Jackson had spent all of last night putting up with his pack sticking their nose in his business, curious to where he was all night and what he thought of his mate.

They were disappointed when he called her a mouthy brat that did nothing but remind him of how much he hated humans.

And it was true.

She was troublesome and it was only the first day he met her. When he snapped at her, instead of cowering away she just barked back. She had to have the last word, almost as if she was trying to make him not like her. Well, mission accomplished.

He couldn't imagine having to spend the rest of his life chained to that woman.

But it was funny that he felt so strongly against the woman, considering where he was currently seated. If someone could hear his thoughts, they would be confused why he was there of all places.

He told his pack that he was going for a run before he found his paws leading him away from his regular trail when his nose picked something up.

Next thing he knew, he was shifting back into human form, with a shirt he kept on him pulled over his form as his body reacted on its own.

Yup, Jackson Wang really hated his mate.

-----

Areum was humming, an act that was far from normal, when she grabbed an apple off the counter the next morning. Usually, she'd be trudging through the house with a grim expression.

Not today.

She didn't know why but she felt lighter on her feet for some reason. She knew that the situation at school wouldn't have changed, but none of it really crossed her mind. Since her sister left, she hadn't left this light hearted in a really long time.

She bit the apple and held it between her teeth before stuffing her feet in her shoes and walking backwards out the door, pulling the door shut and locking it.

When she spun around she almost swallowed her apple whole and chocked on it while stumbling back in shock.

"What the hell?!" She exclaimed when she saw Jackson sitting on her porch railing.

Jackson smirked and watched the disbelief fill his mate's face, her hand was over her heart, but Jackson could hear how fast it was beating from where he was sitting. He really gave her a scare.

Good.

Her doe eyes grew larger and fell open. It was almost worth the hour and a half he spent waiting outside her house until she came out. She really knew how to take her sweet damn time getting dressed.

How was he supposed to know when human's regularly start school?

"Do you normally walk backwards or are you just naturally weird?" He hopped off the railing and strode casually up to her until he was just a few steps away.

"I'm weird? Coming from the guy who's perched in front of my house like a stray dog?" Areum shot back, taking a bite out of her apple. She walked around him, down the stairs and made her way towards the university.

Stray dog? I'm ing royalty.

Jackson didn't miss a beat and just followed behind her. His smirk grew wider as he pulled the apple out of before taking a bite out of the spot that was previously on. She gaped at his bold action but couldn't find the words to demand for it back.

Not when he already took a bite out of it. 

His mouth watered when he could taste her on the fruit and he almost immediately moaned at the sensation that struck him. He didn't remember apples tasting like honey before.

I should start eating apples more often. Didn't know they tasted so good.  

"Are you a stalker, do I need to call the cops or something?" She asked bluntly, her tone blank.

"Don't worry about calling the cops. Stalkers only prey on people that are worth stalking. If I was going to illegally follow someone, trust me, it wouldn't be you." Jackson fired back.

Jackson tilted his head as her while he bit into the apple again.

Areum's eyes followed his mouth as the juice from the fruit coated his lips with a shine. Her mind started to blank out as she watched his sharp teeth dig into the apple. Her gaze trailed down to his Adam's apple which bobbed with each swallow.

Almost entranced, Areum couldn't tear her gaze off the handsome boy in front of her. She didn't know where the thoughts came from but she couldn't look away when his sharp jaw tensed with each chew. His eyes never left her face but that only made her more intruiged by how fluidly the boy moved and how dark his eyes really were. 

Oh God, what's wrong with me? Oh God. Keep it in your pants Areum. Let's not forget how much of an he is.

Jackson watched her in awe. There was no doubt that he could smell the attraction off of her. It was oozing out of her pores.

She found him attractive.

But how? Areum made no other attempt to show any sort of  interest, but Jackson was sure of the distinct smell coming off of her. How could she be attracted to him when all she did in the last 24 hours was call him names? Regardless, Jackson's inner wolf swelled in pride but his brain flinched in irritation. He really, really didn't want to deal with her drooling all over him. Now he knew what Mason meant by her being able to feel the pull.

He prayed to the spirits that she wasn't in love with him already.

"Are you homeless or something?" Areum blurted.

Jackson didn't need to worry. She was far from in love with him.

Jackson's eyes widened, mid bite, as he stared at the girl in shock. "Excuse me?"

Areum shrugged nonchalantly. "It seems like you don't have a house since you're too busy following me around."

"You're full of yourself." He said with a scoff while polishing off the apple and tossing the core away. He started walking inthe direction of the university, but he slowled down a fraction to let Areum catch up. 

"Can I ask you something?" She said abruptly.

Jackson shoved his hands in his pockets and didn't reply. Areum took his silence as an agreement because quite frankly, she would've asked anyways.

"Why are you doing this?"

Jackson just glanced at her from the side of his eye, but that was all she needed to know that he didn't get what she was asking.

"Like, why did you come into the bookstore last night? You clearly didn't want to buy a book. You literally made a beeline straight for me and then insulted me until I kicked you out. Did you walk in with that purpose? And if you did, why? Do we know each other or something?"

When Jackson didn't make an attempt to respond, Areum kept talking. "And then, out of nowhere, you appear right when I'm getting attacked and save the day like super-ing-man and willingly walk me home. And now you show up at my door to walk me to sch--"

She was talking way too much for his liking. He had no intention of answering any of these damn questions because he couldn't do it without exposing his wolf identity or the fact that he was her mate too.

Jackson's eyebrow twitched and he snapped.

He grabbed her wrist and slammed her into a nearby tree. She gasped in shock but he just cupped the back of her head so it didn't bang against the trunk, he knew how fragile the human skull was and pressed her into the bark. His body hovered closely over hers as he moved his hands away and placed them on either side of her head before ducking his head down to meet her gaze, their faces just a breath away.

Areum's eyes doubled in size and her heart was beating out of her chest and it wasn't because she was shocked. It was because staring at his face mere inches apart gave her the chance to appreciate how beautiful Jackson really was. He didn't seem real. 

For a pain in the .

Jackson watched her with mirth in his eyes. It was interesting to see Miss.Tough-Big-Mouth, suddenly shrink into a timid little doll.

He didn't think it was possible.

"You ask a lot of questions." He murmured, forcing her gaze to lock with his.

"Well you don't really answer many of them." She mumbled back. Her eyes traced down his face and a little voice in the back of her head asking why she hadn't pushed him away yet.

He felt warm.

He wasn't touching her, but she could feel this weird, welcoming warmth that radiated off of him, surrounding her in a comforting bubble. It was the same sensation you'd get when  you sat in front of a fire place after being out in a blizzard all day. It was satisfying and blissful.

She had never felt this feeling before in her life. It was so strange, so new and so freaking weird. But it felt familiar at the same time. It was like she had felt this before, but she didn't know where.

"I didn't know I was supposed to." Jackson spit back, but there was an undeniable softness to his tone.

"It would be nice if you did." She breathed out while blinking up at him.

"I'm not nice." He growled, his eyes flinching.

Areum shivered at his tone, but not in fear. It was something else, he cornered her and was looming over her, but she wasn't frightened. He didn't scare her, in fact, part of her felt comfortable like that. She turned her nose up and challenged him. "You could try."