Chapter 29

The Only One
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Areum opened but nothing came back as Jackson stared at her, breathlessly.

"You came back, gongzhu." He whispered again, dumbfounded. His fingers immediately started tracing her features.

She closed her eyes and let him touch her face like he was trying to picture her in his mind. He drew over her eyelids and dragged his fingers over the bridge of her nose. He outlined her lips and danced around her chin. She only opened her eyes when she felt him cup her face with his hands.

There was that look in his eyes.

A look that she wasn't sure if she was seeing correctly.

It was a look telling her that he'd made her the happiest girl in the world if she let him.

Then he kissed her.

No.

He ravished her.

She squeaked when his lips splintered her heart into a million pieces. He pressed her into the chair, leaning as closely towards her as he could. His fingers slipped into her hair as he sighed into her lips, dreamily.

He didn't want to ever kiss anyone else.

Jackson didn't wait and shoved his tongue into , making her dizzy. She heard him growl, nice and loud, without having to cover it like he normally had to. It make goose bumps burn on her skin as she tried to keep up with him.  When her fingers accidentally brushed one of his cuts, he groaned loudly before pressing  harder against .

It was only when he started kissing up her jaw that she had the right mind to push him away. He unlatched his lips from her neck and fell back onto the floor. He stared at her with a look so dark, yet so soft that all she could do was stare back.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked softly.

Jackson felt every muscle in his body relax, like he was unravelling in her hands, "You're here."

"So yes?"She raised her brow and took his silence as affirmation.

She stood up and slowly walked towards him. He stayed on the ground and watched her stand over him before she carefully knelt down so that she was straddling him.

It felt like the air escaped his lungs when her knees tightened around his hips.

He was in a trance when he looked at her. Her hair swung around her face, curtaining her soft features. His hands held onto her hips, steadying her before he leaned up to come face to face with his mate.

But instead of granting him a kiss, she did something she wished she did three nights ago.

"YOU PIECE OF !" She boomed before slamming her fists into his bruised shoulder.   

"Ow! What the is wrong with you!?" He snapped, glaring at her as she rained punches and slaps on him, while pinning him down with her legs.

"How ing dare you?! Who do you think you are!? I've never met anyone more infuriating than you. You-You stubborn mutt." She growled, smacking him red with each word.

"What are you talking about?" He grunted while trying to dodge her swift attacks.

Areum scowled, her lips turned down and her eyes ablaze, "You're so full of yourself. You told me that you weren't going to lie to me!"

"SO?!" Jackson yelled back once he managed to grab her wrists, holding them away from him.

Areum fought against his hold, trying to reach for his neck to strangle him alive, "So why didn't you tell me that you were going to die because of me, you big dumb idiot? Then maybe I would've just saved you the time and killed you myself!"

Jackson's eyes twitched and in a second Areum was flipped on her back with a very irritable wolf hovering over her.

"I didn't want you to stay with me just because you wanted to keep me alive. Isn't that why you're here now?" He snapped angrily, dropping his weight on her legs.

 Areum sneered at him, rolling her eyes, "I'm here because I was worried about you."

"Nothing else?" Jackson growled, his fingers wrapping around her wrist, pinning them beside her head.

Areum was speechless, blinking fast when no response came out. Her heart started jumping when she felt his breaths scatter of the top of her head.

"What other reason is there?" She mumbled, her lips taunt in a straight line.

Jackson laughed dryly, shaking his head, "You're really cruel."

"Me?" She balked. "How am I the cruel one?"

He narrowed his eyes at her and leaned his face down to hers, "You're only here to pity me."

"And you only like me because I'm your mate." She spat back, fighting against him.

"That's not true." He hissed back.

Areum sneered, "Really? Cause you're doing a job at showing it."

Jackson' shoulders fell as he loosened his grip around her wrists. He climbed of off of her and sat off to the side, staring off at the wall.

"The council came after me today." She said quietly when Jackson didn't speak.

Jackson snapped his head towards her, "What happened? Are you okay?"

Areum leaned against the wall, tilting her head up to the ceiling, "Yeah. Youngjae and BamBam got me out of it."

Jackson felt his fists curl, "I should've been there for you."

Areum felt her stomach clench at the protective tone in his voice, but frowned. This was where the problem laid.

She could never tell if he was like that because she was his mate, or because he liked her.

"Well, you were hurt, it wasn't like there was much for you to do." She sighed.

"Still." He grumbled, a frown on his face. "Wait, how did you get away from them?"

"That douchebag told them that I accepted you as my mate and that we were together. They had no reason to kill me."

"So you're here to save yourself?" His voice was gritty with aggravation.

"Jackson."

He turned to see her staring at him with angry eyes, piercing through him.

"I still like you. That hasn't changed, you know. You're the first person who's made me feel like this in forever. You are important to me because I let you in. Those type of feelings don't just turn off with a snap of your fingers." She murmured, moving her gaze to her lap.

Jackson felt his inner wolf purr in satisfaction. He moved towards her, until his legs brushed hers, making her look up.

"But I don't know if I want to be your mate. I don't know if I can make that commitment when you don't feel the same way. Not only that, but I don't know if I could make a lifelong decision right away. You hid so much from me. You had your own agenda and left me in the dark. And even if I could look past all of that, how am I supposed to know if this is what I want for the rest of my life?" He could hear the pain in her voice and he didn't know what to do.

"So you want us to just pretend so that the council will leave you alone and that you can tame me?" He asked brokenly.

Areum looked stunned and a little heartbroken, "I-Is that what you want to do?"

Jackson stayed silent, scaring her with his lack of response before he slowly met her eyes, "Do you want to know what I really want to do?"

Areum made a face.

"I want you to let me love you."

Areum's eyes widened and her lips parted. "Wh--"

"Just listen for a second before you do anything." He reached for her hand and gently laced their fingers together.

"I still don’t believe in mates. I don’t believe in biologically being tied to someone. The bull about being paired with someone without a choice isn't real to me. But with you, it was destiny. It sounds cheesy and I kind of hate myself for saying that, but it's true. There is no one in the world but you." He took his free hand and pulled her towards him by the neck so that their faces were smushed together.

"I'd choose you. In any lifetime, in any parallel universe, in any dimension, in any version of our world. It would be you.  That day in your cabin, I paused because I realized how hopelessly in love I am with you. Hell, I didn't even notice it until then." He whispered.

Areum blinked slowly as if her mind was barely taking it all in, "H-How do you know that it isn't biological?"

"Because you didn't have to like me. You had the freedom to reject me with no consequences but you still chose to like me. You chose me."

Areum pouted with a mean look in her eye, "Does that mean that you wouldn't chose me if you had the choice?"

"No. I'd fall in love with you because you did something that no other wolf had to do for his mate. You made me work for you. We didn't just meet and instantly fall in love. You forced me to chase after to you and by doing that, you made me fall In love with you. I didn't fall blindly, just because the universe made us that way. I promise you. I got to learn all these things about you and without trying I learned to love the things that made you, you."  He placed her hand on his knee and used both of his hands to tangle into her hair.

Her heart was speeding when he heard his voice. He loved her. He was the first guy to ever say that he loved her which was why she couldn't fight the blush on her face.

In the moonlight with puffy, sleep deprived eyes, she looked beautiful.

"I loved everything that made you the way you are now. I didn't need to I get to know you and fall in love with you because you're one of the most perfect people in the world. I learned about you and who you were and how much I love everything that you are.  You made me belie

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cool_fire77
147 streak #1
💜
tonnettie
#2
Chapter 58: Awww! That’s nice that they change up things! But that last few chapters really made my emotions go haywire. Gosh
Frantastique #3
Chapter 24: wow! It's 2023 and I'm late to this party. I just found AFF. I love, love this story! My reward for the day is reading this before I go to bed. I keep telling myself, "One more chapter, one more chapter." But it is so darn hard to stop.
Thank you so much for writing this story 8 years ago!
Purple_Phoenix #4
Chapter 58: I've left the same comment on another one of your fics, but I can't help it. Both of the fics are so, so wholesome and complete — both emotionally and logically. And in most of the supernatural ones logic is either ignorable or just taken from the general ideas. I like how this fic keeps them believable.
Purple_Phoenix #5
Chapter 18: Insert blush emoji.
shonwanigop
#6
💙
zaraaaa #7
Chapter 2: Coming back to read this again. Thank you for writing this, youre the best <3
OnewSarang
#8
Chapter 11: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/817564/11'>Chapter 10</a></span>
I haven't been on AFF since mid-2018. And yesterday was the first time I logged in because I missed this fic. I wish there was a book version or a downloadable version that I could keep and read and reread. This is my comfort fic. But I want to erase AFF from my life, but keep coming back just because of this fic. T.T
Yuzu_chi
#9
The best!