When Liv woke a feeling of dread had appeared in her stomach. 

Facing Kennedy today would not be pretty, her reaction would be even uglier. Liv didn't want to go to school in the first place to see everyone glaring at her is her worst nightmare. 

She liked people liking her, smiling at her. She wanted to be liked and appreciated by everyone, and if Jace's pack didn't like her then how would she be able to settle in with them and be the Beta female?

He had reassured her countless times the night before when she had called him at 2am, her anxiety keeping her awake. His husky voice calmed her as he heard her anxieties and reassured her that she would be fine, and everything would be okay. Even if the meeting ended in disaster everything would still be okay.

 "Morning," Her dad greeted her as she came downstairs, he was leaning against the kitchen island sipping his morning coffee. Unlike every other morning, her mum wasn't home, which made her heart pound. Not telling her mum about what was happening at school that day could be seen as a betrayal. 

 "Can I tell you something and you won't be mad?"

 "You can tell me something, but I can't guarantee that I won't be mad." Her dad chuckled, sitting his mug down onto the island. His face sobered up "is everything okay sweetheart?"

 "Well," She took a deep breath before speaking as fast as she humanly could. "I've been seeing Jace, the Beta's son, and we're actually mates, and I really like him a lot but there's been a lot of drama at school recently with Kennedy and Jace is Kennedy's half-brother so it's been really awkward, and I couldn't tell her I was with him so I just kept it a secret. But then Kennedy was really rude to the shifters, and she shared this video of me and now I think all the shifters hate me and then Jace and I went to the old shifter school, and we found Kennedys cardigan and told the Alpha and Luna and now in school she's going to be questioned about it today."

Is what she should've said. 

Instead, her lips parted to say, "I've been seeing the Beta's son, and I would like us all to have a family dinner."

"Okay," He looked a bit flabbergasted running his fingers through the scruff on his chin "I'll speak to your mother once she's home and we can try to organise a dinner sometime soon?" 

Liv was relieved and a weight she hadn't even noticed was on her shoulders, lifted. Her dad's old beliefs about the shifters had put her off from telling her parents just the extent of her and Jace's relationship.

 "Thanks dad." She grinned giving him a kiss on the cheek, a car horn honked from outside as her phone lit up with a text from Jace "that's him. I'll see you tonight."

 "Bye honey," Her dad chuckled watching his daughter grab her bag and hurry out the door. She didn't want to keep Jace waiting.

 After keeping him awake for two hours last night as they talked through her anxieties, she had offered to drive that morning, but he insisted on picking her up. 

 "Hey," she pressed her lips to his in a quick peck pulling away once she realised Marcus was in the back seat grimacing at the two of them, "thanks for coming to get me." 

 "Of course. Are you feeling better?"Hiding her shaking hands in her lap Liv forced a smile "I'll feel better once todays over."

 He pursed his lips before smiling at her sympathetically. The Luna had decided that morning that it would be herself who conducted the meeting ignoring June's requests. Jace had listened to his mum complain about that situation all morning. If anything, this meeting would just mean Kennedy was no longer in his life, and all the drama would leave with her.

When they pulled up to the school, the ball of anxiety grew in Liv's stomach as she clasped her shaky hands together. She couldn't hold Jace's hand if he felt how nervous she was he would never go through with it. 

In Liv's mind this had to happen, there had to be justice for what had happened to the school and consequences for Kennedy being so horrid to the shifters the entire time they had been there. It was karma. 

 "We'll see you after," Jace told Marcus as he gripped Liv's hand stroking the back of her palm with his thumb. She would never fully understand the extent of the mate bond and how he could sense her emotions, he would tell her someday but not when it would make her more anxious knowing. 

After being marked, they could mind link as well, but he would show her that later. 

 "Have fun," Marcus grinned a teasing glint to his eyes as he swivelled quickly walking inside the school.

 Looking over at Jace, Liv smiled genuinely, squeezing his hand in hers. "Let's go." 

She didn't want to talk about what was going to happen once they reached the headmasters office so instead, she said "I told my dad about us." Jace hummed in response trying to calm his own heartbeat. 

He had been nervous about meeting her parents again ever since he had found out she was his mate. Knowing that they wanted to meet with him was like a small weight lifted off his shoulders and an even bigger one put back on; he had to make a good impression. Human parents didn't care much for the soul bond and wanted instead to see that their child had been charmed by their mate.

 It was why his mother struggled so much to impress his grandparents. 

 "That's good freckles," he smiled. "Hopefully they'll like me and won't want to kill me."

 "Shush!" Liv slapped his shoulder lightly. "They'll be fine. And you'll be fine." 

Turns out Liv was pretty good at calming other people's worries just not her own.Stopping outside the Headmaster's office they shared a look before Jace pushed the heavy wooden door open.

 Inside the headmaster was sitting behind his dark oak desk shuffling through some files. Across from him was the Luna, Elena who was scrolling through her phone. 

 "Hello Jace," she nodded with a smile at the couple "Liv," she gestured for them to sit down beside her as she continued to scroll through her phone. 

"Actually, it might be better if I stood here." Elena walked over to stand behind the headmaster, "we're just waiting for my son and then we'll call for Kennedy." "And the two of you are certain?" the headmaster double-checked the evidence once again "it looks as if you have the facts straight but I'm just being sure. I understand that there is history between the three of you and I don't want this meeting to come across as malicious." 

 "We understand how it could look that way, but we stumbled across the evidence, my history with Kennedy wasn't a factor when we found the cardigan." 

 "Okay Olivia," he took a deep breath before leaning into the microphone asking for Kennedy to come to the office.

For the next five minutes they waited in silence before the door was pushed open yet again, Kennedy stood in the threshold, her blue eyes darting around the room as she saw Luna Elena, the headmaster, Jace and Liv all staring at her.

Tilting her head back, she straightened her shoulders as she walked into the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

 "You wanted to see me?" She kept her voice steady, not daring to look over at Liv and Jace who were still staring at her. 

 "Yes Kennedy, take a seat," the headmaster gestured to the seat that was beside Jace and Kennedy sat down on the edge of her seat keeping herself as far away from Jace as possible. She stared at the headmaster not even wanting to look at any of the shifters. 

 "We've been informed that there is evidence connecting you to the fire at the old shifter school."

There was a pause as Kennedy sucked in a breath of air before whispering "what?" She glanced over at Liv and Jace wanting them to at least fill in the gaps "what evidence?"

Jace reached down into his backpack pulling out the cardigan "we found this at the school, it's yours". 

 "That's your evidence?" Kennedy snorted "I haven't seen that cardigan since that party, so I don't know how it ended up there, but I did not burn down that stupid school."

 "You've made it known that you despise the shifters being at the school, the fire was meant to start later on that day so perhaps it started earlier than you expected."

Kennedy's frustration reached a boiling point as she leaned back in her chair with an incredulous look on her face "You really believe that I am capable of setting fire to that school?"

 She looked around at everyone scanning their faces and when no one spoke she felt her eyes begin to sting. "Well since you've all made up your mind without even asking me anything, is there any point in me being here?" Kennedy snapped standing to her feet wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans. 

 "Sit down Kennedy." Headmaster Keaton snapped in the exact same tone she used, with a roll of her eyes she pivoted on her foot and went to the door, planning to storm out of the office. "You're suspended."

She stopped in her steps "You can't suspend me over that." 

 "Yes, I can, you're suspended until we find more evidence. I cannot risk you being around the shifters right now, God only knows what you'd do." 

 "There is no more evidence!" Kennedy shouted, swinging her arms around in frustration "I didn't set fire to the bloody school! Do you not think that there's an agenda against me here? I mean look who's accusing me!" 

 "Kennedy, we didn't go to the school with any malicious intent, we stumbled across the cardigan, but you can't get away with this like you've gotten away with everything else." Liv snapped straightening her spine meeting Kennedy's icy glare with one of her own.

 "So, I'm suspended?" Kennedy sighed, she felt so defeated no one had her back in this situation. Not even Liv who had been her best friend for years had turned her back on her as well. 

 "Until further notice, yes you're suspended."

And with that Kennedy turned on her heel slamming the office door shut behind her.