POV: Sookie
When Sookie woke, she felt someone spooning her from behind. Her body tensed. Everything felt sore. She ran her hand over an exceptionally raw spot on her neck. Between her legs was painful no matter how she moved.
Her heartbeat increased. She threw whoever was in bed with her back so hard he fell onto the floor with a loud crash. She searched for her clothes but couldn't find them, so she pulled the blanket off the bed and wrapped herself up.
The stranger held out his hands in surrender as he gathered himself off the floor.
"Darling, please calm down."
Sookie tried to rewind the previous night. Going to the bar. Being upset about being stood up. Drinking whiskey. Entering the woods. Lying in the grass. Then everything went dark.
"Fuck," she whispered. "I don't remember. What even is your name?"
She felt sick, her body threatening to retch. Was this who she was now? Someone who slept with random men from bars and never bothered to get their name? This time was even worse. She remembered nothing. At least he had stayed with her. But she wasn't sure where she was. His place? A hotel?
"Gasper."
God, he was hot. Like, holy hell hot. He should be on the cover of some magazine. His hair was a nice sandy brown, and his eyes were dark blue, standing out against his tanned skin. He was so muscular, but as if it were something completely natural, not something he worked too hard for. He wore shorts, but she could see the pure muscle that composed his legs.
What he was doing with her, she had no idea. She wasn't grotesque, but she wasn't even on the same scale as this man. She thought everyone who went to that bar was gorgeous. At least the ones she wound up sleeping with.
The weirdest part was that she could almost see this energy connecting the two of them. Was this chemistry? Was she still drunk? Dreaming?
Sookie, I told you I would be back.
Katherine's voice echoed in her head.
No, not now! Sookie yelled back. Fuck off, Katherine!
Her knees buckled as she clutched the sides of her head. Gasper came around the other side of the bed to catch her.
"I need to get home. I have medication I need to take."
"You aren't crazy, Sookie. I promise. Katherine isn't a voice in your head."
"How do you know about her?" She started to shake hard.
"Please don't be afraid. I talked to her through you."
"Oh no."
When things got bad, Katherine seemed able to take over her body. It appeared to have happened again. If it did, why would he still be here? He had to realize she was crazy after that. Was he also crazy?
Listen to mate. He will tell you the truth.
Katherine's voice was gentler now.
"Mate?"
Sookie had thought she asked in her head, but the word slipped out of her mouth. That word ignited something inside of her. She couldn't begin to define it.
"Yes. We are mates."
His eyes turned black briefly, and she caught that scent from him. She remembered it from the woods.
"It was you. That scent. I remember that."
"You smell nice too." He smiled, and she melted, moving towards him.
When she was close enough, she reached to touch him, running her hand down his chest. It was so smooth. So beautiful.
"I need to..."
He interrupted her by crashing his lips into mine. A strange sound swallowed down his throat. She could only describe it as a growl.
He pulled back.
"It's better but not over."
"What is better?"
"Your heat. It'll take a couple more days."
"MY WHAT?" She pushed him back violently and slapped him across the face. "I'm not a fucking dog."
"More like a wolf." His voice seemed to be joking, but she wasn't sure.
"A wolf?"
Yeah, me, you idiot! I've been trying to tell you this for most of your life. But you never listen.
Katherine's frustration bled through.
"SHUT UP, Katherine!"
Sookie roared and then picked up the lamp on the nightstand and threw it against the wall, channeling lust into rage. Then she started to punch the wall. A nice hole developed in a few blows.
She didn't usually throw things or hit walls, but she felt powerful in a way she never had before. Gasper grabbed her from behind, and she tried to fight him off. He must have thought she was insane.
"Damn, you are so strong." He purred in her ear.
That turned him on. She felt him getting hard against her back.
"I need you to calm down so we can talk."
She saw her dress over by the pool in the room, which felt weird. Why was there a pool in the middle of the room with the bed? If it was supposed to be a large bathtub, why was there no separate bathroom? Where was the toilet?
Sookie elbowed him in the gut and ran to grab her dress, making her way to the door. She almost got to the stairs when he was holding her again.
"Sookie, you can't leave."
Her body was heating up. She started to get dizzy. He felt so nice wrapped around her like that. But then pain took over, causing her to cry out. He reached down to touch her, and the pain started to subside. His lips were now on her neck, and it felt like enough to make her orgasm without him touching anywhere else.
That was weird, right?
"Come back inside, darling. It's not safe here. Someone might smell your arousal." He picked her up so her legs wrapped around his waist. "Don't make me waste energy fighting them."
"I'll fight them," she said through clenched teeth.
"I'm sure you could." He kissed her again.
It sent shock waves through her, and she gripped him tighter with her thighs. He groaned, and she smiled. She did like how he was affected by her.
Her mind was reeling, and Katherine laughed in the back of her head. All of this was her doing. She made Sookie do insane things all the time. She drove her to feel manic. Like she could control every man around her, push them to do whatever she wanted, and turn them into shadows of their former selves.
Sookie took her medication like she was supposed to, so how was Katherine here? Even if she missed one or two, that shouldn't give her the license to control her. Why was she here now?
Because you need me, Sookie.
Katherine whispered.
For once, trust me. Please. Mate will help us, and it will feel so good. If you don't let him, we could die from this. This is not the hot flashes you have been able to ignore. This is different.
I can die from not fucking him?
Sookie asked.
There are worse things to do to stay alive, don't you think?
Katherine was right about that. But this conversation reminded Sookie how broken she was.
"Gasper?"
They returned to the bed, and he sat down, never letting her go.
"What is it?" He massaged the back of her neck, and she found herself grinding into his lap, unable to stop. She could feel him getting hard, but he had impeccable control, which made her feel embarrassed that she had none.
"How are you doing this? Why do I want you so bad?"
"Cause you're mine." He kissed her neck. "I can make you feel anything I want, darling. And you make me feel everything."
He moved back up to kiss her cheek and put his forehead on hers. From that gesture alone, she couldn't put words together anymore or even hear what he said. His lips moved, but no sound came out from what she could tell.
Desire took her over, and it blinded her to anything else.
The heat built between them again, overwhelming and undeniable. What followed was need and instinct, the bond pulling them together with a force Sookie couldn't resist even if she wanted to. Time blurred. Reality narrowed to the feeling of his hands on her skin, his mouth on hers, the way he whispered her name like a prayer.
When it was over, she lay beside him, breathing hard and staring at the ceiling.
"What the hell is happening to me?" Her voice was small, fragile in a way she hated.
Gasper turned on his side, propping himself up on one elbow to look at her.
"You're a werewolf, Sookie. Katherine is your wolf. She's been trying to tell you for years, but someone suppressed her with medication and that silver necklace you were wearing."
"That's insane." But even as she said it, she knew it wasn't. Deep down, some part of her had always known something was different. Wrong. Hidden.
"You can feel it, can't you? The connection between us. The way your body responds to mine. That's the mate bond. We're fated to be together."
"Fated." She tested the word, tasting it. "Like, we don't have a choice?"
"We always have a choice." His voice was firm. "I told you last night. If you don't want to be mated to me, we can part ways. I will reject you. I won't fight it."
Something twisted in her chest at those words. Pain. Fear. Loss.
No! Don't let him say that!
Katherine's panic flooded through her.
"Why would you reject me?" Sookie asked, hating how vulnerable she sounded.
"I wouldn't want to." His brown eyes held hers, intense and honest. "But I won't force you to stay with me. You deserve to choose your own life."
"Even though it would hurt you?"
"Even though it would destroy me." He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "You're worth it."
Sookie's throat tightened. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. No one had ever put her first.
"Someone drugged me," she whispered. "That's what you said before, right? Someone forced this heat."
Gasper's expression darkened, rage flickering in his eyes.
"Yes. It's highly illegal. The doctor said you would have died without..." He trailed off, jaw clenching.
"Without mating with you."
"Yes."
"So you saved my life."
"I did what any mate would do." His voice was rough. "But I hate that it happened this way. I wanted to court you properly. Take you on dates. Let you get to know me. This wasn't how it was supposed to be."
Sookie studied him. This massive, powerful man who looked like he could break her in half but held her like she was precious. This alpha who killed challengers and ruled a pack but cried when he thought he might hurt her.
"Who would do this to me?" She asked. "And why?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." The promise in his voice was lethal. "And when I do, I'll rip their heart from their chest."
The violence in that statement should have scared her. Instead, it made her feel safe. Protected. Claimed.
That's because he's ours, Katherine purred. He'll always protect us.
"What happens now?" Sookie asked.
"Now you rest. The heat will come back in waves over the next couple of days. I'll help you through it. And then we'll figure out the rest."
"The rest?"
"Where you want to live. Whether you want to meet the pack. How much you want to know about being a wolf." He paused. "Whether you want to stay with me."
"You keep saying that. Like you think I'm going to leave."
"You might." His voice was quiet. "When you find out who I am. What I've done. You might decide I'm not worth staying for."
Sookie pushed herself up to sitting, ignoring the soreness in her body. She looked at him, really looked at him. Saw the fear beneath the confidence. The vulnerability beneath the strength.
"Tell me," she said. "Tell me who you are."
Gasper sat up as well, his expression serious.
"I'm Alpha Gasper of Dark Moon Pack. I've killed six challengers who refused to submit. I've executed warriors who betrayed the pack. I've conquered three territories and rule over thousands of wolves. Most of the supernatural world fears me."
He paused, watching her reaction.
"I have a terrible temper. I'm brutal when challenged. I don't forgive easily. My own father thinks I'm too violent. My pack respects me but many don't like me. And I..." His voice cracked slightly. "I killed someone I loved. Someone who was like a father to me. I didn't mean to, but I did."
Silence stretched between them.
Sookie absorbed his words, turning them over in her mind. She should be terrified. She should run. But all she felt was a strange sense of recognition. Like she was seeing the broken pieces of him and finding they fit with her own broken pieces.
"I hear voices," she said finally. "Or I thought I did. I've been in and out of psychiatric care my whole life. I take medication that makes me numb. I don't know who my father is. My mother's in a mental hospital. My grandmother raised me but never loved me. I've spent my entire life thinking I was crazy and unwanted."
She met his eyes.
"So maybe we're both monsters. Or maybe we're both just trying to survive."
Gasper's expression softened. He reached for her hand, threading his fingers through hers.
"You're not a monster, Sookie. You're extraordinary."
"So are you," she whispered.
And despite everything, despite the confusion and fear and impossibility of it all, she meant it.