Jackson raced through the forest, dodging trees and braches as looked over his shoulder for the council.

He could hear their voices in haste as they searched for him, causing his heart to race as fast as his feet were moving.

His limbs were starting to burn by his brain was telling him to keep running and never stop.

He felt bad that he had to trick the council but it was the only way he was going to make it out alive and that's what he wanted.

To be alive for just a little longer.

What he would do with that time? He hadn't decided yet.

Jackson stopped running and looked around before he spotted a tall tree. He quickly latched himself onto the trunk before hauling himself up by digging his heels into the bark and gripping onto the braches.

He  climbed his way past the branches until he was a good 8 feet off the ground. He curled himself behind some thick leaves and waited. He watched apprehensively when he picked up the council's scent closing in.

Scent!

Jackson quickly shoved his hands into his pockets and felt around before he pulled out a glass vial.

Let's hope Haruki knows what she's doing.

He pulled the cork out with his teeth before drinking the contents. His face puckered at the sour taste before a strange tickling filled his body.

He shook his head from the fizzing his brain before he stood up and climbed up a few branches higher.

His palms started to sweat as the council stood below him, talking to each other.  He waited silently for them to leave, but just as he tried to reposition himself, his foot broke a branch and sent it falling onto the shoulder of one of the council members.

His heart stopped as the council member looked up. He ducked behind the leaves and prayed to remain invisible.

"We need to hurry. The moon won't be up for a much longer. Go to the princess' house and we'll figure out what to do."

The council member tore his gaze from the tree and nodded at his colleague before the five of them took off in their wolf forms.

Once they were gone, Jackson sighed and leaned his head against the tree, closing his eyes.

He didn't know what he was doing, but he knew that he was being selfish.

He agreed to this, it was his duty and he was the one that was willing to make the sacrifice, but as they got closer, he couldn't find it in himself to just give in.

Maybe it was the fight or flight instinct when his life was on the line, but all he knew was that he didn't want to do it.

He felt ashamed.

He was letting a lot of people down. Areum, Mark, the district and most of all, himself.

If he didn't get sacrificed by tonight, then he'd have to wait until next month and by then the panthers could try and attack.

And Mark wouldn't be able to stop them.

And Areum would get hurt in the process.

So he knew how selfish he was being.

He just wasn't ready to die yet.

-----

Areum leaped over the table with so much enthusiasm that it almost seemed inhuman.

She grabbed the phone from Mason and held it to her ear, her hand trembling as tears glazed her eyes.

"Jackson escaped?"

The council member on the phone cleared his throat, "It seems so."

"How is that possible." She breathed out, a small smile shaking up .

The member sighed, "He incapacitated three of the members and then ran away from the others."

"Incapacitated?" Her voice was filled with fear at what Jackson must have done.

"Don't worry, there's no permanent damage. He just dazed a few of us."

What a brilliant idiot.

She closed her eyes with a genuine smile as tears fell down her face.

The little jerk was still alive and safe.

"We'll be dropping by your house to discuss this in detail shortly. This is a serious problem."

Areum laughed brightly as she sunk down to her knees.

"Trust me, it's not as serious as you think."

-----

The council members laughed in incredulity after Mason caught them up to speed, "Well thank god he ran away, then."

Yugyeom made a face, "Why didn’t you guys just listen to Mason? You almost killed the prince."

A look of embarrassment filled their faces as they looked down in shame. "We didn't want to risk not completing the sacrifice before sun rise, we decided to collect him as soon as possible."

"So this is good. He'll be back soon." BamBam said as everyone sat around in the after-shock.

Areum frowned, "No…he won't."

Everyone looked at her in confusion, "Why not?"

"Think about it. He doesn't know that we figured out a loophole. He thinks that he's running away from his responsibilities. He's probably too embarrassed to come back." Areum said softly.

"His pride was always a pain in the ." Youngjae snorted.

Mason nodded, "I'll speak to his parents but to my understanding the sooner we find him and inform him of our findings, the better."

"How come you couldn't track him down?" Mark asked the council.

One of them tapped his lip, "It was pretty odd, but after a while his scent was gone. We were positive he ran off towards the house but when he ran after him, his scent just vanished."

No one knew what to say until Areum started laughing.

"What?"

Her eyes sparkled, "One of the Japanese elders gave Jackson a charm that masks his scent into a human one."

Jinyoung ran a hand through his hair, "So what now?"

The elders looked at each other before coming to an agreement, "We should wait until morning and try to track him down. We can't be sure how long the charm will last. I'm sure he'll just try to keep a low profile for the first night."

-----

He knew it was risky.

He knew that people were going to be at her house, but he couldn't resist.

She was the first person that he wanted to see and he was willing to risk a lot more to see her again.

Especially after what the two of them had gone through.

He waited until it was almost dawn, when he was positive everyone was asleep before scaling the side of her house that led to her room.

He sat perched on her window sill and carefully creaked it open.

Areum always had a habit of leaving her windows open at night.

The second he landed in her room, the scent in her room warmed his senses. It had only been a few hours but it felt like years since he last saw her.

His eyes landed on the little lump, tucked under the blankets, curled on the bed.

His heart skipped a beat as he walked towards her. He spotted the engagement ring on her table and grabbed it before walking to the bed.

She looked perfect.

Her hair was splayed out around her head and she was sleeping peacefully, with her blanket wrapped around her, to her chin.

Suddenly Areum shifted, turning over on her side, facing where Jackson would've been sleeping and stretched her hand out to the empt