A/N: Charlaine Harris owns all of her characters. Evil genius that she is, she has created the Sookieverse for our pleasure.

Before we begin, time for a little reader stroking. How cool is it that you've added this story to your alerts or favs? Are you feeling our Eric as a hot-blooded Were? Well, grab your socks, ladies, and hold on tight, because you are about to meet Eric's third form. And this isn't the only time you, the reader, will meet him. (Disclaimer: Sorry, Eric the Were cannot be bought, sold, or bartered on this site. Management truly regrets any inconvenience this may have caused you.)

Chapter 10

Niall must have sensed the coming power shift, because in the few moments I had to scan the room for something to use to slow the emergence of my third form, I saw that his paw was gone from the hole he'd torn in the reinforced steel door. Then, in preparation for the shift, my vision began to dim.

But not before I felt the first tendrils of Meliel's powerful stasis spell begin to weave throughout the room. She'd never tried it on me. I hoped it worked. I snorted as the growing pain signaled my imminent transformation. My bones popped, preparing to elongate and my body mass began to expand to fill the new shape. It was just so much more challenging than scrunching my 6'4" frame into the smaller wolf body. I started to lose consciousness, my silent plea for my Demon Guardian Meliel to hurry, my last coherent thought before I passed out.

PPOV

Pam surveyed the now-emptied club, the Elven stasis chant reverberating in her head as she picked her way past the overturned stools and chairs, the harsh lights over the stage area throwing the rest of the abandoned club into shadow by comparison.

"Little Wolf, it's me, Meliel," she called to Eric softly, as she approached the door Niall had damaged in his furious attempt to interrupt what Eric had been doing with the True Human. That girl was such a trouble magnet. She really needed to find time to perform a cleansing for her, free her of whatever geis had been placed on her that led to her on-going drama. For what happened around Sookie could only be the manifestation of an enchantment of evil intent, perhaps with a sexual bent.

When Pam had heard the first sound of Niall's fist punching through the reinforced office door, a boom that shook the walls of the club, she knew immediately what her charge was doing. Poor Eric, he really had so little control. He sometimes acted as if he was still an adolescent instead of a Wolf that had reached his maturity more than forty years ago. Those thirty years spent in Wolf form had seriously impaired his development, she thought sadly.

Reaching the door, Pam had been certain her stasis spell must have worked. However, she watched, fascinated, as a small puff of saturated air escaped the twenty inch wide gap in the center of the metal. 'Almost a cloud,' she noted, distracted as the thing evaporated in the controlled climate of the Club.

Irritated now that the stasis spell didn't appear to have captured all of Eric's transformative magic, the Demon part of her was tempted to root into the ground, slicing through the concrete flooring, to draw upon more of her line's power to control this near disaster. The Elf part was just eager to tear the door from the hinges and make certain Little Wolf was held in check and hadn't harmed Sookie. She'd caught the strong scent of his arousal when she first entered the hall, but couldn't tell how far things had progressed. But she knew Eric was by nature a defiant Alpha and would have been incensed by Niall's interference with his seduction of the Human. No doubt the defiance had been the key element that triggered the emergence of his third form.

"Eric, I'm going to open the door." Pam remembered seeing the blur that had been Niall as he'd escaped the Club through the front door. The power surge generated by Eric's third form had been felt by all the Supes in the structure, which had led to the mass exodus. But he was her charge, and she felt no fear Eric would ever turn on her, no matter which form he assumed.

Calling upon her Demon nature, her claws emerging, Pam sliced into the reinforced steel door, and effortlessly pulled the fragile metal off its hinges. As she released it over her head to skid down the hallway from which she'd just emerged, she was enveloped in a wall of opaque air that obscured her view of the room. Looking up, she was frightened to see the darker boiling shapes rolling along the ceiling, small flashes of maroon and gold rocketing around the room. Maybe she hadn't been able to stop the transformation in time?

Ignoring her numbing fear, she pushed against the opaque air, and fought to where her senses told her Eric lay, sprawled, unconscious and in need of her help. She was momentarily terrified when a small break in the thick soupy air seemed to show the Human to be speared over his thighs. Hellburden! Niall would never forgive his son if the True Human had been killed. Reaching out with her Elf sense, she was relieved to discover Sookie was only unconscious. Thank Fenrir! She offered up a silent promise to slay a couple of goats soon and roast their entrails on her home altar, the George Foreman 360 grill she kept in her backyard for important religious ceremonies.

The very air still trembled with the force from Eric's partial transformation to Ishkur or Adad; she could never remember the whys and wherefores of the two names and knew now was not the time to puzzle it out. Bending down, Pam knelt and felt carefully over the leather sofa she remembered being in this part of the Club's office. Her hand, no longer a claw, was scraped by a sharp item she recognized as the metal edge of a high heel. She'd found Sookie's leg and gently tugged, realizing the Human was still attached to Eric. She didn't dare try to maintain two spells at once; Sookie was just going to have to hurt for a bit until Pam could stabilize Eric and then heal his female. She yanked, hard, and was rewarded with the release of the True Human, accompanied by a loud slurping, sucking sound, and a deep moan from both parties. She could only be grateful that they were both still unconscious when she unhooked them. She didn't want to think what that other sound meant. At least the Human might not have suffered as much had there been no lubrication.

Placing Sookie as far from Eric as the room with its many stumbling blocks permitted, she smoothed the Human's hair away from her slack face and then turned to help Eric regain control. She paused, uncertain now about the change in her charge. He was alert and sitting upright, eyes wide. Pam watched in horror as he straightened his arms then moved them away from his body, creating a 'T' shape, a classical move designed to pull more power into his form.

"Ishkur! Halt. No Humans have summoned you here." She noted Eric had grown significantly in size, and watched as the sofa began to buckle under the increased weight of the Storm-God shape he was assuming as he pulled in more power.

His voice was an unearthly invocation of the sound of thunder and lightning, elements over which he claimed ownership, but it was weak from lack of use. In the same ancient Sumerian tongue she had used in hailing him, he politely inquired with whom he was speaking?

It was far worse than she thought if Eric's third form didn't recognize her, his Guardian. She tried again, desperate to find the key to stop the coming destruction.

"Ishkur. All is well. The fields are fertile, the grain is tall. Return to your watchful state. You are released." Her voice, normally feminine and carefully modulated for Human ears, had drawn strength from her Demon side.

Ishkur nodded, sleepily, already preparing to return to his dormant state. The room could not have contained his form much longer. Pam noted the walls dripped from the moisture in the air and swayed from the incipient lightning at the ceiling, all representing the sheer fertile nature of this primeval being. Soon the sheetrock would begin to melt, the ceiling shift and fall, and then there would be no containing him or what he represented.

And with no more direction than the Demon's admonition, Ishkur closed his eyes, drawing into his form the manifestations of his power that threatened to destroy the room and break free of its confines. Pam watched in fascination as the space around the God became hazy, the currents in the room drawn to the corner where he sat on the ruined couch, and then a lightning bolt crackled, momentarily blinding her. When she blinked, all that remained was the once again unconscious form of Eric, far smaller even at 6'4" than the form of the God that used his body as vessel.

Ceasing the ongoing stasis spell chant, which hadn't worked very well after all, Pam reached out to the cursed twenty-seventh son and felt his damp forehead. He was warm, but appeared to be otherwise returned to his Human shape.

Speaking softly against his ear, she said, "Eric, we have to teach you how to control these urges. And you must tell me what about this Human is affecting you." He shifted over to his side, turning his ear closer to her. She continued. "But first, we need to hide you before your Sire returns to punish you." For that was the immediate problem, now that the third form had been successfully re-bottled, so-to-speak. Frick! Was a Demon's work never done? Pam wondered as she rapidly reviewed and rejected a half-dozen places she could stash Eric until Niall could be appeased.

Unable to think of a better plan, she moved swiftly to wrap the softly groaning Eric in an oversized tablecloth from the club's supply room, and then hauled him outside and rolled him into the back of his SUV, cursing soundly the amount of musical gear he'd brought with him. Returning at Supe speed to the inside of the Club, she collected Sookie, her purse, and scent-searched the room to confirm that no other items remained that did not belong there. Satisfied, she sprinted to the exterior, dropped Sookie into the passenger seat of the SUV, and with no real plan other than escape, turned the vehicle toward Druid Hills, where some of her Elf relation still maintained safe houses.

NPOV

Not five minutes after Pam had left, the head of the d'Varg Werewolves sheepishly made his way back to Clancy's, remorseful for abandoning his True Were son when he might have come to his aid. His only justification for leaving when he realized Ishkur was about to manifest was a weak one. He'd once taken one of the Primeval God's Human female worshippers for a mate, ruining her virgin status and pissing off the God in the process. No child had come of the union, but Niall was on Ishkur's shit list. It had been over a thousand years ago, but the Gods were a jealous bunch. 'Better to not throw it in their faces' was a tenet that had served him well over the many centuries of his existence. So, to save his own fur, he had run like a yellow dog with the other Supes. It was the sort of reaction that could get him removed from his defacto position as Leader of the ASCPPTH. He didn't want that to happen. He growled in frustration at his own untenable actions tonight.

Entering via the Club's back door and going directly to the office, he was relieved to see that the Guardian had cleaned the area of traces of his son and the True Human. If the Rogue Vamps had appeared this night in an attempt to snatch the girl, he did not want his son harmed trying to save her. He'd heard earlier in the day from his nephew Vane Kattalakis that the Wolf scientists might have isolated a reproducible super-antibody. If the report was accurate, True Humans no longer mattered so very much. He could save his son from most of the punishment he would be subject to for disobeying ASCPPTH orders, possibly even allowing him to continue to roam freely after serving a shortened sentence of celibacy.

In his mind's eye, he had a flash memory of the first time he had seen the small were-child Nemia had borne for him and how he had stumbled in wonder at the sharp gaze of the infant Eric with the thick dark mane of hair and searing sapphire eyes. He remembered immediately recognizing that Eric was that magic calculus of three sevens plus a fourth and knew this pure-bred son of his would have not just his Wolf form, but a third as well. Yet, he would not become a 'shifter'. Regrettably, Niall was unlikely to ever father another True Were son. There were so few True Were females left in the World these days. Not that it really mattered. Humans were acceptable breeding stock, in his book.

Satisfied that Eric had not been harmed and the Demon Guardian had done her job, he turned off the lights with a snap of his fingers, closed and locked the doors, and left via the same back entrance through which he'd arrived. He supposed Meliel had taken them to Druid Hills, where a few Elves kept dwellings. He'd call some of the Pack and have his son and the two females tracked, just to confirm he knew where they were staying.

He only hoped Lestat did not find out about this latest failure to maintain discipline in his ranks. He was the sort of unprincipled bastard who would make serious hay of the incident.

SPOV

There was a soft humming that I caught just on the edge of awareness. I jerked up, the restraint holding me down as I tried to scream…

Oh, well. I was in the front seat of Eric's Explorer and Pam was driving. How much more normal could I hope for than this? I chided myself.

"Pam, I'm awake. Why are you humming? Where's Eric?" I blushed, recalling that we had been screwing when Eric started screaming something I didn't understand and passed out. I had no flipping clue how I'd ended up on the front seat of the car, mostly naked and covered with some sort of peach-colored cloth.

"It's a good color for you, Sookie."

Did she ever offer up any decent explanations? Did any Supes? Was it genetic?

Acknowledging that my natural bent seemed to be anchored in formulating and asking wild-assed questions, I throttled back and began slowly, carefully, "Pam, is Eric alright?"

"Look over your shoulder, Human" she growled at me.

As I tried to twist around to see into the back of the SUV, I let out a major groan in sync with the pain that shot through my center and up my spine. Tears sprang to my eyes. "Oh, for god's sake, Pam, what happened to me?"

Narrowly missing a mini-van that appeared to be doing twenty in the fast lane, Pam made a left turn that found us doing forty in the parking lot of an Arby's before she braked and queued in the drive-through lane.

"Pam, I'm sorry, but I won't." My tone was firm. No budging on this point. I was sure of it.

"What now, Sookie? It's been a miserable evening. Make it infinitely better and tell me—what is it you won't do?"

At the sound of despair in the Elf's voice, I almost gave in, but I had principles.

"I do not eat fast food. Besides, I'm so sore…" I didn't really want to tell her where I was feeling the ache, and something more slippery…"I may not be very hungry." But I could tell I needed some fuel.

Pam looked at me in total surprise, then began to chuckle, finally shaking with repressed mirth after she saw I was acting offended.

"Human, you will eat Arby's or you will go hungry. I had to teach Little Wolf the same lesson. Had you no parental supervision as a small one?" She had slipped into a more formalized speaking voice, I noticed.

"My Gran and parents taught me excellent manners. I was also trained not to pollute my body with fast-food poisons…" I was cut-off by the server requesting our orders through a speaker beneath a colorful sign that offered large, full-color photographs of exactly what I'd be missing.

I hesitated. Hunger wasn't a good choice when one had been injured and needed to heal, carefully rationalizing my coming betrayal of Stackhouse doctrine. I blushed again, thinking quickly first of what must have happened to cause the injury. Then shivered, as I grasped the fact that Pam had to have found me with Eric and known that we had disobeyed her. Christ Almighty, I sleep with a guy, and then his sister, or protectress, or whatever, immediately catches us in the act. Not once, but twice.

Pam was staring at me, waiting for me to decide whether to starve or eat what was available. "Give me a number one." I made the request, shamefaced at my easy capitulation.

"Good choice, Sookie."

At least I was back in her good graces and no longer just 'Human.'

"Are you going to order for Eric? And will he awaken soon?" I'd tried to mesh the two thoughts into one question, but failed.

"Quiet. We will eat here in the lot and then find our way to a safe house. Are you still in much pain?" Pam was looking at me as if my answer mattered to her.

"I'm more concerned about what happened to Eric." My selfless reply seemed to have a good effect on the Elf.

"I've tried to heal you of the hurt from your mating with Eric, but you will still have some pain. He will require additional time to fully heal, but tomorrow during the full moon, he will be restored, with or without my spells." She had driven forward to claim our food, handing me the bags before she continued speaking.

"Eat, Sookie. Worry not about Eric. All will be well." My thoughts became fuzzy as I focused on the poisonous meal. At least I would have some fuel should I need a burst of energy to make a quick escape, assuming I could walk after the, err, mating.

Feeling companionable and slightly buzzed, I tried for some girlfriend-type sharing with Pam. "I'm disappointed that we didn't get to see Eric perform tonight, s'aren't you?"

She snorted and rotated her head in my direction. "You were lucky to avoid being torn-in-half tonight after Ishkun began to manifest between your legs." Her tone was so no-nonsense that I nearly choked on a french fry.

I was sure it was because my mama had often told me that french fries were the work of the Devil. It was so appropriate that I had been fed demon-food by a real Demon. I couldn't wait to tell Gran and the others the news, I thought, more weary and disoriented than I'd felt in a long time.

I didn't feel like asking Pam for any further information, including wondering if Ish-man and Eric might be one-and-the same fellow. I dropped the remainder of my formerly forbidden fuel into the bag, shoved it at Pam for disposal, and felt the familiar drowsiness overtake me before we left the parking lot.

Pam was shaking my shoulder, telling me I needed to awaken so she could check my injuries before we arrived. I stretched, and felt that awful tug through my core again, but I allowed her to pass her hand over me and told her exactly where it hurt the worst. Chanting some unintelligible phrases underneath her breath, I felt a small easing and gave her a grateful smile. She chatted about my care and healing for a few, then fell silent. I waited for her to continue, content for once to not ask any questions.

Watching my face for a reaction, she slowly explained her position. "I don't wish for you to sleep any more. We will be at my cousin's soon, and I will want them to meet you. They've never seen a True Human, to my knowledge. They will be very interested." She gave me what I would have characterized as a shy smile.

Guessing I was to be the prize goldfish at the upcoming meet and greet, I nodded my agreement. I would behave and perform as required. She patted my shoulder, climbed back in the Explorer, and we were off. The woods were now dark and deep as the undeveloped Georgia landscape can appear, lots of stands of tall, thin pines and only the occasional yellow bug light from a farmhouse set far back from the road.

I didn't understand much of what I'd seen or experienced tonight. I'd need all day tomorrow to recover if I was going to return to my job at Belks on Monday morning. Pam had assured me the soreness would be gone within twenty-four hours if there were no repeat incidents. No argument from me on that account.

We rode in silence for a few more miles before I turned to her, afraid to ask my question, afraid I already knew the answer.

"Pam, will I remember anything that has happened to me over the last two days?" Something she'd said to me on Friday now made me wonder if the Supes had always planned to wipe my memory of these events. It had been the most incredible few days of my life, and I wanted to remember it, all of it, even the pain.

"Not my decision to make, sweet cheeks. I believe the whole episode may need to be presented to the IST." She looked over at me. "Resolution may require a formal ruling from them."

"IST?"

"International Supernatural Tribunal."

"That's a mouthful."

"A very nasty mouthful," she clarified.

There was really nothing more to say. I closed my eyes and waited for the meeting with the relatives.

EPOV

I'd regained consciousness, wrapped in a peachy tablecloth from the club and tucked in among the musical gear in the back of my Ford, Pam at the wheel. The dim light from the dashboard hurt my eyes. My stomach lurched painfully as I tried to rise without being castrated by the collapsible microphone pole. Fuck, that really hurt, I winced as the pole stabbed me again. I was still unable to speak. Moving also proved to be impossible.

Pam heard me and quickly pulled off, which immediately improved my chances of avoiding another blackout. I swallowed several times, glad I had at least regained that much muscle control. My throat hurt, dry and sore.

I hated that fucker Ishkun. I shook my head once and immediately regretted the action. 'Fucker.' I refused to believe that I was also Ishkun, a freaking Storm-God with fertility powers, regardless of how often Pam had told me to accept it. I was a Werewolf. Period.

When Pam yanked up the trunk gate, I opened my eyes again, searching for my mate. Her scent was strong in the enclosed vehicle; where was she? I couldn't hide my disappointment she had not come to the back with Pam to see me.

Pam gave me a disapproving look, guessing who I'd been searching for when I saw just her shape highlighted by the overhead light. "Like you, she's too sore to move much."

Sore? Why? Then I remembered and didn't want to go there, afraid Ishkun had permanently damaged her. Afraid she'd never want anything more to do with me. Afraid I'd never to be able to look her in the eyes after…. Pam broke into my despair.

"Dizzy?" When I closed my eyes in response, she began to work on me, apologizing after a few minutes that we needed to keep moving if I could better tolerate the car motion now. When I made no protest, she slammed the trunk gate. Mercifully, the overhead light went dark after a few minutes. I began drifting, the motion of the car now soothing, and soon fell asleep. There was something I was supposed to tell Pam about a missing t-shirt, but it would just have to wait.

SPOV

Twenty minutes after Pam had tried to ease Eric's pain with what I now casually understood to be a magic spell, we turned-off on a dark gravelly road that cut into a really long stretch of those tall thick stands of pine trees. I'd felt a funny whoosh after we'd driven a few yards and then we were through whatever had been slowing us down. I looked askance at Pam, who simply shrugged, clearly not going to give me any information on what we'd just experienced.

Waiting for us on the porch of what appeared to be an average two-story clapboard farmhouse painted a light color indiscernible in the dark, were several tall shapes, clearly both male and female, but no smaller ones. No children, then, I felt rather than thought.

"Meliel, what have you brought us?" A strong female voice spoke in English, perhaps for my benefit.

"My charge and a True Human."

There was an excited buzzing among those assembled. Guess Pam had been telling the truth. I put on my best prized goldfish face, and made to pull my sore self from the front seat, if I even could. A new voice, harsh and unhappy, stopped me.

"Stay where you are, True Human. We need no pollution from your kind in our midst."

What? How could I possibly be the pollutant in this situation? I was a Pure One. Eric had told me so. And for that matter, who knew Elves would sound just like small-minded small-town folk, fearful of outsiders?

Pam spoke up quickly. "Zostariel, the Human is mated to Niall's son. She will not cause harm."

How did Pam know that? And what did it mean to be mated to a Werewolf? Not that I was prepared to complain if that Werewolf was Eric.

In spite of my pain, I realized in that moment that what I wanted more than anything was to be allowed to crawl into a soft bed and hold Eric close tonight before falling asleep again. And that was the extent of my ambitions. I projected this desire to the Werewolf huddled between some instruments and speakers, uncertain if he could read my thoughts or not. If I wasn't allowed to get out, I'd just crawl in the back of the SUV and stay with my Wolf. I heard an answering groan and knew he'd got the gist of it. The Elves had been silent, waiting for Zosy to decide our fate, soft bed or back of the Ford.

"Meliel. Enter, cousin. She is safe. You may bring her and the Wolf inside. Hurry before the Others smell you. The two you brought with you will be very enticing to them." A male voice had spoken up, overriding whatever Zosy had been prepared to say. I noticed he was sporting an odd, guttural accent.

Evidently Zostariel didn't like to be contradicted because her voice rose in protest before the male stopped her. "Fool. I read her. Otherwise I would not allow it. The Human is in love with the Wolf. Our males are safe." A gentle murmur swept over the Elvish crowd. I sighed at the thought of a soft, warm bed, snuggled into Eric, both of us aching from our…

'Oh shit!' What did that Elf just say?

A/N: We knew that already, didn't we?

In the next chapter, lots more action and a few long-overdue declarations that lead to some meringue. And did you catch that other trait of the Storm-God? More Ishkur-Eric to come.

I gratefully acknowledge beta reader VampLover1's thoughtful advice and assistance re: all things FF. If you find errors, I must claim them--name, clothe, and feed them.

Virgin alert. Don't forget to submit your entry for the Poppin' Eric's Cherry contest that runs through November 30. When the family drama becomes a bit too much over the T-giving holiday, take a break and crank out your fantasy deflowering of our favorite Vampire, Human, Viking, Club-Owner, Sookie-Lover, whatever. Just do it.