“Good to see you back Capt.!” Beers were raised as I was surrounded by not only my team, but many of the other SAS soldiers I knew.

My gaze landed on the small band of soldiers behind everyone and Griffin gave me a small nod and raised his drink.

I’d passed the physical and mental evaluations without a problem and tomorrow we were being shipped off to Afghanistan to prepare for a mission in a fortnight’s time.

I tried to join in on the festivities but I just couldn’t, I wasn’t happy. I walked over to where Jack, Gunner and Griff sat with a few of the guys who’d visited me at the pack. No words were exchanged and I knew that they had all heard from one of the three about what had happened; their looks of pity and sadness were a good enough indicator that they knew.

I don’t know how many beers I went through but the most I got was a slight buzz throughout the night when I should’ve been off my face.

“Is there some kind of werewolf mojo that stops you from getting drunk because Eve’s had way past what she should?” I heard Jack asked Gunner.

He snickered as I turned to glare at Jack. “Yeah, our metabolisms are much higher so our bodies run hotter and burn up food, drugs and alcohol really quickly; we can’t get high, fat or drunk.”

“That would suck.” Jack said. “I guess it’s good I still can.” He took another swig of his beer, smirking at me and I just gave him a sour face.

“I’ll remember that jab for next time you get shit faced; I still have that video of you walking into a gay strip club, picking a fight with one of the dancers and then taking his pole.” He sputtered on the sip he’d taken as his face turned red and eyes focused on me in a hard glare.

“You said that you deleted that!” He shouted.

I shrugged and with a grin, took another sip, but there was none left. “Oops I guess I forgot.” I stood, carrying the bottle to the nearest bin before heading towards the bar. I leant on it with one elbow as I waited for the bar tender, surveying the crowd. There was a live mic and many couples were scattered around; I, my friends and the other team were in the back and there was another group of around six college boys.

I felt a pinch on my butt and I growled but ignored it, hoping that they’d go away.

“Hey sweet thang, can I getcha a drink?” I huffed and rolled my eyes, cracking my neck and slowly turning my head to see one of the college kids standing behind me, way to close for my liking. Black hair, beady little brown eyes, tan skin, a few inches taller than me; he could’ve been mildly attractive if he wasn’t so sleazy.

“No thanks.” I tried to be polite, shut him down nicely but he just wouldn’t take the hint. The bartender noticed us and walked over.

“What can I get you?”

“I’ll have what this lovely lady’s having.” My fists clenched as he pressed himself up against my back again. The bartended shot me a weary glance at my expression but uncapped the bottles and slid them over. I looked away for one second after hearing the boys laugh and when I looked back again, the guy was handing me a beer with a chilling smirk. Cautiously I took it and when I raised it to my lips, I detected the scent of some kind of drug; the punk had spiked my drink!

How many other girls had he done it to?

Did he honestly expect me to drink it so he could lead me away and force himself on me?

From the smirk on his face I already knew the answer so I did the one thing he wanted; I took a swig. I knew that the drug wouldn’t affect me and when he tried to lead me out back he was in for a very nasty surprise. “Thanks.” I said with a smirk of my own before I walked back to the table.

I took a seat and rested the beer in front of Gunner. “What does that smell like to you?” I asked him. He gave me a puzzled look before raising the bottle to his nose and taking a discrete sniff. I could feel someone staring at me and I looked over to see the sleazy guy and his friends all staring at me.

A low growl escaped his lips and he slammed the bottle down. “It smells like it’s been spiked!”

“That’s cause it has been.”

“Tell me you didn’t drink any of it.” Griffin said.

I shot him a smirk and looked to Gunner. “I took a nice big swig in front of him; he’s about to learn that if you mess with someone, it’ll blow up in your face.”

Slowly a smile spread over his lips as he glanced over in the direction of the frat brothers who were still staring at me. “What are you planning?”

I shrugged and pursed my lip, taking another sip of the drink; I really wasn’t affected by whatever he’d slipped in my drink and it really made them think they were going to get away with it. “I’m going to stumble out back; they’ll probably follow. Let me have my fun with the one who slipped me the roofie; I don’t care what happens to the others, the way I see it, they’re just as bad.”

Gunner snarled and clenched his fists. “The bastards are planning to rape you; they’re gonna die.” He looked over to the team. He stood and tapped a few of our more trusted friends on their shoulders, whispering to them with angry gestures.

I stood, placing a hand on my head and looked towards Griff with a glint in my eye. “I don’t feel very well; I’m gonna go outside for some air.”

He coughed, hiding his smirk with his fist as the frat boys stood and exited the bar. “You want me to come with you?”

I shook my head and walked out door that the frat boys had gone through, acting like I was really being affected, stumbling a little and pausing at the door. I looked over my shoulder and nodded to Griffin, Jack and Gunner who all looked spitting mad.

They all gave almost an imperceptible nod and I smirked before heading out the door. I leant against the wall and watched as the group noticed me, their eyes running over my body. Slowly they approached, surrounding me and I stared up at the one that’d spiked my drink.

“Hello sweetheart, what’re you doing out here?” I wanted to snort and roll my eyes- like he didn’t know. I didn’t though; I simply let my head lull to the side as I stared at him with accusing eyes. “Grab her and take her out back.” He ordered the others, obviously the ring leader.

They grabbed me, my body jolting as they carried me out the back of the pub where no one would see. I felt their disgusting hands running over my butt and I forced myself to relax; they would pay for this very soon. I knew that this had been the fate of women and some men around the world and it angered me; the feeling of helplessness and anger, the hate and disgust, the dread, apprehension and panic. It was the worst feeling in the world and I despised anyone who made someone else feel like this.

They lay me on the rough concrete out back near the dumpsters and proceeded to argue over who would go first. Slowly I stood, staring at the one who’d spiked my drink, fiercely arguing with his friends. I took a step forward and another until I reached the group and tapped the guy on his shoulder. He spun around and his eyes widened as he realised it was me.

“How about I take you first?” I offered, supressing a smile at seeing his eyes widen in shock and then lust. He raised his hand towards me and just when he thought he could grope me, I grabbed his hand, pushing him forward into the cement, using his momentum. His shoulder popped as I roughly pushed his arm up and shoved my foot into the back of his head, grinding his face against the cement. “You thought you could spike my drink and have a little fun? You guessed wrong.”

I felt someone grab me from behind, though I didn’t budge. Letting the guy’s arm fall, I spun around and punched the other guy in the face with a massive amount of force. He staggered backwards, falling flat on his ass as my friends slowly stalked from the shadows. “See you chose the wrong girl to mess with- me and my friends, we’re not people you want to mess with.” I growled. I was so angry, livid, hateful and very, very vengeful for what they tried to do.

Griff, Gunner, Jack and three other of our friends- Cliff, Richard and Aaron, all jumped in and I knew that heads would roll.

-

“Hey where’d you guys disappear to?” Ali, one of the guys from our team, handed us each a beer when we walked back inside.

We all shared knowing looks before Griff accepted a beer and held it against his bruised knuckles. Mine had been in the same shape but were rapidly healing, along with the few other hits the frat boys had managed to land. All the boys, save for Gunner had a few bruises and their knuckles all freely bled- those college punks wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon that was for sure. And if they tried to file a report against us, they’d be forced to confess their attempted sexual assault and possession of date rape drugs- and we’d be long gone, deployed to Afghanistan.

“Just needed some fresh air.” I said, sitting down and taking another beer. “It’s all good now.” And it would be- I’d go back to my life and everything would be alright.

So why was it so hard to convince myself that?