned wounds, my pride completely shattered as I lay unconscious next to my bad-ass, bloody, best friend.

Fuck this shit.