The next couple weeks leading up to graduation were quiet and I couldn't be more thankful. I didn't want to be worrying about Bane during all the graduation preparations. Instead, I spent my time divided between my friends, Jackson and the pack, and Xavier and the coven. Of course, there was school as well, but there wasn't much going on there. Seniors didn't have to take finals, so none of us were really doing anything in classes. We were just impatiently waiting for graduation.

Because Kayla was being forced to walk with her evil cousin, I was walking with Aiden. Lisa and Taylor were planning to walk together as well. Kayla was the only unhappy one, but her mother had insisted. No one could blame Kayla for her attitude. Her cousin, Moira, was incredibly snooty with a holier-than-you mentality. None of us could stand her and it was mutual. We had all promised to get Kayla away from her as soon as humanly possible.

Graduation was only a week away now, and Jackson and I were hanging out in my room and watching television while Xavier and Levi were out at Fangs. "Are you ready for graduation?" Jackson asked as he played with my hair. We were sprawled across my bed, just relaxing, but I didn't think Jackson was paying much attention to the TV.

I nodded against his chest in response to his question. "I bought my dress last weekend. It's white and absolutely beautiful." The girls had to wear white dresses to graduation because of the fact that our robes were white and they didn't want to be able to see the color of our dresses through the robes.

Jackson chuckled slightly at my response. "Well, at least you've got the fashion part of the day figured out." I smiled too and waited for him to continue. "But, on a more serious note, I do want you to be careful and keep an eye out at graduation."

I froze and then pulled back to look at him. Why would he say something like that? Did they know something about Bane that I didn't? He'd been quiet for a while and I was really hoping that would hold out past graduation. "Why?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Jackson assured me quickly, taking my hands to pull me back to his side. "I'm probably just being paranoid. Drabek has been strangely quiet the past couple weeks and I'm worried he might try something at graduation."

My body went cold as fear slithered through me. I couldn't imagine a bigger disaster than Bane making a scene at graduation. There were so many things that could go wrong, so many people there that could be hurt. Bane would have to be crazy to attack me in front of that many people, but there were times that I could be alone.

"Don't worry about anything," Jackson cooed, framing my face with his heads, easily able to tell that his statement had completely freaked me out. "Trust me when I say that I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He pulled me close again and hugged me tightly. His hands lightly massaged my back as he continued to comfort me.

"There's going to be plenty of pack members scattered throughout the crowd to make sure that you're safe."

I sighed against his chest. I didn't want his pack members to have to sit through my graduation. "They're going to be bored out of their minds, Jackson," I told him, rolling slightly so that I was curled up against his side instead of on top of him.

"Probably," Jackson agreed, "but I asked for volunteers and now the whole pack is going to your graduation."

My jaw dropped in shock as I rolled my head back to look up at him. "The whole pack?!" I asked him in amazement. "Why?"

Jackson grinned proudly and nodded. "They all wanted the chance to protect their future beta female," he told me, his tone soft and affectionate. "They'd do anything for you, Ceci. You and Alice are the most important females in the pack. They'll all protect you with their lives." Jackson's expression showed how serious he was and my heart soared at the affection he and his pack had for me. They were a very special bunch.

It still amazed me how much the pack cared for their leaders. It wasn't the regular, 'respect them because they could kill you' caring. They knew their leaders wanted the best for them and truly cared for them. Beyond Eli and Alice, their protectiveness of me was astounding. They'd only known me for a little over a month, yet they were always so friendly and welcoming every time that I went to the pack house and so far, I hadn't met anyone I disliked.

"Wow," was the only thing that I could say.

Jackson leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips before settling back against the pillows, a content smile on his face that matched mine. I settled easily into his chest and watched television as I basked in happiness. I was so glad that he had found me.

We relaxed in relative silence for another hour. Jackson was almost constantly playing with my hair and occasionally my hand would wander along the hard planes of his chest, but we behaved. Then, Xavier and Levi walked into the room.

"Now, what are you two up to?" Xavier asked, staring at us from the doorway.

I pointed obviously to the TV on my dresser. "We're watching TV. What are you two up to?" I asked of them, looking back and forth between the two.

"You look awfully cozy up here all alone," Xavier teased, waggling his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Levi. "What have you guys been up to while you've been gone?"

"Well," he began, stepping farther into the room. "We were hoping you guys would be up for some fun."

I nearly laughed as Jackson eyed them both suspiciously. "Does it have anything to do with another vampire club?"

"God no!" Xavier replied, snorting and waving his hand at Jackson like he was crazy.

"Why would we take you to a vampire club?" Levi asked, grinning.

"You'd get ripped to pieces and Ceci would be heartbroken," Xavier added.

This time I did laugh. I couldn't help it. Sometimes, the two vampires acted like an old married couple. They always seemed to be on the same wavelength. "They have a point," I agreed, winking up at Jackson.

He pretended to be offended as he stared down at me in appalled shock. "You don't think that I could take the vampires?" he asked me, his eyebrows almost hidden beneath his hair they were so high.

I made a face like I was trying to decide and then lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "Maybe one on one, but a whole club?" I asked. "You'd get ripped to pieces."

He growled, shaking his head. "No confidence in me. None," he muttered, making us all laugh.

"So what kind of fun did the two of you have in mind this time?" I asked Levi and Xavier.

"A graduation party!" Xavier and Levi exclaimed together, spreading their arms wide in show. "We need to go downstairs and get it planned!" Xavier continued on his own.

"A graduation party?" I asked, confused. I hadn't been planning on having a graduation party, simply because I didn't think that I really needed one.

Xavier, however, appeared to disagree as he nodded enthusiastically. "I know that you're probably going to want to invite a bunch of werewolves, and we'll let Jackson handle that."

"And Xavier and I can get in touch with all the vampires you met at the club and invite all of them," Levi added. "Then you just need to get in touch with any friends that you have at school that you want to come."

"It's going to be huge and amazing!" Xavier assured me, looking at me with big, excited eyes.

My eyes were just as wide, but it was from shock. This was sudden and out of the blue, and it sounded very expensive. "Where is the money going to come from?" I asked, looking between the two party planners.

Levi gave me a droll look. "Xavier has plenty of money to pay for the party," he told me, as if I should have known that.

I raised my eyebrows and turned my attention back to Xavier. "You're going to pay for my graduation party?" I asked of him.

"Sure I am!" he replied, as if it was perfectly logical. "I did one for myself and you are not going to miss out just because you have a psychopath werewolf trying to get to you. The werewolves and vampires will keep him away and you can have a fun, worry-free party for a night, forgetting completely about any danger and focusing on the fact that you're finally done with school!"

I was plain to see that Xavier was incredibly excited about this. I was starting to think that the entire coven couldn't resist a good party. Maybe it was just vampires in general, as the club was never lacking for business. I wasn't really comfortable with him paying for everything, but it did sound like fun and it would indeed be safe if I was surrounded by the pack and vampires that would protect me.

"The vampires are going to protect her?" Jackson asked, sounding skeptical.

I pursed my lips in annoyance at his tone and Levi rolled his eyes. "Of course they are," Xavier replied. "Everyone at the club loved Ceci. She made quite a few friends."

I nodded in agreement about making friends and turned to Xavier, starting to share his excitement for the party. "Make sure you invite Lewis, Jerome and Anthony," I told him. "They were great. And don't forget Nila," I added. "She was one of the sweetest people I've met. She's married to Lewis, right?"

Levi nodded. "They've been married for, like, three hundred years."

I'm pretty sure that my eyes just about popped out of my head. "Wow," was the only response I could think of.

Jackson wasn't having any problems with his words though. "Who are Lewis, Jerome and Anthony?" Jackson asked, his tone hard with a touch of jealousy that shocked me slightly.

"They were a couple of Ceci's dance partners at the club," Xavier told him flippantly and I smacked his arm as Jackson's eyes darkened in anger.

"They were some very nice vampires that taught me a couple of dances," I told Jackson. "Although I might need a new lesson from Anthony on the Cha-Cha."

Levi and Xavier burst out laughing. "Now that is something someone should've gotten on video!" Levi gasped through his laughter.

Distracted from his jealousy, Jackson cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

Xavier rolled his eyes, but he was still grinning. "By the time Anthony got to her, the link between her brain and her feet was gone. Your mate is a lightweight. Her feet were pretty much doing their own thing while Anthony tried to lead her through the dance."

Jackson was tense on the bed beside me and I decided that maybe a change of subject was in order. It was obvious that he wasn't ready to talk about my night at Fangs. "Alright, so you need to invite them, and everyone else I met at Fangs," I told Xavier and Levi, who nodded in agreement. "And you," I said to Jackson, "you might as well invite the whole pack."

Jackson smiled and nodded as well. "That'll be easy."

"And then, I'll invite some friends from school," I said before looking meaningfully at the two vampires in the room. "And no eating any of my friends. You can all go find food elsewhere. Or bring some with you."

Levi rolled his eyes. "Of course. What do you think we are? Barbarians?"

I pretended to think that over and Jackson laughed, pulling me closer to his side. I snuggled in and said to them, "Maybe, but I still love you guys."

They rolled their eyes and continued with the party planning, sitting on the end of the bed. "Now that we have the guest-list down, we need to talk location and decorations."

"The pack house is always open," Jackson offered.

Levi and Xavier made a face and I shook my head. "I don't think that's a good idea," I told Jackson, rubbing his arm. "The vampires won't be comfortable there."

"We could have it at Fangs," Levi suggested. "Jerome really liked you and I know he'd let you take it over for a night."

"Jerome is the owner of Fangs?!" I asked in surprise. I hadn't known that he was anything other than the bartender and really good at the twist.

Xavier laughed at me. "He's the owner of Fangs and the coven leader," he replied, shocking me even more. "He didn't tell you?"

I shook my head. "We were too busy doing the twist, thank you very much!" I replied. "But that's going to be a no for the same reason as the pack house. The werewolves aren't going to feel comfortable in a vampire club."

I felt Jackson relax on the bed next to me. The silly boy must have thought that I'd say yes, even though I'd said no to the pack house. "I was actually thinking of something neutral, like the park or beach."

"Not the park," Levi groaned. "That's so lame!"

I rolled my eyes as Xavier groaned and agreed. "If those are the only options we have, the beach is definitely the way to go. I'll go call someone about that and then Levi and I will be back to talk about decorations."

"No!" I exclaimed. "I think you guys can handle the decorations just fine!"

The chuckled as they left the room, shaking their heads. I did not have the stamina to keep up with their party planning. It definitely had to be a vampire thing.

I settled more comfortably next to Jackson and threw my arm back over his stomach. The television was still on, but Jackson didn't give me a chance to watch it.

"You're really going to invite a bunch of vampires to your party?" he groaned, rolling his head to look at the ceiling as I propped my chin on my hand on his chest, giving him a stern look.

"Yes, I am, and you and the pack are going to be nice to them," I commanded. "You all have the wrong idea about vampires and I'm sick of you guys acting like they have a disease or something. Look at Xavier and Levi. They're both being nice to you even though they hated werewolves when you first met them. You could try to do the same."

He sighed. "Do I have to?" he whined.

I gave him a look.

He huffed. "Alright, I'll try. And I'll let Eli know that the pack is going to have to play nice at the party. And graduation for that matter."

"Good," I replied, smiling happily and kissing him quickly. "I'll have Xavier and Levi tell the vampires the same thing. You're all going to have to learn how to get along."

Jackson just gave me a disgruntled look before hugging me tightly. I hugged him back and then we returned to relaxing together and watching television until my mom interrupted with a knock on my bedroom door. She walked in and held out an envelope to me.

"This was in the mailbox for you," she told me. "I'm not sure who it's from, but it didn't have a stamp on it."

Feeling slightly confused, I took it from her. "Thanks, mom," I replied, giving her a small smile. "It's probably an invitation from someone at school for a party or something."

"You're welcome. Dinner will be ready in about an hour. I'll call you guys down when it's ready." She left the room and I turned my attention to the envelope in my hands.

I rolled over and sat up, leaning back against Jackson's chest. My name was written on the front in elegant cursive and I really didn't think it was from anyone at school. Most of the party invitations went out over Facebook.

I didn't like the suspense so I flipped it over and opened it, pulling out a thick, high-quality piece of paper with an embossed D across the top. In the same elegant cursive from the envelope was a short message written in the center of the small card.

Congratulations, Cecilia. Enjoy graduation. I'll be seeing you soon after.

~Bane

My hands shook and I felt the growl rise up in Jackson's chest against my back. He snatched the paper from my hand, shoving it back into its envelope. He wrapped his arms around my tightly after shoving it into his pocket. "Don't worry about a thing, Ceci," he whispered comfortingly in my ear. "We won't let him get near you."

I really hoped that they had that ability. I didn't want to see Bane anytime soon. He wasn't giving up like I'd hoped he would and I was getting worried. Even if he didn't get to me, there's a good chance that someone else was going to get hurt, possibly killed, in the fight to keep him away from me. I wasn't okay with that.

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