4

Roman hurled his human body at Corbin, Seth not far behind. Seth had shifted mid jump, landing on his two feet in front of Erin as Roman's strength pretty much tossed Corbin back against the second wall.

"She's mine. I made the claim, you saw me." Corbin growled as he stood upright.

Even though Corbin was a few inches taller than him, Roman knew he had the upper hand in the strength department.

"She rebuked that lame ass claim."

"Females have no say in the matter."

"Maybe back in the old days, but we're in the here and now." Dean's voice said from the other end of the alley.

Corbin looked at the dirty blonde haired fey. "Stay out of this. This is wolf territory."

"Not when you've pissed off the rest of The Shield. Three against one. But then you're going against Triple H's wishes, no one fights over her."

"Then he's breaking that rule." Corbin jabbed a finger at Roman.

"He didn't claim her for his mate." Seth said as he knelt at Erin's head. "She's bleeding. She's got a good size lump on the back of her head."

"You did that!" His fangs nearly ruptured out of his mouth as Roman turned his glowing gaze on Corbin.

The shadows shifted. It got colder. Finn Balor appeared on the other side of the dumpster, using his nifty demon tricks to get him there. Sulfur licked at the air as he walked towards where Seth was kneeling at Erin's side.

"I can heal her." Finn said. "I should not have let her out of my sight." His dark voice dripped as red glowing eyes turned towards Roman and Corbin. "We'll deal with this another time."

Sitting Erin up, Finn took one of her arms and wrapped it around his neck and stood up with her. Her head lulled on his shoulder as he held her close to him.

"I'll make sure she doesn't remember anything." He looked over at the four men. "This has better not happen again."

"You can't decide that. I've made my claim, she can't turn it away." Corbin said.

"Take that up with Triple H. I'm not letting her anywhere near anymore wolves until that is sorted out as well."

And as he had arrived, Finn took Erin back to the hotel via teleporting through shadow. The Demon Prince had saved the woman from actually getting seriously hurt but that left three wolves and fey standing in a darkened alley.

"Run along, little doggy. Mutts like you have no place with full blooded wolves. I'm actually surprised Seth hasn't tried to hump her yet." Corbin said.

Seth grabbed Roman's shoulder. "Don't do it, man. He wants to fight. Come on, we'll run back and see how she's doing."

"You guys go. I've still got some surfing to do." Dean said before evaporating into air.

Dean was a Sylph fey, he could control the wind and air, even turning himself invisible and much like Finn's shadow traversing, he could travel via air to anywhere he needed to be. No doubt he was going to find his wife.

Stepping back from Corbin, Roman let his wolf take over. His bones popped but it hadn't been uncomfortable, not with the amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins. He shifted without ease, much as Seth did, and then ran off into the night.

"She's still mine, Mutt!" Corbin called out to him.

Ignoring the jab, Roman sprinted full out back to the hotel. There was a side door that didn't have any cameras, which was next to some trash cans that Roman and Seth stashed their clothing. They got dressed in silence and then headed up to floor six, room sixty-six, a style in which Finn seemed to enjoy. Hell, he'll drop bread crumbs and none would be the wiser, except for anyone who knew Finn Balor as a Demon Prince, well Fomorian prince. He left his father in the Irish underworld to become a professional wrestler.

Seth knocked first, and only had to wait a few seconds before Finn opened the door.

"Go away," Finn's eyes flashed black at them.

"Look, I just need…" Roman stopped when he heard her moan.

She was laying out on the bed and a wet washcloth was draped over her forehead. She was shirtless save for her white bra and there were remnants of something stained her skin. She still had her pants on, so that was a good thing.

"What did you do?" Roman demanded of the Demon Prince.

"My spells are none of your concern, Roman."

"Mmm, Roman," he heard her moan, her head twisting to the side. Her light colored hair spilled out around her like a halo before she lay quiet again.

Finn's hand fisted into his shirt, preventing Roman from entering the room. "I don't need you interrupting the spell. It's dissolving her memories and replacing new ones for her. She'll think that tonight never happened."

His wolf wanted to lash out at Finn, to bite him, shred him for trying to erase a memory.

"She can't remember being claimed, Roman." Finn said. "She won't remember therefore it never happened and she won't be made to go through with it."

"So she's still free of control from a wolf?" Seth asked.

"Yes, that's my plan. But you have to stop trying to go after her. I've had to bathe her in my smell to get yours off of her." Finn looked at Roman. "Go get some sleep, be her friend. But don't try any wolf claiming."

"The full moon lunacy we go through, don't let her out on those nights." Seth said. "Don't let her go anywhere."

"I won't. And thanks for being the smart one." Finn nodded at the other wolf.

"Come on, man, we know when we're not wanted. Let her sleep." Seth tugged on Roman's shoulder.

He should have stayed, but then again just below those blue eyes a demon was boiling over. The smell of sulfur intensified, a raise in temperature indicating that the normally placid man was going to explode. The last thing Roman wanted was a raging demon on his tail.

"Can you at least put a shirt on her? She looks," his eyes flexed over to Erin. "Cold."

"I will, don't worry." Finn then closed the door him his face.

"Damn Demon." Roman grunted as he turned away from the door.

"Did I get drunk?" Erin asked Finn as he was rummaging around in his stuff for a shirt.

"I think we both did."

That explained why she woke up to his arm wrapped around her waist. She still had pants on so that meant that she didn't go that far. Everything was sort of a blur, like there was smoke and fog in her brain. But drinking wasn't really her thing.

Finn told her that they had gone out to drink, which explained why she saw Roman's face swimming around in that fog. No, she didn't remember seeing Roman, only at the venue where they had been performing. Maybe he had been there with Finn and her wherever they went to drink at.

At first when waking up, she could explain why her head felt stuffed up, like there was an extreme head cold. But then again waking up cuddled to her boss was sort of like the weirdest wake up call when he gripped her hip and seemed to mumble something in her ear. He'd opened his eyes when she turned her head to look over her shoulder at him.

After that initial wake up, she quickly went to the bathroom to get ready to go. She looked like a mess, her hair was all sorts of which ways and that was when she realized she'd not had a shirt on. Her stomach roll hung out over her pants as she looked at herself. Then Erin asked for Finn to get her a shirt from her bag.

"I'm going to have to do laundry." She said when she noticed she was down to only a few clean set of clothes.

"Same," Finn said as he held a shirt up to inspect.

After that they left for their rental car. When Erin and Finn got to the lobby of the hotel, a short distance away from them were the two women who were PAs for Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.

"Hi," Erin said, and waved at them.

"Hi," the one named Sienna responded. "Have either of you seen Dolph by chance?"

"No," Finn stopped and looked at them. "Where's Drew?"

"He's waiting in the car but Dolph kicked Melanie out of the room and she can't get back in. Drew told us to wait here for him."

"Ring rat?" Finn asked.

"Something like that." Melanie mumbled while her eyes looked like they were glazed over and she seemed more skinny than some of the other times Erin had seen her. She did look at Erin. "You're pretty."

"Um, thank you." Erin tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

Sienna put her hand on Melanie's shoulder. "We'll wait a little longer."

"Erin, could you go wait in the car? You remember where we parked it?" Finn asked as he handed her his backpack.

"Um, yeah." She took it and slung it over her shoulder. "Would you like me to take the suitcase, too?"

"If it's not too much of a problem, that would be great." He smiled at her.

Taking her suitcase, his suitcase and Finn's backpack, she walked through automatic door that lead outside to the a bright sunny early autumn day. Outside, Erin turned around and looked in through the window and found Finn hugging Melanie, his hand running through her long hair. She almost came up his chin, that was how short she was, not that Erin was anymore taller herself.

They almost looked cute together.

"Need help?" She jumped and turned at the sound of Roman's voice.

He was dressed casually, especially in form fitting black jeans, sneakers and a sleeveless athletic top. His hair was bunched up in a ball under the back of his head and he pulled some really thick looking sunglasses up his face. He towered over her, smiling no less.

"I uh, I'm just taking some stuff to the car while I wait for Finn." She said.

"He made you take his stuff?" Roman tilted his head.

"No, he's, I offered to take his stuff for him. I think he's consoling Melanie. Dolph kicked her out of the room or something like that."

"That was nice of you. But I can do that. Just point me in the direction of the car you're taking."

She handed Roman the backpack and one of the suitcases and motioned towards a side area lot near the hotel. She tried to walk in step with him but he seemed to be able to take one stride to her three. Erin had to jog to keep up with him.

"I hate tall people." She mumbled.

"Excuse me?" She nearly ran into Roman when he stopped and turned to look back at her.

She repeated herself. "I hate tall people. They don't have to jog just to keep up with someone else. I do, you know." She stopped and took a few deep breaths.

"I'm sorry, I'd forgotten you're…" He started to say.

"Fat?" Erin asked.

"What?"

"I mean look at me. I've got rolls." She motioned to the oversize shirt hiding her stomach.

He shook his head. "You're definitely not fat. Samoans take pride in having healthy women."

She raised her brow at him. "Yeah?" That was pretty much what Finn had told her the night before, before they had gone out to go for a drink.

"Yeah. And mothers, they are supposed to have extra pounds to help support the growth of a new life. Have you met my cousin's wife, Naomi? She's not exactly the picture of a Bella. She's happy and healthy and my cousin loves her."

He said that like he knew, like he had believed that. Erin looked away, then started walking. She set her sights on the car and hoped Roman wouldn't try to convince her otherwise.

"You grew up somewhere cold, didn't you?" He asked as they got to the car.

"I'm...how did you know?"

"I know the human body, sports and all that you know. But I had a friend, a First Nation guy when I played football in Canada. He explained that they were big people because then they wouldn't die of cold. Think seals and whales, they need a protective layer of blubber. Even in Hawaii where it's a tropical area, the water is a cold place."

"I grew up in Alaska. My Dad was a State Trooper, my mom stayed home when she was alive." She leaned against the car. "She was killed, same with my dad. I almost died too but...I didn't."

"What happened?"

"I don't really want to talk about it. But thanks for hearing me out."

"No, thank you for taking time to talk to me." When he smiled, her insides quivered.

"Really, man?" Seth Rollins asked as he walked up, Dean and Renee a short distance behind him.

This distraction gave Erin a chance to catch her breath that seemed to be lodged deep in her chest.

"What? I'm being nice to the lovely lady."

"Oh boy, how desperate are you?" Renee asked. "We're sorry he's hounding you, Erin." The blonde woman smiled at her.

"No, I'm actually liking the company. Finn is helping another PA out in the hotel, seems Dolph was being rude to her and kicked her out of the room. So he's helping her."

"Someone should really put a boot up that guy's ass." Dean said. "Guys like Dolph shouldn't have such power like he does."

"So he's a big player in the company?" Erin asked.

"Something like that." Seth seemed to glare at Dean. "We'll leave you alone, we have to get going ourselves."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you guys around." She waved as she leaned against the car.

The smile on Roman's face was alluring. He looked right at her, his eyes boring into her soul it seemed like. And with a little nod, he turned and followed his group away.

Her heart thudded and Erin had to pull the collar from her throat. It was like a rush of heat seeped into her pores as Roman stared at her. When he looked back at her a little ways away, there was a glint of teeth when he smiled again.

Erin had to take another set of deep breaths, closing her eyes and wiping at the sweat that had accumilated at her forehead. She'd never been so turned on before. She never felt the electrical impulses that danced across her skin like whenever Roman was near.

"Are you okay, Erin?" Finn's voice startled her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yes. I'm just uncharacteristically hot right now." She billowed her shirt to get the air moving against her skin. "How's Melanie?"

"She's been replaced." Finn said.

"What do you mean replaced? Was she fired?"

"In a manner of speaking. She'll be traveling with us until she gets reassigned. She'll need to talk to Triple H and Stephanie first."

Sure enough, the skinny woman walked down the sidewalk, her head low and her hair obscuring her face. Finn had put another suitcase next to the car and walked up to her. Again, he hugged Melanie, her body curled around itself as she allowed the contact. He said something to her and she nodded, then walked around him.

"You mind if she sleeps in the back?" Finn asked.

"No, she looks exhausted."

"Let me help with the bags and then I'll give you the keys."

"I...okay."

Finn and Erin put the luggage in the trunk of the rental as Melanie stood almost like an unambitious zombie, swaying from one foot to the other. After the luggage was put away, Erin watched as Finn guided Melanie to the back seat of the car and helped her in. Then he slid in with her, drawing her close to him so that his arm was wrapped around her shaking shoulders.

"Okay." She took the keys Finn had given her and got in the driver's seat.

Finn had Melanie's head laying on his shoulder, his face pressed into the top of her head and his hand was drawing incoherent designs on the woman's arm. Every once in a while Erin heard him mumble something, and after a while it seemed like Melanie finally fell asleep.

For the next two hours of driving, Finn didn't say anything about his new fascination with Melanie, nor did Erin wish to discuss how Roman made her feel.

It was probably best that Erin didn't talk about that. She would keep it to herself until she knew Roman wasn't just another jerk.

That took a turn into Weird-Ville. Hope you guys liked it. I'll be back with another soon enough, I think.