Black Blood: The Runaway Mate

Chapter Seven

There was something in the air that night, but I had a feeling it wasn't the cold. My mother’s stiff stance and uneasy smile while looking at Aziel was a bit unusual. She was always friendly and open to everyone. It was the first time I saw her have some reservations.

I thought it was because she knew he was part of the Lewis clan and a member of the Black Blood pack, but as far as I knew, my mother had no prejudice against werewolves. She was even the one who opened my eyes to their world and taught me things I should know about them. For that reason, I had no idea why she was acting odd in the presence of Aziel—and it also seemed like she really knew him.

“You know him, mom?” I asked as I couldn’t help but be suspicious.

My question caught her off guard. Her eyes were wide open as she cut her gaze from Aziel and shifted to mine. She even let out a more awkward chuckle, and I narrowed my eyes while looking at her fidgeting in anxiousness.

“Who doesn’t know him?” she asked me back, like the answer was supposed to be obvious. “Everyone here in Fairbanks knows the Lewises. What more is the oldest son of the alpha, right?”

I narrowed my eyes with her answer. It sounded plausible, but I still had doubts. Something about it didn’t sit right with me, but I couldn’t grill her in front of Aziel. I didn’t want to embarrass my mother in any way in front of other people, especially not to him.

“I don’t really know what to say, Mrs. Young,” Aziel told her, still being polite with that smile. “But I’m flattered you know me.”

At that moment, my mother finally relaxed and a genuine smile flashed across her face. There was gentleness in her eyes while looking at him like he was someone very familiar and important to her. But whatever the true reason was, I couldn’t pinpoint it as I knew nothing and I had no clue where to begin.

“Chandra…” Aziel suddenly called for my attention, and I almost jumped as I turned to him.

I was lost in thoughts that it felt like he forcefully pulled me back to Earth.

“Yes?”

“Your groceries…” He lifted the ecobags he was carrying with both his hands. “Where should I put them?”

“Oh, right! I’ll help you!” I quickly went down the porch and tried to help him carry even one of the bags but he pulled it away from me.

“I can manage,” he said, simply staring at me. “Just lead the way.”

“Uhm, okay…” I just said and took a step back. “Come inside.”

When my mother realized that I had invited Aziel inside our house, her eyes widened once again and she quickly dashed back to the living room. But before she could clean up even one percent of the mess from all the packing she did, Aziel already saw everything.

“Uhm, I’m sorry… Our house is a bit messy…” I said, even though I knew it was an understatement. “You can put the groceries here.” I walked to the kitchen and pointed at the dining table.

“It’s okay.” He smiled as he carried all the bags and carefully placed everything on the table. “Are you doing a major clean up?”

I shook my head. “My mom will be moving to Dallas next month,” I told him. “She’s in the middle of packing her things. Some were already shipped last week, but she has a lot of things to bring with her so...”

“Dallas?” His brows furrowed and eyes narrowed, and his voice made it sound like he was very interested in my mother’s life. “She’s moving out of state? Isn’t that too far from Alaska?”

“Well, uhm, she was offered a job there and we always talked about starting a new life somewhere else after my father died…” I trailed off as I tried to start sorting out the groceries out of habit.

“That means you’ll be moving too?” he hesitantly asked.

“That’s the plan,” I replied.

He stepped back away from the table, looking intently at me. “You won’t finish high school at West Valley?”

“I will…” I stopped from taking the groceries out of the bag when I got slightly skeptical because of his questions. “I won’t move until I graduate. That’s what my mother and I agreed on.” But I still couldn’t stop myself from feeding him the answers he needed.

The creases on his forehead got deeper as he sunk into silence. Different complex emotions crossed his face, seeming like he wasn’t happy with my answers. But he could really just be mulling over our plans.

“Oh, Aziel, you’re still here!” Mom came out of the bedroom after removing some layers of clothing she wore when she went out to the porch. “Do you want some coffee or tea or hot choco to warm yourself?”

Aziel slowly shook his head. He looked up at my mother with an apologetic smile. “No, thank you, Mrs. Young,” he politely declined. “I have to go now before the snow gets worse. Maybe next time.”

“Okay…” My mother sounded dejected but she still tried her best to smile. “You’re welcome to visit us anytime, Aziel. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Thanks for your hospitality, Mrs. Young.”

“Just call me Arissa.” She wanted him to drop the formality.

“Arissa,” Aziel echoed before he looked at me. “I’ll take my leave now. Someone will send your car here once it's fixed.”

“Okay, uhm, thanks for the help,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” he simply replied. “See you at school.”

With my lips slightly parted, I nodded and smiled. “See you,” I bid. “And please take care on the way home.”

He courtly nodded, turned, and strode off without looking back. On the other hand, I was left feeling guilty for some unknown reason, but it was replaced right away with uneasiness when I felt my mother looking at me with intense concentration.

I snapped my head back at her once Aziel was gone. “What is it?”

She pulled out a chair and sat there right in front of me. “How did you meet him?” she asked with a serious low undertone, like I was under a criminal interrogation. “Are you close with him?”

“We met at school,” I answered truthfully, and continued sorting our groceries in the pantry. “And I’m not close to him.”

“Well, that’s not what I saw…” she said. “It seems like he’s fond of you. He even came to help you when it’s snowing hard.”

“He just came across me coincidentally at College Road where my car stalled,” I told her because she seemed to be getting the wrong ideas about our relationship. “He must be going somewhere, I have no idea. He’s just kind enough to give time and help me.”

There was a long pause after I explained what really happened. After putting the meat inside the fridge, I went back to the table to start storing the dry goods in the pantry, but my mother’s thoughtful silence made me stop for a moment. Her eyes seemed to be staring into the distance even when she was looking straight at the surface of the table.

As I didn’t want to put her attention back on me and proceed with her absurd questions that I didn’t want to answer anymore, I grabbed the boxes of Cheerios and Honeycomb from the bag and turned to the pantry. I pulled out the chair from my side in order to reach the top layer where the remaining box of my mother’s favorite cereal was stored.

“I think you should stop being friends with him.” Just as I was about to go up, she suddenly spoke again.

I spun around to look at her. A foul mood started to creep into me out of nowhere. I know she’s my mother, and mothers were supposed to know best, but I didn’t really like what she just said.

“I mean, you can be friends with him, but you can’t be too close to him,” She took her words back and even shook her head. “No, you really shouldn’t.”

“Don’t you think you should’ve thought about that first before you gave him a free pass to come visit our house at any time?” I put stress on those crucial words she told him.

“I said that but I know he won’t really visit here,” she said like she was so sure of it.

Leaning back on the sink, I started to feel protective of Aziel. “How sure are you that he won’t?”

“I just know, Chandra,” she answered without further explaining herself to make me understand where she was coming from. “And I also know that it’ll be best if you keep your guard up and avoid hanging out with him, especially when I’m already in Dallas. You should promise me that—or else I will be worrying about you 24/7 while I’m away.”

Now, she’s getting paranoid and overprotective.

“Mom…” I exhaled a deep breath and took a seat in front of her. “Aziel is a good man,” I told her. “This isn’t the first time he helped me. And you said yourself before that they are just like us, humans, who are just a bit different. You also told me that their kind isn’t something we should be terrified of,” I reminded her of her own words. “Now, I don’t understand why you’re suddenly wary of him when he’s been nothing but kind to me.”

My mother shut her eyes tightly before she sighed reluctantly. “You don’t understand, Chandra…” she vaguely said, which made me more confused. “I just don’t want you to experience—” She stopped midway through her sentence like she just had a slip of tongue.

“Experience what?” I probed.

She bit her lip, then suddenly stood up. “Nothing. I don’t seem to feel good,” she made an awful excuse while massaging the bridge of her nose. “I’m going to bed. Let’s just talk about this tomorrow,” she said. “You should also leave the groceries and do it tomorrow morning. You were out in the cold for a long time. Take a hot shower and rest.”

She walked around the table to give me a goodnight kiss on top of my head before heading towards her bedroom. Left with an unanswered question, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed and frustrated. It felt like curiosity was about to eat me whole, so I decided to just do as she said and take a hot shower.

I went to my room to get my towel and clothes. But as I removed my coat, I noticed that I was still wearing Aziel’s black hoodie which still had his scent lingering on its fabric, giving me another turmoil to stress about.

Great job, Chandra! Now, you have to go all through that trouble again just to give this back to him. What a day.