DESIRE

6

Liv

Surprisingly, the rest of the day passed calmly. Kennedy had left after lunch claiming that she didn't feel well but Liv saw right through her, she knew that Damon's words affected Kennedy more than she would ever admit and facing him, and his pack again, was not something she wanted to experience. But Liv was left to pick up the pieces, whilst Damon had scared the humans into listening to him; many of the jocks shared Kennedy's beliefs. Two fights had already broken out.

"Hey," Jace smiled leaning against Liv's locker at the end of the day "Do you still want to talk to me or are you scared I've got rabies?"

Rolling her eyes Liv slammed her locker shut. "I don't believe in any of that crap."

"Good. I was just checking. Guess I should be happy you're a shifter sympathiser." Jace nudged her shoulder as they walked down the corridor. He ignored the glares from the humans, she found it a lot harder to do so. They could glare all they wanted; nothing would stop Jace from talking to Liv. He was enchanted by everything about her, even though they had only met a couple of hours ago.

"You heard that?" She asked frowning when he tapped his ear "Oh. I forgot you have better hearing. Are you okay? It wasn't nice what she said."

He snorted "It was far from nice. Damon put her in her place, but I hope you know it's not true, we don't carry rabies. We're not wild dogs."

It was beyond offensive and something that had been stereotyped about the shifters for years. Dread filled Jace at the thought of Kennedy finding out how 'halfie's' were looked down upon in the shifter world, he would never hear the end of it.

Liv couldn't fully believe that Kennedy would say something so vile, and yet she also could. Her prejudices were fuelled through her own personal experiences yet to accuse a whole species of something so deformative? It was disgusting.

"I don't believe in what she said." Liv reassured him "Look Kennedy has just had a really bad day, she's lashing out. Soon she'll come around to the idea of you guys being here; it's just gonna take her some time."

"You're too forgiving." Gentle he reminded himself, You only met her today "It's a good quality. Just don't let others abuse it."

"Thank you?" She laughed. "I'm not sure if that was a compliment or not, but thanks Jace. I'll see you in class tomorrow?"

Jace

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Liv." Jace smiled waving goodbye as she got into her car driving away. All he wanted was to be with her and never let her go. He had always thought if he was mated to a human, he would be devastated yet... speaking to her filled a hole in his chest he didn't even know was there. Turning around he scented his friends coming towards him, a goofy smile on Marcus' face.

"You my friend are so whipped!" Marcus swung his arm over Jace's shoulder ruffling his hair. "It's adorable to witness you stumble over your words like a lovesick fool."

"Shut up." Jace shrugged him off "You're just jealous you haven't found your mate yet."

"Please, I'm just jealous you get a hottie like–" Jace slammed him into a car door by his throat. He could hear the car alarm going off, but he couldn't focus on anything else but tightening his fingers around his best friend's throat. He had disrespected his mate. Marcus choked pushing at Jace's chest his hand slapping against the muscle.

In that moment, Marcus had forgotten just how easy it was to rile Jace up but also how he struggled to keep his shifter at bay when his emotions were heightened. To beat Jace in a fight when he was angry was a risk Marcus wasn't willing to take.