Arriving at school a little earlier than usual, Jackson decided to relax a bit before class instead of going through his usual routine of going in to look for Danny like he always did. Rolling his windows down, Jackson's nose twitched as it picked up a soft scent of what smelled like rainy days with a sweet tint of honey, and surprisingly a much fainter underlying scent of fries. A gust of wind flew by and with it brought back the familiar scent, only now it was much more potent, nearly smacking the werewolf in the face as soon as he got out of his car. Jackson felt a strong pull and against his better judgment, began to search for the source of the scent, his body unable to ignore his instincts.

Storming into the school, Jackson must have looked insane, weaving in and out of crowds, turning in random directions whenever the scent got weaker or stronger, trying to follow its path. Ignoring the first warning bell, Jackson continued walking towards the scent which incidentally was in the opposite direction of his first class. Nearing the exit of the school back to the parking lot, Jackson was suddenly jerked back by a firm hand on his arm.

"Jackson, dude, are you okay? You know that's not the way to class right?" By the time Jackson realized that it was Danny who had grabbed him, the scent had drifted away, getting fainter as the seconds passed. With his instincts no longer controlling him and the scent gone, Jackson slowly became more aware of what he had just done, shocked that he had succumbed to his primal instincts. This hasn't happened since the kanima incident and Jackson wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"Huh? Uh, yeah, I'm fine— nothing's wrong. Uh... I was just a little distracted." Danny didn't look convinced, but was interrupted by the second warning bell ringing before he could continue questioning Jackson.

"Alright, whatever, let's go, I don't want to be late for Harris's class." Jackson nodded in agreement, cursing the Hawaiian in his head for interrupting his search as they quietly walked to class.

Surprisingly, Jackson and Danny had reached their seats with time to spare and while Danny pulled out his phone to scroll, Jackson just spent the remaining time with his head down in his arms. He didn't know why, but his head was pounding in pain, he thought werewolves didn't get headaches, Jackson questioned weirdly to himself.

Hearing the door open, Jackson braced himself for another pulse of pain from the loud squeaking of the door, but was instead immediately hit with the same scent from the parking lot. Jerking up in surprise, Jackson peeked out from his arms only to find a pair of scuffed-up sneakers. Realizing he couldn't figure out who it was, Jackson grumbled lightly as he sat up in his seat and dragged his eyes up from the sneakers only to be met with surprise at the sight of Stiles Stilinski staring right back at him. The human raised an eyebrow in question, but when Jackson made no move to respond, Stiles huffed and shuffled to his seat next to Scott.

What the heck? Was the scent coming from Stiles? Why did he smell so good? How didn't Jackson notice the last time they saw each other? Albeit their last encounter was when Jackson finished his transformation from kanima to werewolf and Jackson was a bit preoccupied with his new form to focus on anything else.

The bell for the start of class finally rang and Harris stepped to the front of the room and began his lecture, interrupting Jackson's trail of thought and he sat up fully so that Harris wouldn't call him out for sleeping in his class when Stiles's scent suddenly clogged up his senses.

Unfortunately for Jackson, Stiles was seated right under the air conditioner which was blowing Stiles's scent right at Jackson. Completely surrounded by Stiles's scent, Jackson's inner wolf preened, fighting to take control and pull Stiles into his arms, covering the human in his scent. Unable to control the wolf's urges, Jackson tried his best to hold back his eyes and claws, attempting to breathe through his mouth, but after a lungful of Stiles's addictive scent, any sense of control Jackson previously had was starting to dwindle.

Switching tactics, Jackson tried to hold his breath trying to regain any piece of self-control but he was fighting a losing battle. Jackson's claws extended, his eyes blinking rapidly in feasible attempts to hide his supernatural eyes, arms shaking as he gripped the desks, trying hard to not reveal himself.

Hearing claws scraping across the wood, Scott realized that there could only be one culprit behind the noise, and looked over his shoulder to see Jackson with his head down, shoulders tense and on edge. Scott sniffed the air subtly trying to figure out what had set Jackson off, but finding nothing out of the ordinary, Scott assumed it was just Jackson acting up, and kicked his leg back to hit Jackson's desk, jarring the blond from his hunched position.

Jackson flinched roughly and looked up to deliver a glare at Scott only for the Alpha wolf to scowl in response and subtly gesture to his claws. Jackson grumbled, dropping his head back down, breathing heavily as he tried to filter out Stiles's scent but to no avail.

Danny who was sitting next to Jackson finally noticed the frazzled state his best friend was in and watched in concern as Jackson suddenly started to sway a bit, hands clutching his desk for support.

"Jackson," Danny whispered, nudging him gently. "I'm serious, you don't look okay man." When Jackson didn't answer and instead squeezed his eyes closed as if he was in pain, Danny watched as Jackson began teetering off to one side and decided he needed to alert Harris of his friend's condition.

"What is it, Danny?"

Danny nodded in Jackson's direction, "He's not feeling well, can I take him to the nurse?"

Harris looked about ready to argue until he spared a glance at Jackson and realized the teen was actually looking sick, unusually pale and queasy. He agreed and watched the Hawaiian struggle to pull Jackson out of his seat, lurching forward at Jackson's weight, struggling to keep Jackson upright.

"Can I help Danny with Jackson?" Harris sighed when he realized it was Scott who had voiced the question but motioned for them to be quick as they balanced Jackson's weight between them as they began walking out into the halls.

Jackson still felt a bit lightheaded despite no longer being trapped in Stiles's scent, but the distance helped, his skin slowly losing its pale sheen the further they walked. When Danny nearly tripped over his own feet as he dragged Jackson, he gestured to Scott to stop at the bench for a quick break.

"Jackson, you okay buddy?" Jackson just groaned as he slumped over the table, sighing at the feeling of the cold table against his heat skin.

"Hey, Danny. I can get Jackson to the nurse, you should go back. I know how much that class grade means to you." Flinching slightly, Danny looked guilty as he glanced at Jackson, who only waved his arm at him as if saying he'll be fine.

"I don't know."

"Danny, I'll be fine, just go."

"If you're sure," Danny bit his lip contemplating some more before giving up and left after much reluctance looking back once more before he disappeared past the corner.

"So, you want to tell me what happened back there?"

"I don't even know McCall. I caught a scent before class started and I just went crazy trying to find the source of it. Danny found me and dragged me to class though, and that was when the scent disappeared. Then I don't know, the scent was back in class and I look up and see Stilinski, so I don't know what to fucking think okay. I don't fucking know anything anymore. Especially this stupid supernatural shit. I didn't ask for this shit!"

Not knowing how to respond to Jackson's rant, Scott decided it was best to go answer someone with answers. "Want to go see Derek right now? That way we only miss Harris's class and next period."

.

"Derek? Are you here?" Scott called out into the burnt house, Jackson standing next to him, arms crossed in displeasure at stepping foot in the old Hale house again.

Hearing nothing, Jackson took a deep breath to shout into the empty darkness when Derek suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, jumping down from the staircase within a matter of seconds, dust flying around from his fall, the floorboards creaking in protest from Derek's rather dramatic entrance. Standing up from his crouch and dusting off his pants with his hands, Derek glared at them as he growled, "Don't you two have class?"

"Yeah, but I think we have a bigger issue," Derek said nothing and only raised his eyebrow, face still scowling but thankfully was willing to listen to them ramble about Jackson's new problem about Stiles's compelling scent and his uncontrollable urges.

"So, do you know what's wrong with me?" Jackson asked, looking desperate for an answer as he has no clue why he's so attracted to the human. Hell, Jackson hasn't spoken to Stiles since he was cured of being a kanima and finished his werewolf transformation. And their first encounter was definitely not the greatest impression if Jackson wanted to clear things up between them.

"Yeah," Derek hummed, eyebrows narrowing a bit in thought. "I remember my family talking about this, but it was really brief because it was a rare occurrence even at that time. From your circumstances and your pull to Stiles's scent, it sounds like you found your true mate. With werewolves, you have the ability to find mates that you are compatible with, and from what I remember, my mother called them potential mates. But true mates are different. Finding your true mate is literally the definition of finding your soul mate. Think of it like this, you guys are two pieces to one soul, it's always going to be Stiles for you, like yin and yang."

Jackson stood gaping in shock, mouth dropped in disbelief as his mind raced at the thought of Stilinski being his true mate, his actual soulmate. To be honest, it wasn't a bad thought. Though Lydia was part of the reason why Jackson was cured, Stiles was the one who figured it all out. He figured out the significance of the key, he knew exactly what Jackson had needed in that moment. And while Jackson had a lot of not so great encounters with the human, there wasn't really any hatred in their arguments or at least from Jackson's side; instead, Jackson was a bit fond of how Stiles always fought back and never let Jackson have the last word. At one point, Jackson had begun to aggravate Stiles for fun just to get a reaction out of him. But while this was all a joke to Jackson, the wolf wasn't too sure that Stiles shared the same sentiment as he did. If he was being truthful, Stiles probably hated him. Hell, he's pretty sure at one point Stiles had reasoned to kill Jackson because of his kanima homicidal tendencies.

"She said it was going to be an itch you just couldn't scratch away once you find your true mate, and it can only be abstained through a lot of physical contact and then eventually a mate bond." That was when Jackson paled, he had spent the better part of his life tormenting the teen, the hell was Stiles going to be okay with this. Even turning a new leaf wasn't going to be enough for Stiles to forgive his harsh attitude, and Jackson was going to have to live with the consequences.

"Shit, I'm so fucked." Derek raised an eyebrow ever so slightly looking amused, but both he and Scott knew how Jackson and Stiles weren't on the best terms, they had probably never been on good terms to start with if Derek was being honest.

Scott only agreed with Jackson's outburst, shaking his head, "So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Jackson muttered in frustration, running his hands through his hair and pulling at the ends roughly. "I spent most of my life bullying him, he's not just going to change his mind about us and decide that things are okay if I tell him we're true mates and apologize."

When Scott made no move to argue with Jackson, he knew he was fucked. There was absolutely no way this would turn out well, Jackson just hoped that he could just ignore the bond for the sake of his feelings and his and Stiles's relationship, whatever it was between them.

Derek, as if sensing Jackson's thoughts, suddenly spoke up bearing more bad news, "One more thing, my mom told me that one of the biggest drawbacks about finding your true mate is that if you don't build a mental or physical connection, you will die. Your wolf will slowly get weaker and weaker the more you deny it its mate and eventually, the pain will be too much for both your wolf and body to handle. The same is going to happen for Stiles too; if you can't forge a mental or emotional bond, at least try to maintain a physical bond. True mates need a lot of physical reassurance in the first stages, you need to solidify your physical bond before even attempting a full mate bond. I know you don't think I care about you, but this is serious Jackson, you can't ignore this like you usually do with everything else. This is going to cost you your life, Stiles's life."

Unhappily, Jackson thanked Derek for his insight as he and Scott left the Hale house after Derek's last warning, Derek's words sitting in Jackson's head as he wondered what he was going to do. Bidding the older wolf goodbye, Jackson stumbled after Scott, quiet as his mind was all over the place about how to continue from here.

Stiles Stilinski.

His mate. His true mate. His literal soulmate. But Stiles hated him. Jackson's head was pounding from the onslaught of new information and slammed his head against the steering wheel of his Porsche, trying to stop his thoughts, groaning when all Jackson could think about was Stiles and facing his rejection. At this rate, Stiles would probably laugh in Jackson's face when he confessed.

Scott, who was sitting in the passenger seat of Jackson's car watched in sympathy as Jackson muttered about Stiles being angry, calling Jackson a liar amongst other things with his head down on the steering wheel. Not knowing what else to do, Scott reached a hand out, rubbing his shoulder in consolation, the two sitting in silence as the Jackson gradually began to calm down.

"Scott, what do I do? He hates me, he fucking hates me! How am I supposed to tell him, let alone get him to even speak to me in the first place?"

Scott didn't say anything at first, pondering in silence as thought about how to respond, "I'll talk to him, I guess— slip in the topic of mates and true mates I think. Then, I don't know… I know Stiles, and he isn't gonna be happy about it. But… he won't let himself do that to you. Stiles is too good of a person to do that to anybody, even if he hates them. With you, I'm pretty sure he'll push the hatred aside, especially at the cost of your life. Stiles can be an asshole sometimes, but he always wants what's best for everybody, even at the expense of himself. But… You're on your own after that though, I can't tell him, that has to be you, Jackson."

Jackson nodded in response, his heart lifting a bit at the thought of Stiles prioritizing Jackson over his hatred. With one last sigh, Jackson started his car and began the trek back to school.

"What after though? If you bring it up, how do I continue it there? It's not like I can just pop up and be like, 'Oh, by the way, all the shit Scott said about mates is true, guess what you're my true mate.' He's going to punch me if I do that, hell I don't think Stiles would even willingly talk to me, let alone listen to me."

"Hey, you'll think of something, you're not Jackson Whittmore for nothing," Jackson snorted at Scott's word but nodded. "But— I think the best thing to do first is break up with Lydia. Even if you and Stiles don't figure out whatever the heck your relationship will be, I think you should clear things up with Stiles if you really want Stiles to know that you're serious about your bond"

The mood suddenly dampened at the thought of his girlfriend. Was she still his girlfriend though? If Jackson was being honest, the two hadn't tried to mend their relationship after the kanima incident and Jackson was pretty sure the two were on track to end things.

"Yeah, guess I gotta do that."

Scott glanced at Jackson in concern, but when Jackson didn't continue, Scott turned back in his seat, the two sitting in silence the rest of the way back. By the time Jackson parked the car and they both got out to lean against the hood of Jackson's Porsche, the bell rang signaling the end of second period. Scott pushed himself upright and patted Jackson on the back firmly, "Good luck man, I'll try to talk some sense into Stiles for you even though you don't deserve it, but Stiles comes first, so, yeah."

Jackson nodded, grateful for what the Alpha was doing for him and the two walked back inside the school, separating to find their next classes.


Review! Till Next Time! :)

Word Count: 3011

Uploaded: 12.24.16 || 12.28.20

Edited: 12.28.20