You don't have to like the same things, it's about respecting differences."

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The door opens to reveal a rather ordinary room in size, an unassuming conference room in the science facility. Rowan heads towards the light switch, illuminating the space, before turning his attention towards closing the slatted blinds. "Do you think thay will come?" Jamie questions, as he heads towards one of two chairs, seated at the head of the large rectangular table.

"They said they would so I have to trust they will." Rowan replies, momentarily assessing the space. I imagine they won't sit side by side. Not yet anyway."

"Maybe never." Jamie adds.

"We have to have faith that change will come, for all our sakes." Rowan sits next to Jamie. "Do you want a war?"

"Of course not. But we are dealing with two old enemies here." Rowan is about to respond to the question, when the door to the room opens, to reveal a small brunette head poking around it. "Mani. Come in!" Rowan stands up and heads towards the door as Mani steps through, followed by Teddy. "You must be Theodore." Rowan offers out a hand for Teddy to shake.

Teddy looks at the hand reaching out to him. Then looks at the man. "What are you?" Mani glares at his mate, then at his tutor. Teddy could hear the curses from Mani going off in his mind. "S…sorry." Teddy says reluctantly as with great effort, he outstretches his own hand to make contact.

"That's ok. It's only natural that you would be wary. I'm Professor Rowan Kelly, this is my partner James. By day I am a chemistry teacher and by night I am…."

"A vampire? But you don't stink like the other one" Teddy interrupts, again getting virtual screams in his head from his mate.

"I was going to say, warrior for peace." Rowan chuckles as the hand is released. "But you are essentially half right. I'm a being, half vampire half human, but I manage my condition."

Teddy feels a natural urge to be on the defence, but the calming touch of Mani's hand, wrapping around his lower arm distracts him, as Teddy is guided across to some seats on one side of the table. "We want to make this a positive step. Don't we Teddy." Mani squeezes his grip a little causing the alpha to respond. "Yes. '' he says with as much conviction as he can muster.

Don't push your luck. I'm still the alpha here…

Mani releases the hold, being reminded of his place as he gets up to standing and positions himself behind his mate's chair.

The door again opens, with more of a forceful burst as Tyler's father, followed by his son, now enters the room. The vampire scent unmistakable. "Mr Klein! Tyler. I'm so pleased…

"Let's get this ridiculousness over with." The vampire's words cut Rowan short as he heads for the chair opposite, leaving a chilling breeze in his wake. Jamie closes the door, with the six individuals now left in silence.

"Isn't this a little unfair?" Teddy says, looking at the four strangers surrounding him.

"Unfair? How?" Rowan questions.

"Four against two. You are all bloodkind." He lazily waves a hand at them.

"We don't have a hive mind." Jamie says defensively. We are capable of our own thoughts and opinions, we are not ruled by our genetics.

"Trust me. If we were, you'd be dead already."

"Dad!" Tyler shouts. "That isn't helping."

Mani places a hand on Teddy's shoulder. The touch calmed down the urge to tear the vampire's head clean off then and there. He swallows down the primal urge to retaliate, forcing himself to focus on Rowan. "Mani tells me there are these laws. What are they exactly?"

"Ah yes…" The professor gets up and heads to his bag, pulling out the old and rather battered looking scroll. "The common values."

All eyes take in the four simple statements, which according to the professor, were the answer. "But what if I don't like what he likes?" Teddy says leaning back on his seat, not even giving the vampire eye contact.

"You don't have to like the same things, it's about respecting differences." Jamie tries to explain.

"This will never work. We are too different." Tyler's father glances over at the alpha who now dares to look back.

"So we have to go and fight because you won't open your mind?" Tyler says, now sitting next to his dad.

His father looks at him. A sadness in his eyes. "Where are you son? Where is the little biter I used to know?"

"He's still here Dad…" Tyler pats his chest. …"and if we could somehow agree to coexist, maybe there could be a way forward. I wouldn't have to hide."

"Would you stop taking those pills?" His dad asks again.

"If there was a way to survive without them, I would. But we rely on death to survive. What kind of race are we?" Tyler feels pained with his words.

"We are not too different from the wolfkind. They kill for flesh, we kill for blood."

"Look no one is saying what you need to do for survival is a crime. It's survival. But going to war over a disagreement. That's something entirely different." Jamie says, trying to defuse what may be a heated argument. "The pills are just the choice some of us make."

"You are very quiet." The professor turns his attention to Mani, still standing just shy of his alpha. "What do you think?"

Mani looks down at Teddy, waiting for permission to speak. Teddy raises a hand and taps on Mani's hand, still resting on his shoulder. Mani nods at the hand gesture before speaking. "If I've learned anything over the past week is that we are more than the boxes we try to put ourselves in. Yes I'm wolfkind, I'm an omega. I'm a healer, a student majoring in chemistry, but I'm also Mani. Emmanuel Blake. I am stubborn, foolish, and I believe in true love. I have an obsession for humankind. I am my own box. Teddy here is also wolfkind. He's Theodore Tate, an alpha, my mate.. A known fighter, studying…."

"Sports science"

"Right. Sports science, but he is also kind, passionate, willing to try new things,..."

"What's your point omega." Mr Klein says with a stern tone in his voice. It makes Teddy's bones tense up. But the gentle squeeze on his shoulder helps him to relax. Calm down, it's ok.

"We all have the right to be ourselves dad. We define ourselves. It's that simple." Tyler says as he looks to his father, his eyes pleading.

"Even you have the right to drink blood how you see fit Mr Klein. No one is stopping you."

"Mmph." The vampire huffs. The words make some kind of sense. "And what about you Mr Tate. What do you think?"

The alpha feels all eyes on him. As if the fate of the world rested at his feet, which it literally did. "Powers beyond my control dictate that I am never to have my own flesh and blood. I will never be a biological parent with my mate, because fate again dictates that my destiny is as a soldier, a leader. I am supposed to lead the wolfkind into battle. But what if fate is wrong? Before I met this beautiful wolfblood behind me, I would have followed the path fate had set out for me, but maybe we have more power over our own destiny than we realise."

Teddy feels the love radiating from his mate, but the stares from the four others in the room were unavoidable. "You….you uh, don't seem like a typical alpha." Jamie is a little stunned by the minute speech Teddy had spoken.

"Like Mani said. There's more to us than meets the eye. We should at least try to get along." Tyler says again looking at his father.

Mr Klein looks at his son, taking a heavy sign "your mother always hated fighting." He looks back at Teddy and Mani from across the table. "Ok. I will try to live by these rules. I will present them to the council."

"This is a remarkable day!" Rowan stands up in a hurry, hands resting on the table's surface. He looks at the pair. "Shake on it?"

"Don't push it!" The vampire and the wolf say in unison.