I sighed in happiness as I rested my head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder. The warmth and tingles that had always been there when Jackson touched me were even stronger now, probably because of the fact that I was a vampire now. It was like a taste of heaven being in his arms again.

I could tell that he was happy to see me too. His arms were wrapped tightly around me and his face was buried in my hair. I could hear him inhaling deeply, pulling in my scent to reassure himself and Rafe that I was alive.

"Jackson," I whispered, so unbelievable happy that he wasn't mad at me right now and he was as happy to see me as I was to see him.

He pulled back a little, keeping me tight in his arms, but making it so that he could see my face. Neither one of us said anything; we just stared at each other, soaking each other in. Then, his lips descended on mine, attacking them with gusto. I threw my arms around his neck, wrapping my fingers in his hair and pulling him closer. He growled happily at the motion, the sound coming from deep in the back of his throat and vibrating across both of our lips.

Xavier cleared his throat, startling me and causing me to pull away from the kiss. Jackson growled, pulling my face back into his neck. He stood up and I raised my eyebrows, not remembering how we got to the floor in the first place. I wrapped my legs around his waist, not wanting to let him go yet, not that he would let me go anyway. He carried me to the bed and sat us down, our position not shifting an inch.

"Are you okay?" I asked him worriedly, looking him over carefully. The last time I'd seen him had been on a battlefield while I was dying and he was covered in blood. I knew he was probably fully healed by now, but I had to make sure.

Jackson found my question amusing. "Am I okay?" he asked me in disbelief, chuckling slightly. "You died and you're asking me if I'm okay?"

I just nodded, not really having a better answer.

He smiled gently. "I'm fine," he assured me, running a hand lovingly through my hair.

I ran my finger over the bags under his eyes and gently ran my finger nails over the facial hair that had been allowed to grow over the last week. "Then what is all this?" I asked him softly. I heard the door close softly and knew that Levi and Xavier had left to give us some privacy since we weren't paying any attention to them anyway.

"It's hard to live when you think your mate is dead," he informed me.

The words hit home and I winced, looking down at our laps. "I'm sorry," I mumbled softly. "He was going to kill you and I couldn't just let you die."

"So you sacrificed yourself for me?" he asked, the anger now evident in his voice, his hands tightening on my waist. "Don't you ever do that again, Cecilia," he ordered me. "Your life will always be more important that mine."

I shook my head in disagreement and argued, "I couldn't let you die!" I knew that my voice betrayed all the pain and fear I'd felt that night as I continued, "Not when I knew that I could survive it."

Jackson was shocked by my statement. "You knew that you had dormant vampire genes?" he asked in disbelief.

I nodded, carefully avoiding his gaze as I realized Xavier hadn't told him that part. "Xavier told me. That's why I was spending so much time with the vampires. I wanted to learn about that side of myself and it's also why I was constantly telling you that I was safe with them."

"You were thinking about becoming a vampire?" Jackson asked. I couldn't tell what he was thinking through his voice, but it was soft and I figured he was angry.

I shook my head quickly to reassure him. "No! No, I wasn't thinking about becoming a vampire. I thought you would hate me just for having dormant genes; I didn't even want to imagine what you would do if I actually became a vampire."

"Then why did you?" he asked. There was a burning emotion in his eyes that I couldn't identify, but his words were clear enough.

My heart broke at hearing them. He'd seemed so happy to see me, so relieved that I had survived. He'd given me hope that we would be okay, but we wouldn't be. He still hated me for becoming a vampire. Tears filled my eyes. "Because I love you!" I sobbed, leaping out of his lap and running down the stairs at vampire speed.

I was intercepted in the club by Xavier and he held me close. "Ceci, what happened?" he asked in concern. When the other vampires noticed that I was full out sobbing into his chest, they gathered around, worried about me.

"I told you he'd hate me!" I sobbed, clutching his shirt. "I'm a vampire and now he hates me!"

I heard the vampires around us gasp and then footsteps pounding down the stairs. "Cecilia!" Jackson called again as he barreled out of the stairway door. I clutched Xavier tighter while the coven formed a wall, not letting him through. I was in enough pain, I didn't need him adding to it.

"How dare you!" Nila spat at him. "She saved your life, you stupid mutt!" Many of the vampires murmured their agreements.

"I know she did!" Jackson exclaimed, sounding exasperated. "I don't hate her, she just mistook my question!"

I perked up slightly at his words, releasing Xavier's shirt and turning to face him. He didn't hate me?

"Let him through." Levi's calm voice came from beside me and the vampires reluctantly formed a path for Jackson to cut through. I held my breath as I waited for him to reach me, praying with all my heart that I had just misunderstood his question.

His eyes softened when he took in my tearstained face. "Oh, Cecilia," he murmured. "I could never hate you." He stepped closer and ran a gentle hand across my face, wiping away the lingering tears. "Honey, I love you and I always will."

He opened his arms and I collapsed into them in relief. I'd been so scared that he didn't want me anymore because I'd become a vampire. I squeezed him tightly and I felt him press a couple light kisses to the top of my head. "Come on, sweetheart, let's go back upstairs."

When I tried to let him go and walk upstairs, he pulled me back up against him. With a hand on my back and thigh, he picked me up and made me wrap my legs around him. He waved over his shoulder to the coven and carried me back upstairs and I kept my head on his shoulder. He laid us on the bed together and I snuggled up close against his side. Relief wasn't a strong enough word to describe how happy I was that he'd forgiven me.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered after a while of laying in silence.

I froze. Okay, so maybe I wasn't completely forgiven. "I couldn't," I told him. "You hated vampires so much and I was terrified that if I told you I had the genes, you would hate me too. I was trying to get you to get along with the vampires. I figured when you realized they weren't as bad as you thought, I could tell you."

"I wouldn't have hated you, Cecilia," he replied quietly. "I would have needed some time to process it, but I could never hate you."

His response made me smile against his chest, but then I answered him seriously. "I thought you would," I told him.

He sighed. "I'm sorry I ever made you feel that way," he told me, kissing my forehead and running a hand soothingly up and down my back.

"You didn't know," I whispered, relaxing as his hand moved.

We laid in silence for a while, just enjoying being with each other again. After a bit he broke the silence. "Are you transitioning okay?" he asked worriedly. "You're not in pain or anything?"

I nodded. "I'm fine," I assured him. "It's not too hard of a transition. I'm just thirsty all the time." As soon as I said it, the burning in my throat increased again, making me rub my throat.

He sat up slightly, looking down at me with worry plain on his face. "What do you need right now?" he asked. "Are you...Thirsty?" He seemed like he wasn't sure if that was the right word to be using, so I gave him a small smile and nod.

"Yes, I am. I'll just go downstairs really quick and fix that," I told him. "You can wait here if you want to."

He shook his head, quickly getting on his feet and holding a hand out to help me. "I'll go with you."

I stared at him in apprehension, unsure if it was a good idea. "Jackson, maybe you should stay here. I don't want to freak you out."

He raised an eyebrow as he considered my statement. "Are you going to go find a human to attack?" he asked, making me wince. I shook my head quickly. "Then I'll be fine," he decided. "I'm going to need to know how to take care of you anyway."

I was still a little shy about it. He said he could handle it, but I was worried that he would have second thoughts after actually seeing me drink blood, even in the fancy goblets the club served it in. He was right, though. As nervous as I was about his reaction, he was going to have to get used to it if we were going to stay together.

So, I nodded and led the way back down the staircase to the club. Everyone was still gathered around the tables, planning for my awakening party. They all looked up when Jackson and I walked in and smiled.

Jerome stood and started towards the bar. "Thirsty?" he asked.

I nodded and everyone smiled at me in sympathy. Jerome pulled out a goblet and filled it with blood from a baggy. As Jackson and I sat across from him, he slid it to me. As soon as I smelled the blood in the goblet, I grabbed it and drained it. When every drop was gone, I smiled sheepishly and wiped my mouth with a napkin. "Sorry," I muttered to Jackson.

He smiled gently and took my hand. "It's perfectly okay, Cecilia," he assured me. I nearly sagged in relief. He was handling it so well.

Jerome smiled at us. "Another goblet, Ceci?" he asked me and I nodded in response. He refilled it quickly and I sipped from the goblet this time.

Jerome moved around the bar to rejoin the tables and I twisted on my barstool to face them. "How's the party planning going?" I asked them all.

Before anyone could answer me, Jackson asked, "Party? What party?" His voice clearly betraying his suspicion.

"Ceci's awakening party, of course!" Ashton shouted across the room. He was over by the DJ booth, probably picking music. "It's going to be epic!"

Jackson raised his eyebrows at me and I could only shrug. "Sometimes they're uncontrollable," I told him.

"I take offense to that, Cecilia!" Lewis shouted. "I am perfectly under control!"

I laughed and Jackson grinned as well. "I guess you're having a party then," he told me. I nodded in agreement. There was no stopping the coven once they started planning a party.

"Hey, make sure you invite your pack!" Levi added, looking at Jackson. "They're going to want to know that their beta female is alive!"

I looked at Jackson with wide eyes, scared. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but I was now realizing that I was going to have to face the entire pack like this and hope that they could accept me like Jackson had. What was I going to do?

I couldn't help the nervous glance that I shot to Levi in response to his statement. "Is it safe for me to be around the pack?" I asked the room as a whole, but hoping that Xavier, Levi or Jerome would answer the question.

Jackson growled lowly, his displeasure of my question more than obvious. "Why wouldn't it be safe for you to be around the pack? They aren't going to hurt you!"

My eyes widened at his response. He had my intentions completely backwards, but I didn't want to correct him. He was handling everything so well and I didn't want to change his mind and have him thinking that I was volatile and unable to control myself. Even if it was possibly the truth.

"It's not herself that she's worried about," Jerome grunted as he poured some more blood into my half empty goblet.

The confusion took over Jackson's face as he turned to me with questions burning in his eyes. He asked the one that I didn't want to answer for fear of his response. "What does he mean, Cecilia?"

I looked back at Xavier for help, hoping that he would be able to explain it for me, but it was Ashton who sidled up to the bar beside us. "Ceci is a newborn vampire, and due to that fact, she doesn't have a whole lot of control yet. If she gets thirsty enough, she may accidentally lose control."

I couldn't read Jackson's face. His eyebrows rose, but he didn't say a word and his expression didn't change otherwise. I was praying that this explanation wouldn't make him think of me any differently. I was going to work on it and make sure that it would never be something for us to worry about.

"However," Xavier continued where Ashton left off, "it won't matter tonight, Ceci," he assured me. "You're still going to need a lot of blood, but the party will be here and we'll make sure you always have a full goblet of blood in your hands. The only reason you would lose control is if you got thirsty and had no other blood on hand."

I sighed and took a sip from my goblet. Looking down at my hands, I mumbled, "This is so hard."

Ashton patted me on the back with a sympathetic smile and headed back to the party planning table. Jackson wrapped his arm around me and pulled me in close, giving me comfort that I desperately needed. "We'll get through it," he promised me. "And I'm sure the pack will help us."

"They better," Nila murmured in response and I couldn't help the giggle that escaped, even as I knew that they probably wouldn't help for a while, when they were able to get used to the idea of their beta female being a vampire.

Jackson grinned when I giggled and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on my lips. "I'm so happy that you're alive," he murmured against my lips, making me shiver.

"Me too," I replied when I could breathe properly again and gave him a cheeky smile. He laughed and started to reply before we were interrupted by the group behind us.

"We can't have paper plates!" Frieda exclaimed, the exasperation in her voice making me think they'd been on this topic for a while.

I spun on my barstool, an amused grin on my face as I took in Frieda's determined face and everyone else's exasperation. "I thought we settled this ages ago!" Ashton groaned, rubbing his hands down his face in obvious aggravation.

"We did," Levi mumbled so quietly that I knew I wouldn't have heard it when I was human. Louder, he said to Frieda, "We settled on paper plates because they're easier."

Frieda gave up on the rest of the coven and spun around to face me. "Ceci! Tell them you want real plates! It's your awakening party for god's sake!"

My eyes widened as everyone in the room turned to face me, obviously waiting for me to make the final decision on what plates to use for the party. I didn't want to upset Frieda, she could be scary when she wanted to be, but they were right about paper plates being easier to take care of. "Well, really, paper plates are fine," I told her hesitantly. "I'm fine with paper."

She sighed, looking defeated as everyone else cheered and turned back to the table. The conversation moved back to beverages to be served for the wolves and whether or not alcohol should be added to the blood for an extra kick. I shook my head and turned around to face the bar again with Jackson.

He had a slight smile on his face as he glanced back at them over his shoulder and then returned his eyes to me. "You know, they're not so bad," he murmured.

I grinned victoriously. "I knew that you couldn't hate them forever!"

Jackson rolled his eyes and Jerome laughed. "I think we've all got a long ways to go before we can say that we like each other, Cecilia," Jerome told me.

I sighed, hating that he was right. "I know. But at least you guys are civil now," I added, trying to look at the bright side of the situation.

"For you, doll. Only for you."

Jackson growled at Jerome's words, making the other vampires in the rooms stop what they were doing and look at him in question, tense and ready to intervene if necessary. I waved them off and snuggled into Jackson's side, knowing my touch would help calm him down. "Be nice," I scolded him. "Jerome just likes to flirt."

Jerome winked, and I had to tighten my hold on Jackson as I felt him tense. He leaned down and kiss the top of my head before relaxing again.

"Jerome, we could use your input over here!" Lewis called.

"Yeah! Kinda hard to plan a party when the owner of the joint is distracted," Ashton added.

Jerome rolled his eyes at them and topped off my goblet again before walking over to the tables. I wasn't feeling thirsty anymore, but I sipped from my goblet again anyway. They'd said I'd need a lot of blood at first and I was hoping that if I drank it even when I wasn't thirsty, I might have a little more control.

As my coven continued planning my awakening party, I turned my barstool to face them and listen in on the conversations. When Jackson turned as well, I leaned back against him, enjoying the warmth and tingles from his touch as his arms automatically came around my waist to hold me protectively against him. I sighed with pure happiness, and leaned my head completely back until it was resting on his shoulder.

I could hear and feel a rumbling from deep in his chest as he kissed the side of my neck and then leaned his head against mine, pulling me even closer. Words could not describe how happy I was. I had my mate by my side and he didn't resent me for becoming a vampire. Quite the contrary: he loved me.

The only thing I had left to worry about was how the pack was going to handle this. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. None of them liked vampires and very few had been exposed to my coven other than the graduation party. They'd liked me just fine as a human but I was terrified that they were going to change their minds because I'd become a vampire. What if they didn't want me to be their beta female anymore? What if Jackson still wanted to be their beta and left me because the pack didn't want me? Oh, god, I'm freaking myself out, I thought.

I took a deep breath and made myself relax again. I was not going to worry about it right now. There was no way to know how the pack was going to react to this until the party tonight and I was not going to worry about it until then. There was no reason to. There was, however, something I needed to do before the party and now seemed like as good a time as ever.

As they all argued about whether red and black was a tacky color scheme, I used my newfound vampire speed and jumped onto the table they were all gathered around. This was typical announcement style for the vampires, so they all looked up at me expectantly, forgetting their argument for the moment while Jackson stared up at me in shock.

I didn't say anything at first, trying to gather my thoughts to properly express how much everything they'd done meant to me.

"You going to dance for us again, C?" Ashton asked with a cheeky grin, breaking the expectant silence.

I could hear Jackson's growl of discontent from the bar and I shook my head quickly. "Never again, Ashton," I told him and everyone laughed.

"So, what's up?" Lewis asked, wrapping his arm around Nila and raising his eyebrows.