"Jackson?" Alison asked, concerned.

The wolf snapped out of his daze and shot his pack a panicked look. They still looked just as surprised and could only muster up weak shrugs.

They knew what this meant. There was no doubt in their minds.

Jackson just stared blankly at his family. He wanted this to all be some mistake. He detested that human woman and the last thing he wanted was for her to be his mate.

Jackson never liked the concept of mates but he'd rather have any other werefemale be his mate than have some stupid, brainless human.

He didn't even know that the two could mate. She was a human. Mason said it himself, only one other wolf had a human mate and she rejected him and he died. There was no way that the prince of wolves would be given a similar fate.  

"Mom, Dad. There's something I need to tell you." He spoke slowly, hoping that Mason would cut him off and tell him that he was wrong.

But Mason could read the spirits.

And the spirits were never wrong.

Alison and James looked at him with hope in their eyes. Their eyes flashing an excited red and blue.

"I knew it." Everyone turned to Mason who was inspecting the pictures placed on their mantle.

He slowly turned around and faced Jackson with a glint in his eyes. "The spirits were right."

"What's going on?" James asked, his senses heightening.

"Your son's mate is human."

"Oh God." Jackson groaned in disbelief as he felt his knees buckle. "It's true."

Jaebum rolled his eyes and hiked up the thermostat when Jackson stared chilling the air around him. The pack could hear the wind howling angrily outside their cabin. They did not want to be outdoors right now, God knows how it probably looked or felt.

Alison's excited smile slowly started to fade and just blinked in disbelief. She turned uneasily to James whose eyes narrowed.

"Human? But, how is that possible?"

Jackson shook his head, "I ran into her last night. I don't know how, but it felt like I was being dragged to her. Like something was compelling me to her."

He cursed under his breath. Why, of all women, he got the one that he met for less than 15 minutes and already hated.

"Did you smell her?" Alison blurted out.

Mark tilted his head, "Smell?"

Mason was rearranging the photos over the fireplace when he replied. "Every mate has a distinct scent that only their other half can recognize. It stands out over every other smell."

"So she would smell different to Jackson than she does us?" Jinyoung asked while carrying BamBam on his back.

Mason grunted in affirmation.

"Well? Did you pick anything up off her last night?" Yugyeom asked as they all moved down to the living room.

Jackson was about to deny it when he remembered the sole reason he noticed her. That mouth watering sensation that made him switch to tunnel vision.

Raspberries.

"Oh me." He groaned while rubbing his face.

"I'll take that as a yes." Mason mumbled under his breath.

Jackson shook his head, "No. no. no. This can't be true."

James turned to Jackson, "Are you absolutely sure she's your mate?"

"He made out with her in the middle of a party. I'm pretty sure she's the one." Youngjae blurted out.

The elders froze and glanced at Jackson, even Mason raised his eyebrows. The prince ducked his head, his face heating up while shooting daggers at the blabber mouth.

"Your son doesn't waste time." James said, amusement in his voice as he faced his wife.

Alison scoffed and pushed her husband. "Like father like son."

Jackson made a face looked away. "This can't be true."

"So what now?" Jaebum asked as he took a seat on the couch.

Mason cleared his throat and walked to the center of the room.

"You court her."

Jackson choked on his spit and started laughing, "You're joking right? I'm not courting ."

Alison shook her head, "Jackson!"

James frowned, "She's human, you don't have a choice."

"What are you talking about? Why do I have to chase after some filthy human?"

Mason grunted, annoyed. "That filthy human is your mate. And humans are more…fickle than weres. They have the choice to accept or reject their mate. She'll feel the pull, the attraction to her mate, but she can live without you. If you mess it up with her, she'll be gone for good. That especially means telling her that you aren't exactly like most human boys."

Jackson paused, his eyes widening a fraction when he felt an uncomfortable shift in his chest. He looked away, peeved.

"I'm not going to court her."

James' eyes twitched and he eyes flashed blue. The rest of the pack held their breath when they saw the elder prince tense up.

"She is your mate and you will show her some respect, young man. And if you want any chance at mating with her you will court after her and chase her around like a puppy if you have to." He ordered.

"But what if I don't want a mate! Hell, you guys know that I don't want to have one and know she's human too! You can't honestly expect me to go through with this?!" Jackson exclaimed, fed up with the images of the red hood and honey brown hair.

"You don't really have a choice. You've been fighting this for a long time and at first I chalked it up as boyish immaturity, but it's time for you to man up, son. It is your duty to present an heir as the prince and you can't do that if you won't accept your mate. Or even acknowledge her. You think that this will be easy on her? You're lucky that you have a mate that is destined for you. Someone who is made to be you other half and her yours." James said with authority.

"You want an heir? Fine, I'll go knock her up, but bringing destiny into this is a little over dramatic, don't you think?" Jackson said.

"Well you clearly are attracted to her." Mason quirked offhandedly.

Youngjae stifled a snort and turned his head away to avoid Jackson's glare. Mason, however, remained serious with his comment.

"You'll only be lying to yourself and making it harder. Sure, you don't like humans, but you will like this human. You will learn about destiny and believe in its existence when you fall for her." Mason said with finality.

"It's only physical. there's nothing else there. I hate her. Every since I left her at the party, I hated her. I can't stand her. I literally didn't think one nice thing about her since I last saw her. You're telling me that, that woman is my mate? Bull."

Alison tapped her bottom lip, "You hate her or do you just hate yourself for leaving her behind? It must have hurt when you turned your back on her."

Yugyeom let out a laugh, "That's not exactly how it went down. His mate ran away from him."

"Shut up." Jackson grumbled, the room dropping another 5 degrees.

James raised his brow, "Just watch, she may have ran away from you last night, but she'll be all over you the next time you see her. The first time, she was probably overwhelmed and a little surprised, but just watch, she won't be able to get enough of you. Then maybe you'll learn to fall in love and accept your mate."

"Fantastic. That's exactly what I need, a clingy human that won't leave me alone because she's too busy worshipping me." Jackson said with an irritated growl.

"Boo hoo, you poor soul." Mason said dryly as he crossed his arms.

Jackson shook his head, "No, you don't understand, human girls are obsessive and annoying. Whoever this girl is, I hope she knows that I want nothing to do with her and I won’t be fulfilling her little prince charming fantasies."

"You barely even met her." Jinyoung said in her defence.

"I don't need to."

"Well if you don't want to mate with her, that's your choice. You can reject her and stay as far away as you can from her." Mason said with a shrug. His parents were taken aback from the elder's sudden words.

Jackson perked up, "Really? That's perfect. Okay. Problem solved."

"But you will die. Not just figuratively from craving her, but literally. Your heart will stop pumping blood to your brain and you will die."

Jackson snorted, "I hardly think I'll literally die from not being around some human."

"Without meeting your mate and unlocking your potential, your wolf side will start competing with your human side. You won't be