Rival

Chapter 3: Rival

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Previously:

She was frowning by then. Cecilia was about to utter something when a figure ran towards them with loud thumps of footsteps and came to a stop in front of the two. His heavy pants came out in huffs as he slouched in front of them, trying to catch his breath.

It was Isaac Martin.

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"So *pants* sorry... *pants* Cecilia... I'm... *pants* I was *pants*..." Isaac's words were cut short with heavy pants in between. 

Cecilia took out a water bottle from her bag and handed it out to Isaac, "It's okay, Isaac. I didn't wait out here for long. Here, drink this." 

He took it with a small 'thank you' before he stood up straight, uncapped the bottle and gobbled down the water in haste. Chris gave Cecilia a questioning gaze, in which she replied with a quick shrug of her shoulders before paying attention to Isaac and pats his back. 

Chris thought Nathan said he had basketball training till late evening. 'Doesn't that apply to Isaac too?' He frowned deeply in confusion. 'What the heck is going on?'

When he was done, Isaac wiped away the trace of water slipping out of his mouth with his wrists before capping the bottle shut and gave it back to Cecilia who placed it inside her bag with a gleeful smile.

'Yes, she smiled. She's happy her crush drank her water bottle.' Chris mentally rolled his eyes at that. 'Girls.'

Isaac then smiled at Cecilia and as his gaze shifted to Chris, his smile dropped a bit. Just a bit.

"Hello, Lukeman. I didn't expect to see you here."

Despite using his monotone, there was a trace of coldness in his voice. Just a little bit of it. Chris wondered what that was all about.

"Isaac. I heard from Hunt that he has basketball training till late evening. Shouldn't you be there, training too?" Chris questioned him with the same frown. However, it was more of displeasure rather than confusion.

Chris does not know what Isaac was like, as he was only an acquaintance to Isaac. Nonetheless, Chris knew he was not the type to skip school. Nevertheless, basketball training. He seemed to be more of a hardworking person, instead of a slacker like Chris.

Isaac continued to stare at him as if Chris was an alien before blinking his eyes a couple of times and looked over to Cecilia who shrugs her shoulders with pouty lips. Then, there was silence among the two as they stared into each other. It was as if they were communicating telepathically. They were so good at this that they hardly talked in front of anyone, including Chris and Nathan, whenever they needed to talk with each other in private. Chris felt his patience was being tested and he grew annoyed by the two since he had no idea what was running through their heads, especially when it seemed all too suspicious for him.

Chris purposely covered his mouth with his balled fist before coughing out loud on purpose, gaining both of their attention. He then arched an eyebrow at them, expecting an answer from them. In response, Isaac shot him an irritated look. Whereas, Cecilia was just giving him her 'pure' innocent smile. They were definitely up to something and he was going to find out what it was.

"Speak up. What are you guys hiding from me?" Asked Chris, glaring at them.

They refused to talk—it was more that Isaac refused to communicate since he shook his head towards Cecilia and kept his eyes firmly on Chris. Cecilia sighed out in dilemma, debating whether to tell Chris the truth or not.

Chris hated waiting. He was never a patient person. They wasted more than enough time. Chris nearly growled out at them and he was about to use his authority tone of an Alpha when a familiar scent hits his nose. A distinct smell of an Alpha he knew too well.

"Lukeman! Leave them alone!" Chris turned around and looked over to his one and only childhood best friend; as well as his rival, Nathan Hunt.

"Hunt?" Chris questioned in surprise.

Nathan jogged towards Chris with his bag swinging by his side. He came to a stop beside Chris as he placed his hand on Chris' shoulder, making all the frustration of anger building inside Chris washed away. It was as if it was never there, to begin with.

"Hey, Chris. Sorry about today, alright? For a moment, I thought we had basketball training today. But, it turns out we had Math tests during the after-school period. Isn't that right, Isaac?" Nathan looked over to Isaac for confirmation.

"What Hunt said, Lukeman," came Isaac's only reply.

Even though he was as emotionless as ever, Chris could feel his stone-cold eyes on him. Chris could not understand why Isaac felt hostile towards him. Isaac had never looked at him this way before and it bothered Chris a lot. Before Chris could make a bad remark on him, a warm strong hand grabbed his arm and pulled him along in another direction, which made Chris nearly tripped over his foot due to the sudden strong pull. Chris glared at the back of Nathan's head.

"Hunt, let go. I'm not done," Nathan simply ignored Chris and proceeded to drag him in another direction.

"We have to go. Sorry if Chris troubled you guys. See ya, Cecilia, Isaac," Nathan waved his hand and sent a grin their way.

"It's okay! He didn't trouble us, don't worry! See you, Natty! Chrissy!" screamed out Cecilia happily.

They bid each other goodbye and Chris ignored them altogether. From the corner of his eyes, Chris saw how upset Cecilia was and Isaac was patting her back as a form of comfort. Chris never bothered to turn around and embrace her like how he used to comfort her back then. He found it weird to do it then and so, he just followed Nathan blindly without looking back. 

When they were further away from two till their figures disappeared from their line of sight, Nathan let go of Chris' arm gently and his eyes fixated into a glare. Chris shied away as he felt uncomfortable. Nathan was never one to be serious unless Chris did something wrong and it was unforgivable.

Nathan let out a sigh, "You nearly lost control just now. Even if you didn't even realise it, Isaac and Cecilia couldn't sense it, I can. What happens if you let out your scents too strongly and it's a 'killing' intent? Everyone around us will be terrified of you, including Cecilia. You should've been more careful. If it affects the Alpha child around us, chaos will spread and that's never a good thing. Besides, you went through that phase before, remember? Do you want that to happen again?"

Chris never responded afterwards. He was not sure how to. All he could do was apologise for being foolish.

"I'm sorry, Nate. I didn't mean it," Chris uttered quietly and he could see Nathan nodding his head.

"It's fine. Just don't do it again," Nathan patted his left shoulder before walking ahead.

Chris quietly followed behind him. A tense silence filled between them for a while till Nathan decided to break it. 

Nathan, "Say, you got the time?"

Chris knew Nathan disliked the tense atmosphere and he knew better than going against Nathan at this point since he disliked it as well.

"Yea. Why?" Chris answered back quietly.

Nathan stopped walking, making Chris come to a stop as well. Nathan then turned around to face him and his thin lips formed into a mischievous smirk. Chris tilted his head as he arched his eyebrow, silently questioning him.

As if he understood Chris' gesture, Nathan said, "Whoever reaches the basketball court which is located three blocks down the street first, wins."

Before Chris could have any input, Nathan had sped off. 'Tch. He didn't even count to three.' Chris shook his head at Nathan's foul play and ran after him. Nathan was grinning like a child when Chris was right on his tail. Soon, red blazing lightning surrounded Nathan and in a blink of an eye, there was a sudden eight-meter gap between them. Chris glared at the back of Nathan's head as Nathan chuckled away in luxury.

Nathan was using his beast's powers; the Tiger's powers. For a moment there, Chris would be calling him a cheater, but it did not concern him at all. Chris liked tough challenges anyway. One that Nathan Hunt taunted and he could never refuse it. A darker blue aura surrounded him before it turned into a lightning zap and he caught up to him in no time.

This was how they were, ever since their childhood days. They hardly show people this side of them. As they grew older, they were expected to behave like actual Alphas; mature, witted and strong Alphas.

However, Nathan and Chris never turned out that way. They were still childish in their ways. Even if it was not approved by society, Nathan and Chris would not mind it at all. Their life is their freedom. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted. Just because they were Alphas, it did not mean they had to behave like one.

Chris looked over to Nathan who was still grinning like a child.

Nathan, "Tired yet?"

"Nope. Not even close," Chris answered coolly.

"What about you though? Still upset with me?" Chris questioned softly, hoping that Nathan had somewhat calmed down from being enraged.

Nathan shook his head with a small smile, "I'm not mad, no more. I don't hold grudges, you know. Just be careful next time. They're our friends."

"Yeah. I'll try," Chris responded silently and they dropped the subject afterwards.

That was the end of their conversation. The two of them then speed up, running beside each other as red and blue lightning clashed with each other.