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APRIL

I love spring for all the obvious reasons I love the flowers bloo (which happens early here in Louisiana); I love the birds twittering; I love the squirrels sca acrossin the distance

No, just kidding But the late, la is the favorite season of olves There&039;sabout Weres, it wasn&039;t such a surprise to hear fro in theon azine, still wearing my sleep pants and my Superwoman T-shirt, when the Shreveport packleader called nized the number I flipped the phone open "Hello," I said cautiously

"Sookie," said Alcide Herveaux I hadn&039;t seen Alcide in months Alcide had ascended to the position of packleader the year before in a single evening of ht as rain," I said, nearlyit "Happy as a clam Fit as a fiddle" I watched a rabbit hop across the clover and grass twenty feet away Spring

"You&039;re still dating Eric? He the reason for the goodEric That sure helps keep " was a h I didn&039;t think of myself as married since I&039;d sinorance as part of his e isn&039;t exactly like a "love, honor, and obey" hue would earn one pretty well, va Eric co, that is - Victor, who really needed to die

I turned hts away fro practice See? That was better Noas hopping out of bed every day with (alone to church the past Sunday Positive! "What&039;s happening, Alcide?" I asked

"I got a favor to ask," Alcide said, not entirely to my surprise

"What can I do for you?"

"Can we use your land for our full-ht?"

I made myself pause to think about his request rather than autoh experience I had the open land the Weres needed; that wasn&039;t the issue I still oenty-odd acres around inal far h Sweet Home Cemetery took a chunk out of the land between h roo access to his land as well I remembered the pack had been here once before

I turned the idea around to look at it froles I couldn&039;t see any obvious downside "You&039;re welcome to come," I said "I think you should check with Bill Coestures of concern

Vampires and olves are not inclined to be buddies, but Alcide is a practical ot his nu to your place, Alcide?" I asked, out of sheer curiosity He&039;d toldTooth pack celebrated the full moon at the Herveaux farm south of Shreveport Most of the Herveaux land was left in timber for the pack hunts

"Ham called today to tellby the stream" "Oneys," the one-natured, is what the two-natured Weres call regular huht His farm was adjacent to the Herveaux place, and Haed to the Long Tooth pack as long as the Herveauxes

"Did they have your permission to caave the, so they didn&039;t think to ask h"

"Even if they&039;re telling the truth, that&039;s pretty rude They should have called you," I said "They should have asked you if it was convenient for you You want " Jackson Herveaux, Alcide&039;s late dad, hadn&039;t seemed like the kind of ular basis

"No thanks, Sookie I hate to ask you for another favor You&039;re a friend of the pack We&039;re supposed to watch out for you, not you for us"

"Don&039;t worry about it Y&039;all can come out here And if you want me to shake hands with these supposed buddies of your dad&039;s, I can do that" I was curious about their appearance on the Herveaux farm so close to the full moon Curious and suspicious

Alcide told me he&039;d think about the fisher yes

"No big deal," I said, and hoped I was telling the truth Eventually, Alcide felt he&039;d thankedup

I went inside withuntil I looked in the living roo forward to the wolves&039; arrival It would be pleasant to feel I wasn&039;t alone in the s together were good, Eric was still spending a lot of ti a little tired of it Well, not a little If you&039;re the boss, you should be able to get so a boss

But so was up with the vans By now, the new regime should have been firhly established his new role in the sches Victor Madden should have been fully occupied down in New Orleans with the running of the kingdom, since he was Felipe&039;s representative in Louisiana Eric should have been left to run Area Five in his own efficient way

But Eric&039;s blue eyes got all glittery and steely when Victor&039;s nas stood now, Victor had power over Eric, and there wasn&039;t ht Victor ht claim dissatisfaction with Eric&039;s perfor possibility

"I&039; paperwork to prove differently," Eric said "And I&039; it in several places" The lives of all Eric&039;s people, andhis feet firi his position inable, and I knew I shouldn&039;t whine It&039;s not always easy to ht to feel

All in all, soe At least it would be so new and different

When I went to work that day, I told Sam about Alcide&039;s phone call True shapeshifters are rare Since there aren&039;t any others in this area, Sam occasionally spends time with others who have two forms "Hey, why don&039;t you coested "You could turn into a wolf, right, since you&039;re a pure shifter? And then you&039;d blend right in"

Salad to have an excuse to stop filling in forms Sam, who is thirty, is three years older than ht be fun," he said, considering the idea But he shook his head after ain blackface Being an i That&039;s why I&039;ve never gone out with the panthers, though Calvin&039;s toldembarrassed "I didn&039;t think of that I&039;ain, not my business

"Ah, don&039;t worry about it"

"I&039;ve known you for years, and I should know more about you," I said "Your culture, that is"

"My own fa You know more than they do"

Sam had come out when the Weres had His h ti the revelation In fact, Sam&039;s stepfather had shot Sa surprise there

"Is your brother&039;s wedding back on?" I said

"Craig and Deidra are going to counseling Her parents were pretty upset that she wasinto a family with people like me and Mo and Deidra have simply can&039;t turn into animals It&039;s only the firstborn of a pure shifter couple" He shrugged "I think they&039;ll pull through, though I&039; to go with h I had an uneasy twitch when I picturedout of state with another o, the situation between Eric and elled into a relationship "You&039;re assu a Were as your date would be offensive to Deidra&039;s faht didn&039;t go over as well for the two-natured as it did in Bon Temps"

I knew from the local news that Bon Temps had been lucky Its citizens had simply blinked when the Weres and the other two-natured announced their existence, taking a page from the vampire book "Just let me knohat happens," I said "And coe youra run with the pack"

"Pack

"Landowner did"

We didn&039;t talk about it any ured Sa else to do for his hts - three nights when all the two-natured, if they can, take to the woods (or the streets) in their animal form Most of the twoeys - those born with their condition - can change at other times, but thethose who&039;d co you can take, I hear, that can suppress your change; Weres in theothers, have to use it But they all hate to do that, and I understand they&039;re really no fun to be around on those nights

Fortunately for me, the next day was one of my days off that week If I&039;d had to coht, the short distance froht have been a little nerve-racking with the wolves on the loose I&039;m not sure how e, and not all of Alcide&039;s pack members are personal friends ofthe Weres wasto hunt in your woods, there&039;s no preparation to be done You don&039;t have to cook or clean house