Something good did happen. Sam called me at the end of my first week home and apologized. He offered me my job back and I accepted. It was the first step toward rebuilding a life without Eric. While I worked Eric was spending his free time with Terry Bellefleur of all people.

Terry was the other freak in town though no one dared say a word. His family was prominent and he was a war hero. He was tormented and damaged so to most people that made him as crazy as I was. I've been in his mind and it was a dark painful place but he was a kind person. He had always been sweet to me even before he went off into the army. To date he was the only Bellefleur that thought highly of me. These days he kept to himself and made money doing odd jobs in town. Eric joined him. I knew that my husband wasn't used to being idle or alone.

In the month that followed, I got an exercise in what it felt like to have no peace of mind. Eric was still living at home with me but he stayed in the guest room down the hall, if he came home at all. There were nights when he woke me and I knew that he wasn't himself. I was faced with the warrior that had once terrified me. He didn't anymore.

In those moments, when I knew Eric wasn't himself I felt closer to him. All that he was was bare to me. I knew how much he needed me. On those nights when he didn't come home, I stayed awake wondering where he was, who he was with and what he was doing. Images of him with other women tormented me.

I hated myself for caring either way because I shouldn't. I hated myself for missing him but I couldn't help it. What was worse, that enigmatic pull that his body had over me didn't wane. Every time he looked at me, I felt it like a caress. Every time he walked into the room, it was as if every facet of my being took instant notice. I began avoiding him. Being close to him made me want him and wanting him was the last thing I wanted.

Eric wasn't good for me. His presence in my life wasn't temporary, it was worse. It was forced on the both of us. Once he learned to shield how could he not grow to feel trapped by me? How would I grow not to resent him? It was best to separate everything about ourselves from our common goal; teaching him to shield his mind. That was the only time I spent with him and it was tense to say the least.

In the mornings, after breakfast we went to the same place we had used for our first training session. It became our "spot" to train. He was still struggling with the basics of it but I gave him exercises that he could do on his own. Whether or not they were helping him, I didn't know, he didn't say. Even on days when we trained long and I knew that it was wearing on him he didn't complain.

In those moments I could feel myself getting weak for him. The urge to touch him and soothe the mental strain was harder to fight than anything else. I balled my hands into fists and told myself that numbing the noise wouldn't help him, not in the long run. He had to learn. I wouldn't always be there. Reminding myself that everything between us was transitory helped me abstain.

It was another Friday night at Merlotte's. I was at the tail end of my shift when a very tall, very bald and very menacing looking gentleman walked into the bar. I used the term gentleman for want of a better word and because he was wearing a suit. By his mental signature he was a Shifter or a Were.

If he had grabbed my ass, it would have been less lewd than the eye fuck I received. I was a pro at ignoring unwanted attention. I went on about my closing duties; filling salt and pepper shakers, filling ketchup bottles and turning the chairs onto the tables. Whoever this was, he wasn't here to see me. He was here for Sam. It just sucked because Sam was my ride home. My car was still in the shop and I'd filled my quota on time alone with Eric for the day. I didn't hear Sam come out from the back but suddenly he was in this guy's face.

"What are doing here Quinn?"

The man laughed, clearly unbothered. "You're so touchy." He replied in a teasing tone but there was nothing blasé about his stance. "I just came to check out your digs. Could do with a remodel? Don't you think?"

"Get out." Sam growled.

"I'm just saying that when we take this territory, we'd upgrade this shack. It has real potential."

"We'll see who walks away from the challenge won't we?" Sam hissed. "Until then, get lost. I'm not asking again."

The other man threw his hands up with his smile still on display and did an about face, not before he winked at me. It was nice to know that sleaziness was a personality flaw that only human men had.

"Want to tell me what that was about?" I asked Sam during the drive to my house.

"Can't. Pack business."

I wanted to ask him questions but honestly I was afraid of the answer. Our relationship wasn't as comfortable as it had been but we were working on it. He had explained to me the ugly history between the Two Natured and Vampires. Their warring was as prevalent as the Coven Wars vampires fought.

Vampires had almost wiped Two Natured from existence. In was common practice for vampires to enslave them especially at the pinnacle of the Coven Wars. They were bought and sold like common animals. They were forced to fight in pits for entertainment and used as nothing but guard dogs during the day.

With the amount of brutality the species suffered at the hands of vampires, I suppose the hate was almost instinctive. It was worse because even now, the Two Natured in any state were second class citizens to the vampires that ran it. It made me wonder if there were any Were's in the Outer Wildlands. I didn't even have to question that they were treated better than Sam and his pack.

"You can keep my truck." He said once we got to my house. "I need to run off some steam. Can you come in early tomorrow? Delivery truck will be in around six."

That was a little early but I nodded.

"Sure." I said.

I watched him vanish into the night feeling concern that I could do absolutely nothing about. When I finally turned to head into the house, Eric was in the doorway. He was shirtless and his hair was wet, sticking to his back and chest. I swear he had to be the only person whose hair wasn't affected by humidity.

After a full twelve hour day at the bar, my mental shields had been at full volume. I felt like he had been around but I didn't know that he had been home. His presence hit me harder. Thankfully he didn't catch me staring. His eyes were focused in the direction in which Sam had gone. By the time he looked down at me, I had gotten my expression in check.

"Your friend is troubled." Eric began.

This wasn't the first time that he was trying to make conversation with me. However it was the first time that my interest outweighed my reservations. Be that as it may, I wasn't ready to entertain a full blown conversation with him.

"I know." I retorted. "He told me."

Eric sighed. He had clearly noticed the dig I had taken at him. "How much longer are you going to be angry with me?"

He couldn't be for real. I didn't dignify that with a response. When I tried to brush past him and into the house, he grabbed hold of my arm. Such a gentle touch weakened me right down to my core. It has been so long since his skin touched mine. His scent of sandalwood was so much richer.

The memories of being fully immersed in it flooded my mind. I could remember the taste of it on my lips; when he kissed me or gave me blood. I could almost feel it intoxicating my lungs every time I'd buried my face in his neck. I actual felt my body waver and lean closer to him but then I caught myself.

"I do not understand why you cannot see." He said. "Of anyone in the world, you of all people should understand my reasoning."

That was just it. I did understand and I hated it. Honestly, I wasn't angry with my husband anymore for lying to me. Looking back I wasn't sure if I could have refused to marry him after finding out that he was a telepath. I understood that particular version of Hell all too well to leave him suffering alone in it. Even if he had told me that I would never get my life back, I would have helped him anyway.

Instead he had done the one thing that my telepathy had protected me from my entire life, he had taken advantage of my kindness. He had abused my trust. I had given him both and so much more of me. I understood his desperation in that moment but he'd had plenty of chances to come clean with me and he hadn't.

Oddly, that wasn't what hurt the most. I wanted to be with someone I couldn't read and in a way I got that wish. I've wished to be normal so much that I knew that that would happen if I couldn't read the minds of those around me. That wasn't what hurt. Heck, it wasn't even the fact that Eric had refused to apologize. No.

Eric had proven to me in the worse way what a town full of people had been thinking about me since I was a child. That, no one wanted me; they only had their own misguided uses for me. I had given him the power to hurt me and he had. He had told me he loved me and I knew for a fact that he didn't. He might have confused his need for love but I never would. He couldn't love me, not if he could so easily lie to me. Really what did he know about me anyway? When I subtracted telepathy from our relationship, what was left? Nothing.

During the first week, I'd been ensconced in the Wild. I hadn't had any time to process the goings on around me. I had been fully immersed in an entirely different way of life that I had shared with him. It really had been a dream and now that was gone too. Sex and the undivided attention of the first man that paid me any mind and I'd been ready to give up everything. I thought I'd been in love. It wasn't love. I refused to believe that I was that stupid.

"It's not about me understanding." I said. "It's about trust and you no longer have mine."

He nodded.

"You are Wildling. You cannot involve yourself in whatever conflict plagues your friend."

"I know."

I knew that, but having him remind me only annoyed me. I shrugged out from under his hold and walked into the house. This time he didn't stop me. He also didn't follow me. Long after I had settled into bed, he hadn't returned. Like every other night when he didn't come home, I couldn't help but wonder about him. Tonight though, my mind wondered to a different time, when being close to him had felt as natural as breathing. It felt like so long ago. I couldn't help missing him any more than I could help the tears that rolled down into my ears.

Getting to the bar the next day was difficult. I'd slept three hours and I was missing every minute of sleep that I should have had. Ignoring the lack of vampire presence in the house, I grabbed a cup of coffee and went on about my day. This was my life now. It was the life I wanted. I couldn't allow Eric or anyone else dictate my happiness.

The drive to the bar was short but I barely noticed it with my thoughts in a snarl. That was why it took me longer than it should to notice the vast abundance of fuzzy minds that surrounded the bar. I knew that I should turn around. I had told Eric that I would. I was Wildling and I should avoid conflict at all costs but Sam was my friend. He was in trouble and it felt wrong to just leave him.