The first thing I became aware of as I slowly woke up was a burning pain in my throat. I groaned as I reached up to rub it. Immediately, I felt someone sit on the bed and grab my hand. "Drink this, Ceci," a familiar voice ordered me.

I listened to Xavier, taking whatever he was holding out to me without opening my eyes. I gulped some of it down and immediately drained the entire glass. It tingled pleasantly on the way down and immediately alleviated the burning in my throat. I opened my eyes and looked down to see a single red drop glistening on the rim of the cup. Blood. I licked the drop from the glass and sighed. It smelled delicious and tasted even better than the last time I'd had it.

With the blood gone, I decided to look around my surroundings. They were completely unfamiliar as I found myself in a bedroom that I had never seen before, Xavier sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at me worriedly. "Where am I?" I asked him.

He smiled gently at me, the gentleness confusing me. "You're at Fangs," he told me.

Fangs? What was I doing here? I looked around again, realizing that my eyesight was way better than it used to be. I could see the dust particles floating in the air, even without the sunlight, and I could read the small print on the papers across the room on the desk. What was going on? I took a deep breath to ask Xavier and froze as my senses went on overload. I could smell so many new things that my mind couldn't process them all. The most overwhelming was the lingering scent of blood from the goblet I'd just drained and it made my throat burn.

I gasped as everything came back. I'd left the pack house like an idiot, trying to figure out how the battle was going. Bane had nearly killed Jackson and I jumped in front of him. I could see Bane's teeth and claws again, feel the phantom pain of them slicing into me again. I was a vampire!

I groaned in dismay, covering my face with my hands. "Oh, god," I murmured.

I felt Xavier's arms come around me. "Everything is going to be okay, Ceci," Xavier assured me in a soft, comforting voice.

"No, it's not!" I moaned. "Jackson's going to hate me! That's why he's not here, isn't it?" I asked him, waiting for him to confirm it.

Xavier, however, shook his head. "That's not true," he told me. "Jackson doesn't know anything. He thinks you're dead. I was waiting for you to wake up before I went to see him."

I groaned, that made it worse! He must be so upset! "How long have I been out?" I asked, fearing the length of time that Jackson thought I was dead.

"A week," Xavier said.

I winced, knowing that Jackson had to be devastated and I knew I couldn't let him go through this any longer. Even if he decided he didn't want me now that I was a vampire, he had the right to know that I wasn't dead. "Will you go get him, please?" I asked him. "Better yet, maybe I should go," I added. Yeah, that was what needed to happen. He needed to see with his own eyes that I was okay.

Xavier disagreed, if his shaking head was any indication. "That's not a good idea, Ceci. We don't want you around humans right now. Not until we've explained everything to you."

I raised my eyebrows in confusion. "Are you scared I'll eat them on sight?"

Xavier made a face and shrugged, and I knew that was confirmation to my question. "Newborns are kind of volatile. How about we sit down and talk about it?"

I shook my head quickly. Explanations could wait. Jackson was more important. "Go to Jackson," I told him. "He needs to know that I'm okay."

"Alright," Xavier replied reluctantly as he stood up. "I'll send Levi up to explain and answer your questions while I go get Jackson." He leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"Thank you, Xavier," I told him, grabbing his hand as he turned to go. "Please make sure he's okay." I was so worried about him. I didn't know what werewolves did when their mates died, but I could only hope that he was taking care of himself, or that his parents and Eli were.

Xavier nodded and gave me a comforting smile before leaving the room. Levi entered almost as soon as Xavier left, grinning at me. "Look at you, joining the world of vampires!" he stated happily.

For once, I couldn't return Levi's smile. I was too worried about Jackson's reaction. He was probably going to hate me now. He hated vampires and I was one now. I didn't know how he was going to react and I was terrified.

"Hey," Levi said gently as he came to sit by me. "What's wrong, little sister?"

I shook my head, looking down at my hands as tears filled my eyes. "Jackson's going to hate me," I whispered.

"No!" Levi replied adamantly, wrapping his arms around me and drawing me into his chest. "Jackson's going to be so relieved that you're alive, he's not going to care that you're a vampire."

I knew that it was childish and not something that he could guarantee, but I still asked, "Promise?"

I felt Levi's smile against the top of my head. "I promise," he told me. "Now, how about we get up and test the fun sides of being a vampire?"

I desperately needed something to distract me until Jackson got here and I was pretty excited to learn what I could do now. So, I nodded quickly as I stood up. I almost fell over, surprised at how quickly I moved that I lost my balance, making Levi laugh at me.

When I'd regained my balance and stopped laughing with him, he threw something at me really fast. Even with the enhanced speed and senses that came with my transformation, I couldn't catch to save my life. If anything, the new speed I could move with only messed me up more. I fumbled to catch the deck of cards and ended up smacking them away from me so hard that they went right through the wall and into the next room. I gaped at the hole in surprise and Eli laughed at me again.

"Well, you still can't catch to save your life, but your strength is in order," he told me, smiling proudly. "And so is your speed."

We continued to work on my reflexes, controlling my strength and restraining my speed so that I didn't use them on accident. It was harder than I expected to stop using abilities that I'd only had for a few minutes, but I was getting better when Levi decided we could take a break and we sat back down on the bed.

The burning in my throat was returning and I mentioned it to Levi.

He smiled at me in comfort. "That's because you're thirsty. I'll go get you another goblet of blood, just hang on a second," he told me. He was back in moments and I sucked down the goblet he placed in my hands. I felt the energy soar back into my body and I smiled, feeling slightly giddy.

Levi grinned back. "It's a rush for the first few minutes, but it calms down some."

I nodded and glanced down at the empty goblet. "How often will I have to drink blood?" I asked him, worried that I was going to have to have blood on me constantly.

"A lot at first," he answered, giving me a sympathetic smile. "It gradually decreases until you only need a couple goblets a day. For the next week or two, your body will be getting used to the transformation so you'll need to drink a lot of it."

"So what am I supposed to do?" I asked of him. "I can't stay here forever, I don't even know what Xavier told my parents to clear me through now!" I was getting myself all worked up and freaking out, thinking about everything.

"Just calm down for a minute, Ceci," Levi told me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Xavier told your parents that you guys went up to visit his parents for a couple weeks. We told his parents what was going on and they called yours to confirm it. They're not even slightly suspicious."

I sighed, relaxing a bit knowing that my parents had no idea what was going on. That meant I had at least a week to get this under control enough to be ready to go home. I only hoped that I would be able to handle this. "Will I really attack people?" I asked Levi, trepidation filling my voice as I feared becoming a monster.

He sighed. "If you're thirsty, you might," he replied. "I don't want you to worry about it. Xavier and I will work with you on it, teach you to control it, and soon you'll have enough restraint that you won't have to worry about it. Plus, you'll always have a blood supply here, so you shouldn't ever be that thirsty."

I sighed in relief as I realized that he was right. They could teach me to control myself and I wouldn't have to worry about a lack of blood. There was only one more thing I needed to know right now. "Will I be safe around Jackson?" I asked of him. I was terrified that I'd end up hurting Jackson because I lost control and prove him right about vampires.

"You'll have nothing to worry about there," Levi assured me with a grin. "Vampires have soul mates as well and you'll recognize him as yours when you see him. You won't be a danger to him when he gets here. Other werewolves might be a problem, but we'll get you trained up in no time."

I sighed, running my hands through my hair. "This is going to be so hard," I groaned. "What if Jackson doesn't want to deal with this? What if he thinks that I'm a blood-thirsty monster and he doesn't want me anymore?" Tears were quickly filling my eyes at the thought and Levi pulled my chin up to look at him.

"What did I tell you earlier?" he asked, giving me a stern look. "You're his soul-mate and as much as I hate werewolves, you belong together and he knows it. He could never hate you."

I sighed and nodded, wiping my eyes quickly. I couldn't be a mess when Jackson arrived. He didn't need any more stress and I had to be collected enough to explain everything to him. He was going to be so upset that I'd kept all of this from him, but I was hoping he'd see my side of it. He'd shown so much hate and prejudice about vampires that I was too scared to tell him.

"Are you still thirsty?" Levi asked me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I thought about it and the burning returned. I nodded. "I was fine until you said something," I told him with a playful glare.

He laughed at me and stood to leave the room. "Better safe than sorry, little sister. None of us want you in pain when it can be avoided. The next couple days you're going to crave a lot of it and Jerome has a little stock set up just for you."

I smiled softly as I thought about all the vampires that were probably downstairs waiting for news. I could hear them moving around every now and then, but they were staying pretty quiet. I'm sure that would change tonight. I'd have to go down and visit them once Jackson and I got everything straightened out. I had a lot to thank them for.

I heard a loud cheer from downstairs and then Levi was back in the room, a smile on his face and a goblet of blood in his right hand. "They're all happy to hear you're awake," he told me. "They're already planning a party for you down there."

"Of course they are," I replied, smiling. That was just how they were. They celebrated everything. I could already hear chairs being moved around and tables sliding together. The low murmur of voices also made their way up to me.

I sat in companionable silence with Levi while I sipped this goblet a little more slowly than the last. I wasn't as thirsty as before and I wanted to savor this goblet. It just tasted so good. The noise picked up downstairs and when I listened carefully, it sounded like they were arguing over...paper plates versus ceramic? Goodness, I never would've seen that one coming.

I grinned at Levi, shaking my head and he just shrugged. "They take their party planning very seriously."

I giggled as we listened to the arguing going on downstairs. It wasn't long before the noise ceased and I could hear two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs. If my heart was still beating, I knew it would be drumming against my ribcage like it was trying to rip free. Instead, I was waiting on the bed with bated breath for the door to open. I was terrified of what might happen and ecstatic to see him again, all at the same time.

Eventually, after two long, agonizing seconds, the door swung open. Jackson looked so tired, so haggard that I gasped. Then the excitement over seeing him washed over me. I dropped the goblet and leaped from the bed, meeting him halfway and jumping into his open arms.

"Cecilia," he whispered, holding me tightly to his chest. It felt so unbelievably good to be back in his arms.

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