Chapter 27

Sookie got into the Cadillac with Tray and they headed to Magazine Street and the boutique stores that lined it. Eric had already sent her measurements to someone who was making her gown for the ball, and it would be delivered Friday afternoon. She was excited to try it on; it was gorgeous, but it really didn't feel like her. But now she got to pick out a fancy outfit for Wednesday night and an even fancier one for Friday, and Maria-Star was coming to help. Of course, Jake and Alcide would follow along. Sookie couldn't wait.

Her wolves were waiting for her when she and Tray arrived. Tray found a place to park and Sookie was out the door and on the sidewalk, running at the quickest human run that she could get away with. She jumped into Jake's arms and he swung her around twice and fluidly passed her to Alcide, who did the same. She came to a stop hugging Maria-Star, and her guys wrapped their arms around both, one on each side.

Tray walked up, grinning. Alcide finally broke away and their handshake turned into a half hug. Tray shook Jake's hand and then hugged Maria-Star and kissed her cheek. There was a bit of chemistry there and Sookie smiled. She decided to ask Tray later on if he wanted her to hook them up.

Tray was glad to have the backup. There were a lot of vampires from other states all converging on the city this week and it was common knowledge that she was a telepath. Tray had thought that having to be a bodyguard for a vampire was ridiculous when Eric had mentioned it, but he had totally gotten it by the end of the first night. He just couldn't help but want to protect her. They had never spoken of it again, but Tray knew that Eric trusted him to keep her safe, and he took his job very seriously. They were never going to be friends, but he respected Eric, and he knew that the feeling was mutual.

Tray watched her with them. They were all talking at once and laughing. Sookie was holding hands with Maria-Star and Jake, and Alcide snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle and picked her up and rubbed his whiskers against her neck. She squealed and then giggled, pretending to try to get away. Eventually, he let her go. Sookie jumped up onto Jake's back and he carried her into the first shop. Alcide spanked her ass on the way by.

They calmed down once they were inside, at least for the most part. Alcide did follow her into the dressing room at one point, but she kicked him out, laughing. She sat on Jake's lap and kissed his cheek and pecked Maria-Star on the lips.

By the third boutique, Tray was red-faced and scowling in the corner. Sookie had pretty much given up on the stalls and was just trying on whatever Maria-Star brought her right there in the fitting room. She stripped down to her bra and panties in between so she could just look in the three way mirror without having to go back and forth. At one point, Alcide chased her around in her underwear while Sookie laughed. They stopped when Alcide picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Jake goosed her and she couldn't stop the giggles.

When she turned and looked at Tray and saw his expression, she glared at him for a few seconds and then gestured towards the front of the store with her head. She threw on her cutoffs and t-shirt and led him out to the sidewalk and around the building. When she spun around to face him, he could see that she was absolutely livid. He had never seen her more than a little annoyed. She was almost always happy.

Her voice was almost a growl. "What in the fuck is your problem?" As if I don't know.

She made sure to broadcast that thought to him. He got the hint and continued the argument in silence.

What in the fuck is yours? You're all over each other!

Her eyes narrowed. And? What's it to you?

Maybe you should be thinking about what it would be to Eric.

All of a sudden, her shoulders were heaving and her fangs were down and she was so angry that she couldn't stop shaking. And it finally sunk in; Sunshine was Vampire. A newborn vampire, in bloodlust because she was so angry at him. His blood ran cold. A fair bit of it went straight to his dick. His eyes widened and he was about to turn to run when she grabbed hold of his upper arm. She didn't hurt him, but her hand just above his elbow might as well have been an iron cuff. He was glad later that he hadn't wet his pants. She stared straight into his eyes.

Go ahead and record the whole fucking thing and show it to him if you want to. I don't give a shit. I'll tell him myself, although there's nothing to tell. I have nothing to be ashamed of. He knew very well going in that they were going to stay in the picture and what our relationship was going to be like and that, for the most part, it wasn't going to change. I don't have sex with them. We don't even fool around any longer, but they are the only family I have other than Eric, and my family means everything to me. I need to be myself with them. I'm not going to tiptoe around, worrying about every single thing I say and do. That isn't me. None of this is about sex. This is how I love. I would never cheat on Eric, and he knows that I wouldn't. He trusts me. So why the hell don't you?

Tray cut his eyes away from her.

Tray!

He turned back and saw that she wasn't going to hurt him, but she was plenty hurt. He tried to look away again but she didn't let his eyes go this time.

Sookie, that ain't fair.

She shrugged with one shoulder, dismissing his complaint.

You don't get to be jealous on Eric's behalf.

And he was, in a way, although he was jealous on his own, too. But he could absolutely not let that get in the way of the job he had to do. More importantly, he couldn't let that get in the way of his friendship with her.

She let his eyes go and he dropped them. She flicked her head towards the Cadillac. If you're going to be like this, fuck off. They can take care of me. They always have.

She walked past him and around the corner and back inside. He followed behind her with his head down. He instinctively flexed the muscles at the top of his ass and he could almost feel his tail tucked between his legs. His heart was finally slowing to a normal pace and he even managed a wry grin. He would still follow her anywhere. What had happened didn't really make him think of her any differently. If anything, adding a little danger was just more of a turn on.

He snorted and shook his head a little. She was so bewitching that it must have been magic, the way that Supes were drawn to her. But once you got past that almost magnetic attraction, she was a genuinely wonderful person, even if she was a vampire with a bit of a temper. They were stiff with each other for a few minutes but the tension soon melted away.

Eventually, she found a little black dress for Wednesday night that was equal parts sexy and flirty with just a hint of slutty, and a slinky filmy pale blue cocktail dress that seemed to cost about a hundred dollars a square inch for Friday. She also got shoes and fancy lingerie for both outfits. When she modeled the underwear, Alcide gave her a very wolfy wolf whistle and Tray draped his jacket over his lap.

Sookie had been eyeing the vintage store between each stop. Finally, finished her shopping list or not, she decided to pull Alcide inside because he was the one attached to her hand. Everyone else followed.

They all sort of broke up once they got inside. Sookie looked through the men's t-shirts but didn't really see anything that looked like Eric. She did grab him a pair of jeans in his size that were faded in all the right places. They might be a miss, but she hoped that they would cradle his ass just right.

She browsed a little more, grabbing a couple of t-shirts for herself, along with a pair of jeans and a turquoise dress from the fifties that she thought would look good on a dance floor. She wondered if Eric could swing or jive.

When she turned a corner, a sales girl was holding a gown. Sookie fell instantly in love. She bit her lip.

"Is that dress for sale?"

The sales clerk looked down her nose at Sookie. It had happened at every store they'd been in, and not just because they'd been a little rambunctious. Sookie still dressed like a street kid a lot of the time, even if the brands she wore were more expensive. The wolves still were street kids, and had technically aged out into just plain homeless. Sookie knew that she was being judged by the company she kept more than anything else. Plus her cutoffs and t-shirt didn't really hint that she had a no limit platinum card in her pocket, either. But she did. The woman needed to stop being a judgmental cow. She was nearly sneering at Sookie. She even sounded like a snob.

"Yes. But it also costs over two thousand dollars. It's a Versace."

The part of Sookie that had gone hungry for a lot of her childhood winced. It also rejoiced. She never would have believed up until a couple of months ago that she'd be able to waltz into any old store and buy whatever she liked, but here she was. And she only felt a little bit weird and guilty about it now. Her name was on the front of the card, after all, and Eric had insisted over and over and over again.

"May I try it on, please?"

She was focused on the dress. She was so excited, but all of her giddiness from earlier had drained away. Her eyes sparkled. Somehow, she just knew that it was going to fit like a glove. She realized that she was holding her breath, but then took one before the clerk noticed that it had been too long.

The woman had already dismissed her and was turning around to walk away and said, "I'm sorry, but paying customers only."

Sookie narrowed her eyes. After Tray had pissed her off earlier and had gotten her so worked up, she was already on edge and that much closer to going into bloodlust. She hated the idea of losing control and she was afraid that she would. The woman had really pissed her off, but Sookie was pretty sure that she had a handle on it. Still, she couldn't quite hold in a growl.

Jake quickly walked over and grabbed the dress out of the woman's hands and handed it to Sookie.

"She's trying on the fucking dress."

Sookie stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek and then almost skipped into the dressing room. Jake gave the woman a huge smile. She was suddenly very uncomfortable. Sookie kept a little bit of her mind in the clerk's head, just in case. She would glamour her if she had to, but she didn't just want to pull the strings and manipulate every single person she met for her own gain and comfort.

The woman hurried away to make sure Maria-Star and Alcide weren't stealing anything. Sookie hoped not. She warned them silently from across the store to dump any contraband, but they had kept their hands to themselves. And maybe each other a little bit.

Sookie got undressed and slipped the dress on and opened the door so that she could look at herself in the three way mirror. Her wolves were all there waiting, including Tray. They had been a little loud, talking and laughing, but they all stopped when they saw her.

The dress was blood red silk that hugged her like a second skin down to just past her hips and then flared a little, falling down to the floor. The slit up the side showed her leg all the way up to her hipbone and the neckline accented her very impressive cleavage. Every single curve was showcased. Jake broke the silence.

"Damn, Sunshine. You look like a blonde Jessica Rabbit, only classier."

Sookie laughed. "That is so not the Disney Princess that I had ever expected to be compared to."

Alcide walked over to her and cupped her face in hands. He gave her a soft but chaste kiss on the lips. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Sunshine, how in the fuck did you not know that Jessica Rabbit isn't a princess?"

Sookie broke into giggles and he kissed her nose and sighed.

"God, you're beautiful, though. Just incredibly, amazingly hot. Are you sure you don't want to throw old Alcide a bone? For old times' sake?"

She smiled up at him and then laughed again. "Dammit, Alcide, I even miss your stupid dog jokes."

There was no way that she wasn't buying the dress. She knew that she couldn't wear it to the ball — the invitation had specified period costume — but she would find something to wear it to. Or she could just wear it for Eric.

On the way to check out, she saw a beautiful black leather jacket that was every bit as smooth and soft as her silk dress. Handmade in Italy, according to the tag. She couldn't resist, no matter how much it cost.

They decided to spend the rest of the evening and night together in the meadow where the wolves always shifted and where she had been initiated into their pack of four. They all hung out and talked and laughed, and it was almost like old times. Tray had decided to stay and, once he'd gotten the stick out of ass, he fit right in like he was meant to be there.

Alcide was lying on the ground and Sookie was using his abdomen as a pillow. He was playing with her hair. She sighed happily.

"You know, I kind of could be a real Disney Princess. Apparently, my great grandfather is the king of the fairies."

Jake and Alcide looked at each other and burst into laughter. Alcide coughed on a lungful of pot smoke and passed the joint to Maria-Star.

Jake jumped to his feet and did a hand flourish and a deep bow. "Your Majesty."

Sookie laughed and nudged his leg with her toe. "Sit down, you goof."

He did. Maria-Star grinned and passed the joint to Sookie who pouted for a second before laughing and offering it to Tray. He shook his head and passed it over to Alcide and shrugged.

"I gotta drive." And stay alert.

It was quiet for a moment and then Alcide chuckled. "Your life kind of is a fairy tale, Princess Sunshine."

Sookie laughed and punched him in the chest and he pretended that it hurt before he continued.

"No, hear me out! You started out a little princess who was different from everyone else. Your family died and then you were raised by an evil… well, an evil real-mother, I guess, who was awful and abused you and made you do all of the chores. She nearly killed you one day and you ran away from home to try to find safety. And we found you and took you in."

Sookie laughed. "Instead of a bunch of dwarves, I got three big bad wolves."

Jake howled. Alcide grinned. "And then you got turned into a monster and found your Prince Charming and are living your happily ever after?"

His voice went up at the end of the sentence. She smiled. "Definitely Prince Charming. And I sure hope so for the happily ever after. But ever after is a really long time when you're both immortal."

It got quiet again and Alcide pulled up a handful of grass and sprinkled it on her hair.

She looked back up at him and narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you're in for it. You're gonna get it now, Herveaux."

She attacked him and soon they were all laughing and playing and wrestling, just like they always did.

Later on, Tray and Maria-Star had moved a bit away and were getting to know each other a little better — with their tongues in each other's mouths. Sookie was lying on her back, looking up at the moon. Her guys were lying with their heads against hers.

"It's nearly full. Less than a week. Do you feel the pull yet?"

Jake sighed, both in anticipation and resignation, and shivered. "Yeah. But just a little. I can shift and go for a run if I get too antsy."

Alcide laughed. "Or get laid."

Sookie laughed, too. "Sorry, looks like Maria-Star is a little busy."

The laughter died down and they all sighed at once. She reached up and cupped their cheeks, one on each side.

Jake turned his head and kissed her palm. "Do you regret it, Sunshine?"

She thought for a long time. "No. I don't. I definitely wouldn't have chosen to be a vampire. I hate that I won't be able to have a family, even though I swore that I would never have kids. I hate that I have a hard time staying in control. I hate that if I lost control, I might kill people and not be able to help it. I hate the politics and the limitations and being reliant on human blood. I hate the idea of being owned like some piece of property. But I love Eric too much to regret it. I'd even do it again. Crazy or not, I would pick him over my humanity. But fuck I miss you guys."

Maria-Star dropped down between Sookie and Jake and kissed Sookie's cheek before lying down. Tray hesitated for a bit before squeezing in on the other side. They all sort of shuffled around until they were all head to head, lined up like the spokes on a wheel.

Sookie sighed. "But tonight? Tonight I am just so happy I could burst. I love you guys so much. And tonight has been just perfect. Well, almost." She giggled and poked Tray in the forehead. "Jerk. And pretty soon I'll go home and get fucked into next week by the sexiest man alive… or not, who is absolutely madly in love with little old me. Best of both worlds."

Everyone was quiet for a couple of minutes. Jake sighed. "Yeah, but I really miss your boobs."

They all laughed and spent the rest of the night together in the meadow. Tray drove her home near dawn, and then she found Eric and did just what she said that she was going to do.