When Areum finished her classes earlier than expected a week later, she was excited to relax and pig out on something a gross and oily but when Mark came by to pick her up instead of the prince, she knew that something wasn't right.

And she was right.

"You're kidding right?" She asked incredulously as she stared Jackson down.

They were standing in his bedroom with the rest of his pack waiting for them downstairs, pretending like they couldn't hear the two.

"Gongzhu, don't be mad, I already told you that you'd have to meet the White Fang district sooner or later." He said calmly.

Areum's just glared, "Yeah, okay, fine but why did you wait until 1 hour before we had to go, to tell me?"

"First of all, I just found out too, Mason called a few hours ago when you were at school and asked that we all come down and second of all what's the big deal? You did just fine when meeting my parents." He asked in exasperation.

She threw her hands up in the air, "I'm not ready! I wasn't ready when I met your parents and I'm sure as hell not ready now."

"So?! Just shower and throw on anything. It doesn't matter."

Areum gave him a look, "That's not what I mean. I-I'm not prepared to meet a district full of werewolves. I'm going to walk in and be the only human there not to mention their future princess and I'm not even the same species. Who wants someone who doesn't understand their race and their needs to be a leader? What if they hate me? Huh? What if they don't want me to be their princess?  What if…what if they don't think I'm good enough for you? What am I supposed to do then?"

Jackson's lips parted as he stared at her in shock.

He had no idea that she was thinking that much into this.

"Are you actually afraid of that?" He breathed out, keeping his eyes on her.

Areum chewed on her bottom lip, "I'm not like you. I'm not a supernatural creature. I'm different and I'm sure that there are wolves in your district that were hoping that they were your mate and not some useless human. I know that I'm a burden. I already know that I'm not able to keep up with you as well as another wolf would and that your life is so much harder with a human ma--"

Her words were cut off with a gasp when he grabbed her shoulders and slammed her against the wall, his eyes burning in anger. "You are the most infuriatingly dense woman I have ever met in my life. To think I actually ever thought you were smart."

"Jac--"

"You talk too much. All you do is talk and talk and you never let anyone get a word in, so shut up and listen to me for one goddamn second." His voice boomed across the room, scaring Areum into a silence.

"What if they don't think you're not good enough for me? You're a burden? Do you hear the amount of bull that's coming out of your mouth? I can't live without you! Everything I do, everything I say and everything I think is about you and I ing love it. You're my life and I get mad that it took 25 years of my life to find you because it feels like 25 wasted years, where I lived my life not having you. You think anything will change that feeling? You're my princess. You're my mate. You're the one girl in the whole entire world that I love more than anything. When they see how good you are for me, they will love you regardless. So unless you're trying to get me mad you better stop because everything you're saying right now is total garbage." His voice rose with each word.

"Don't you dare yell at me." She whispered angrily.

Jackson felt his brow jump, "Then why can't you see how much I love you? Why can't you see how ing amazing and perfect you are? There is no way that someone will meet you and not fall head over heels for you. There isn't anything for you to worry about because you are a born princess. You don't even need to try. It comes naturally to you. So stop being so insecure. You are confident. You can do this. You can make them fall for you. There is no reason for you to be scared. They know that you're human and they don't care."

He saw the way her lips started to quiver and sighed, loosening his grip on her shoulders and quieted his voice.

"Look, the panthers…they're born to hate humans but we're different. Our species protects them. Who you are will never be seen as something negative in our district. In fact, the White Fang wants a human princess, so when you walk in there, they will treat you like royalty because that's what you are. They will not hate you. I swear that on my life. They might be cautious but they will never hurt you or take you away from me. They won't take away my source of happiness that easily." He grazed his fingertips along her jaw.

Areum shifted nervously and he knew that she still didn't want to go.

He grasped her chin and turned her face so that she was staring at him, "You are different than us. I know that and that's one of the things I love the most about you. You being human caused me to work my off just to see you smile. You being human taught me not to take things for granted. If I got to choose, I would always want a human mate and I would always want her to be you."  

Areum's finger came up and hooked around his collar, staring at the bullet pendant, "Are you sure you want me to go?"

"I want every single member of the district to meet my mate. I want them to meet the girl who has my heart wrapped around her finger, so badly. I'll be by your side the whole time but I'm sure you'll have fun without me." He said softly.

Areum gulped and squeezed the pendant in her palm while she mulled over his words. She was still terrified. She hated meeting new people especially if they had a good reason to hate her.

She wasn't going to have fun, but Mason had summoned them to the district and if she didn't show up then they'd probably hate her even more.  

She'd be seen as the human who thought she was too good for the wolves just because she had a wolf mate.

And Jackson wanted her to go.

"Okay." She finally relented while letting go to his pendant. "Okay I'll go."

Jackson chewed on the inside of his cheek, "No. If you don't want to go I won't force you. I want you to feel comf--"

"It's fine. I need to do it sooner or later." She said in defeat.

Jackson felt guilty for making her go but he desperately wanted to introduce his princess to his district. He was so proud of being with her and he was sure that they'd all see exactly what he saw.

"Here." He said while lifting her hand up. He started sliding her ring off her finger before she snatched her hand away.

"What are you doing?" She asked harshly.

Jackson blinked at her in confusion, "If you walk around with that ring everyone will think that we're engaged and then you'll have to deal with everyone asking you questions that you don't want to answer. It'll be easier."

Areum looked unsure, but let him lift her hand up and slip the ring off before placing it on a nearby table. He squeezed her fingers and kissed on the forehead.

"Go shower and get changed, gongzhu. Everything will be fine."

-----

Areum stayed pressed to Jackson's side as they walked through the forest. The other were walking in front of them, talking excitedly about seeing the district but Areum stayed silent.

The district was like their second home. She could see how important it was too them and how much they loved it.

She looked over at Jackson and sighed when she saw the tension in his face. He probably would've been just as excited to go to his district again if it wasn't for her insecurities.

She didn't want him to be unhappy in one of his favourite places.

Areum stopped walking and pulled him back. He jerked and turned to her with a look of curiosity as she dragged him closer to her body.

She slid her hand up the side of his face and stared into his eyes, "I'm happy. I'm happy to be able to meet the people the you grew up with and the people who love you so much.  So don't worry about me. I'll be fine as long as you're here. So…I don't know, try to enjoy yourself and don't stress over me."

Jackson blinked at her before groaning and slamming his lips against hers. Areum muffled a surprised yelp before kissing him back.

"You need to stop being so amazing and so goddamn thoughtful." He rasped as he pulled away.

Her eyes melted as she slowly traced every feature of his face and committed them to memory. She shivered when his eyes glowed brilliantly, making her stomach church with butterflies.

"Do me a favour." He breathed out, his warm fingers burning holes through her clothes and onto her skin.

"Hmm?"

"Never look at another man the way you just looked at me."

Areum closed her eyes and smiled. "I love you but only if you promise the same."

"I love you too." He whispered before kissing her again. "And trust me, I won't look at another man the way I look at you, gongzhu."

Areum laughed into his mouth, no doubt Jackson would ruin the romance that he created.

"Guys! We're here. Come on!" Yugyeom called out.

Areum pulled away first and looked in the direction of his voice. She gulped when he saw bright lights glowing from the center of the forest.

She collected herself and detached her body from Jackson's and walked towards the rest of the pack. They stopped in front of a tall gate when she felt him kiss her head.

"You'll be fine."

Areum shot him a confident smile and followed the others who pushed past the gates and raced into the district, to visit their friends.

She took a deep breath and held her head high when she felt Jackson's fingers slip through hers. They walked down the paved pathway that was lit up by tall lampposts that bathed the whole town in a soft golden wash.

There were rows and rows of beautiful cabins littered over cobblestone paving. It looked like it was from the 1800's and it was breath taking.

The centre of the entire district had a large fountain that had the constant sound of soft water running, floating through the town.

People milled around, talking, laughing and cheering with each other, many of whom had yet to notice either of them.

She could already tell that this was one of those towns where everyone knew everyone. It was like everyone was friends and were looking out for each other.

"You lived here before you moved in with your pack?" She asked while watching young children race around, from house to house, with young wolves racing with them.

Jackson hummed with a nostalgic smile, "Yeah. I came to Korea when I was 8 with my mom and dad and we settled in the White Fang because this was where the rest of my pack was. All our parents were one big pack but when they found their mates and had their own families, they went their own ways but managed to find each other again. And it didn't take long for all their children to hit it off and form a pack of their own."

"Even Mark and BamBam?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

He nodded, "The language barrier didn't stop us. We managed to learn each other's mother tongue and it was great."

Areum felt enraptured by the way his eyes lit up in excitement when he took everything in. She realized that he had spent so much time following her around that he didn't get a lot of time to live his own life and do the things that he was accustomed to.

So she was genuinely glad that he was sharing this with her, no matter how nervous she was. She wanted him to be so comfortable with her that he was willing to take her to places that were related to wolves without worrying for her.

"I bet you were a cute pup." She said teasingly.

Jackson rolled his eyes as led her down a spiralling path. "I was the cutest."

She let a giggle burst out her lips as she watched him ruffle the hair of a little boy that was racing passed them.

"So when did you decide to move in together?" She asked.

Jackson looked at the night sky in thought, "Probably when I turned 18. The others were younger, but their parents trusted us. Once we moved in, our parents decided to travel the world since their pups fled the nest."

Areum felt her heart warm at the image of such a large, loving family. She couldn't imagine what that felt like, but she knew that he must've been the luckiest boy.

"I wish I knew you when we were younger." She