A/N: Thanks for reading, and thanks to my betas rachel olsen-williams and MrsKroy - my betas and besties. :)

"Ow… Ow! OWWW!"

Sookie screeched at an increasing volume as she thrashed back and forth, trying with all her might to release her hands, squirming ungracefully in an attempt to extract herself from her current captor's inhuman hold.

"Keep struggling."

Her captor offered unceremoniously, giving no credence to Sookie's outwardly emotional response – which now included crying – while knocking them both over so Sookie was flat on her back.

"Stop! Please! You're hurting me!"

Sookie cried out – her Southern twang prominent as ever – apparently hoping her quick and frantic tone would make it sound like her words rang true, although I could see they were mostly a falsehood.

My child – her "captor" of sorts – would never hurt her, or ever want to hurt her; she knew it just as much as Pam did.

But my progeny wanted her surrogate sister strong – ready for anything.

The Queen had been none too pleased with Sookie's choice to go with me over herself. Both Pam and I had been not only preparing ourselves, but the Stackhouse woman for the potential fallout. Expectedly, Sophie Anne LeClerq was a bit petulant – a byproduct perhaps of being turned at a teenaged year – if not also a bit unexpectedly vengeful.

She had already tried to overrule Sookie's choice once, appealing to higher powers.

Her argument falling on deaf ears.

"They won't release you just because you're in pain," Pam admitted contritely as she loosened her grip, her head dropping in something akin to guilt and shame, "That'll actually make it worse, admitting your weakness, I mean. They'll… get off on it."

I could tell Pam hated that it was true.

And that, as the words slipped from her mouth, her human friend tensed underneath her.

Fear.

That was the smell roiling off Sookie in waves, manifesting in barely suppressed shudders, and causing her heart to flutter loudly at a beat akin to a hummingbird's wings. Visibly, she sought to tamp it down, to force calm into herself – stop the unbidden rush of adrenaline into her veins – but it was an expectedly futile effort. Even knowing Pam would never hurt Sookie, it was obvious her hackles were raised high.

As were mine, to some degree.

Although my placid façade would never betray it.

"AHHHH!"

The knee jammed into Pam's groin took my progeny entirely by surprise – and surely hurt like a motherfucker – causing her to curl momentarily into herself and away from the young woman otherwise pinned beneath her.

Slowly and deliberately, I began to clap – the sound permeating the concrete-slabbed space.

Startled, Sookie sprang to her feet and swung around to face me, her fists clenched and readied for a fight.

"Impressive," I noted appreciatively, vamping out from my hiding spot – my left eyebrow arched in unveiled amusement – my sudden appearance increasing Sookie's momentary stupefaction, "my child is not one who is easily caught off guard."

Offering a hand down to Pam, I pulled her up, positioning myself between her and her charge – knowing neither was a threat to the other, but secretly wanting to be as close to the human as possible.

I was still annoyed by my unexpected and detestable attraction to the blonde bloodbag – to the small human who had captured my attention, trust, and affection.

Chagrined that the breather returned all in kind.

To Pam, but clearly not to me.

"I'm going to go to bed," Sookie yawned with a hand half-covering her mouth, exaggeratedly whooshing air out in a fashion that felt more feigned than real, "Pam… I'll see you later?"

It stung my heart that she still worried she would wake up quite literally in the clutches of the Louisiana queen.

So much so that she clung to my progeny tightly – even in sleep.

The human woman's inconsolable night terrors had become a daily occurrence. In an attempt to thwart or stifle them – outwardly explained, for my own good and sanity – my child had taken to cuddling with Sookie when she should be subject to the sandman's whims, though often was not fully. But exhaustion, and deep sleep, would only finally claim the breather when I slipped into the room and whispered folktales in my native Swedish tongue while running my fingers lightly through her hair.

Throughout my disgusting display of weakness, Pam, loyal perhaps to a fault, remained thankfully silent.

Even as our tie filled with irritation and thinly-veiled jealousy.

Both hers and mine.

Those experiences broke my undead heart. But I couldn't stop – offering myself, my presence – to Miss Stackhouse, as much as it pained me, my progeny, and seemingly her. Sookie's nerves and hummingbird heartbeat spiked on days I stayed, although she ultimately slipped into blissful oblivion, next to her with my progeny spooned behind her, my arm wrapped protectively around her waist as I laid with her head pressed against my chest. I brushed it off, given how she nuzzled her lightly-freckled face against me, but couldn't help but wonder if I gained more from our closeness than she did.

After all, she only cuddled close during near sleep.

Did that even count as affection?

No. I knew the answer to that question was no, but I hoped she was warming to the idea of spending her human life in the company of myself and Pam. Not only because it was the choice she had made in New Orleans, but because I wanted to see her smile. It was something I had yet to see.

Slipping away before the sun rose, and Sookie woke up, tended to leave me at a disadvantage.

An outsider, a specter of sorts, offering attentions only when they could not be gleaned.

"Eric…"

Sookie breathed out tenderly, nuzzling her scrunched face further into my clothed chest, as she slept soundly, nestled between myself and my progeny.

Encouraged by her sleep-talking, I wrapped my arm around the human, resting my hand upon her waist, pleased to feel fat forming upon her one-time obscenely bony hip. She had been much too thin when she had come under our care – previously left without the most basic of necessities. Pam had taken to fattening Sookie up, which was a daunting task at best.

It had been altogether too long since she had been allowed food without strings.

Unsurprisingly, trust had taken some time to build up.

"Sookie," I whispered almost inaudibly – aware Pam could still hear me, "I will always protect you, min älskling. Du äger mitt hjärta."

How could I not tell her that she owned my heart?

Of course, she did.

I could not place when it happened, when I fell in love with Sookie. But it had happened fast, and once I had realized it, it had been impossible to ignore. Pam had taken to teasing me for it – endlessly – but in good fun. I could tell through our maker-child bond that she loved that I loved Sookie.

Because she wanted to keep the human, for always.

Not as a human, of course, but still.

"No! Nooooo!"

Sookie began to scream, as she sometimes did while caught up in her dreams – her curled hands batting against my clothed chest as if she was trying to hurt me or push me away.

I preferred to sleep naked without the constriction of fabric.

It was one of the many inconveniences I happily bore for the woman I loved.

"Shhhh…"

Pam soothed quietly, trying to calm her still-breathing friend's nightmares, slowly drawing her hand into Sookie's hair from behind to gently fingercomb it, turning the human's cries into tearless whimpers.

I repressed the growl that tried to escape my throat as I watched my child soothe the woman that I loved, knowing there was no threat there even while my instincts attempted to kick in. Ever since I had admitted to myself that I held Sookie in my heart, my demon had struggled to break free – to claim her for his own. He wanted to keep her forever, to own her.

Consciously, I felt much the same.

But I ignored my basest, and present, instincts – as much as was possible.

"Eri-c, don't l-leave me."

Sookie hiccupped quietly, still succumbed by sleep, nuzzling her face further into my chest she inhaled deeply – her breathing evening out as she burrowed against me as closely as possible.

I smiled, broadly.

I could not remember the last time I had done that openly.

Softly resting my chin atop Sookie's head as she drifted back into a deep sleep, I caught Pam's smirking gaze, and still unabashedly sustained my pleased expression. My child's stare was not challenging or teasing, but filled with joy. She only wanted for my happiness, as I did for her. As she did for the human sheltered between us.

This human… woman… Sookie was ours now.

Family.

Holding my love close, I imagined our story was going to be long, angst-filled, and full of difficulties, if the past had been any indication. She wanted me near, in sleep when she was most vulnerable. That was something we could work with. Trust would be hard won, and built slowly overtime, but the base for it was there.

Earning her faith, her confidence would be worth it.

Always and forever.

From this moment on, I vowed to myself that I would never let anyone or anything come between us. I would never let the world tear us apart. She was my mate, my soul, the other half of me, and that was a precious thing I had no intents to squander. I had lived too long, too hard, to ignore happiness when it stared me in the face.

Overwhelmed by that thought, and catching Pam's knowing eyes, I smiled again.

Yes, because of this human, nothing would ever be the same.

A/N: I apologize for taking such a ridiculously long break between posting. Since my last update, I've had a lot going on. I got married, was offered a new job, literally moved across the country, started a job that's turning out to be the reason people need stress balls, and then lost my baby-boy cat Max after 14 years and then more recently my wonderful grandmother. I'm hoping to get back into the habit of writing soon, but please bear with me - there's a lot of cobwebs to shake off here.