He pulled her up to the second level and reached for the door when Areum cleared . He glanced at her from over his shoulder and saw her swinging their hands.

"Um…you can let go now."

Jackson didn't move for a moment before slowly pulling away from her. He felt a weird chill between his fingers but shook his head and swung the door open. He didn't notice that she stayed rooted by the door as he walked in and flicked the light on.

Areum bit her lip nervously as she peered into his room. It looked warm and cozy,  the walls were painted a dark blue and the furniture was a all black. She watched as Jackson walked to his closet and yanked the doors open to pull out a t shirt and a pair of shorts.

She didn't like walking into other people's rooms.  It seemed too personal and it made her uncomfortable.

He looked up and saw her eyes flick around his room. "You going to stand there all night?"

She frowned, "Why did you even bring me here? Why couldn't you just drop me off at my house?"

Jackson closed his eyes, fighting his anger, "Because you passed out or did you already forget that, that happened?"

"So? You could've just dropped me in front of my porch and called it a night." She suggested.

"And what? Just leave you there?" He asked, peeved.

"Why not? It's not like you even like me or that we're even friends."

Jackson rubbed his face in irritation, "You know what? You're right. I don't like you. Hell, I can't stand you. You're one of the most frustrating people I've ever met, but I felt bad for you. Why? Because you looked pathetic! You don't know how to take care of yourself, you can't even leave the house without causing some problem and that's only what I've seen from 3 days. I feel pity that a human could be as useless as you."

Areum's eyes widened and her nails dug into the palm of her hand. How dare he.

"You're a jerk." As she cautiously took a step in to grab the clothes off of him.

"So I've been told." He said dryly.

He opened the door to the bathroom and pointed into it.

"Go get changed. The rain isn't letting up so you might as well get comfortable because you're probably not leaving."

" you." She muttered under her breath as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Jackson stared at the door where his mate was standing on the other side of. He dropped down on the bed and thought about how the rest of their lives was going to be like this if they were together. They were going to see each other and start spitting mean words to mask how much they really hated one another.

It all just seemed like too much trouble. He had no what he was doing especially by bringing her back to their place.

Wha--

Jackson's eyes widened when he heard the shower in his bathroom turn on. His lips parted when it dawned on him.

She was showering.

His mate was showering just a few feet away from him. She was in his bathroom, most likely , standing in a hot, steamy shower, drenched in wat--

Jackson groaned and covered his face before flopping on his back.  He flung his arm over his eyes, trying to block out his rated thoughts.

His rated thoughts that started wondering what it would feel like opening that door and getting into the shower with her, the water pouring over both of them and feeling her lips o--

NO! STOP RIGHT THERE! Ugh, boil you mind Jackson, remember who she is. Remember that she's a filthy human who thinks she's better than you.

It wasn't even the  full moon and all he could think about was her. About slamming her against any flat surface and claiming her as his mate.

He let out a loud moan and slammed his pillow over his face, hoping to suffocate himself. He could think of all these inappropriate thoughts of her and he didn't even like her.

The pull was a cruel beast.

He heard a knock on the door and didn't move from his spot.

Jinyoung poked his head into the room, but his eyes flickered to the source of the shower sound. "No freaking way."

Jackson just let out another loud sound that was muffled by his pillow.

"You okay?" He asked sympathetically. Jackson just grunted.

"Well, it shouldn't matter right? Since you're not attracted to her?" He couldn't fight the teasing tone in his voice.

"Obviously. She's ing acting like this is her house." He barked.

Jinyoung smirked, "Well, everyone wants to talk to her again, so hurry up and tried not to get carried away."

"Shut up. If you have nothing important to say just leave." Jackson hissed.

Jinyoung chuckled and closed the door behind him, leaving Jackson alone to argue with his inner wolf.

'Just mark her. She's yours. Make sure that everyone knows it.'

'Why should I have to mark her? It's not like anyone else wants her, anyway.'

He heard the door knob twist and sat up when the door flung open. He took in a sharp breath when Areum stepped out of the room with steam curling from behind her. Her blonde hair was wet with droplets of water trailing down her neck, strands plastered to her neck. They dripped across her collarbone and under his oversized shirt on her.

Under that shirt…

Stop it! What the is wrong with me?

"I'm done." She said emotionlessly while messing with her hair.  Jackson's eyes trailed down her face and finally took noticed of his clothes hanging perfectly on her frame.  

. If it wasn't enough that her damp skin plastered his white shirt closely to her frame, his scent was just drenched all over her too. It made her smell like she was his property. Like she belonged to him.

His scent on her was like a wolf marking its territory.

His eyes moved lower to her legs that we peeking out from a pair of his basketball shorts. Legs that would fit snuggly around his waist if he smoothed his palms over her.

That's it.

Jackson stood up with a start and ignored her while he brushed past into the bathroom. He needed to clear his head. His inner beast was taking over his emotions, making him feel things that he didn't need to be bothering himself with.

Areum blinked as he knocked her shoulder and watched him rustle around in his bathroom. Areum stuck her tongue out at his back and just walked into his room. God she couldn't stand him.

She sat down on the edge of his bed, all of it smelling a lot like him. It was strangely comforting. Maybe it was because she could smell him off the shirt that she had just gotten used to it.

Don't forget what he said about you. He's still a jerk.

"What the hell is your problem?!" She snapped when he tossed a thin towel on her head.

Before she had a chance yank it off her head, she felt two large warm hold hers. He slowly pulled her hands off her head and placed them on her lap.

He pulled the towel out of her eyes and started softly rubbing her hair with the towel. Her eyes stayed trailed on his face as he carefully began to dry her off. His face was focused as if her strands of hair were made of glass.

He slowly nudged her knees apart and stood between them as he worked on her hair. The whole time, Areum could only wonder how someone as gruff and mean as Jackson was able to handle her as gently as he was now.

"You need to be more careful." He mumbled deeply as he patted her hair.

She needed to stop. This was too weird. Since when did she need someone else to dry her hair for her? She had hands of her own.

Why? Why was he doing this for her seconds after insulting her?

"And you need to stop being rude and think that one nice gesture will fix it all." She snapped in annoyance.

She stood up, but she didn't realize that the back of her knees were pressed against the bed frame and Jackson was standing so close to her that her sudden action took them both by surprise, sending them both tumbling backwards.

Areum yelped and grabbed onto Jackson's shirt out of panic pulling him down on top of her. He let out a grunt and shot his hands out on either side of her head to prevent suffocating her. Areum opened her eyes to see Jackson staring at her, his face an inch apart.

Jackson swallowed the lump in his throat when he thought about the words he had thrown at her just