A/N: Okay, so I am going to shoot for weeklyish postings, but no pinkie promises. Also I promise I am concurrently working on my other stories as well (like We Belong, *cough cough*). Thanks for reading, and extra special thanks to my betas rachel olsen-williams and MrsKroy - my betas and besties. :)


Sookie No Middle Name Stackhouse.

Birthday in July, and currently aged twenty-two human years.

Waitress for the backwoods, bar-owning shifter.

Orphaned at seven, and officially a missing person for approximately sixteen days. Although from the pile-up of mail in her box, the authorities suspected she had been gone much longer – upwards of thirty days. Considering how long Diane had been trying to stay off of my radar – having refused to check in in-person for the past several weeks – I was generally inclined to agree.

But, it wasn't Diane's absence that had called the human's presence to my attentions.

No, surprisingly enough, it had been my Queen.

"Now that you are no longer attempting to asphyxiate yourself, Miss Stackhouse, I would like for you to tell me what makes you so special."

I commanded coolly, gazing into her brimming blue eyes as she struggled to regain her steady breathe, willing her into my thrall so I could have my answer and be done with her.

Because Sophie Anne had all but refused to give it to me.

Teasing, 'wouldn't you like to know.'

"Ummm…"

She stalled hesitantly, chewing nervously on her plump bottom lip in a way that should not have been distracting, but was – causing me to wonder how it would taste if I tugged it between my blunt teeth.

Even without her delicious scent, I could see why Diane had wanted her.

Another time, another place, I likely would have too.

Scowling at the reminder I had been sent to fetch Miss Stackhouse not for myself but for the Queen, I snatched her up by her wrist, ignoring the small yelp that escaped her mouth as I lifted her so high her feet lost touch with the dusty road. Her other hand reached out, trying to find purchase in my buttoned up shirt – pain twisted in her expression, although she did not dare release another sound. Grabbing her other wrist, I dropped her to her feet, pinning her arms behind her back, and pressed her ample bosom against my chest.

"I will not ask twice, Miss Stackhouse. Tell me, or else I will rend you limb from limb. Consequences be damned!"

I growled menacingly – reveling in the feel of her quickly drumming heart – realizing that she had somehow thwarted my glamour, which forced me to resort to empty threats.

I hated empty threats.

They were so much less fun than the real thing.

"I'm just a waitress! Nothing special!"

She cried piteously, the certainty in her voice fake at best, as she leaned her forehead against me – her supple body wracked with sobs.

This would not do.

The lying… or her aggravatingly stirring emotional display.

"Miss Stackhouse…" I scolded chidingly, tightening my hold on her wrists – careful not to squeeze so hard I might cause injury, "we both know that is not true."

For fuck's sake, she had bested a vampire not half an hour earlier.

A fairly young and dumb one, but still.

"You are more."

I continued quietly – the threat still evident in my tone, but perhaps less pronounced – deftly moving so that I freed one of my hands without releasing either of hers.

Tamping down the urge to pull her closer or rest my chin atop her head, I closed my eyes for a few seconds.

Letting the night's events replay in my mind.

The deserted road had been Diane's chosen location for the exchange when I demanded she relinquish her unregistered pet to me. Wanting to keep this matter out of the Area Court, unnerved to have other see me acting as the Queen's errand boy – Did she not have a procurer for this sort of duty? – I had agreed. It should have been easy; Diane would give me the girl, I would end Diane, and then the girl would go to New Orleans.

I had expected the whole thing to pass without incident.

But apparently, the feisty Miss Stackhouse had not.

"Look. At. Me."

I directed tersely, curling my forefinger into the shape of a C and tipping her chin upwards – a gesture she attempted to shrug away without success.

"Diane said…"

She wavered, drawing that biteable-looking lip back into her mouth – her skin reddening as though she was experiencing a surge of embarrassment.

Had they been sexual with one another? Was Miss Stackhouse… shy?

I found myself displeased by both possibilities, and waved my hand for her to continue.

"She said… I tasted good – my blood, I mean!"

She corrected herself, her pinkish blush deepening to a cherry hue, as she tried again to jerk her chin away – my strong grasp keeping her in place.

The unhealed bite marks.

I had seen several adorning her throat.

Allowing myself a moment to really inspect Miss Stackhouse's neck, I turned her head slowly, from one side and then to the other, as I examined every bit of exposed tanned skin. Diane really had been quite thoughtless, leaving the young woman with several possibly infected wounds that scattered the length of her neck down to her clavicles. I stifled the urge to growl, my beast ignited by the display.

Bites around bones easily hurt the worst for humans.

From the look of it, Miss Stackhouse had been the unwilling recipient of at least two.

"May I?

I asked curiously, dipping my head to press my lips against her sweet-smelling skin – seeking permission to heal the worst of her lacerations.

Because the Queen would blame me if she saw her newest pet had been marred by such abuse.

I told myself unconvincingly, knowing my actions had little to do with Sophie Anne.

Trembling lightly, Miss Stackhouse tipped her neck further to the side, exposing her whooshing carotid artery. I eyed it with appreciative hunger – was she offering herself to me? – mesmerized by the sight of it pulsing underneath her pebbled skin. The sound of her heart beat rhythmically in my ears, the arousing noise increasing with each passing second, as her growing fear released adrenaline into her system – her anxieties heightening as one continued to fuel the other.

It was then that I realized my mistake.

Not that I cared to admit it.

Darting my tongue out, she inhaled sharply – tensing in my arms as she readied herself to be bitten, I supposed – releasing a relieved sigh as I lapped gently at the angriest of her lesions before moving my attentions to the others. Another vampire had obviously once done this for her, although I highly doubted it had been Diane. Perhaps after I finished up here, I would give her old nest a visit, to do a full clean-up – as a Mafioso would say.

Just in case, someone else also believed they had a claim to Miss Stackhouse.

The justification sounded unreasonably thin, even to myself.

"Thank you."

She said meekly, her face awash with confusion and gratitude – her sapphire blue eyes sparkling and hopeful as they peered up at into mine.

Fuck.

I had truly lost control of the situation.

"Make no mistake, Miss Stackhouse, I am NOT here to save you."

I snarled at her, intentionally wrenching hard on her wrists as I straightened up to my full and looming height – tamping down urge to wince as she cried out in pain.

"I meant what I said earlier about wanting to end you," I did not mean it then, nor did I mean it now, "but someone ranked far above me finds you very interesting, and would like to… meet you for herself."

Keep you for herself – I corrected darkly in my head.

Unsure of why I had tried to spare her the worry, since the outcome would be the same.

"No one will miss me."

Miss Stackhouse mused somberly, letting herself collapse onto the dusty, dirt-clod ground as I released her from my grasp – her watery eyes glassy and far off.

For the second time since I had met this young woman, I found myself wondering why she seemed to be almost hoping that I would kill her instead.

I did not like it – not one bit.

"Perhaps you are right, Miss Stackhouse –"

"Sookie."

She asserted confidently, while pushing off of the ground and to her feet.

Only this woman would have the balls to interrupt a vampire who had repeatedly threatened her life.

Mildly impressed, I raised my eyebrow, and waited.

"Please, call me Sookie. I don't think it's asking a lot, considering you're about take me to meet," she finger-quoted, obviously having bought none of my earlier bullshit, "some other vampire, who's probably going to be just as bad as Diane, if not worse."

She was right, more than likely the Queen would be worse – much worse.

I hated that Miss Stack… Sookie was so perceptive.

"As I was saying… perhaps you are right, Sookie," I amended, unexpectedly pleased by the way her name tasted in my mouth, "but perhaps you are wrong. Only time will tell."

She snorted in response to my statement.

Fucking snorted!

"Only time will tell… That's rich."

She mocked, mimicking the deep tone of my voice in a way I did not appreciate, as she laughed boisterously.

I for one was not amused.

"Oh come on, Sheriff," she teased almost playfully, bringing a lightness to the situation that threw me slightly off guard – truly, she was puzzling, "Surely, you can see the humor in telling a human, one who's been a vampire's personal decanter for the past month, that she's still got time for people to start missing her. Let's be realistic here; that time has passed."

It is a bit funny, when she puts it that way.

I thought to myself, letting my lip curl upwards into what I hoped was only a smirk.

Admittedly, I found Sookie quite… interesting. Not just because Sophie Anne had declared her off-limits, demanding she be fetched the moment it was discovered that Diane had her, but because she had a certain je n'ais se quoi. Humans were usually predictable, boring, and honestly not worth my time outside of a fuck or feed. But this particular one was different, markedly so.

Yes, there was much more to Sookie No Middle Name Stackhouse than what met the eye.

And I was absolutely sure that it had nothing to do with her blood.