The already silent room went cold as Nathaniel and I walked in, every single pair of eyes turned to us. I could feel that everyone inside had held their breath as the door slammed behind us. Fear was evident in every single pair of eyes I met and I felt sick as I walked through the rows of chairs as if I had done something wrong.

I get to the front seats of the auditorium when a hand stops me in my tracks, a small hand belonging to Ethan who moved in front of me with his head down. A sad expression on his face.

I feel Nathaniel slightly tense from behind me and subconsciously I move ever so slightly to feel his arm against my back. My heart slows down and I watch Ethan waiting.

"Thank you." He blurts out loudly in the silent room, my face turning slightly red but I don't look away from the boys. "I never should have followed Cedric and Lucian out last night and I know now that I would have been killed in seconds if it wasn't for you. So thank you."

Even more embarrassing after his speech Ethan gave a little bow and then scurried away before I could say anything. I turned to Nathaniel slightly confused but he didn't notice his eyes were glaring at Ethan.

"Come on." He motioned me forward more into the row until I found a seat. He waited for me to sit before turning on his heel and walking to the other teachers standing on the podium. I took it as a good sign that all of them were standing there, even though Mrs Valentine was currently watching me with a hard expression on her face.

I looked away from the small stage and looked around the room instead. I was looking for Cedric and Lucian because my guess from last night was they were the two wolves who saved both Ethan and me but they were nowhere to be seen in the crowded room. Unfortunately, my looking around caught the attention of someone else, Mila came glaring down the stairs towards me.

I give a silent sigh as I wait for her, making no move to turn away just watching her descent towards me.

She sends a horrible smile in return.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Mila says taking a stand right behind my seat, her normal followers sitting a couple of rows behind us, ignoring Mila just like she's ignoring them, interesting.

"It's a whole school assembly why wouldn't I be here?" I give her a sarcastic tone which she just rolls her eyes at.

"Well, last night you got your first taste of the supernatural world and how dangerous it is. Not to mention a little bird told me that you went down there, got so scared that Nathaniel had to drag your unconscious body away."

She gives a little laugh at my expense but I give her an unamused one back.

"You obviously have no idea what you're talking about." I turn back to the front, choosing to ignore her as I see movement by the stage.

Behind me, Mila gives one last whispered jab.

"And you have no idea how dangerous it is for someone like you in this world." Her threat stood in the air as I watch Annie, mostly unharmed but walking with the slightest limp make her way to the front of the stage.

My heart gives a little pound in response, she's okay. Annie is alright.

Annie sends us all a tiny smile as she finally reaches the microphone.

"Thank you all for coming so early in the morning, I know some of you aren't morning people but I think this matter is a little pressing at the time." A few people give out some scattered laughter but it falls away quickly in the silence, I can almost see the teachers wincing behind Annie but she just keeps her wide smile on her face.

"As many of you know there was a little incident last night by the cottages." She keeps her voice as light as possible but I hear the intake of breath from the students around me and a second later my own follows. "Alright, maybe a little more than little. Simply put the school was attacked."

People let out gasps but I can hear that they're more surprised by Annie actually announcing it than by the words themselves. Annie loses her smile, a serious tone quickly taking over the room.

"At roughly 10 pm last night, Mr Hunt was on patrol around the school when he smelled an intruder," I try to ignore the strange words listening for the important words only, "he informed our protectors quickly rushing through the woods to protect us. Thankfully some of our other protectors were able to hold them in the forest while the teachers gathered in the fields."

Her words come out fast as she tells us the timeline of last night.

"A man named Austin came into the school fields with a pack of people, they wanted to come and scare us more than anything. He wanted us to stop teaching the connecting of species here. He is an extremist that wants the school shut down."

A low murmur enters the room as the other students begin whispering, Annie ignores them continuing on with her story.

"When talking got him nowhere Austin took to scare tactics, he attacked. He wanted to hurt us so that we couldn't protect the school but the teachers, the protectors and I were able to hold them off."

She gives us a frown, sadness leaking into her eyes.

"Not completely unharmed but all over we survived and kept you all safe."

Someone was hurt, my mind reeled at the information. And while I'm sure there are people in the forest and protectors that I don't know my mind raced over the teachers trying to find out who had been hurt but all of my usual teachers were there looking down at us with serious expressions.

Around me, more people start whispering at Annies words. Who had been hurt?

The door beside the stage opened, the noise loud in the silent room. Every eye in the room shifted over and slowly the large shoulders of Lucian came around the door. His face was downcast and my breath got lost somewhere in my chest as I look at him.

The door slowly closing behind him with a low thud, no one following behind him. Without knowing it I had stood up from my seat watching him.

Lucian walks around the stage, giving Annie and the other teachers a small bow, everyone watches him shocked as he walks to a chair. I'm surprised when he doesn't choose the seats near me, instead choosing a chair alone in the middle of an aisle, with no one around him.

"Why is her even still here?" I hear someone yelling from the other side of the room, it takes me a moment to turn to the person. I'm shocked to see the vampire boy pointing at Lucian.

"Zayn." Annie draws the word out in disappointment but now as if egged on by Zayn's words more teenagers are standing up.

"It's not right that he's still here." Another girl right beside Zayn stands up yelling up to the stage.

"For all we know he is giving them ways of getting into the school." Zayn continues.

A shocked murmur enters the room and the noise becomes deafening in seconds, my eyes find Lucian still with his head down not looking at the other teenagers but not standing up for himself. A silent sort of acceptance entering his body as he waits for the onslaught.

He knew that this would come for him the second he entered the room.

"That is completely untrue." Annie's voice is loud now, grabbing the attention of everyone and forcing the room back into silence. Her face is angry, more disappointed as she looks around the room. She makes pointed eye contact with Zayn and the girl next to him but I don't turn to see their expressions.

"That is completely baseless and you should be more careful about your accusations. Lucian is a part of our school, he has set himself apart from those people and has shown his passion for the cause that this school stands for. You should do well to remember that Zayn."

Her voice is filled with anger but she keeps her face calm, just as she's about to turn and address something else Zayn speaks up once more.

"Austin is his father." The words shock me and this time I do swing around in my seat to look at Zayn who is glaring at the back of Lucian with such hatred.

Annie doesn't say anything telling us all the truth without any words. I look back at Lucian who seems to have collapsed in on himself, the few people sitting closest to him seem to cringe away from him and I feel sick as I watch because I know that those people are werewolves, his people are afraid of him.

I remember the way he had saved me last night, the way he had always been there to save me since I arrived at this school and right now it's clear that he's struggling.

Annie goes to say something but I stand up before she can, walking over to Lucian I can feel every pair of eyes on me beside him. Standing in front of him I look out into the sea of students, confidence leaking from my bones as I open my mouth.

"We are not defined by our blood." At my words, Lucian looks up and I give him a small smile, grabbing hold of his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "We make our own world out of what we are given but to think that because of our blood and our parents that we are inherently bad is just wrong."

I don't even know if my words make sense but they felt right, I for one am nothing like my mother or Annie but that doesn't mean I can't be as good as she is that I can't make an impact like her. Just like Lucian just because his father is who he is doesn't mean that he will turn out bad. I can't believe for a second that Lucian would do anything to hurt someone, not on purpose.

Lucian smiles at me but I see more than a few of the vampires rolling their eyes.

"Morgan is right," Annie says from behind me and I spin to sit down right beside Lucian, a few other wolves taking their spots around us again. "We might be what we are because of blood but it does not define us. Lucian has worked the hardest in all my years as a teacher to work with us and to bring together the species. He is not his father and for that we are grateful."

She sends a smile at Lucian and for the first time, he keeps his head held high. I breathe a slight sigh of relief at seeing it.

"What we all need to understand is that while Austin is trying to rip us apart we can not rip each other apart. He doesn't want us working together as one because he knows just how powerful we will be." Her words inspire more people to hold their heads higher and some of them even nod along with her.

"I know we are all afraid right now, tonight we will be scared to fall asleep again in fear of an attack but we can't let that define us. We will work harder, together to overcome this and make sure that future generations of werewolves, vampires and witches are able to work together without fear of attack from people like Austin."

The crowd gives a small cheer in agreement and Annie smiles down at us all.

She takes a step away after a moment and another teacher steps forward, introducing themselves as the witch protector of the school and going over some protection that will come into place in the coming days.

Lucian bends down beside me.

"Thank you." He gives me a smile, I bump my shoulder into him.

"I can't let my alpha be ruled over like that." I wink at him but a second later it falls away as I look to the empty seat beside him. "Where is he?" I nod towards it.

Lucian sighs.

"I'll take you to him."

AUTHOR NOTE

The story is about to enter the third act so I'm excited at what you guys think is coming. Please tell me your suspicions and what you think is coming?
Also please tell me which of the boys you think needs some more screen time? I think Lucian has been a bit neglected lately and possibly Cedric but who do you want to see more of before this story ends?

As always if you see any spelling or grammar problems please comment so I can fix them as well as any plot holes or issues.

Thank you for reading,

LAURA