True Lifemates

Eric finds love in an unexpected place. Sookie's out of the picture, but could someone else bring him happiness? If you want Sookie and Eric together, this story may not be for you. But if you're an Eric fan who wants him to find someone who'll appreciate him – you might be very happy with this story. Set after DAG. AU/OC Eric and OC…

Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris owns these characters (Eric, Pam and Sookie). I own Maria and her buddies…

EPOV

I'm not sure exactly when I realized that Sookie just wasn't the one for me. I tried, through the bond, to make it work but she was just too opposed to my lifestyle and the ways of the vampire to ever really be happy with me.

I, too, was growing tired of her childish responses to my desire to help her. When she said she did not want to go to my house for protection during the fairy war, I knew then that she could never understand me and I could never understand her. I wasn't trying to take away her autonomy; I only wanted to keep her safe. But her stubbornness and fear kept her from doing the right thing, which ended up nearly getting her killed.

She also had always had an eye for the other men in her life, which was not something that was pleasant to experience through the bond. I finally came to the painful conclusion that we would be better as friends, the same as Pam and I.

While we would remain bonded to a degree, time would lessen the bond and would act as a way to enhance the friendship. As long as the bonded and her/his vampire were friendly, the bond was easier to deal with. Things get ugly when the bonded begins to hate the vampire. Luckily, Sookie was mature enough to come to an agreement with me regarding our relationship, so while I missed her I knew we were doing the right thing.

I continued my daily work at Fangtasia, enthralling the vermin, as Pam so colorfully put it. But I knew that I was slowly growing more and more dissatisfied with life. I had been deeply disappointed by Sookie, and wondered if there would ever again be a human that I could relate to.

The other vampires were often just as immature and emotionally stunted as humans, only to a lesser degree. Still, not many were as old as me, and that fact was one that was repeatedly drilled into my head with every nonsensical thing the vampires in my bar would say.

Pam, of course, was the exception. She was wise for her young age, and had been wise even as a human. Without her companionship, I am not sure that I wouldn't have met the sun long ago.

Still, I grew restless. I had a hope deep in my heart, which I would never admit to anyone, that my lifemate was somewhere out there waiting for me. In my long life, I'd seen many ancient vampires acquire lifemates.

Legend has it that a vampire must be quite old for a lifemates to show up, the ancients have said that having a lifemate requires great maturity and skill at survival. Once the vampire and lifemate bond, the loss of either the lifemate or vampire would cause the destruction of the other. Hence the need for strong survival skills as this would keep the pair safe.

Now that I am 1,000 years old I hoped that a lifemate would come along my way soon. I had thought that person might be Sookie, but deep down I knew it wasn't. I had heard through the ancients that this person would be readily apparent; that a light appears to shine from within them that is only visible to the vampire to which they are fated. I did not see this light, but I had thought that perhaps it was only a metaphor, as she did look like a bright spot in such a dark place. Alas, I was wrong.

I had also neglected to remember the little fact that the lifemate often smells a bit like the vampire they are destined to be with. This was another evolutionary trait that kept the lifemate safe from other vampires. To the untrained nose, the smell was similar to the one that was given off when a human mated with a vampire and had shared blood.

So, I continue my days. Bored beyond the worst boredom. Waiting for the seemingly impossible.

MPOV

Maria was crazy…she had to be, she told herself, to be attempting to earn a PhD while raising two young children. But, if she could admit to herself that a part of her loved the pressure and excitement of living such a crazy lifestyle. She knew that if she got too bored, bad things would happen. The last time she got bored, she numbed out the feeling with drugs, she didn't want that to happen again. So, away she toiled, complaining at times, but secretly loving the odd lifestyle that was "Graduate School".

A few weeks ago, she and a few of her fellow students took the comprehensive exams that are required in order to move on in the program. These exams were the stuff of legend and many frightened graduate students huddled around the coffee shop tables telling tales of the horrible exams.

"Did you hear that Melanie failed the exams? She studied for months and then just went blank when she got the test in front of her!"

"Did you hear about Jane, she cried so hard during the test that she had to be removed and taken to the Psych ward!"

Of course, many of these stories were gross exaggerations, but they made them all feel better to know they weren't alone in feeling overwhelmed.

The day the Maria got the results of the exam were very exciting. She had passed with honors and was ready to celebrate.

"Let's go out!" one of the girls, Regina, said.

"I'll have to get a babysitter, but if we stay close to my house, I'll be able to stay out longer" Maria stated slyly. "Where will we go?"

"Hey, there's a new bar in my neighborhood. I think it's a vampire bar, but we can still go there, right?" Maria asked.

"I think so." Regina replied, "If vampires want equal rights, surely they treat humans with the same respect."

"One would think so…"Maria said, "if we're wrong and get a bad vibe, we can always go elsewhere."

Maria was truly over the moon. Not only did she pass comprehensive exams with honors, but now she gets to have a rare evening hanging out with the girls from the program. She decided to buy a new outfit to reward herself and to have something extra special to wear on her evening out.

Once she was home after shopping and picking up the kids from school. She began getting ready. Her mother was due to pick up the kids soon. Turns out her mother wanted to take the kids to her house, so the kids could swim so the group could have gone to another bar.

However, Maria was rather intrigued by the prospect of going to a vampire bar for the first time. There were a few vampires at her university, but she's never spent a lot of time with them. Prior to the Great Revelation she had been obsessed with vampire novels. She began with the great Anne Rice and slowly moved through a variety of vampire books.

Eventually she went straight for the smut and enjoyed the hell out of a good vampire romance novel. The cheesier the book, the better. She decided it was her way of coping with the stress of graduate school and allowed herself the little diversion.

"Mommy, why do you have to go out?" her little boy asked.

"Adam, Mommy sometimes needs to go out with her friends. I don't do it very often, and I'm celebrating doing well on my test" she replied.

"You won your test mama? Yay!!!" Maria laughed at her son's enthusiasm and odd way of phrasing things. He was so sweet and caring; she wasn't quite sure what she had done to deserve such great kids. Kerri, her daughter, was too young to speak, but she was equally loving and thoughtful.

She had a brief flash of guilt about leaving them to party with her friends, but pushed it aside. She rarely went out and had no social life. Her husband left during her first year of grad school, saying he couldn't handle the pressure. Truth was, he wanted to bring home the bacon and wanted her to stay home and fry it up.

Ding dong

"Gramma is here, kids" Maria said to the two little ones. 'And I'm going to finally have some fun with my girls', she thought to herself.