Chapter 1

Allstate Arena-June 1, 2014

Hundreds of people packed the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, all of them turning out to see the Payback pay-per-view. The main draw was the main event, which featured the incredibly popular stable the Shield being pitted against the equally as popular, but also fiercely hated, Evolution.

The pay-per-view seemed to pass by excruciatingly slow, with all of the fans fidgeting in their seats. While the matches were all mildly interesting and told a good story, what they really wanted to see was the Hounds of Justice go up against the formidable team of Evolution.

Finally, the familiar voices of the Shield's three members rang out through the arena, followed by music that everyone in that crowd loved. The so-called architect of the Shield, Seth Rollins, came out first, making his way carefully down the steep steps and through the crowd. Behind him came the loose cannon, Dean Ambrose, and last came the Samoan powerhouse and the man who made all of the girls lose their minds, Roman Reigns.

The three men assembled in the ring, pacing to every corner and back again, preparing themselves for war. Seth hopped up on the middle rope and stood looking out at the crowd while Dean walked in circles, muttering to himself and occasionally yelling random insults about Evolution. Roman just stood in silence, his fingers hooked around the collar of his vest, staring up at the stage with intense eyes.

Evolution's music hit without warning, and everyone in the arena began to boo. Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista strolled out onto the stage, looking extremely cocky and intimidating. Unfortunately for them, Batista had made a critical error in wearing all blue attire instead of black and white like the other two members of his team, and mocking laughter rose up from the audience, along with chants of "Bluetista".

As soon as Evolution entered the ring, the match began. It was chaos from the start; bodies flying everywhere, weapons being used, shouts filling the air. The fans didn't even know where to look; so much was happening at once.

Eventually Evolution gained the upper hand, and Roman was dragged back into the ring while his teammates lay motionless outside. Randy tore the black combat vest off of him, leaving his chest and back bare. Batista seized him by his shoulder-length locks of black hair and position him so that he was laying facedown on the steel ring steps.

Triple H stepped up, holding a kendo stick tightly in his huge fist. He wrapped his other hand around the kendo stick and raised it above his head, then brought it down hard on the large Samoan's exposed back. The crack rang out, stunning the crowd into silence. Roman didn't make a sound at first, but as Triple H continued to beat him with the stick, he couldn't hold back and began to let out loud bellows of pain.

Everyone in the crowd flinched at the sound of the stick slapping his skin, some even having to turn away from the brutality of it.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of motion on the stage, and Mel Ryder, a WWE Diva and Roman's girlfriend, came flying down the ramp. She slid into the ring, ducked the grasping arms of Randy and Batista, and smacked right into Triple H. She seized the kendo stick with one hand and attempted to rip it away from him, but he shoved her away and raised his arm, intending to strike Roman once again.

Mel let out a scream of rage that could rival her boyfriend's and slapped Triple H as hard as she could across the face.

Triple H's eyes darkened with fury, and he reached out to grab her, only to be speared by 265 pounds of pissed off Samoan. Randy and Batista tried to intervene, only to be taken out by Dean and Seth.

Mel took a step toward Roman, but stopped when he swung around to look at her. There was still an angry expression on his face, and he stalked toward her and grabbed her around her waist, throwing her over his broad shoulder. He stomped up the ramp and backstage, leaving his brothers to clean up the mess in the ring.

Mel attempted to struggle, but Roman's grip was like iron, and she gave up on that immediately and instead went limp, allowing him to carry her to his locker room. As soon as they were inside, he dropped her on the couch against the wall.

"What was that about?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her hazel eyes at him.

Roman whipped around, exploding suddenly. "What the hell were you thinking?! That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do, and that's saying something! You could have been killed!"

Mel sprang up off of the couch, bristling with anger. "What the hell are you talking about?!" she yelled back at him, matching his ferocity. "I was trying to save you! They were beating the hell out of you! Did you expect me to just sit back here and watch?!"

"I expected you to be smarter than that!" Roman snapped, his dark eyes flashing. "Honestly, Mel, what possessed you to do something stupid like that? What if you had been seriously hurt? I wouldn't know what to do without you. I would be lost."

Some of the edge in Roman's voice faded, and for the first time Mel could see how badly she had scared him. She felt a sudden pang of guilt; she hadn't meant to worry him. She had only wanted to stop them from hurting him. She had tried to restrain herself, but his cries of pain had made her snap.

"I'm sorry, Ro," she whispered, remorse in her voice. "I didn't mean to scare you…I just...you were in so much pain…" Tears filled her eyes suddenly.

All of the anger seemed to leave Roman's body at once, and he pulled her into his arms and held her against his chest. "Shhh, it's okay. Shhh."

As Mel listened to the steady thumping of his heartbeat, she knew that she would do whatever it took to protect him. Whether he liked it or not.