Time was running out.

Time was also going by faster than they expected.

Another week had passed and they only had one more.

They were running around in circles and it was looking bleaker and bleaker.

Jackson knew the odds were slim, but kept that a secret from Areum.

He didn't tell her, but he was clinging onto her on purpose because he wanted his last week to be with her.

To her, she saw hope that the universe would play in their favour and give them a solution.

To him, he was constantly counting down the days until the council would take him away for good.

T-7 Days

"What if…we found a way to take out the other panthers? I don't think the rest of them know about his powers which means Mino probably doesn't know a lot about his powers either." Areum said as she rested her head on Jackson's stomach.

They were both sprawled across the floor, while Areum held a piece of paper over her face. Jackson was on his back running his fingers through Areum's hair while staring up at the ceiling.

"That won't work. It might buy us time, but the minute Mino finds out that his pack is gone because we killed him, he'll want revenge and his powers will be damn near unstoppable." Jackson countered.

That was how the last week played out. Areum would spit out different scenarios and Jackson would poke holes in its probability.

Areum pouted while she felt her head raise and lower in time with Jackson's breathing. "Okay, before you get mad just hear me out, okay?"

Jackson narrowed his eyes at the ceiling, "Okay…"

"What if  I go up to Mino and act like I've seen the light and agree to be his lin--"

"No."

Areum sighed, "But what i--"

"No."

"Jackson you can't ke--"

"No."

Areum scowled, "Fine."

"I'm not going to let you sell yourself to try to save me." He muttered.

Areum bit on her lip, "We're not really in a position to turn away possible ideas though."

She felt Jackson's stomach sink when he sighed. "Well what's your plan after you agree to be his link? It won't lessen his powers and it won't stop him from coming after me or Mark."

"You're right."Areum mumbled in annoyance.

Jackson snickered, "I love hearing you say that."

Areum shot up from the ground and crossed her legs before turning to look down at Jackson.

"I'm running out of ideas."

Jackson propped his arm behind his head, "I think that maybe Mason was rig--"

"Don't." She snapped, her face uncomfortable. "We're just not thinking hard enough."

Jackson grabbed the paper out of her hands and rolled onto his stomach while letting his eyes raked over Areum's neat writing.

The girl quickly climbed over him and straddled his lower back before leaning her chin on his shoulder, peaking at the paper.

She slid her hands around his shoulders and hugged his back. "Well?" She mumbled.

"Well, you're very distracting when you're breathing in my ear."

She chuckled and moved her face a way from his ear, "I'm being serious."

"I guess, if we find another way to overpower Mino that didn't result in me or Mark dying, then maybe things will work out, but we have no idea how else to do that."

Areum leaned her body away from his back and stared straight ahead, "So it comes back to us not having enough on the panthers."

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, you better think of something else." He warned.

"I know. I know." She muttered while rolling off of his back.

Jackson set the paper down and sat up and faced her, "We're in this together, alright? We'll figure something out for the both of us."

"I promise."

T-6 Days

"Can I ask you something?" Jackson mumbled.

Areum yawned, her eyes watering as she to her side and threw her leg over Jackson's waist before rubbing her face into his shirt.

It was 4AM when they finally decided to leave the ancient documents aside and crawl onto the couch for a quick nap.

It wasn't until his arms caged her in that she realized how tired she was. Her and Jackson had been working off of 3 hours of sleep a day and it was draining the both of them.

She was half awake when she hummed in response, "Sure."

"You'd be okay, right? If for some reason, 5 days from now, I have to let the council take me because we couldn't find any other way, will you be okay?"

Areum tried heaving her eyes open but they just fell shut again when a second yawn escaped her lips.

"What are you talking about?" She asked while slipping her hands around his waist.  

"I just need to know that you'll be okay once I'm gone. I need to feel a little at ease."

Areum snuggled closer to him, barely absorbing his words, "Hmmm, I'll be fine."

Jackson's lips twitched before he closed his eyes.

"I wish I could say the same thing about myself."

T-5 Days

"What is this?" Areum asked while looking at the glass vial that Jackson handed her.

"The elders gave it to me. It masks my scent from other animals. It'll make me smell like a human instead of a half human-half wolf." Jackson said as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

Areum's eyes lit up, "This is perfect, if you drink this, then maybe you can sneak into the panther's house!"

"It masks my scent, not make me invisible, not to mention I'll have the scent of a human. I would still need to make it past all 5 of them and into their basement. Panthers have pretty good hearing too. I mean, I could try at night, but they would smell my human scent. The risks outweigh the possibilities." Jackson explained.

Areum scrunched up her nose, "You've thought this through."

"Trust me, if there's a possible option, I would've already thought about it."

T-4 Days

She held a piece of paper over his shoulder and tried to concentrate on the writing but his touch was blurring her vision. He pressed her into the couch, kissing her jaw, bruises on her, her while his hands slipped up her shirt.

"Jackson…we need to focus. What are you doing?"

"It's hard." He groaned.

She closed her eyes and resisted the urged to run her fingers through his hair

"What is?"

"Seeing you here. It's hard because half of my mind is telling me to make love to you every second until the council takes me and the other half of my mind is telling me to resist you until we can find a solution so that I can spend the rest of my life making love to you."

She gulped at the intensity behind his voice.

"So?" She asked.  "Which one is it? Long term or short term?"

He his lips, the lust gone. "I don't know. I want to spend the next 80 years with you, but if this month runs out and I've spent more time staring at ancient script than at you, I'm going to end up regretting a lot of my choices."  

Areum tugged on his ear. "You're saving your whole district. No matter what happens, you'll never have the reason to feel regret. So stop thinking about stuff like that. We still have 3 more days."

T-3 Days

A few days later, Mason had come down to check on their process and was just as disappointed that nothing new emerged.

Tension still hung over them as time was running out. Areum was still soldiering through with the hope that there was something they could find.

Jackson, on the other hand, had accepted his fate a lot time ago.

"Jackson, where…where on earth did you get this?" Mason asked slowly as he lifted something up from the mantle place.

Areum had gone to wash up, leaving the two wolves alone.

Jackson looked over and saw the flimsy picture that Mason was holding up."Huh? Oh, I ran into Ara a few weeks ago and she gave it to me as a keepsake. It's a picture of her and Areum's parents."

Mason's eyes widened. "T-Their what?"

"Their parents. It's the only picture they have of them." Jackson said while putting his hands in his pocket.

Mason's eyebrows creased as he stared at the picture with intense focus. His pale eyes flickered across the picture, "Are you sure this is them?"

Jackson shrugged, "I never met them myself, so I don't know, but they look like the girls, don't they? Neither of them can really remember their parents, but Ara has the closest thing to a memory of them."

"Can I take this?" He asked abruptly while holding the image up.

Jackson looked unsure, "It's kind of important. I don't think I can just give it away."

"I will bring it back. I just need it for a few days. There's something I need to check."

Jackson's smile faltered, "Mason…I might not be around in a few days."

The elder swallowed a lump down his throat before shaking his head, "I just need a few days."

Jackson paused for a minute before rubbing the back of his neck, "Fine, but make sure Areum gets it back."

"I will." Mason glanced at the bathroom door, "I have some matters I need to attend to. I'll make sure to be back before the month is up."

And like that, he flew to the door and slipped out without making a sound.

T-2 Days

Jackson and Areum didn't say a word as they sat next to each other on a hill overlooking the city of Tokyo.

The sun had long gone down and now the sky was filled with little stars that were barely visible due to the bright city lights.

However the beauty of the night seemed lost on the silent couple.

"There's nothing else we can do. We need to head back tomorrow. The full moon is two days away and I should see the boys before the council comes." Jackson said softly as him and Areum sat across from each other on the floor.

Areum looked away as the paper in her hand crumpled, "I just need more time."

"We don't have more time, gongzhu."

"WHY ARE YOU GIVING UP?!" She screamed before throwing the crumpled paper at his face.

"BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING LEFT FOR ME TO DO!" He screamed back. "I did everything I could. Everything. Time's running out and I'm not wasting my last days searching for an answer that doesn't exist. Do you think I want to leave you and the boys? I'm not doing this because I want to. I'm doing it because I have to."

Areum let out a breath and averted her gaze."We still have one more day."

"Yeah, a day that I want to spend with you and without all this prophecy bull." He fired back.

She felt herself give in a little. This was no time for her to selfish.

She sighed. "Then what do you want to do together?"  

Areum dragged her knees up to her chest and let the cold wind nip at her face. Jackson had his arms propped up behind him and leaned against them with his legs outstretched.

The silence between them wasn't as comfortable as it normally would be and in fact, felt suffocating.

In two days he was going to be gone and it didn't feel real. It felt like he'd always still be there even after the council came.  

"I used to think all I needed was my pack and my district." He said into the air, breaking their long silence.

Areum kept her gaze forward and wondered how she was going to fill the gap in her life once he was gone.

God, she didn't even want to think about it.

"But then you were at that damn party that Mark insisted we go to." He said with a raspy chuckle.

Areum closed her eyes and leaned her head against her knees.

"There were like, what? 100 people in that house? And all I could smell was you. You were the most mouth watering thing I've ever seen."

A small smile curled up Areum's lips when she listened to him speak.