Cecilia's Wolf {Rewritten}

22 | Cecilia's Wolf

Cecilia

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.