Black Blood: Between Two Alphas

Chapter 8

From that moment on, Zero’s approaching birthday had occupied my thoughts. I hardly cared about mine, just to fix my attention on his. However, no matter how much I tried to rack my brain to find a gift fitting for someone like him, I just couldn’t find the answer.

Every time I thought I’d find the perfect one, it was either I’d learn that he already owned one, or he wouldn’t like it. I realized that I barely knew him, even though we were always together because of Noah. I couldn’t pay attention to him whenever his cousin was around, which I believed was only natural. It wasn’t something I should feel guilty about, but I could hear that feeling knocking on my door.

I almost resorted to asking him directly, but he didn’t reply to my last message the other day.

I sent him a picture of me eating the sushi using the chopsticks he bought. I had no idea if he was blatantly ignoring me or just wanted to piss me off again. Because of that, my pride wouldn’t let me send another text, especially not a message which concerned his upcoming birthday. I didn’t want him to think I was putting in too much effort. That would be so embarrassing.

Letting out a deep exhale, my eyes darted to our usual table. Seeing Zero eating alone brought a smile to my face. I hurriedly picked up my steps, almost running toward him.

“Zero!” I called out to him mid-way.

Zero initially looked surprised when he heard my voice. He snapped his head up, and our eyes immediately met and locked.

He sighed as soon as I sat in front of him. He didn’t bother hiding how my presence seemed to put him in a bad mood. The unhappy look on his face made me feel cautious around him.

I pouted my lips and tilted my head. I didn’t know what I did to receive such a bad reaction from him. I thought we finally got closer from hanging out the other day.

I guess he doesn’t see us the way I do.

“What did I do?” I asked, feeling uneasy because of the way he looked at me.

Zero shook his head and sighed again. “Nothing.”

“Should I get you a mirror so you can see your face?” I raised a brow. “You are frowning, looking like you’re not happy to see me.”

“Don’t put words into my mouth,” he said. “And like I said the other day, I always look like this.”

I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward. I wanted to observe Zero closely and tried to find more of his indifference, but he slightly looked away while finishing his food.

“Why didn’t you reply the other day?” I asked, trying to point something out.

“I was busy training the whole afternoon until evening. I didn’t check my phone,” Zero answered without batting an eye.

Biting my lower lip, I hated how I couldn’t counter that. Aside from our birthdays, the competition for the alpha position of the Black Blood pack would also take place on the full moon of next month. On top of his commitments at school, it was one of the things which kept Noah busy.

I definitely understood how time-consuming and hard it could be. And they weren’t just training to be fit; they were preparing to be the next alpha of a powerful and influential pack.

“How about the next day?” I sat up straight and crossed my arms.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I forgot about it.”

There was a surge of emotions inside me as he stepped on my pride. I clenched my teeth and swallowed hard.

“You forgot?”

It took me a lot of control to say those two words calmly. I was breathing heavily, trying not to burst out. I didn’t know why I was annoyed and angry that he had forgotten about my message. It wasn’t like he was obliged to answer it anyway.

I guess it was just my pride speaking. It was another huge blow to me.

“I get texts every day from other people — not just you. I don’t check them because they annoy me.” Zero put his phone on top of the table and pushed it closer to me. “See it for yourself.”

I chewed on my lips while staring at his phone. My hands were itching, wanting to invade his privacy and check the messages he received. A short and brief debate occurred in my mind as I decided whether to give in to the temptation. I was doing my best and holding myself back, but curiosity got the best of me.

Afraid that Zero might change his mind, I snatched his phone from the table and swiped my thumb up at the screen.

I thought it would need a password, but Zero left his phone unlocked. I buffered for a few seconds, stunned like I had done some kind of magic to open his phone so easily.

“Uhm…” I faked a cough. “You don’t do passcodes?”

I looked up at Zero and found him watching me with a gentle gaze. There was also a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“I don’t think I need it,” he simply said.

“It’s for security purposes. What if your phone’s stolen?”

He smirked. “No one would dare.”

I let out an exasperated sigh as I shook my head and rolled my eyes. I didn’t bother arguing to make him understand my point. I just proceeded to check his inbox and was overwhelmed to see the number of unread messages he had.

I couldn’t help but gasp to see that he wasn’t lying. Text messages from unknown numbers flooded his inbox. I clenched the phone tightly and turned a blind eye. I scrolled up three times before I saw my name.

Raising a white flag, I quickly exited the app and returned his phone. “I believe you now,” I said, knowing that even if I argued with him, it wouldn’t stop the slight embarrassment I felt.

A small smile slipped on his face as he nodded once. “You really should.”

With those exchanges of words between us, my mind pored over the conversation I had with Marga. It strengthened my resolve to trust him. It brought me a sense of relief that I unconsciously smiled.

“Anyway, can I borrow your phone?” Zero suddenly asked, catching me off guard.

I blinked a few times, cautiously perking up. “Huh?”

“I wanna airdrop my picture.”

“You mean the one from the exhibit?”

Zero casually nodded.

“I can send it to you,” I said and got my phone.

“I want to check the other photos, too.”

I stopped mid-way and peered into his face. He looked serious, which caused me to feel nervous. As I didn’t want to deal with his intense gaze, I unlocked my phone and let him borrow it.

I pretended like it didn’t matter, while his smile became more obvious as he got hands on my phone. His fingers moved quickly along with his eyes. He then held his phone again to accept the photos to be transferred.

“You done already?” I asked, noticing how fast he did everything.

It didn’t take him long to choose the photos he wanted to send to himself. I doubted if he even looked through all the photos. I knew I took a lot that day. Every time I visited an exhibit, having a hundred photos in my gallery was only a minimum.

“Yup,” he replied and passed the phone back to me. “Thanks.”

“Were you able to choose or…” I didn’t finish my sentence reluctantly.

“I just airdropped everything.”

“Everything?” Including my pictures?

Of course, I didn’t ask him that.

“Everything,” he firmly said, looking at me straight in the eye.

There was a flush in my cheeks, thinking that he would see all my pictures once he went through everything afterward. I roughly cleared my throat and licked my lower, but I didn’t dare avert my eyes from him.

While staring, I caught him making a side glance. He suddenly seemed alert, like his senses were all wide awake. A bunch of lines appeared between his eyebrows.

I tried to survey the situation, but I couldn’t sense anything wrong. “What’s the matter?” I asked him, worried.

Zero eyed me for a second before shaking his head. “Nothing,” he said while cleaning up the table. “I’ll go now. I still have classes.”

Zero didn’t glance back at me and continued walking away as if he was in a hurry. I pulled my eyes from him and stopped myself from being involved, but I glowered at the table in confusion and curiosity.

The suspicious discomfort in his eyes lingered in my mind. I turned in the direction where he went, but Noah blocked my vision, who appeared out of nowhere.

He was smiling while carrying our lunch. When he noticed my troubled expression, his face dimmed in concern.

“Did something happen while I wasn’t around?” he asked as he sat beside me.

“No—” I was about to lie, but I cut myself off and reminded myself of the promise we had. I sighed in frustration and decided to be honest. “I was with Zero a minute ago.”

Noah frowned as he scrunched up his face. “You were? Did you two fight again?”

I shook my head and turned to him. “No. He just seemed strange earlier….” I said, pondering over his expression. “But I could also just be imagining things.”

“Maybe you were,” Noah simply said and let out a small smile. “You know he’s always like that. Just let him be.”

Despite the uncanny feeling, I nodded my head and let it go.

I guess I was just really being over-sensitive about things around me lately. I was reading into things deeply, which made me feel unsettled.

“By the way, have you talked to your cousin already?” Noah asked in a cheerful tone, trying to lift the mood.

As I didn’t want to worry him, I forced myself to smile and nod. “I did. She said she's coming here. It’s final.”

“That’s great.” Noah smiled and gently tucked a lock of hair behind my ears. His fingers brushed my cheek as he did. “I’m sure you’re happy.”

“I am!” I said when an idea struck into my mind.

Since we were talking about my birthday, I couldn’t help but think of Zero. If I couldn’t ask him, maybe I could get some ideas from Noah.

“Right. Noah.” I turned to him and put my hand on top of his arm. His attention was all on me right away, so I didn’t waste a second to ask, “Do you know if Zero already has plans for his birthday?”

From his eyes, I saw Noah looking a bit stunned, but he managed to collect himself quickly. “I don’t know…” he answered, sounding very confused. “But he usually spends his birthday with the pack. We all do. It’s a part of our tradition.”

I pursed my lips as I mulled over a serious thought.

If that’s how he celebrates his birthday, then I’m out. I can’t be present at their gathering. I'm not a member of their pack, and I don’t want to cause any trouble.

“Why’d you ask?”

I snapped out of my thoughts when Noah spoke. I had to abandon my worries and give him my attention.

“Well, I kinda want to celebrate his birthday….” I hesitantly said. “You know, to thank him for coming with me to the exhibit. Or maybe I can just give him a gift. Do you have any ideas? I don’t know what he likes so….”

Noah stared at me in silence and pressed his lips together in the slightest discomposure.

I tilted my head. “Noah?”

“You don’t have to give him anything. I’ll take care of that for you. I’m the one who asked him to be with you, anyway.”

“But…” I trailed when I realized maybe he was right. “Okay.” I smiled at him. “I’ll leave it to you then.”