I was so relieved that Cecilia agreed to go to breakfast with me. After the fight between her cousin and I, I wasn't sure if she'd want to go anywhere with me today, and I don't think Rafe and I could handle that, to be honest.

She'd really rattled us with the phone call when Bane had her in the alley. I'd been sitting in my office, going over an updated treaty before signing it when she'd called. At first, I'd been happy to see her name, but when I answered and was greeted with Drabek's voice and not hers, I'd completely panicked.

I'd ran outside to my car, knocking over anyone that got in my way, no time to slow down and figure out if they were okay. And then, when I was only a block away, she'd told me to go home! Rafe was pissed at me for the rest of the night for listening and I was pissed at myself as well.

Then, I'd shown up to her house this morning and the whole place reeked of vampire! I'd hit the doorbell, fear icing my veins as Rafe growled menacingly. Visions of Ceci and her parents being attacked by vampires had me ready to tear down the door before Ceci had opened it.

I'd been so relieved that she was okay that it had taken me a minute to realize that she also smelled like the vampire. Everything had gone downhill from there. And when Ceci had ran away from me, crying, I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I didn't know what I had done, but I knew that I'd done something.

I hated the fact that I had agreed to be civil with her vampire cousin, but I would have done anything to take that fear and pain out of her eyes. I still wasn't sure that it was all because her cousin and I had fought, but I didn't want to bring it up again.

There had been enough tears and sadness for one day. The rest of the day, I was going to focus on making sure she had fun and completely forgot about this morning. Starting with breakfast.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Just give me a second to clean up," she replied, blushing slightly. "I'm all blotchy."

Her eyes were still red and her nose and cheeks were puffy as well, but she still looked beautiful. Knowing that she still wouldn't want to go out like that, I just kissed her forehead and opened my arms so that she could crawl off my lap.

"I'll wait for you downstairs," I told her.

She smiled at me over her shoulder and nodded.

While she headed into the bathroom, I made my way back downstairs to wait for her in the living room. She probably wouldn't be long in the bathroom, but I knew she probably wouldn't be satisfied until she didn't look like she was crying anymore. I figured I might as well be comfortable while I waited. I laid my head against the back of the couch and closed my eyes.

It was only a couple minutes later when I heard Ceci tiptoeing into the living room, trying to sneak up on me. Smirking to myself, I stayed where I was, letting her get close. When she was right behind me, I jumped up quickly, pulling her over the couch and on top of me.

She screamed, landing with a giggle and stared down at me with wide, gorgeous eyes. "How did you know I was there?" she asked. "I was being super quiet."

I laughed up at her. "I'm a werewolf, babe. I could never mistake your scent or heartbeat."

She made a funny face at me. "You realize that's creepy, right?" she asked.

"It's not creepy," I disagreed. "Rafe and I are just very attuned to you. It's so that we can keep you safe."

She shook her head. "It's creepy. But that's okay, because you're too handsome for me to care."

Rafe purred with pleasure at the compliment from his mate, but before I could reply, she leaned down and planted her lips on mine. I groaned, wrapping my hands in her hair and pulling her closer. Soon, I flipped us over so that I was on top, deepening the kiss as I did so. She was just so delicious.

Pulling back before I couldn't, I smiled at the sound of her soft sigh. "Are you ready for breakfast now, gorgeous?" I asked, grinning down at her. When she nodded, I lifted us both off the couch, dropping one more lingering kiss on her swollen lips.

I took her to the small café in town for breakfast, making sure that I kept the conversation light and playful. I wanted her to enjoy today. The small moments I'd caught with her after school were just enough to appease Rafe and I was glad that she was finally ungrounded so that I could see her more often.

We spent breakfast talking about random parts of our lives and joking. Afterwards, I took her back to the pack house like I had promised. Everyone there had missed her as well and Alice practically attacked her the moment we walked through the front doors.

"Ceci!" she exclaimed, hugging her tightly. "I haven't seen you in a week!"

Eli and I laughed as he pulled Alice back to his side. Ceci chuckled a bit as well, taking a couple deep breaths to replenish her oxygen supply, no doubt. Alice had been squeezing her pretty tightly.

"Hey, Cecilia," Eli greeted her. "It's good to see you back here again."

Ceci grinned at him and said, "It's great to be back here and see you guys again as well." I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her back to my side. She gave me a quick smile, before turning back to Alice. "How have you guys been?"

Eli smiled and said, "From the sounds of it, better than you. A vampire? Really?" Eli's face was just as disgusted as I'm sure mine had been when she'd first explained that her vampire cousin was going to be living with her.

Eli's comment, however, got me quite the glare. I put on my best innocent face. "What? The alpha deserves to know that there's a vampire living with the beta's mate. I said we'd get along, not act like he doesn't exist!"

Ceci gave me a hard, skeptical look before turning back to Eli. She gave him a small smile, but her face belied the seriousness she held for the topic. "We've already had the vampire-werewolf discussion," she told Eli. "I know that you guys have that whole 'mortal enemies' thing going on," I wanted to grin as she curled her fingers in air quotes, but refrained as she continued, "but I really don't care. Xavier is my cousin and he's staying."

Alice's nose crinkled as she looked at Ceci. "You may not like it, but I'm with the guys. I'm completely against vampires, as any self-respecting werewolf is, but I'll respect your choice of company and just stay away from him."

I was surprised by Alice's concession. As alpha female, she could have made a much bigger deal of that than she had. It really showed that she liked Ceci.

"Thank you, Alice," Ceci responded with a warm and thankful smile. "That means a lot to me."

I was proud that Ceci was able to recognize that Alice had actually made a pretty large concession for a leader of a prominent werewolf pack.

Alice gave her a quick smile and a nod, and then Eli pulled her back down the hallway. "We've got some things we've gotta get done," Eli told us. "We'll see you again before you leave."

I knew that he was just giving Ceci and I some alone time, and I thanked him for it. I was so ready to just relax with my mate and be thankful that I could have her in my arms again. "How about a movie?" I suggested, leading her to the living room by a hand.

"Only if you're going to make us some popcorn," Ceci agreed, grinning at me.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled back before turning back around to go to the kitchen. "Go ahead and pick a movie while I make the popcorn," I told her over my shoulder.

"Thank you!" she called happily.

I glanced back before entering the kitchen to see her sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the entertainment center, her long hair hanging down her back. I smiled as I turned the corner. She was gorgeous, and she was mine.

I grabbed a bag of popcorn, movie theater butter, and tossed it in the microwave. I hit the popcorn button and settled against the counter to wait for the telltale slack in popping that would signal it was done. I didn't trust the popcorn button.

When the popcorn was ready, I removed it from the microwave and dumped it in a serving bowl before heading back into the living room. Cecilia was waiting for me with the menu already up for the movie she'd pick. I groaned as I got a good look. "Really?" I asked, giving her a disgruntled look. It was Dirty Dancing, a movie that Alice had insisted we buy a year ago or so.

She smiled innocently at me, but I could see the enjoyment in her eyes. "You told me to pick a movie," she told me, defending the choice she'd made.

"There's no other ones that you want to see?" I tried, giving her my best pleading face.

She pursed her lips and I had hope. "Well, I almost picked Harry Potter, but then I changed my mind."

And the hope died. I made a face at her. Who would pick Dirty Dancing over Harry Potter? "Whatever makes you happy, sweetheart," I conceded.

It was completely worth it when she leaned over and gave me a big hug. "Popcorn?" she asked, looking up at me.

I smiled and lifted the bowl that I was holding in my left hand. The popcorn was over the top, but not spilling out. Ceci pulled me to the couch by the other hand and cuddled up close to me. Rafe was a rumbling puddle of contentment, but I couldn't really blame him. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her even closer, and then reached out and hit the play button on the remote.

"So where is everyone?" Ceci asked as the opening credits began.

"They're all out on patrol or training," I told her. "They'll be back soon."

I ran my fingers through her hair as she rested it on my chest and as the movie played, I spent my time playing with her fingers and hair and pressing small kisses on the top of her head. The movie was boring, but I had her in my arms, so I didn't mind.

I couldn't help my chuckle when she turned from the movie for a moment and kissed me quickly. I squeezed her a little tighter for a second, but then went back to playing with her fingers.

We were about half way through the movie when training let out and pack members began streaming through the doors and into the house. Mason was the first to find us.

"Cecilia, my girl!" Mason yelled happily, flopping down beside us on the couch.

I growled at him, feeling a spike of possessiveness. "My girl," I stated. Ceci patted my chest and I leaned down to give her a quick kiss.

When I released her lips, she gave me a soft smile and then turned to Mason. "Hey, Mason. How have you been?"

Mason sighed dramatically. "I've been lonely without you to start food fights," he joked.

"Oh, no!" Ceci exclaimed, sitting up and out of my arms. "You started that food fight, so don't even try saying that it was my fault!"

I didn't like the fact that she'd pulled away from me to argue with Mason, but she sure was cute when she got riled up.

Mason apparently thought so too, because he just laughed at her. "You know you deserved it," he retorted.

That was the wrong thing to say to Ceci. She leaped off the couch and would have been on top of him if I hadn't caught her around the waist, fearful for the house if they had another one of their fights. "You two are not going to destroy my living room like you did the back yard," I told them, keeping a tight hold around Ceci's waist so that she didn't try again.

She pouted, looking back at me over her shoulder. "I did not destroy your backyard. I said some things to Mason that he couldn't handle and he reacted childishly."

"I am not childish!" Mason replied, pretending to be hurt.

This was the second time that I'd heard that Ceci had prompted Mason to start the food fight, but I hadn't been able to get either one of them to tell me what it was. They were very close lipped about it, Mason blushing and leaving the room when I brought it up and Ceci just smiling and telling me not to worry about it.

I sighed at their bickering, deciding to forget about it like Cecilia suggested. "What am I going to do with you two?" I asked of them.

Mason smiled and fluttered his eyelashes as he replied with, "Love us."

I could help chuckling at his reply, and Ceci was laughing so hard that I was supporting most of her body weight as tears rolled down her face. I loosened my arms slightly, but made sure that I had a sure grip on her so that she didn't fall.

Eli interrupted our moment of hilarity. "Jackson, I need to see you in my office."

I glanced back at him and his face was hard, his body tense. I knew that it was something important. Ceci looked worried, so I gave her a reassuring smile and a quick kiss. "Just hang out here with Mason for a minute and don't break anything," I told her. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

I quickly followed Eli down the hallway and into the office. Alice was sitting on the couch beside the fireplace with a worried look on her face and I turned to look at Eli for an explanation. "What's going on?"

"Drabek just called," Eli stated grimly.

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