EPOV
I wake to find myself alone in bed and search the bond to find both my mates in pleasant moods. I let out a relieved sigh and smile as I enter the shower before turning on the steaming water and letting my mind wander. Sookie has shown remarkable strength in light of our present circumstances and I'm beyond grateful for her continued optimism as it seems to be contagious.
Tonight, Sookie will be taking Pam and Amelia to her cousin's strip club to celebrate her witch friend's nuptials. I can't say I'm exactly excited by the thought of my bonded wife ogling other men, but I have no doubts about the devotion and love she has for Godric and I, besides, she deserves a night of fun with her friends to take her mind off her impending future.
Sookie and I came to an agreement about her guards for the evening as Rasul wasn't so excited to be surrounded by half naked men and screeching women all evening. I agreed she could give Rasul the night off if she promised to take her Valkyrie sisters with her and she informed me they would be more than happy to attend. I feel immensely better about this whole thing, knowing she'll be in good hands for the evening.
I exit the shower and dress quickly, anxious to see my mates before Sookie leaves us for the remainder of the evening. I find them in the throne room together; Sookie is curled up in Godric's lap upon the throne. I have to smirk as Amelia and Pam tease Godric about stealing Sookie away for the evening. "Now, you two be nice," I tell them playfully as I enter the room and see Pam giving me a smirk.
"I still can't believe you're allowing your bonded wife to join in on the festivities tonight," she tells me with a grin. I kiss the top of her head and smirk down to her.
"It's your responsibility to keep those dancer's filthy hands off our bonded," I tell her with a raised brow as her jaw drops. I give her a hard glare, letting her know I'm completely serious and she nods to me. "That's my girl," I tell her with a smile.
I approach my mates, kissing each of them in greeting as three women enter the room together. I look up to take in our visitors and a smile stretches over my face as I take in their pointed ears and claws, it seems Sookie's bodyguards have arrived. Sookie leaps from Godric's lap and rushes to her sisters with a beaming smile before the girls are introducing each other and talk excitedly together.
"Well, what are we sitting around here for?" Amelia asks loudly with a wide grin, pulling out a wad of dollar bills and fanning her face with them. "I'm ready to spend my last night as a free woman," she calls as the girls join her in gleeful cheers. Godric looks to me with a smirk and Sookie rushes to us, kissing us each goodbye before she follows the group of excited women from the palace.
Rasul enters the room then, shaking his head at the cheering and giggling women. "Thanks for letting me avoid that headache," he tells us with a smirk. "You have guests this evening, your Majesty," he tells us with a grin as Godric and I share a look of puzzlement.
"Hey guys, you didn't think we'd let the girls have all the fun tonight, did ya?" Tray calls as he walks behind Rasul accompanied by Jason and Alcide.
"What do you mean?" Godric asks as the guys grin at us.
"We're takin' Tray here out to the bar to celebrate his last night as a free man," Jason calls as he slaps Tray's back and I have to grin. We haven't spent a lot of time with Tray or Jason since that night we played two-on-two at Sookie's farmhouse, but they're good guys and spending time with them tonight sounds better than sitting around here worring about what trouble our wife's friends are getting her into. I shrug to Godric who stands and joins me.
"Well, let's get this party started," Jason calls as he leads us from the palace.
SPOV
This night is exactly what I needed to take my mind off Breandan and his followers, and with Eir, Nix and Reign here with me, I can relax knowing I'm in good hands. As we speed off into the night, the excitement in the air is contagious. Amelia pulls a glowing vial from her purse and hands it to Pam who wrinkles her nose.
"What's this?" she asks as Amelia grins.
"It's a little potion I mixed for you," she proudly admits. "It'll block your sense of smell, so you won't drain all the pretty dancers," she says with a smirk as Pam rolls her eyes and throws back the glowing liquid with a grimace.
"Good thinking, Ames," I call to her as my Valkyrie sisters chuckle next to me.
"So, Sookie tells us you're getting hitched to a Werewolf," Reign addresses to Amelia who turns in her seat to grin at us.
"Yup, he's such a sweetie," she tells us as her eyes sparkle with affection.
"Sure, if you don't mind the smell of wet dog," Pam replies with a smirk as Amelia smacks her arm playfully and the rest of us break into a fit of laughter. We pull up to Hooligan's and Nix exits the van first, checking out our surroundings before flashing us the all clear. We pile out of the van and head to the front door together. Claude opens the front door and his brows shoot up at the sight of Pam with us.
"She took a potion to block her smell for the night," I whisper to him and he nods to me with a sigh of relief.
"Welcome to Hooligans, Ladies," he tells us with a smoldering smile and I have to stifle a giggle, noticing his ass-less leather chaps as he turns away from us. "Please, let us fulfill your wildest fantasies," he purrs as he leads us into the club. The club is empty except for staff and he leads us to the tables directly in front of the lighted stage, bowing to us before leaving us in the hands of the grinning waitress.
We order our drinks, talking excitedly amongst each other as we wait for the waitress to return. The lights of the club go down as music starts playing loudly and Amelia shoots me a mega-watt smile as Claude introduces the first dancer over the loudspeaker.
A muscular man appears on stage, clad in a police uniform and he starts dancing to the beat of the thumping music. Nix gets up from the table and sits herself at the end of the stage, staring up in awe as the man continues his dance for us. I look to Reign and Eir who just shake their heads and shrug. I guess I should just get used to Nix's odd behavior.
We watch as the dancer slowly strips of his uniform to display a tiny g-string, swaying his hips to the music and exposing his chiseled features as we clap and cheer loudly. Nix stands and runs her hand down his defined chest and I break into a fit of giggles as he goes right along with her, pulling her against him and grinding against the Valkyrie seer as she shoots us a triumphant smile.
"Oh my God, your friend is a freaking riot," Amelia tells me through her laughter as we take in the show on stage.
"Nah, she's just really horny," Eir tells us with a wink, joining in our laughter with us. The song ends then and the dancer takes a bow with Nix before he exits the stage. Nix joins us once more with a huge grin spread across her face.
Another song starts playing as Claude introduces the next dancer and I blush hard as Preston steps out on stage. I lower my face to my hands in embarrassment, as if it's not bad enough I lust after my gorgeous fae instructor, now he's stripping in front of us all. I look up to see Pam raise her brow at me and I flush harder under her intense gaze.
I look up to the stage to see Preston wink at me as he pulls away his tear away pants, revealing his muscular legs as the girls cheer loudly. "You know him?" Reign asks me as I nod sheepishly.
"He's one of my great grandfather's friends, he's been helping teach me to use my fae powers," I explain as the table shares smirks at my expense. Preston continues his dance and once he's down to just a thong that reveals just how well-endowed he is, he leaps from the stage to dance on our table as the girls are cheering and begin shoving dollar bills into his underwear.
I blush harder still, watching him grind his hips before me on the table. Dear Lord, he is scrumptious and I have no idea how I'll ever be able to face him after this. The song finally ends after what seems like an eternity and Preston jumps down from the table, lowering himself to his knee before me. "I hope you enjoyed the show, Princess," he tells me as he raises my hand and kisses it chastely.
"Um, yeah, it was, ah, really great," I stumble out as Amelia and Pam are looking to me with shared smirks. He rises to his feet and walks backstage and I slam my face down to the table in humiliation as the girls share a laugh at my expense.
GPOV
I can't say I was exactly thrilled to be invited out by Sookie's brother and his friends, but I suppose I should get used to being in their company now that Sookie is a permanent part of our lives. Eric and I are each sipping True Blood in at a booth as the rest of the group is chugging beer and laughing and joking loudly at the table beside us.
I glance across the bar and see Quinn the Weretiger walk in the front door and elbow Eric. Quinn has a notorious reputation throughout the Supe world as a ferocious fighter, having won an impressive number of matches in the Pitts and I wonder what he could be doing in a place like this.
Quinn glances over to us and relief washes over his face as he approaches Eric and I. Eric shoots me a quizzical look and I shrug to him as the Weretiger sits before us on the bench. "They told me I'd be able to find you guys in here," he says as he runs his hand over his bald head in a nervous gesture. My mind is spinning, trying to figure out why this skilled fighter would be seeking us out.
"What can we do for you, Quinn?" Eric asks as he sits up in the bench. Quinn lets out a loud sigh.
"It's my mother and sister," he tells us with defeat shining in his violet eyes. "My mother is not well, mentally, and has gotten herself into some trouble with the Oklahoma vampires," he explains as I feel Eric's anxiety rise at the mention of Freyda's state.
"How are we to help you with this?" I ask him curiously.
"The vampire queen, Freyda, has taken both my mother and sister hostage for my mother's transgressions, and she told me she won't free them unless I can convince you to sit down and talk with her," he tells Eric with pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry for your family troubles, but I fail to see why we should help you," Eric tells him coldly and Quinn looks down at his hands as he begins to fidget nervously.
"Freyda told me if you refuse to talk with her, I'm supposed to take your bonded from you," he says softly and my fury rages through me as I reach across the table, gripping him by the throat as Eric and I hiss loudly, flashing our fangs at him.
His eyes are wide with fear as he holds up his hands defensively. "Wait, wait! I'm not gonna do it! I'm not fucking suicidal! I know better than to mess with a vamp's bonded," he gasps out frantically as I unclench my fist and lower myself to my seat once more, retracting my fangs and trying to calm my anger.
"Then tell us why you are here," I demand of him. He runs his hands over his face in frustration and sighs loudly.
"Listen, Freyda's fucking crazy, I have no intention of doing her bidding for her, but if I turn her down, she'll kill my family and then she'll just send someone else after your wife," he tells us as I think over his words, nodding in understanding. "So, the way I see it, if we team up against her, it's a win-win," he tells us with a weak smile.
"Fucking Freyda," Eric says softly as he shakes his head and rubs his eyes. "I appreciate you coming to us with this, Quinn, but I will not tolerate betrayal on your part. If you turn against us I will kill you slowly, understood?" he asks as Quinn gulps loudly and nods to us.
"For now, return to Freyda and let her believe you are going ahead with her plans, we'll get in touch with you once we've formulated a plan," I tell Quinn who nods and stands before making his way from the bar with a relieved smile.
"Looks like we have another vampire queen to kill," Eric tells me dejectedly as I nod my agreement. We stand together, saying our goodbyes to the guys before making our way to the parking lot and launching ourselves into the night sky towards home together. Freyda is a fool to think she can use the Weretiger in this ludicrous scheme to take Sookie from us. She should have heeded the warning of our bonded wife to back off, because now her life is forfeit.