Jackson had one of his hands tucked his hand into pocket and use his other one to prod at the campfire burning in the center of the grounds.

He was bored out of his mind and was considering just throwing himself into the fire. He hated, hated to admit it, but he missed Areum.

He missed talking to her and being around her because things were always more interesting around her than being around the other humans.

Jackson stopped moving when he felt a pair of eyes drilling into his back and slowly turned to see his partner glaring at him as if she saw him kicking a baby.

"What are you looking at?" Jackson barked, matching Yoomi's glare.

The girl crossed her arms and raised her brow, "What's your deal?"

"Excuse me?"

Yoomi squinted her eyes and walked closer to Jackson, "What's your angle with Areum? Why are you always around her?"

"It's none of your business." He said evenly.

"It's my business when it involves guys like you."

Jackson sighed in annoyance, "And what kind of guy am I?"

"A guy that think she's some dirty stomp around. "

Jackson felt his body twitch in irritation, "I'm not an , I don't see her like that."

"The more time you spend around her, the more I'm starting to think that you're earning her trust just to break it later. For as long as she's gone to this school I've never seen Areum with a guy except for you. So it's safe to say that I'm genuinely scared for her."

Jackson couldn't help but scoff before turning back to the camp fire, "You're scared  for her? You don't barely even know her."

"Well, I know that you're getting close to her, closer than any other guy and that's only because she's letting you. Guys always want something. Especially from her once she started hanging out with me. She doesn't know how to deal with people harassing her and she doesn't know who to trust so she acts like a in defence. But she's just scared that the type of guys that I have to fend off with a stick will trying crawling to her."

Jackson felt a lump in his throat, thinking about all the Areum had to go through anytime she was around the humans.  He wondered how many times she got scared every time a group of guys approach her or wanting to trust people but being scared of their ulterior motives.

That's no way to live.

"She's scared that she might genuinely trust or like someone who only wants to get into her pants and I think that you're that person. You've kissed her in public twice yet she still wants to be around you without putting up a fight. I don't like that. Am I jealous? Sure, maybe a little, but more importantly it's because I don't trust you."

Jackson sneered at her. "I don’t care if you don't trust me, but since when do you care? All the time I've known you, you've made it clear that you don't like her and you want to make her life miserable."

Yoomi looked hurt at his words but her face hardened right away. "I don’t like her. But girls help girls."

"Girls help girls? You've talked so much about her that it's unbelievable. Why should I trust that you actually care about her when you've never shown that you do?" He challenged, recalling every harsh thing he'd hear out of .

Yoomi looked deflated. "You want to know why I badmouthed her in front of you? I didn't want you near her. I don't care what people say. I don't care how catty I am or how much of a I am, but I don't let  guys take advantage of other girls."

"I'm not going to take advantage of her…she's important to me." He mumbled, turning away from Yoomi's gaze. He stabbed the chopped wood with a stick, getting the fire crackling brighter.

Yeah, she was important. He needed her for him to live. He bit his lip and stilled the gusty wind until the flames were flickering steadily.  

He didn't like that Yoomi was grouping him off with the other humans, acting as if he was some prick that didn't know how to treat a girl.

He suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline in his system as his heart rate kicked up. His eyes scanned the field until he saw his mate heading in his direction. The sun blazed beautifully on her, making her face glow softer as if she had a spotlight on her.

She was walking with Yang, both of them carrying plastic bags, talking to each other.  A scowl fell on his lips when he saw Areum smiling at something Yang said.

She smiled.

It wasn't a huge blinding smile, but the mere fact that she was even conversing with Yang made him feel like ants were crawling over his skin.   

Jackson felt a prick in his chest because he couldn't remember the last time Areum actually smiled at him. They were usually spitting words back and forth that he never really did anything that made her smile.

He wasn't jealous….of course not, he just--he just didn't like the way Yang was looking at her and he didn't like the way her guard looked like it was down as Yang spoke animatedly to her.

Why doesn't she ever smile at me like that? Stupid.

He left his post, walking away from Yoomi, who just watched with raised eyebrows as he stood behind Areum, before taking the bags out of her hands.

"They're something aren't they?" Yang said as he stood behind Yoomi, swinging his arm around her.

The short girl snorted and rolled her eyes before picking up logs of wood. "Screw off, Yang."

Yang grinned lopsidedly and took the logs from her, stacking 7 in his arms. "Don't be like that, Yoomi, it looks like we're going to be partners from now on."

-----

"Did he do anything to you?" That was the first Jackson said to Areum when they walked into the kitchen of the main lodge.

Areum's lips curved up, "No, he didn't. He's alright and actually a pretty big dork."

He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest after setting the bags down. "You like him, now?"

"He's okay. Not as bad as I first thought." She said with a shrug.

"Do I need to remind you how he treated you?" Jackson balked.

Areum smiled sweetly at him, "No, you don't."

Jackson grimaced. Whenever she smiled at him it always looked sarcastic and contrived.

"I don't like you being around him." He grumbled, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Are you jealous?"

"No, of course not, get over yourself. The world doesn't revolved around you, Areum." Jackson said defensively.  

Areum raised her eyebrow, "Then why are you so worried about me?"

"I'm not worried about you. I couldn’t care less about you. Do whatever you want." He snapped.

 Areum smirked and grabbed his arm, "Let's go, we're all meeting at the main grounds. It's time to bond."

Maybe it was the full moon, or maybe he just loved the way she looked when she smirked or maybe he was getting territorial because of Yang or maybe he didn't like being away from her for so long but he just had to do it.

He pulled her back and gently tugged her by the neck so that her forehead bumped his. She gasped, her eyes widening when she felt him breathe on her.

"Jackson what are you doing?" Her voice was breathless and airy and it just made his inner wolf croon.

His lips slid torturously across her own, causing her to shiver so violently that she started to shake.

"I don't want you to like Yang." He rasped out, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke. He was so incredibly close to kissing her that he had no idea where his sudden self restrain came from.

Areum looked dazed when she blinked up at him, like she was trying to regain focus. "And why can't I like Yang?"

Jackson lost it when her arms wrapped around his waist. He knew that it was likely that she didn't realized she was doing it, but feeling her soft hands clinging on to him made him whimper.

"Because he's not me."

And then he kissed her.

It was lips against  lips and breathes clashing against breathes. Their hands explored their bodies as they pressed closer together. His tongue didn't hesitate to invade as she opened up for him.

"." He whispered into , shivers running through his body when he tasted her warmth.

No matter how many times he kissed her, she'd always taste like the first time.

The first time he'd felt anything so strong and so unrelenting.

When he pulled away for a second, he could feel the same addiction he felt the night of the party and every other time he kissed her after that. He came back down and gasped when her fingers slipped into his hair, it caused the ends of his veins to fry in pleasure.

She never made a move like this before and it only egged him on. He hugged her waist and slanted their lips together. She tasted so good and maybe it was because of the full moon, or maybe it was something else, but it warmed every bit of his heart when she sighed against him.  

A growl built up in his chest, but when she yanked on his strands, his vicious growl came out as a whipped moan.

He was so warm like nothing she had ever experienced, every time he kissed her, she'd be wrapped in the most mind melting heat that made heat rush through her blood and up her chest. He pulled on her bottom lip, making her head spin deliciously. If she wasn't so blinded and thrown off, she might've slapped him or pushed him away, but he was too fast for her to react.

And part of her knew that she didn't really want to.

-----

He had never felt this way about someone in his life.

Like his heart was going to explode just by the way she touched him.

He on her tongue, and hid a smile when she whimpered weakly. He pulled away and kissed her chin, but just as he was about to attack her neck, someone coughed behind them.

"Um…we're starting the first game."

There was a pause of silence where Jackson and Areum stared at each other, panting while trying to catch their breath, until Yoomi spoke up again, her voice laced in repulsion.

"Disgusting animals."

-----

Areum stood around the teacher with Jackson on her left and Yoomi on her right, but she barely paid attention to anything the TA was saying.

Jackson kissed her.

Again.

"Because he's not me."

What the hell did that mean? Did he like her? Did Jackson like her?

He didn't want her to like Yang because he wanted her to like him instead.

Right?

It was hurting her brain.

She let out an annoyed huff  and stared off towards the teacher and tried to ignore the constant warmth that radiated off of Jackson beside her.

"I'm passing around sheets of paper that has one clue on it. Get together with your partner from before and solve the clue. The answer will send you to your next clue and you keep going like that until you find the last clue. That's right guys, it's a scavenger hunt! Partner up and GO!"

Areum scrunched her nose up and looked over Yoomi's shoulder at Yang. "I guess we're stuck together, partner."

Yang smiled sneakily and glanced at Jackson who looked unamused, "Actually, I was thinking maybe we could do a little switch?"

Areum frowned and looked at Yoomi who looked just as confused. "What?"

"I thought maybe I could partner up with Yoomi and maybe you could ta