Chapter 1

I starred at Bill Compton; beautiful and still, as he glared at me. He could have burned a hole through my head with that cold stare but I refused to cave in.

"It's really none of your business now, is it?" I said, knowing very well that it was his business, very much so. He didn't move an inch or shift his facial expression. Vampires are as still as statues when they want to be. The effect has something to do with the fact that they don't breath, and is very unsettling. But I was mad as hell, and not budging on this issue.

Bill and I had been going at this for about twenty minutes since I told him the news. I was pregnant, and terrified. He was confused and nothing short of infuriated. After tossing a large oak table across the dining room in his house, he had calmed down enough to sit across from me. This was one of the few times that I wished I could read the minds of vampires, but on the other hand, Bill was probably not thinking anything that I really wanted to hear. I was starting to sweat as an overwhelming wave of nausea took me. I gagged a little, but was able to keep my composure, disguising the noise with a short cough. He didn't flinch. I was growing more irritated, after all it wasn't him that had something half human growing inside of his body. This was happening to me not him.

"Your silence is deafening!" I yelled. I was growing tired of the one quality in vampires that used to attract me to them. I couldn't read Bills thoughts, and the fact that he wasn't saying anything made me feel like I really was as alone as I felt.

"Who is the father?" he finally said through clenched teeth. Making a vampire angry is defiantly not advised, but being that Bill and I used to be close, I knew that he wouldn't hurt me…

"I'm not going to tell you. In fact the only reason I'm telling you that I'm pregnant is because I won't be working for your Sheriff any longer. And its not what you're thinking either." I said, knowing whole heartedly that I wanted Bill to hear it from me first and that I could have very easily called Eric and told him over the phone. "There is no more me-and-you, you did a nice job of ruining that, and if you don't want to be friends, then fine. But don't you dare make me feel like I've done something awful, or that I'm any less of a person because I'm knocked up, and its not your baby. You can't even have babies!!!!" I sighed. This wasn't how our conversation was supposed to go. "You're acting like a jealous ex-boyfriend; need I remind you that you were the one who cheated on me? That you were that one that betrayed me!!!" now I was getting out of hand, but to my defense, I was a little hormonal.

I could see a deep hurt welling up in Bill's eyes. I had never seen him cry but there is a first for everything, and I had had a lifetime full of those within the past 3 years.

"Sookie…" he said, as all of the angry drained from his face to be replaced by a look of helplessness. "I still love you. And I know that I am not being fair to you. I suppose that I had just always hoped it would be with me, although I am aware of the impossibility of that." He looked absolutely defeated, which was not a becoming look for the infamous "vampire Bill Compton". Bill and I had been through a lot together, and regardless of how hard I tried to hate him for the hurt he put me through, I couldn't help but have a soft spot in my heart for the first man I ever loved… physically and otherwise.

Just then I heard a noise outside. Something was rustling around by the bushes on the side of the house. I turned my gaze to Bill, who was already making his way out the door. I probed with my mind for any mental signatures outside, and could only feel one. It was a garbled mess of anger and plenty of other emotions that I couldn't quite grasp. Whatever was out there had to be some sort of Were-creature. I carefully inched towards the window and peeked out.

There lying in a huge lump on the ground was Quinn. Bill had obviously snuck up behind him and struck. Although it was dark I could see the steady rise and fall of his chest, and knew he was just knocked out. I bolted for the door, and rushed to Quinn's side.

"What in the hell did you do that for?!" I yelled at Bill while cradling Quinn's large head in my lap.

"Sookie, I did not know it was the tiger until I hit him. But what exactly would he be doing on my property?" Bill replied very calmly. I started to feel hot, and knew that I was either going to have to lie, or come out with the whole truth and risk further harm to the important person that was now starting to come to.

"Quinn is the father…" I said as quiet as a whisper. With Bill's enhanced senses, I knew there was no way that he didn't hear what I said perfectly clear.

"What!?!" He roared. His fangs shot out and his body contorted into what looked like the fighting stance of an ancient warrior. 'Oh shit…'I thought to myself. I believe that I mentioned earlier about not angering a vampire. This time I wasn't so sure how safe I really was….