Black Blood: Between Two Alphas

Chapter 6

Noah was fuming mad. His eyes were seething with anger as he made his way. He continued walking until he stopped beside the passenger seat, waiting for me to get out of the car.

I thought he wouldn’t be free until later tonight?

I pressed my lips tightly for a moment, then took a deep breath. Just when I thought I had more time to prepare for a confrontation with Noah, he suddenly showed up without any warning. I had no choice but to face him.

Before I could gather enough courage, my head snapped at Zero, who was suddenly getting ready to go out. He shut the engine off and unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Zero.” I was slightly panicking. “Where are you going?”

He gently turned to me while his hand was already on the door handle. “I’ll talk to him,” he said, and without another thought, he went out of the car to approach his cousin.

I frantically opened the door and followed him.

“Noah,” I heard Zero call his name.

Noah just casually glanced at me, then fixed his gaze on Zero, who got his attention. He still looked mad and irritated with the situation — or just me, but I could tell his emotions weren’t as intense as they were earlier.

“I was calling you,” Noah told Zero, staring intently at him.

“I left my phone back at the cabin,” Zero casually answered.

Although the posing aura that Noah was exuding caused the tension to rise, Zero remained calm and unbothered. It helped extinguish the fire inside Noah’s eyes completely. With that, I felt like I was finally out of the danger zone.

“I took Paislee out for lunch after we visited the exhibit. I hope it’s fine. She was starving,” Zero continued.

Noah nodded his head lightly. “Of course. No problem at all,” he said and gave me a quick glance again. “I was just worried about Paislee. She wasn’t answering my calls or replying to my texts. I thought something happened….”

“What could happen, Noah? You need not to worry. She’s with me.” Zero chuckled like it was absurd for Noah to worry when he was with me the whole time. “You know I won’t let anything bad happen to her.”

I stopped gazing at Noah to look at Zero. My lips parted in awe and admiration.

She’s with me…

I didn’t know, but those three words brought so much comfort to my heart. It only told me how reliable Zero could be. He showed me that I could count on him anytime.

Zero smiled and clapped Noah’s shoulder. “I’ll leave her to you now. I have to get back to training.”

“Sure.” Noah nodded and briefly smiled. “Thanks for taking her to the exhibit.”

“No worries. I’ll go ahead,” Zero said, then turned to me.

The smile faded from his lips when our eyes met. I thought he would also speak to me before returning to his car, but he didn’t say anything. He quickly ignored me and left without another word to spare.

I watched as his car moved far away until it was already out of sight. I pursed my lips when I realized I didn’t get to thank him for the last time. I had so many things to be grateful for because of him. I felt like the amount of gratitude I was able to express earlier wasn’t enough.

While I mulled over that thought, Noah caught my attention by taking the paper bags. He then started walking to go inside the complex. The security guard already knew him so well that they didn’t bother stopping him from entering.

I sighed heavily, knowing that I could do nothing but follow him. I pushed my legs to catch up and walk beside him.

The weather was nice, and the sun was out in the sky, but there were dark, heavy clouds in my heart. I carefully narrowed down the questions I wanted to ask him. I shouldn’t waste the opportunity to confront him about our shaky relationship.

I wanted to take Zero’s advice and confront him to get over the unsettling thoughts in my head. 

An awkward silence fell upon us the moment we entered my apartment. Noah set down the bags on the coffee table before sitting down on the sofa. His eyes were fixed on them like he was also trying to avoid meeting my gaze.

As I was starting to feel suffocated, I forced a smile and tried to act as normal as possible. “You’re early.” I pointed out and went to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. My throat was parched from the tension. “Want something to drink?”

Like what I expected, Noah didn’t answer.

I didn’t want to give in to the mood he was creating for us. It would only make me feel more uncomfortable, so I decided just to shrug the silent treatment away.

I returned to the living room with two glasses of water. Noah watched me closely, and I casually took the space beside him while bringing the water down on the table. I noticed the paper bags and thought that I could use them to engage in another conversation with him.

I knew I shouldn’t beat around the bush, but I wanted us to begin in a neutral state. I didn’t want our emotions to take over us.

“Right… Zero bought me sushi for takeout,” I told him, still wearing a smile. “You want some? I’ll get us a plate.”

Noah got hold of my wrist before I could even stand up.

I responded with a gasp. My gaze found his eyes, and it felt like I was being pulled into the darkness inside them.

“N-Noah…” My lips trembled to see him looking a bit different.

We had petty fights before and childish arguments, but we never got to a point where we had to be in this position. It was always easy to kiss and make up. I guessed our easy-going personality helped a lot with that. We couldn’t stay indifferent to each other for a long time.

“Are we really going to continue acting like we don’t have a problem, Paislee?” Noah asked and loosened up his grip. “I know you’re mad at me, and I’m gonna be honest — I’m also frustrated with you earlier. I want us to talk.”

I bit my lower lip and fought the urge to look away. I wanted us to look at each other in the eye as we settled our dispute. That way, I believed we’d be able to understand both sides better.

“I know you’re mad that I couldn’t come with you to the exhibit when I promised you I would. I can’t blame you if you are. But I hope you know I didn’t mean that,” he said. “I finished everything earlier today so that we could spend more time together.”

I clenched my fist while keeping my gaze on him. I knew I had the right to be angry. Rather than being understanding all the time, I wanted to try and act immature just to get even and feel satisfaction. But after all that, talking to Noah didn’t make me feel that way.

The pain settling in his eyes brought me discomfort. I only felt awful. I felt guilty. I somehow hated myself for doing that.

“I called to check up on you and asked if we could eat lunch, but you weren’t responding. I knew you were with Zero, but it wasn’t enough reassurance to know you were fine and you were just ignoring me because you were mad that I couldn’t keep my promises. It didn’t help that I couldn’t reach him as well,” he continued. “Believe me, I do understand, Paislee. I just hoped you still replied. Even a f*cking dot would do, you know.”

“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t believe I was the one apologizing in the end, but I was. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry. I was just really mad and irritated. I was really looking forward to this day.”

I didn’t want to feel guilty when I just wanted to make myself feel better, but it was so d*mn easy for Noah to make my heart go soft for him.

“I said I understand that you’re just busy, but I’m no saint, Noah. You can’t expect me to be so understanding all the time,” I finally became honest with my thoughts. “I don’t know if you’re being true to me. I don’t know what you’re doing every time you spend so much time away from me. I want to keep trusting you, but you’re making it hard for me.”

Noah’s eyes slightly widened before his brows furrowed in thought. I kept staring at him while he chose to avert his gaze. It was easy to tell that he was anxious. I couldn’t help but think of the worst.

“I want you to be honest with me, Noah. That’s all I ask of you,” I said, almost begging.

To be honest, I didn’t care anymore if he was being unfaithful. I knew it was wrong to think that way, but we were bound to end anyway. However, I didn’t want us to separate on a bad note. I didn’t want our relationship to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. 

“I’m sorry…” he said under his breath.

I sat up straight, feeling like I was already on the edge of my seat.

“I’m just swamped these days….” He looked like he was in so much pain because of the way he gritted his teeth. “I didn’t want to make you feel that way, Paislee. Like I said the other night, I knew I couldn’t be the boyfriend you need as of the moment. I wasn’t doing my part well,” he continued. “I actually thought of letting you go because of that. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I don’t have the strength to let you go just yet.”

My breath hitched when he made that confession.

Is that what he wanted to tell me the other night? Is that the reason why he’s acting weird?

“I think we still have time left while waiting for our mate.” Noah held my hand and brought it closer to his lips. “I want to keep you for as long as I can. It doesn’t matter if we only have a day, a week, or a month left. Is that okay with you?”

I bit my lip to stop it from trembling. I was feeling so happy that hot tears were forming in my eyes. My chest was slowly filled with emotions, and I could feel it about to overflow.

Without a word, I threw myself in Noah’s arms, putting my arms around him. I nodded my head before burying my face in the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry for doubting you….”

Noah breathed out a sigh. His arms slowly snaked around my waist. “I told you, it’s okay. I reaped what I sowed,” he said. “But from now on, I want you to come to me every time you have a problem. We won’t solve anything if we aren’t more open to each other.”

I tightened my embrace and nodded again.

I know that now.