Thank you for all the comments, I have a clear idea of how I want this story to play out, but it is always interesting to hear your thoughts.

As always, I do not own any of the characters, they belong to AB and CH respectively.

Previously…

"I'm not sure I can say that I would sacrifice my life for her, but I know I would do almost anything to protect her. I feel drawn to her, almost unnaturally. When I am around her, I feel content, protective, lustful, fearful, vulnerable. I want to take her in my arms each time I see her. I want to make her feel happy, I want to give her everything she could ever want and things that she doesn't know she wants. I want to feel her warm light envelop my entire being. I want to be surrounded by her magnificent scent. I just want her, all of her." I said honestly. I had never admitted these things even to myself. I felt naked, bearing my soul to Godric.

"Then you know what you must do." He said earnestly.

I knew. I had to win her heart. And in order to do that, I had to expose mine. I was a vampire on a mission, and I prayed to the gods that it wasn't a suicide mission.

Chapter 11 – Sookie's POV

I woke up to the most amazing aromas; I almost thought I was dreaming and that I would go downstairs to be greeted by Gran and her wonderful down home breakfast. Instead reality hit me like a ton of bricks. Alcide stayed the night with me and he had made me breakfast. First things first, coffee, I couldn't function without it. I traipsed downstairs, to find a fresh pot of coffee and warm greeting from Alcide.

"Good Morning Sookie, I hope you don't mind, but I sort of invaded your kitchen." He greeted me smiling widely.

"Are you kiddin', this is the best mornin' I've had in months." I replied. It was such a treat to be able to spend the morning with a good looking man who cares about you. I smiled as he put a plate of scrambled eggs, toast and sausage in front of me. I was in seventh heaven.

"I have to go to work today." I told Alcide. I know he wanted to protect me, but I really didn't want or need an escort/bodyguard all day.

"Sookie, I don't think that's a good idea." He said cautiously. I could read from his thoughts that he wanted to spend the day here with me in the hopes that we could have a repeat of last night's kiss.

"I have to go. I work from 11 to 7. "I said defiantly. I needed to work, my checking account was getting dangerously low, and I really didn't want to have to tap into my savings.

"Alright, but I am going with you." He said and I knew there was no arguing with him. I conceded but asked him to sit unassumingly in a corner.

Since I had about an hour before I was to be in to work, I decided that a long hot bath was in order. So I cleaned up the dishes and headed to the bathroom to soak. For once, I really had no pressing items on my mind and I felt so relaxed that I accidentally dozed off.

I woke up to hear knocking on my bedroom door.

"Sookie, you alright in there? It's 10:45 and I think you have to be at work soon." Alcide yelled through the door.

"Shit! I fell asleep." I yelled. I quickly toweled off, threw my uniform on, dried my hair and put on some make-up. I rushed downstairs to find Alcide waiting on me with his keys and my purse in his hand. Man, I could really get used to this domestic life stuff.

I got to work just in time. As I walked in, Alcide in tow, Sam gave me a questioning look. I could tell he was not happy about my companion.

"Sookie, can I see you in my office for a moment?" Sam demanded.

I followed him in to his office and I knew he was going to give me the third degree about Alcide.

"What are you doing with Alcide Herveaux?" He asked. I was surprised that he knew who he was. By now, I was used to Sam asking me twenty questions about my personal life.

"He and I are dating, he is watching over me today because we got attacked by Weres last night. No I don't want to talk about it, I just want to go to work. I said sharply. I knew I was being kind of a bitch to Sam, but I just wasn't in the mood to explain my life to him. Besides he's been acting all crazy since he met up with his biological family.

Sam gave me an accusing glare and I walked out of his office and went to work. The hours passed slowly and nothing really seemed out of the ordinary. I listened in to the patrons to see if I could pick up anything about rogue V fueled Weres, but I heard nothing.

Alcide sat in a corner booth where he alternated between staring at me all day and playing with his cell phone. I felt like I was being babysat, but at the same time I appreciated that he was willing to put his life on hold in order to ensure my safety.

Finally my shift ended at 7, and it was fully dark outside. Alcide and I took off back to my house. We had decided that we were going to watch a movie and eat popcorn. Since I chose The Golden Girls last night, I gave him the honors. He chose Transformers. Typical guy movie, but I'd never seen it so I was looking forward to our mini movie date night. It was such a normal couple thing to do.

As we pulled into my driveway, I threw out my mental net, just to check for unwelcomed guests.

"Alcide, wait!" I said quietly. The adrenaline was definitely pumping and I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest.

"Two Weres about 500 ft. away." I whispered as my body began to tremble. I ran inside to grab the guns, and Alcide followed me.

I reached the guns and gave Alcide the handgun while I took the shotgun. As soon as we were both armed, two reddish brown Weres broke down the front door. I shot one right between the eyes before he had the chance to pounce on me. I was shaking so bad, but I knew that I killed the son of a bitch. Alcide was just as quick as I was.

We just looked at each other and wordlessly dropped our weapons. I could hear my cell phone ringing, so I ran to grab it.

"Hello." I said as I was panting and quivering.

"Sookie! What the hell is going on!" Eric screamed into the phone. This was the second time in two nights that he must have felt my fear.

"Weres attacked us, we killed them." Was all I could manage to get out.

"I'm coming." He said and hung up before I could stop him from coming over.

"Shit! Eric is coming." I said which only added to my nerves.

"What for?" Alcide was pissed. He took it as a personal insult, as if to say that he was not capable of protecting me.

I walked outside needing to get a grip on the situation and to calm myself down. I had worked myself up to near hysteria. Alcide smartly let me be while I got my wits about me again.

I had no idea what Alcide was doing and frankly I didn't care. I was sick and tired of being under constant threat by V fueled Weres. I must have been in a daze because the next thing I know Eric was nudging me, trying to break me out of the funk I was in.

"Sookie, Sookie, earth to Sookie." He said in his most seductive voice.

"Hi." Was all I could manage to say.

"Sookie, what happened?" Eric asked as Alcide came to join us on the porch.

"V fueled Weres from the Fuck You Crew attacked us last night and again tonight." I said distantly.

"How do you know who they are?" Eric asked impatiently. I guess my answers weren't coherent enough for him, because Alcide took over and explained the situation to him.

"They have the Fuck You Crew brand. They are a highly organized pack of Weres that are fueled by vamp blood." Alcide explained calmly.

"Who supplies them?" Eric inquired demandingly.

"Rumor has it that it's the King of Mississippi." Alcide said.

Alcide and Eric walked into the house to inspect the corpses; I decided to follow them inside to assess the damage to my home.

I noticed that Eric was inspecting the brands closely. I heard him say something in his native language. I didn't know what he was saying, but I could pretty much guess that he was cursing. He took a picture of the mark on his phone and sent a text message. Almost immediately, his phone began to ring. I couldn't tell who he was talking to or what he was saying because he was speaking in his native tongue again.

As he hung up, he looked at me deeply and pulled me into an embrace. I was in too much shock to protest even though I could feel Alcide staring holes into the back of my head.

"Are you alright Sookie?" Eric asked caringly. The look of genuine concern crossed his face and it made me feel good to know that despite everything, he still cared about my well-being.

"I'm fine Eric." I replied, as I pulled out of his embrace. It was monumentally wrong for me to be comforted by Eric in front of Alcide, but I have to admit that he did make me feel so much better.

"You've got a good shot Sookie. You never cease to amaze me." Eric complimented. He walked away from me and he and Alcide hauled off both corpses. I didn't want to know where they were burying them; I just wanted them gone so I could start to set my house back to rights.

As I cleaned up my house, I thought about how bizarre it was to have both Eric and Alcide working together to inter dead bodies for me. Geez Louise, could my life be any more bizarre. I must have been scrubbing for a half hour before Eric and Alcide came back in. They were both filthy, bloody and reeked of death.

"Sookie, it's not safe for you here. You should come stay with me." Eric stated. He was probably right, but I didn't want to leave my house and I didn't want to insult Alcide either.

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm not leaving my house. I need to figure out what these guys want from me." I'd had enough of the Weres attacking me, it was time to go on the offensive.

"You are so stubborn."

Eric glared at me defiantly, then kissed me on the cheek and said, "Be safe Sookie Stackhouse." Then he left.

It was just Alcide and I, and to be honest, I was too tired to be a proper hostess. As I was about to go upstairs to bed, my phone rang. I was going to ignore it, but I was afraid it was Eric calling me, so I decided to answer.

"Hello." I said wearily.

"Sookie." I heard the caller say in his smooth southern accent. I should have let the answering machine pick up, because I really didn't want to speak to Bill.

"What do you want Bill?" I replied shortly with nothing but hurt and anger pouring through my voice.

"Sookie, please. I know I have no right to call you, but I need to speak to you."

"Well I really don't want to talk to you. Ever."

"Sookie, please hear me out." He said desperately.

"Fine, you have 2 minutes."

"Sookie, I know you hate me right now, but I need you to know that I love you. When I meet the True Death… when I meet my end, I need to know that what we had was real and that I loved you and you loved me. My biggest regret is not telling you the truth from the start."

"Why does it sound like you're saying goodbye to me?"

"Because I am."

"Bill, what's going on? What are you talking about?"

"Sookie, I cannot tell you, just know that I have to protect you and in doing so I have to keep one final secret from you."

"Bill, that doesn't make a lick of sense. What is going on?" I asked desperately. I couldn't tell if this was a ruse or if he was seriously in some kind of trouble.

"Sookie, I probably only have a few days left. I love you Sookie, please say a prayer for in in your church." He said and hung up.

"Bill! Bill! What the hell!" I screamed frantically.

"What was that about?" Alcide asked. He looked like he was pissed off and concerned all at the same time. I couldn't help but start to cry. I hate Bill, sure, but I didn't wish death upon him.

"Where is area code 601?" I asked as my hands trembled and tears fell from my eyes.

"Sookie, what's happening, you're not making any sense." Alcide elevated his voice and shook my arm slightly.

"WHERE IS AREA CODE 601?" I screamed.

"Jackson Mississippi." Alcide said. He was worried about me. Admittedly, I freaked out a little bit. But I had loved Bill at one point in time and I certainly cared for him deeply. Although he did me wrong, terribly wrong, I couldn't let him die.

"We need to go there…NOW!" I sobbed.

"Sookie, this is irrational. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what is going on."

"Someone is going to kill Bill, I have to help him. If you won't go with me, I'm going alone."

"Sookie, this is nuts, the bastard hurt you. Why do you give a shit what happens to him?"

"Look, I know you don't understand and I really don't expect you too, but I have to do this for my own piece of mind. Please Alcide, can you take me there?" I said through my irrational tears. What kind of person would I be if I stood by and did nothing while Bill was killed, finally killed.

"Ok, so what happens when we get to Jackson. What are you going to do? Do you even know where he is and who has him?" Alcide spat angrily. I know that I was operating on impulse and had no well thought out plan of how I was going to save Bill, but I didn't care. I figured I could just go to Jackson and start reading people's thoughts. Surely I would find out some information, right?

"This has to be connected to the Weres somehow, I just know it. It's too coincidental that the Weres are from Jackson and Bill is being held captive there. What if I hang around some Weres and try to read their thoughts, see if I can pick up anything."

"Sookie, this is crazy. You are going to get yourself killed!"

"Are you in or out? Either way I'm going tomorrow." I said finally and impatiently.

"Northman is right, you are stubborn. We leave tomorrow, but I'm on the record that this is a bad idea."

"Fine." I said and hauled myself off to bed.