Liv

Silence filled the hallway after the altercation between the half-siblings. Liv stood awkwardly watching as the three boys spoke to each other. Internally, she debated if she should follow Kennedy but... Kennedy was such a private person, Liv had known her for years and had never seen her cry. Seeing her in a state of vulnerability felt foreign so Liv didn't know how to react.

"That was awkward." The dark-skinned boy grinned looking between the Alpha, Beta and Commanders daughter. He was the future Gamma of the pack, but his father was in fighting condition seeing no need in retiring anytime soon. He extended his hand to Liv, "I'm Marcus, you must be Olivia, the Commanders daughter."

"Hi," She smiled, "it's nice to meet you and it's just Liv." She looked inquisitively at Jace trying to see if he would introduce himself as well, a little disappointed when he wouldn't meet her gaze instead turning and opening his locker focusing himself on the task.

No one could blame him. Everyone knew the story about his parents.

June met Toby when they were both nineteen. It was during the war, and Toby had been fighting in the army when he was severely injured. June saved his life taking him to her cottage on the border of the pack helping him recover. They spent two weeks together in that little cottage, and after they slept together. Toby left never to be seen again.

That was until a decade had passed, Toby had been out in the woods hunting for some deer when he ran into June who upon seeing her mate again, marked him on the spot. She was devastated to hear that her mate had married and had another child. He wouldn't be able to leave her, not now that he was marked, and so he went home and packed his bags leaving that same day.

Jace spent ten years without his father, but Toby acted like he had always been there, that his life as a human had never existed. Soon after, they had four more children, the first one was born ten months after Toby was marked.

It was a complex situation. The shifters didn't see anything wrong in what June did, but, Violet, Kennedy's mum, had been mad. She went to one of the best human lawyers in the district and managed to get a law passed where shifters can not claim their human mates without them knowing, marking a mate without permission is a crime under the sexual misconduct against human's act.

All Liv knew from there was that Kennedy's whole family received death threats for weeks from angry shifters who felt like their rights had been taken away from them. It was a bad time.

Liv had drifted off into her thoughts and a part of her was aware of how she had overstayed her welcome standing there in front of everyone. Her heart pounded in her chest as she took a step backwards meaning to quietly leave the area. She could hear everyone murmuring about the situation under their breath, this would need major damage control. When she looked at Damon he did not look as stressed out as she was. Maybe she was overthinking it? Hell, she was definitely overthinking it.

"I'm sorry about that." Jace's voice was soft, his brown eyes staring at Liv finally meeting Liv's "This wasn't how he wanted it to happen "I get how she's shocked, but I'm very protective over my family."

"Yeah, it's certainly a shock to all of us." Liv muttered turning to address the crowd "But this shouldn't impact any friendships or bonds that can be made between us." She smiled looking back at Jace who was smiling as well. His smile was small, but it made the dimple on his left cheek stand out.

"Would you be able to show me the rest of the tour? I missed the first part of it." Jace forced a smile. There was something about him, perhaps it was his familiarity or just the warmth that flooded her body whenever he looked at her. But Kennedy was her best friend...she couldn't do that to her.

"Maybe some other time." She forced a smile before wandering down the corridor looking for her best friend. Jace sighed leaning his forehead against the cool metal of his locker. His blood was hot. He hadn't expected this to happen at all, and telling his dad would be another story. He knows his dad would be overjoyed at the news his son had found his mate, but knowing his daughter was back in the picture...Toby wouldn't be pleased.

"I'll see you at lunch." He spoke before his friends could turning on his heel walking in the opposite direction from his mate. He wanted to shift. To let all of his anger out. But with Liv so close...he couldn't risk it. Shifters were notoriously possessive over their mates especially at the start of their bond, there was no telling what he would do if he scented her with another male. The rational, human, side of him knew that there was nothing wrong with talking to the opposite gender, but his shifter disagreed.

It was harder for Jace, he was a half-blood and that made controlling his shifter ten times harder. It wasn't equal, there was more shifter than human as the shifter genes overwhelmed his father's human ones. It was a weakness, one that only he had to deal with as his father had been changed before his siblings were born.

As he disappeared down the corridor, Marcus waited until they were gone from sight before guffawing. "He's already whipped, and he's only spoke to her twice." Damon smacked the back of his head.

"Don't." He warned "He's mated to the commander's daughter. And her best friend hates shifters and is his half-sister. He's going to have to work hard."

"Can't deny the bond." He sang dodging Damon's hand when it went to strike him again. "Look isn't this politically for the best? Your dad wanted you to mate with Olivia before this for an alliance, now you don't need to."

"Keep that information to yourself." Damon snarled his eyes flashing red, "If Jace finds out...shifters are protective when they first meet their mates never mind them being human." Stepping backwards Marcus held his hands up defensively.

"Dude I might like drama but I'm not suicidal." He grinned "Though Kennedy is hot, if only she didn't hate shifters. Although that hatred might make it hotter. You know the kinky shit; she'd probably choke me in bed." Marcus rambled on walking down the corridor with his Alpha by his side. If he had been more perceptive, he might have noticed the Alpha's glaring red eyes.

*

After meeting Kennedy in the bathroom, who seemed far more composed, Liv headed to her first class of the day. Shifter studies. With the merger, there had been new classes introduced to help assimilation be even smoother. Her mother demanded she attend as many of the new classes as possible, so their family seemed like they were accepting the merger. Little did her mother know, Liv actually enjoyed the sound of the classes; she wanted to learn more about shifters. Especially after meeting Jace.

Her daydreams led her to walk straight into a muscular pillar. Shit she thought I've just made a massive fool of myself on the first day. Brilliant.

"You, okay?" Jace steadied her, his hands on her shoulder sent tingles sparking through her body to her toes. His ocean eyes pierced into her soul as he studied her. Her auburn hair was slightly frizzy, like she had been running her hands through it all day. His hand itched to smooth it out for her. They were so close he could count all the freckles on her face, they looked like constellations mapping the way to his heart. Marcus was right; he was whipped.

"Sorry," Liv breathed stepping backwards tripping up over her ankle as she did before she could land on her ass Jace gripped her forearms pulling her upright "I'm not usually this clumsy." She apologised; how could she explain that it was him...his presence was affecting her thinking.

"It's all good." He smiled, his left dimple showing again. She liked his dimple. He smelled like the earth; a deep woodsy scent filled her nostrils calming her. "Are you in this class as well?"

"Yeah, it's all a part of being a Peace Ambassador." Liv rolled her eyes "I've to enrol in more 'shifter' classes and Damon is to do the opposite." Jace snorted, turning to look behind him where Damon and Marcus stood.

"No one tells Damon what to do. He hates school as it is, never mind having classes forced upon him." Jace laughed at the idea "Damon will be attending the shifter lessons not the human ones." She followed his gaze to see the two boys walking over. Her heart raced. She didn't think she would ever get used to the feeling of an Alpha's power, but as Jace settled his hand on her back her heart stopped racing.

"Your voice carries." Damon looked at Liv quickly before turning away "You should work on being quieter." Jace glared, his eyes turning brighter as his shifter surfaced.

"Hello Liv," Marcus grinned, "we meet again," all of a sudden, he threw his heavy arm across her shoulders pulling her into the classroom ignoring Jace's low growl that sounded in his mind. He was so easy to rile up.

"Sit next to me Liv." Marcus grinned pulling out the chair for her as they approached the desk. Flustered she nodded sitting down beside him "I can be your tutor to all your shifter questions." Behind them Damon and Jace settled into their row as the class filled up. The shifters looked at Liv as they walked past into their own seats, none of them were brave enough to sit next to the group. Liv was an anomaly; she should hate shifters but instead she is more accepting of them than anyone else. Perhaps she was adopted.

"So, I take it you've never taken a class on shifters before?" Marcus asked, when Liv shrugged his eyes lit up "Well you're in luck because I am the smartest of the three of us. I know you might not believe me because my charming, good looks give off more himbo vibes, but I am the only one who passed this class last semester."

Jace kicked his chair drawing Liv's attention "And yet you failed every other class, like math and English." he looked over at Liv "Trust me you don't want him to tutor you. Not that you need tutoring–you seem like a very smart girl—but if you weren't that isn't a bad thing either."

His stuttering was adorable as a soft blush crept up his neck onto his cheeks staining them pink.

She rested her hand on his which was twitching nervously on his desk "It's okay Jace," She laughed "I know what you mean." Liv looked down at the hands, she didn't know why she did that...she ripped her hand away from his, her cheeks flushing pink. For God's sake Liv, you've only just met him and now you're this touchy feely?

She turned back around ignoring his piercing stare on her back. If she ignored what had just happened, then it never happened. Marcus opened his mouth, about to make a silly joke when he pursed his lips together. Don't you dare. Damon's voice echoed in his mind warning him from saying one word. It turned out that Damon's responsibility for keeping the peace was just ensuring that Jace didn't kill Marcus.

"Hello class, my name is Mr Walters, this is introduction to shifter studies. We will be studying political, historical, social, and cultural aspects of this. I understand that for most of you this is the first time you are interacting with those of a different species whilst I encourage debates within the classroom; hate speech is forbidden."

He was a small man with beady eyes, at first glance Liv couldn't tell if he was a shifter or human. He looked like a mixture of both; a half breed. That's what they called them. From his age she could tell that he was born during the war, she wondered what had happened to his parents.

"You will be working mainly with your partners and to start I want you to get to know each other." The classroom reminded silent a few minutes after he spoke "Well get started! Talk to each other! Bond!" Mr Walters sat back down on his chair pulling over some papers to mark.

A part of her wished she was paired up with Jace so she could get to know him even better. Whilst Marcus seemed like a nice person, she was drawn to Jace something she couldn't explain as she had only known him for a few hours. Marcus turned to look behind them, at Jace and Damon who sat muttering to each other.

"We could work as a group of four." Marcus suggested, he had seen the look in his Beta's eyes that suggested for Marcus to live, he should probably make it a group project. He rotated his chair, so he was facing the two leaders sat behind him. Liv copied him. She lifted her head to meet Jace's piercing blue eyes.

"Actually, I have some official business to talk with Marcus about so if you two wouldn't mind being yourselves." Damon interrupted gesturing for Marcus and Jace to swap seats.

This was exactly what Liv wanted but why did she feel so stressed at the thought?

***

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