I woke up early the next morning, ready to spend the day with Jackson. I didn't know where we were going and I really didn't care. I just wanted to spend time with my werewolf and get out of this house.

I glanced back at Xavier, sleeping peacefully on the floor. We'd stayed up late watching movies and catching up last night, but he'd fallen off the bed around two in the morning. I'd been surprised that he didn't wake up, but covered him with a blanket and tossed down a pillow in case he woke up and wanted one. He was currently curled up with it, sleeping like the dead.

I giggled quietly and turned back to my closet. I picked out a pair of dark, form-fitting jeans and a pastel purple blouse. I didn't know where we were going, so I went with casual. Grabbing some undergarments, I headed for the shower.

When I was squeaky clean, I got out and dressed. I added a bit of mousse to my hair to reduce the frizz when it dried, and headed back for my room to see if Xavier was up or if he was going to sleep through me leaving with Jackson. I was hoping for the latter.

Before I could make it, the doorbell rang downstairs and I changed course, skipping down the last few stairs as excitement to see Jackson put some extra pep in my step. I yanked open the door, a wide, welcoming grin on my face, only to find a very tense and very worried Jackson awaiting me. Not exactly what I was hoping for.

When he saw me, his face relaxed in relief and he yanked me forcefully into his arms, looking around the yard and into the house suspiciously. Apparently finding nothing there, he leaned down and sniffed me.

He pulled away again and looked me straight in the eyes, his expression serious. "Why do you and your house smell like vampire?" He spit the word in the same manner and tone as Xavier had when talking about werewolves the night before.

I rolled my eyes and he growled at me.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, Cecilia. This is serious; answer my question!"

"My cousin Xavier is staying with us for a while," I replied. "We were really close when we were younger. He's a vampire, and he's the one that saved me from Bane last night." I had hinted that Xavier had been turned, but I hadn't actually said it and lied to him. My conscience was clear. Kind of. Oh, who was I kidding, it was as muddy as a swamp, but Jackson couldn't find out that I had vampire genes. I wouldn't be able to handle it if he hated me. I was becoming far too attached to him for that.

Jackson closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. When he opened his eyes, they stilled showed worry, but the anger was gone. At least until he got a good look at my face. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed, carefully turning my injured cheek towards him so that he could inspect it further. "I thought you said that you were okay!"

I sighed at how easily he overreacted. It was just a scrape. "I am okay, Jackson. It's a little scrape. It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide, frustrated. "He hurt you!" He was furious at the thought. His hands were shaking and his eyes shifted from hazel to black in the space of a blink. Rafe had completely taken over.

Before I could even process the information, I was ripped away from Jackson and found myself pressed against the wall beside the front door, Xavier standing protectively in front of me while cautiously watching Jackson.

Jackson looked even more pissed, surprising me. I hadn't thought that was possible a moment ago.

"I told you werewolves are temperamental!" Xavier muttered at me.

Jackson's eyes were not only black, now they were glowing as well. "Give me back my mate, you filthy bloodsucker!" he growled menacingly. The growl sounded so much like Rafe that I knew he was moments from changing.

"I will not allow your stupid mood swings to endanger Cecilia!" Xavier responded harshly, his voice just as angry as Jackson's.

"He's not going to hurt me!" I insisted as Jackson growled, "I would never hurt my mate!" I guess that technically it was Rafe speaking through Jackson, but I wasn't too worried about little details at the moment. I just wanted to calm them both down.

I shoved Xavier to the side so I could get around him. I ran straight to Jackson and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing tightly. "It's okay, I'm okay. I'm right here," I murmured, hoping that they'd calm down knowing that I was safe.

Jackson's arms wrapped tightly around me, his head dropping to my neck and inhaling deeply. We were going to have to have a talk later about him sniffing me, but this didn't seem like the appropriate time.

When Jackson pulled back again, his eyes were a clear hazel and he smiled softly as he looked down at me. "Sorry, baby. Rafe was out of control. Not that I blame him," he added, glaring over at Xavier. "Keep your filthy hands off my mate."

I slapped his chest, glaring at him. "Be nice, Jackson. That's my cousin you're talking to." Xavier smiled victoriously and I turned my glare on him. "That goes for you as well, Xavier Stonewall! Don't think that our conversation last night was for nothing. You two are going to have to learn to get along because you're both important to me."

"Do you remember what I said to you last night?" he asked of me, folding his arms and returning my glare.

"I do and I don't care, either," I retorted. "I gave up last night because you were being pigheaded and I didn't want to keep arguing, but you're both going to have to get over it." For my sanity, I needed them to.

Before Xavier could respond, Jackson cut in. "Cecilia, do you even know how dangerous vampires are? They survive on blood for God's sake and you want to let one live with you?"

My glare was unrelenting and returned to Jackson for his comments. "Yes, I do. Xavier is my cousin, my family, and he was once my best friend. You two are going to have to learn to like each other because I will not deal with you fighting!"

Now Jackson was becoming angry as well. It seemed that everyone was angry about this conversation. "I will not learn to like him, Cecilia!" Jackson growled. "He's a bloodsucker that feeds on the life of other people. No matter what reason I'm given, not even because he's related to you, I cannot bring myself to even not hate a vampire, much less get along with one!"

Tears filled my eyes as his words struck my heart like the swing of a hammer. He had no idea that I was part vampire, but he'd just confirmed exactly what I'd been thinking since Xavier had explained to me the relationship between vampires and werewolves. He may not realize it, but it felt like he already hated me and I couldn't handle the pain that caused me.

I spun around and ran back into the house, not wanting him to see the pain he'd just caused. Both Jackson and Xavier called after me, but I slammed the front door in their faces and ran up the stairs and into my room. I slammed that door as well, making sure to lock it before I collapsed on my bed.

I had a moment of thankfulness that my parents had to work today and were already gone. This would be a little hard to explain. My dad had a case he needed to do some extra work on and my mom volunteered at the library on Saturdays.

I crawled to the top of my bed and wrapped myself around my body pillow, crying my heart out. A part of me felt like I was overreacting to a single statement, but another part of me felt rejected as crazy as that sounded. Jackson's words had pierced like a knife, though I felt like they shouldn't have.

I had dormant genes, yes, but I wasn't a vampire and I didn't plan to become one or even tell him that it was possible. He hadn't been saying that he hated me. He'd been reacting on a centuries old prejudice between their races. It wasn't something I could fix with one conversation.

Knowing that and accepting it were two different things. My heart wasn't listening either, as much as I wished I could force it to. My heart was breaking from Jackson's words and even as my head pointed out logical reasons for his outburst, tears continued to soak the pillow my face was buried in. It was probably the stupid mate bond that he'd told me about making me feel this way.

There was a soft knock on my door followed by Jackson's soft voice. "Celia? I'm sorry about what happened outside," he called through the door.

"I am too, Ceci," Xavier added. "Can you open the door so that we can talk about it?"

"G-go away!" I begged them. I didn't want to talk to them while I was like this. I felt torn in half, part of me understanding Jackson's words and the other dying because of them. I didn't want them to see me like this, when I had no idea what was wrong with me.

There was nothing but silence for a moment before Jackson said, "Baby, please don't cry. You're breaking my heart, angel. Please let me in. I promise that we can sort all this out."

I didn't know what to do. His voice was soothing me but I still wasn't sure that I wanted to let them in. I was a complete mess.

"Ceci, just let us in. We'll talk it out and everything will be okay, I promise," Xavier vowed.

Sniffling, I stood up and walked to the door. I twisted the lock and crawled back onto my bed. The door flew open immediately and Jackson raced to my bed, picking me up and cradling me in his arms as he sat down where I had previously been. Xavier sat down beside us but he remained silent, giving Jackson time to calm me down.

Jackson was running his hands up and down my back in comfort and it was doing even more than his voice had to soothe me. The tears dried up, but I kept my face buried in his chest, not wanting to look at them. "Shh, it's okay," he whispered to me. "I'm so sorry, just please don't cry." When I had stopped sniffling, Jackson gave me a soft smile and said, "Alright, now tell us what's going on in that head of yours."

I needed to tell him, without actually telling him, but I didn't want to lie either. I settled for a simpler version of the truth. "I just need you and Xavier to get along. You're both very important to me and it kills me that you hate each other so much."

They were both silent, seeming reluctant. Jackson glanced down at my tearstained face and scrunched up his nose. "For you, I can try to get along with a bloodsucking vampire."

Xavier rolled his eyes at Jackson, but then looked at me and said, "And I will try my hardest to get along with your little mutt."

"No," I replied, shaking my head and looking back and forth between them. "You can't tell me that you're going to try to get along and then insult each other every chance that you get. I don't want to hear any insulting nicknames and you have to stay civil!"

They both sighed, but when I stared them down they nodded reluctantly in agreement.

"Okay," Xavier relented.

"We promise," Jackson added.

I sighed in relief, resting my head against Jackson's chest again. I felt as if a weight had just lifted off my chest. They weren't the best of friends, but this was progress and if they could learn to accept each other, then maybe Jackson could eventually accept that I had dormant genes. I didn't want to keep it from him forever. It just didn't feel right to keep things from him.

"Thank you, guys," I said, looking back up at them. "You really don't know how much it means to me."

Xavier smiled and reached over to ruffle my hair. He actually did understand why it was so important to me, but he knew better than to say anything in front of Jackson. "You have fun on your date. I need to go feed."

I gave him a thankful smile but still smacked his hand away for screwing with my hair. He winked at me and left the room in a blur.

"Are you still up for our date?" Jackson asked, looking down at me. He seemed worried that I might say no after everything that had gone down.

I wasn't really up for being out on the town anymore, but I didn't want to skip the date. "Can we just hang out at the pack house for the day?" I asked him. I was comfortable there and I loved hanging out with the pack.

"Breakfast first?" he asked.

I nodded and smiled up at him. "That sounds wonderful."

Please don't forget:

Vote•••Comment•••Share

Thank You!!