A knock on my temporary bedroom's door pulls me reluctantly from my peaceful slumber. I smile slightly realizing that I'd slept without nightmares yet again. It seems like getting Lucien back somehow triggered the nightmares to release my mind from their grasp.

"Yeah?" I call out towards the door, and it opens slowly, Dante's head popping through the crack.

"Happy Birthday," he says with a smile, and I nod tiredly, sitting up in the bed.

The last week and a half has been nothing but boredom. I spend most of my time either locked in this room alone, or outside in the woods, trying to avoid everyone else's emotions. The only thing that's managed to bring me any happiness are the lingering looks I've caught from him. At least I know he's really considering the possibility, and not just writing us off as being too complicated. All I can do is wait, and hope. That hope might just crush me if he doesn't decide in my favor.

Dante creeps into the room hesitantly with a armful of wrapped gifts.

"These are from everyone here. They're going to keep a little distance this morning so their emotions don't overwhelm you. We thought you should have a peaceful morning since this afternoon will be anything but. They all wanted you to get your presents first thing though."

With a small grin of excitement, I wave him into the room, and he drops the pile onto the foot of the bed. First, I open Micah's to find a set of new charcoal pencils, and a new sketchpad. I grin happily. My old charcoals are getting down to nubs. So, this is perfect. I chuckle lightly when I see Oliver got me a grey t-shirt that says "making magic happen".

Next, I open the one from Lucien. It's a necklace with a silver pendant shaped like an axe head hanging from a long piece of black leather. I study the pendant, and find cool designs carved into it. A slip of paper falls out of the box, and I pick it up.

AJ,

The Viking axe symbolizes strength and bravery. Both of which you posses in spades. Remember that when life brings you challenges. You've definitely faced more than your fair share, and there's plenty more to come. Don't let any of them hold you back.

Lucien

I fold the note carefully, and lay it on the bedside table, planning to save it, while I slip the necklace over my head to join his path of life pendant I still wear. Grabbing the biggest gift, I note that it's from Cal and Annie. Ripping the paper excitedly, I pause when it comes into view.

"Wow! This is amazing," I whisper to myself before turning it so Dante can see. His eyebrows rise as he studies it closely.

"That is awesome," he says, leaning forward to get a closer look.

It's one of Annie's paintings. A large canvas with so many different colors. It looks like tiny pieces of colored confetti, but all the pieces come together into the shape of a guitar. It'll look amazing hanging in my music room.

Lawrence gave me a braided leather bracelet, with a steal cylinder, and a diamond cross. Slipping it over my wrist, I move to the next gift. When I open Everett's my lips part in surprise.

It's leather covered photo album filled with pictures he's snapped since we've known each other. I flip through the pages staring at various pictures of me with my friends, me sitting on the roof staring at stars, sitting on the pier with Micah, laughing with Cal and Lawrence. I laugh when I get to the ones of my failed attempt of snowboarding. There are pictures of everyone rock climbing, and playing around at the trampoline park. The night we were all drinking, me dancing with Micah. There's a picture of me sitting on a barstool next to Everett, the two of us smiling, that I don't know who could have snapped. There are multiple pictures of me with Lucien, us laughing or smiling in every one of them.

Coming to the end, I hug it to my chest, beyond grateful for the captured memories of the last months of my life as a human. Well, part human anyway. As close to it as I'll ever get.

Dante hands me the last gift. A small box that fits in the palm of my hand, and I see it's from him. I open it slowly, nervous about what it might hold. Inside a plain white box there's an antique gold locket. The surface is covered in an intricate design, holding tiny gems imbedded in its surface. Popping it open, I find a small picture of my mom with Dante. He stands behind her, with both arms wrapped around her neck, and they both smile happily at the camera.

"Thanks," I whisper, avoiding his eyes, and running a thumb over my mother's photo.

"The locket was my mother's," he responds, and my eyes shoot to him. I remember Lucien telling me that Dante is over two hundred years old.

"You kept it this long?"

"She was my mother," he says with a small uncomfortable shrug, and I nod in understanding. That's a love that never faded. No matter how many years pass.

I try to push aside the reminder that I'll never have the chance to have a child. With the chaos in my life, it might be for the best, but that doesn't stop the small sting in my chest at the thought.

"Alright, well I'll leave you be. Come out and see everyone at some point. It might be hard to be around the wolves for a little while after you turn," he says, and stands to leave the room.

I lay the locket gently on the bedside table, and reach for the pencils and sketchpad from Micah. Unable to get the man's face from my vision out of my head, I begin sketching him. So many questions swirl in my mind while I do. Who is he? Why was I being intimate with him? Does this mean that he will continue to deny us? It must. Why else would I be in such a position with another man sometime in the future.

An undetermined amount of time passes while I lose myself in my worries, questions, and the calming sensation of my pencil scratching across the paper. I'm pulled from the almost trance like state when a heavenly aroma reaches my nose. Recognizing it immediately, I dart out of the room, following my nose.

When I reach the kitchen, I see Lucien standing at the granite island, already fixing a plate. As soon as I round the corner into the room, he grins and holds the plate in my direction.

"I thought it might be nice to have your favorite one last time before you change," he says.

My mouth waters excessively as I eye the plate, licking my lips as I reach for it. He gestures me towards the table with a chuckle. It doesn't take long for others to flow into the room following the smell. Even the vampires who don't eat come to see what's going on. They all seem to be trying hard to keep ahold of their emotions. I only feel anxiousness from all of them. It's strong since they're all feeling the same thing, but it's easier to handle than a bunch of conflicting feelings all at once.

"There's enough for us too, right?" Micah asks, and Lucien nods, pointing towards the island.

"How do you cook like that when you don't eat? I tried not long ago, and it didn't go well at all," Lawrence says, taking a seat at the table with us.

"Practice," Lucien mutters.

Ignoring everyone around me for the time being, I dig into my garlic butter steak, cheesy scalloped potatoes, and roasted brussel sprouts with bacon. It's my all time favorite meal, and it's perfect for not only my birthday, but also my last meal.

"Thanks, Lucien," I mumble with a smile, and he nods, drumming his finger idly on the table top.

"So, how does an ascent work?" Oliver asks, dropping into a chair with his own plate of food.

"It's anticlimactic," I mumble. He shoots me a questioning look, and I elaborate. "Nothing really happens for you to see. When it reaches the time that I was born, my magic will change. That's about it."

"Well, that sucks. I was hoping for something cool," he responds, and I roll my eyes.

"Can we be there though?" Micah, asks, and I shrug.

"I don't see why not. Keep your distance though. We don't know exactly how strong my powers will be, or if I'll have any control of them. I'm going out into the woods when it gets close to time. Don't want to damage the house if something doesn't go as planned."

I only have about an hour left until it's time. I was born right after lunchtime. The time seems to fly by, and before I know it, it's time to head out into the woods. When I walk out the door, I notice dark storm clouds racing in, and I hope the weather holds out until this is over. I pick a spot in a small clearing, and take a seat on the ground to wait. Everyone else stands in the surrounding trees, watching, but keeping their distance.

As the time nears, the wind picks up, the trees around me swaying violently. Lightning flashes like a strobe light across the sky, and I watch it warily.

"You need to save your energy, AJ," Lucien calls, leaning against a tree twenty yards away.

"I'm not doing it," I respond, keeping my eyes on the sky, and he glances around nervously.

Looking down at my phone in my lap, I see there's only about a minute left. I breathe deeply, trying to relax. Not knowing what to expect, I have no idea how to prepare myself. Electricity charges the air, giving it a foreboding feeling, and the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I keep my eyes zeroed in on the clock on my phone screen. The exact moment the clock ticks to my time of birth, lightning hits the ground next to me with a loud crack that shakes my bones. My whole body jerks away from it, but another bolt slams into the ground on the other side of me.

"AJ!"

"Ari!"

Lucien and Dante both yell a the same time, looking like they're about to run towards me, but I shake my head.

"Stay back," I call to them just before the next bolt of lightning hits me in the chest.

My body convulses violently, and pain shoots through every part of me. A pressure builds in my head making it feel like it might explode at any second. Gripping the sides of my head, I roll onto my side, a whimper leaving my lips.

As fast as it started, the lightning and wind stops, and a tidal wave of power surges through me, elation following close behind. Every cell in my body buzzes excitedly, and I suck in a deep breath.

"That definitely was not anticlimactic," Micah mutters from somewhere in the distance.

My magic rushes through me, and I pant for breath as I try to get ahold of it, I can't seem to get a grasp on it though. Not even a little bit. The wind picks up again, harder this time. Snow swirls around the clearing so thickly that I can't see anything beyond the wall of white. The crack of a tree breaking reaches my ears, and I grunt trying to reign it in.

"It's me this time. It's too much," I say as loudly as I can manage, hoping they'll hear me over the roaring of the wind.

"Now, Lucien!" Dante yells from somewhere. "You need to do it now!"

Lucien's face suddenly appears above me as he fights his way through the storm of my creation. Falling to his knees next to me in the snow, he leans over me.

"This is going to hurt," he says loud enough to be heard over the wind, and he moves towards my neck, reluctance showing in his chocolate eyes. That one moment of reluctance proves what I already knew. He's not as confident that this will work as he tried to pretend.

His fangs tear through my skin again, but the experience is very different this time. There is no pleasure or excitement. There's only pain. As he stays clamped onto my neck, the pain grows, a white hot searing sensation traveling through my throat. I whimper, and he mumbles what I think is supposed to be an apology, his words indecipherable while his fangs remain firmly planted in my artery.

I wiggle under him, trying to suppress the unbearable urge to fight against him as the pain continues to spread. I grip his shirt in tight fists to hold myself back from shoving him off of me. I'm only able to contain the urge for a few more moments before my magic surges forward, taking the choice out of my hands.

Lucien grunts as an invisible force slams into him, sending him flying away from me. My eyes squeeze shut in agony, but I hear him collide with something in the distance, and I wince.

Rolling onto my side, I curl up in a ball, trying to hide from the pain, but it's no use.

"I'm sorry," I mumble quietly, hoping I didn't hurt him.

"He's fine, Ari!" Dante calls back.

I sigh in relief seconds before a scream of pure pain breaks free. The venom pumping through my veins, spreading its torture throughout my body is the most excruciating experience of my life. When my head begins to swim drunkenly, a small smile tilts my lips despite the pain. My silent prayers for it to end are answered as I feel myself losing consciousness.