For the rest of the week, I alternated my time with Jackson and the pack and Xavier and the coven. A few days thrown in were at home, because my parents wouldn't have been so easy going if I was gone all week and all weekend. It was a week of anticipation and preparation and the pack and coven handled it quite differently.

The club ran a little later and a little wilder each night as the vampires grew excited for the coming battle. They may have been care-free and easy-going when they partied, but they were very excited to rip some werewolves apart this weekend. Xavier said they were ready to end the threat against me, whatever it took.

The pack on the other hand, was getting antsy. Lisa had given Eli the news that the plan was working perfectly. Bane had bought her story hook, line and sinker. He was planning the attack for Saturday night to give the pack a "false sense of security" before attacking. He just sounded like an idiot to us, but that might have been because we already knew that he was coming.

The pack knew that they had the advantage in this battle, but they were still a little worried. They knew that even with the advantage they had, losing someone was still a distinct possibility. It only made me more confident in my decision to keep the coven informed. I didn't want anyone dying in this battle when it was over me.

Eli, Kaden and Jackson all had an argument on Thursday over who should be the one to kill Bane. They all wanted to do it, but Kaden didn't stand a chance against Eli and Jackson. Eli said that he should kill Bane because he's the alpha, but Jackson said that I was his mate and since Bane wanted me, he would be killing him. Jackson won. Some unspoken rule, I guess. I tried to convince him that a little help was never a bad thing, but Jackson was adamant.

I took all the information we had to the coven so they could start their own battle plan for Saturday night. Ashton and Frieda were the lead battle planners in the coven, so they handled most of it. They were going to arrive at the edge of pack territory at sunset and wait until they heard the battle. Then, they'd zoom across the territory to the battle and kill every one of Bane's wolves that they could. I argued that that wasn't necessary. They acquiesced and said that they would only take out as many wolves as they had to for the battle to end, but they would take out the entire pack if they had to. I took what I could get.

While the coven partied away and the pack over-planned, I was just a nervous wreck. I had spent the past month or so getting to know both the pack and the coven and I couldn't help but worry about all of them in this battle. I knew it was inevitable that someone would get hurt, but that didn't take away the obsessive worrying. Jackson would be fighting Bane and I knew he could take him, I'd seen it once before, but I still worried. It was unlikely for him to come out of it completely unscathed and I didn't think I could handle seeing him injured because of me. I also couldn't ask him to stay. I hated it, but I knew how much it meant to him to kill Bane. I would just have to deal with it.

Jackson knew I was worried. He made me repeat after him that none of this was my fault each time before he took me home. As the battle loomed closer, it was harder to believe. None of this would be happening if Bane wasn't after me. The only comfort I had was that the coven would be there as well and Bane would definitely be outnumbered.

Saturday morning found me alone in my room, packing a bag to stay with Alice at the pack house. The battle would be tonight and I would know for sure afterwards that I didn't have to worry about Bane again. I looked around my room, making sure I hadn't forgotten anything. I had to leave soon. I actually got to drive myself for the first time in what felt like forever.

Xavier was at Fangs and he would be there until the battle was over. He'd left last night after giving me a hug and reminding me not to leave the pack house today, not even before the battle. All I had left to do was go downstairs and let my parents know that I was leaving.

I threw my bag over my shoulder and headed downstairs. "I'm heading to Alice's," I told them as I walked into the room.

My mom looked up from the blanket she was crocheting. She almost always crocheted while watching tv because it gave her something to keep her hands busy. "Okay, honey, have fun!" she replied.

"I will," I lied as I walked over to give my dad a kiss on the cheek.

He gave me a quick smile in response and went back to his tv show while I left the room. "Have fun, baby girl!" he called after me.

Fun. That wasn't the word I would use to describe the upcoming night, but my parents didn't need to know that. They didn't need to know that I'd be pacing back and forth in the pack house while all my friends were out fighting to protect me.

I threw my bag into the passenger seat and then walked around to the driver's seat. I pulled my phone out and texted Jackson to let him know I was on my way before starting the car and pulling away from the curb.

It felt weird to be back in my car. I hadn't driven it since before I was grounded after my first date with Jackson. That felt like forever ago, now. So much had happened since our first date that it could've been years ago, rather than only a month ago. It felt kind of nice to be in my little car again.

I arrived at the pack house only a couple minutes after the time we arranged: noon. Jackson was waiting for me on the front porch and seemed a little tense. He smiled and relaxed a little when I walked into his open arms. He tucked his face in my neck and inhaled deeply. I wasn't sure why, but I was comforted by the action. I knew he felt the same, as well as his wolf. They were both on edge with the battle looming closer.

With an encouraging smile, Jackson led me inside and back to Eli's office. Eli, Kaden and Ben were already there and waiting for us when we walked through the door. "Are you ready for this, Ceci?" Ben asked me as we walked in and sat down. Jackson chose a chair and just pulled me back into his lap like last time. "After tonight, you won't have to worry about Bane Drabek ever again."

I nodded, leaning back against Jackson's chest. "I'm ready. I'm just worried about everyone."

Eli smiled and I could see the understanding in his eyes. "We're all worried, Cecilia," he assured me. "But Kaden and I train the pack well. We're going to work out any kinks in the plan and everything is going to be just fine."

As they discussed the last minute, pre-battle items, I sat in Jackson's lap and listened while he ran his hands up and down my sides, providing comfort even as he focused on their conversation. I was impressed with how thought out their battle plan was and it helped ease some of my worry. These four knew what they were doing and it was comforting. I knew that the vampires arriving might throw them off, but I had to have faith that they'd get over it quickly and fight hard.

They spent a good two hours running through every aspect of the plan from the tiny, seemingly insignificant details all the way to the most obvious and vague. Everyone was supposed to be in the living room by six o'clock tonight to wait out the attack, but until then, we had time to do whatever we wanted. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. What do you do before a huge battle that could kill the people you care about and you can't do anything to help them?

Jackson stood, taking my hand and obviously knowing what to do until then. "I want to talk to you about something," he told me.

"Okay," I replied, easily allowing him to lead me from the office and up the stairs. We went in the third door on the left, a room I'd only been in once before. His bedroom. The first time I'd been in here was pretty memorable, and I smiled at the memory.

Jackson returned my smile and motioned for me to sit on his bed. When I did, he sat down in front of me, turning to face me. We both sat Indian style and Jackson ran his hand through his hair like he was nervous. "Okay, so I've told you that we're mates and explained what that means, but there's still a few things that I haven't told you."

"What is it?" I asked him, his obvious nerves making me nervous as well as I waited for him to continue with what he was going to say.

Jackson sighed. "The mate bond is initiated by sight and contact," he explained. "But, to completely finish the mating bond, there's kind of a couple things we still have to do." He looked up at me like he was still expecting me to bolt at any second.

I didn't see anything too bad with what he was telling me. So there were a couple things we still had to do. A ceremony or something? I wasn't sure if he was overreacting or if I just wasn't completely understanding. "Okay, so what do we have to do?" I asked him.

He grimaced and my nerves grew. Why didn't he want to tell me about this? Was he worried that it was going to scare me away? That I wouldn't be able to handle it? After everything that we'd been through in the past month, I was pretty sure that I could handle anything if it meant I got to keep him.

"I have to mark you and mate with you," Jackson said quickly, almost too quickly for me to catch all of it.

Marking and mating? The mating part seemed pretty self-explanatory and I knew I wasn't ready for that step yet. I decided it would be better to focus on the marking part first. "What's marking?"

"Well," he began, rubbing the back of his neck and looking up at the ceiling. "I have to bite your neck."

I raised my eyebrows at him in shock, not sure I'd heard him correctly. "Bite my neck?" I asked. "What the hell is that supposed to accomplish besides hurting like hell?"

Jackson winced at my response. "It's actually supposed to feel really good and not hurt at all. It's just part of the werewolf mating process."

"Why don't you explain it a little more," I replied, trying to be open minded.

"It's my wolf's way of claiming you as his. I'll shift just enough for my teeth to elongate and then I'll bite a certain spot on your neck just enough to draw blood. The blood will cement our bond and the bite mark will heal almost instantly, leaving me behind a mark that kind of looks like a tattoo. I don't really know how it works, but that's what has to happen."

His explanation helped, but I still wasn't sure I wanted him to bite me. He said it would feel good, but that was still freaky. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that, Jackson," I told him.

He took my hands in his, a soft look on his face. "I'm not trying to pressure you, Celia," he assured me. "I just wanted you to know, because my wolf might act a little crazy until it happens. He's getting a little antsy that he hasn't been able to claim you yet. I just wanted you to know the steps that we're eventually going to have to take."

I nodded slowly and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you for telling me. I'm not ready for sex yet, I know that for sure, but I'll think about the marking thing."

Jackson smiled happily and squeezed my hands. "Thank you, Cecilia."

I returned his smile and leaned forward to hug him. "I'd do just about anything for you, Jackson," I whispered.

He didn't respond in any way, except holding me a little tighter. We held the position for a long time, before Jackson asked, "Do you want to go downstairs and hang out with the pack?"

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Let's go down and watch movies with everyone."

And that's exactly what we did. The closer it go to six thirty, the more wolves trickled into the living room of the pack house and we kept a running stream of movies playing to distract everyone. Most of them were movies that everyone could get into, comedies like We're The Millers and Identity Thief.

Nine-thirty was go time. Eli stood up in the middle of the first Underworld movie. "They're on their way," he announced. "Everyone out in the woods."

Fear flooded my body as all the people I'd come to know stood and started making their way outside. I stood quickly and desperately grabbed hold of Jackson's face with both hands, kissing him fiercely. As I stared into his eyes, I made a decision. "If you come back to me in one piece, I'll let you mark me," I told him.

His eyes lit up and I could see a shadow in them that I knew was Rafe. Both of them seemed equally happy about my comment. "Now that's an incentive to get this done quickly and come back to my woman," he replied with a smirk.

Even with the fear coursing through me, I couldn't help laughing at him. I kissed him one more time and then he had to go. I watched him as he left the room and he blew me a kiss over his shoulder right before he walked out the door.

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