POV: Gasper
It felt like there were no words Gasper could say to get through to Sookie. Her walls were up all the time, and she questioned everything. The only time he could look into her mind was when she was asleep, and even then, it was tough. It was so chaotic. How she was able to process any thoughts was beyond him. They had been going back and forth on everything for almost a week. He had run out of words.
"Let me try to talk to her, Gasper."
Dolly offered over dinner that night. Another dinner Sookie would not attend.
"I'm not sure what good that will do, Dolly." He threw up his hands at her. "What could you say that I haven't?"
"You are a werewolf and have known it your whole life. You are an alpha, which makes your life much more complicated than a typical were, so you are the perfect person to fill her in on the details of our kind. But you aren't a she-wolf."
Gasper rolled his eyes at her.
"I have known quite a few of them."
Dolly smiled at him, the smile she had when she thought he was being an idiot. It was on her face a lot these days.
"When I was fourteen and went into heat, it was the most horrifying, embarrassing experience of my life."
"What? Why?"
"I spent five days having to hug you, Jamie, or Dad in a pool of icy water so I didn't go off and get raped by some unmated wolf. Or I didn't seduce one. Or die. If I didn't have the three of you, I needed to be..." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "I needed to mate with anyone not to die. It was humiliating."
She shuddered, thinking of it. Gasper would do it again for her a hundred times over. It was his job to keep her safe and any other she-wolf who was suffering.
"Alphas go into heat early quite often because your wolf shows up. I don't see why that is humiliating."
It was a natural process. Every she-wolf, at some point, went through it. Maybe not so early, and usually only when they got a mate, but it was inevitable.
"Gasper, you are proving my point. Imagine having no idea why you are suddenly open to mating with anything that walks, and your body feels like it's burning? It's cruel that no one told her about any of this. It's almost unbelievable."
"Sure is."
Sometimes, he was dense. It finally made sense that he could never really help her understand this the way Dolly could.
"Think of it this way. She-wolves are constantly told how important purity is. All you males get to be mansluts, and no one bats an eye. But if you find your mate and the she-wolf isn't a virgin, you guys lose your mind."
"Exactly why you don't sleep with other pack members you aren't mated to. And for the record, I never did."
Azreal was getting annoyed at her implication that they were sleeping around.
"You know you are the exception because Azreal fusses over it. But if you want to have fun when you are young and unmated, you have to sleep with someone. This means some of the she-wolves aren't virgins when mated. And then they are called sluts or used. No one calls you names or talks about how you aren't pure."
"What is your point?"
Gasper hated that she was right, but this seemed to be a tangent. He wasn't one hundred percent sure if Sookie had been a virgin or not. There had been too much going on for him to register it or even care. It wasn't that he would have rejected her if he detected any evidence otherwise, but he wouldn't have liked it.
"My point is, that girl thinks she is a slut for how she acted, and you'll see her as such. On top of it, she thinks you only want her because of some magical pull she doesn't understand. I think she wants to be loved."
"I do love her!" He growled at her.
"Just let me talk to her. I'm sure everything I tell her will be exactly what you would say, what you have said. But I think she will hear it from me even though she didn't hear it from you."
"Fine," he said with a slight growl, "but the rule still applies. I'm not exposing her to anyone else yet. Not until she understands."
"I promise I will break no rules, Alpha."
Then he flipped her off, and she laughed at him as she went to talk to her.
Gasper prayed she would be successful.
He sat at the dining table alone, pushing food around his plate without appetite. The pack house buzzed with activity around him. Wolves coming and going, conversations floating through the halls, the sound of pups playing in the common areas. All of it felt hollow without Sookie beside him.
She had been hiding in his room for almost a week. Coming out only when she thought he was gone, eating food he left for her, avoiding everyone. Avoiding him most of all. Every attempt he made to talk to her ended in frustration. She looked at him like he was a stranger. Like the bond between them meant nothing.
She's scared, Azreal whispered. Give her time.
We don't have time. Someone tried to kill her. Someone drugged her and tried to breed her. And she won't even let me protect her because she thinks this is all some elaborate hallucination.
Katherine will convince her.
Katherine has been trying. Sookie won't listen to her either.
His wolf went quiet, offering no solutions. Because there were none. Not ones that Gasper could see.
Victor walked into the dining room, his expression grim. He dropped into the chair across from Gasper without being invited.
"You look like shit," Victor said.
"Thanks. That's helpful."
"When are you going to tell me what's going on?"
Gasper looked up at his best friend, seeing the concern and frustration warring on Victor's face. He had been putting him off for a week. Pulling rank. Avoiding conversations. It wasn't fair, and he knew it.
"Soon," Gasper said. "I promise. Soon."
"That's what you said three days ago."
"And I meant it then too. I just need a little more time."
Victor leaned back in his chair, studying him.
"Is she here?"
Gasper's entire body went rigid.
"What?"
"Your mate. Is she here? In the pack house?"
There was no point in lying. Victor was too smart for that.
"Yes."
"And you're keeping her hidden because..."
"Because she doesn't understand what she is. Because someone tried to kill her, and I don't know who. Because I need to keep her safe until I figure this out."
Victor nodded slowly, processing that information.
"Does she know? About the mate bond?"
"She knows. She just doesn't believe it. Or she doesn't want to believe it. I'm not sure which."
"Can I meet her?"
"No." The word came out sharper than Gasper intended. "Not yet. Not until she's ready."
"You can't keep her locked up forever, Gasper."
"I'm not locking her up. She's free to leave anytime she wants. She just won't."
"Because she's afraid of you?"
"No." Gasper rubbed his face with both hands. "Because she's afraid of herself. Of what she is. Of what this all means."
Victor was quiet for a long moment.
"For what it's worth, I hope she comes around. You deserve to be happy."
"Thanks, Victor."
His beta stood, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed.
"Let me know if you need anything. Even if it's just someone to yell at."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Gasper sat alone again, listening to the sounds of his pack. Waiting for Dolly to work a miracle he wasn't sure was possible.
Upstairs, Dolly knocked on Gasper's bedroom door. She could hear movement inside, then silence.
"Sookie? It's Dolly. Gasper's sister. Can I come in?"
No answer.
"I brought cookies. Chocolate chip. Still warm."
The door cracked open. Sookie's face appeared, her purple eyes wary but curious.
"You're his sister?"
"Youngest one. Well, except for our brother Jamie, but he doesn't count because he's annoying."
Sookie opened the door wider, and Dolly slipped inside. The room smelled like Gasper and something else. Key lime and coconut. The mate bond was strong here, almost visible in the air.
Sookie looked exhausted. Her hair was pulled back messily, and she wore one of Gasper's T-shirts that hung to her knees. She was beautiful in that fragile, powerful way that some she-wolves had. The kind that made you want to protect them and fear them in equal measure.
"So," Dolly said, settling onto the couch and patting the spot next to her. "My brother's been moping around like someone killed his puppy. Want to tell me what's going on?"
Sookie sat on the far end of the couch, keeping distance between them.
"I don't know what you mean."
"Sure you don't." Dolly took a bite of cookie. "Look, I get it. This whole werewolf thing is a lot. Finding out you have a wolf, that mates are real, that my brother is apparently yours. It's overwhelming."
"That's an understatement."
"But here's the thing. Gasper's an idiot."
Sookie blinked at her.
"What?"
"My brother. Total idiot. He's great at running a pack, amazing in a fight, scary as hell when he wants to be. But when it comes to feelings? Emotions? Understanding what it's like to be a woman in this world? Completely clueless."
A small smile tugged at Sookie's lips.
"He did seem confused when I said I wanted to go home."
"Because to him, home is wherever you are. That's how the mate bond works for alphas. They're pretty single-minded about it." Dolly offered her a cookie, and Sookie took it hesitantly. "But you didn't grow up knowing any of this. You thought you were human. You thought Katherine was a hallucination. And then suddenly you're thrown into heat and mated to a stranger, and everyone expects you to just accept it."
Sookie's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to be what he needs."
"Hey." Dolly moved closer, her voice softening. "You don't have to be anything except yourself. That's who he's mated to. Not some perfect luna who knows all the rules. Just you."
"But I don't even understand the rules. I don't understand any of this."
"Then let me help. Ask me anything. I promise I'll give you the truth, even if it's not pretty."
Sookie was quiet for a moment, then whispered, "Does he think I'm a slut?"
Dolly's heart broke a little.
"No. God, no. Sookie, you were drugged. You went into heat because someone poisoned you. None of that was your fault."
"But I... we..." She couldn't finish the sentence.
"You mated with him to survive. And even if you hadn't been drugged, even if it was just normal heat, it still wouldn't make you a slut. It would make you a she-wolf going through something every she-wolf goes through."
"He said he loves me." Sookie's voice was so small. "But how can he? He doesn't even know me."
"The mate bond is weird like that. It's not just love. It's recognition. Your souls know each other, even if your minds don't yet. And yeah, it's fast and intense and kind of terrifying. But it's also real."
"What if I can't do this? What if I'm not strong enough?"
"You shifted for the first time last week. You survived heat that should have killed you. You have an ancient wolf and power that makes my brother look at you like you hung the moon. Trust me, you're strong enough."
Sookie wiped at her eyes.
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
"Because you're family now. That's how it works. You're mated to my brother, which makes you my sister. And I protect my sisters."
For the first time since Dolly walked in, Sookie truly smiled.
"I'd like that. Having a sister."
"Good. Because you're stuck with me now." Dolly grinned. "So what do you say? Want to come down to dinner? Meet some of the pack? I promise they're not all as intense as Gasper."
Sookie hesitated, then nodded slowly.
"Okay. But if it's too much..."
"You can leave anytime. No pressure. I promise."
Downstairs, Gasper felt the moment Dolly succeeded. The relief that flooded through the mate bond nearly knocked him over. Sookie was coming down. She was ready to try.
It wasn't everything. But it was a start.
And for now, that was enough.