I took a slice of pizza as Bella waved at me. A small shudder went through my skin and I looked at her eager face. She bit her pizza and sat on one of the stools opposite me.
"You really want to hear about your dad in action?" She rolled her eyes at me.
"Come on it's not like I grew up with him around. I even had a huge crush on him when we first met... then my mother told me who he was."
"Bet that was a shocker?" She nodded.
"He's still a rather handsome man and he needs a break every once and a while." She sighed. "So, tell me what happened last night, or I'll just ask him later and you know how he is. He won't spare any detail, even some that you might hide from me." I sighed and without going into too much detail recalled the events of last night.
Bella sat with a smirk on her face and looked at the fading bruises on my ribs. She giggled and leant back.
"I didn't think he'd be able to bruise you…" She shook her head. "Will you be able to fight Friday?" I nodded and gave her a look.
"It's already fading. I'll be fine by tomorrow. And technically it wasn't Rodger who bruised me." She nodded and grabbed the last slice of pizza.
"Well… it gives food for thought. I would never let a male do that…" She frowned. "Maybe." She giggled. "You know I was a concubine once." I shook my head.
"I didn't know that…" She nodded.
"Do you remember me wearing that one shoulder top for a while?" I nodded. "That was to hide the mark. Didn't want my lack of availability to affect my fans." I nodded and glanced to the bedroom.
"What happened?" She sighed.
"He was killed in a pack war." She placed her chin onto her hand as she leant over the table. "West end rogues were being annihilated by the Blood Rose Vamps… he was in the wrong place at the wrong time." I nodded.
"So, Rodger is going to be fine?" She nodded.
"Yeah, he's probably swimming in ecstasy aright now… Rollo too." She seemed to slump as a dreamy far of look filled her eyes.
"Rollo?" She smirked.
"His wolfs name." I frowned and took my glass of fizzy.
"I thought wolves had fancy names?" She giggled.
"Some do, but when Rodger was younger, he was dirt poor and the old human man across the street use to take pity on him and once or twice a week would give him a roll of Rollo chocolates and a few dollars." She smiled sadly. "He saved up all the dollars the old man gave him and made one bet at the Phantom when it was just a deserted hole in the ground and won. From there... well you see where he is now." I nodded.
"And the name Rollo made an impression with his wolf?" She nodded.
"Yeah, my wolf is Donna." She grinned. "That's why I'm Bella Donna in the ring." I nodded and sighed, my mind wondering to what my wolf would have been called if I had one.
"So, what's your opinion on the fight?" She shrugged.
"I think you stand a good chance but… The Bulldog isn't someone to take lightly." She placed a USB on the countertop. Want to see a few of his short matches before you go to Uni?" I looked at my watch then nodded. She grabbed the USB and went to the tv. I watched as she plugged it in then selected a short video file. As the fight began, I walked over and sat on the sofa and watched.
It was a selection of different camera angles that showed the ring. The Bulldog was facing up against an equally large man. The bell sounded and the ref jumped back. The two men flew at each other and almost immediately there was blood splattering the ground and they locked arms. With a flick and a sharp kick the Bulldog tossed the other man into the railings and came close, opening his mouth wide and partially transforming into his wolf. He bit down hard on the man's shoulder and thrashed around. Blood began to cover the floor and then his opponent was tossed to the other side of the ring where the Bulldog bombarded him with a flurry of blows.
Suddenly the ref was there and had to toss the Bulldog away and lock him to his side of the ring. The ref went into check the opponent then called the match.
I looked to Bella and she shrugged her gaze not looking at the screen. Slowly I pointed and she shrugged again.
"I didn't remember him being that savage…" She sighed.
"He normally isn't that bad… but he had a grudge against The Mountain." She sat down and we watched another three fights, his opponents in these fights were a female werewolf, an ogre male and a fawn male.
"His fighting style has changed… from the older fights to the new ones…" She nodded.
"He knows he's getting old so has less stamina than he used to... it just means that now he hits harder and faster." I nodded and she flicked on another match. "This is his last match two weeks ago." I watched with interest as he faced off against a vampire but my eyes went to the crowd.
"Is that Vox in the crowd?" She paused the file and looked then nodded.
"Yes…" I frowned.
"The Bulldog isn't one of Vox's fighters. What about the Vampire?" She nodded.
"Yes… he has a lot of vampires in his coven that want to get better and use the Phantom Plaza as a training ground. They also pull in a lot of money by spamming the ring with a lot of little filler fights." We resumed watching the match. I watched as the Bulldog took out the opponent and pointed.
"Look… Vox did it again… He did that at my match with Hel…" Bella nodded.
"Is he interested in the Bulldog too?" I frowned and looked at the still frame and pointed.
"The Bulldog doesn't wear a scent blocker so he might have already been approached by Vox…" She thought for a moment.
"Come to think about it… He did say he hand picks his best fighters…" I frowned.
"And when he can't get them, he sends hunters after them…" my mind leapt. "But the hunters that were after me also wanted to kill the Swift runners Kids…" She shrugged.
"Some Hunters are just opportunists… If they see an opportunity, they'll seize it." I gave her a look and she held up her hands. "I know, you don't believe in coincidences…" She sighed. "I'll pull in a few favors and see what I can dig up." I nodded and a sinking feeling settled in my stomach.