CHAPTER 3

"Oh? This is new. You are not hanging out with Lizzy today."

Even without looking back, Blake already knows who speaks to him from behind. Blake ignores it and continues eating his lunch with an obvious frown on his face. The food on his plate is his favorite pasta dish. But the delicious taste changed fifteen minutes ago. Now he tastes several strips of coated wax on his tongue.

"Weird. I can smell Lizzy's scent on this table. Is she eating lunch with you? But I cannot see her bag."

"Stop sniffing her scent, scrub," Blake whispered although they could hear his growl.

Not only Blake but also the wolf inside him is irritated by his twin brother. Blaise did not put it into the heart. Instead, he rolls his eyes and pulls out the vacant seat next to his brother.

"It is not my fault if her scent still lingers in the air, Jerk," Blaise said. "And why is her scent still sticking to you?"

"Tch. Why are you here? You are supposed to be with Herrace, right?" Blake asked him back and effectively changed the topic.

"He was called by his professor to discuss his test scores," he explained.

"Oh," Blake replied since he is not interested to know about his brother's soulmate.

Blake and his wolf will never admit it even if powerful thunder strikes them now. But they envy Blaise. A month after his and Blaise's sixteenth birthday, he quickly found his soulmate. It was Herrace, one of Blaise's classmates in his class.

His brother's soulmate's mark is located on his left wrist. The cursive word 'Home' is tattooed on it with yellow and green color splashes around it. Herrace also has the same soulmate mark on his left wrist. Their mom told them that if two soulmate marks are the same, it means they feel the same way about each other.

Don't get him wrong. Blake is happy for his brother since he was able to find the one he truly wanted. He is happy that Blaise is lucky to encounter his soulmate that soon. Some people spend years finding their other half. There are also rare cases when a person fails to discover his soulmate until death.

However, Blake sometimes feels jealous of his brother. After receiving his soulmate's mark, Blaise found his other half in just a few months. Blake, on the other hand, still does not know who his soulmate is. The most disturbing part of it is he is still subconsciously hoping Lizzy's soulmate mark will magically appear under her collarbone similar to his.

But of course, that is impossible. Lizzy received her soulmate's mark on her sixteenth birthday. Blake is unsure where it is located since Lizzy refused to show it to him no matter how much he pleaded with her. Lizzy once said she would only show it once she found her soulmate.

"So where is Lizzy?" Blaise asked him again.

Blake clicked his tongue in annoyance. He underestimated his brother's persistence again. The subject of their original conversation is only temporarily forgotten by Blaise.

"Their club adviser suddenly called an emergency meeting and Lizzy obviously needed to attend it."

"Aww. So my big brother is sulking here because his crush needs to leave him behind—What the fuck, Blake?!"

"You deserve it, jerk," Blake said before pushing the pasta plate away from him.

Blake spilled a few drops of water on Blaise's shirt to make him stop teasing him. His miseries always put his annoying brother in a pleasant mood. Blake decided to ruin his sick happiness in advance so Blaise's mood doesn't improve again.

"Stop sulking like a puppy abandoned by his master, will you? Your scent smells foul." Blaise said as he swat his hand in front of his face.

"Shut up. My scent will never smell foul."

"Yeah, yeah. The air smells like burnt vanilla."

Blake grumbled, but he still remained calm to prevent his pheromones from releasing more of his scents. He suddenly considered using a scent suppressant patch just like Lizzy, but Blake quickly dismissed that idea. He is so proud of his scent that it would be a shame to hide it from anyone. And besides, Blake does not want Lizzy to worry about him using a scent suppressant.

Lizzy is always like that. After her sixteenth birthday, her mentality suddenly transformed into a mature woman trapped inside a teenage girl's body. She keeps scolding him for his improper habits like eating too much at midnight or losing sleep to video games. Yet Lizzy continues to do the same thing, and even prepares excuses for her bad habits.

'Hmph. The nerves of that woman.'

"Alright. I am willing to listen to you while waiting for Herrace." Blaise said calmly.

"Huh?"

Right. Blaise is still with him.

"You will not feel that stressed if Lizzy just leaves you to attend a simple club meeting. So what really happened?"

Blake clicked his tongue again. As much as he wants to admit it, Blaise really knows him like the back of his hand. Blake is also the same. He knows that Blaise has decided not to argue with him anymore since he is more stressed than before.

"So? Are you planning to speak or not?" Blaise asked again.

"Tch. It was those damn omegas." Blake complained.

"Huh?"

Now it was Blaise's turn to be confused.

"Their club adviser called Lizzy to help her control their recruits. She knows those omegas will listen to Lizzy because they are fond of her." Blake explained.

Before their club adviser disturbed them, Blake and Lizzy happily ate lunch. Only a few students ate in the cafeteria because most were still taking their exams. Every minute Blake spends with Lizzy means a lot to him. He never takes their time together for granted.

For him, every minute with Lizzy is precious. For now, both haven't met their soulmates yet. And Blake cannot help but be happy about that. Both of them can easily fall into a deep conversation because they understand each other.

They can also discuss things that others will never understand. Even Blaise surrenders every time he hears them talking about topics that they find interesting. It really feels like they are in a different world and the only people there are Lizzy and him.

And Blake always wishes it stayed that way.

"Oh, I see. You are just jealous." Blaise said while nodding his head.

Blake scoffs when he hears those words.

Who is Blake Myers? If someone asks the students if they know him, they will say that Blake Myers is a well-known student at their university. Many students admire him because of his handsome face, exemplary grades, and sports talent. He is also the captain of their volleyball team who brought them to the finals. He also runs a successful social media account followed by thousands of people.

And his jerk of a brother will just say he is jealous of those weak omegas? Who in their right minds would believe that? Even if they removed their secondary gender from them, Blake Myers is still the best of them all. Blake has no reason to envy them.

"I know what you are thinking right now," Blaise said. "But you need to acknowledge the truth, brother. You are jealous of those omegas because they steal 'your' Lizzy from you."

Fuck.

Blake glares at his brother who is texting someone on his phone. He hates it when Blaise reads him like an open book all the time. He once complained about it to his mother when they were younger, but she laughed at him, saying it was only natural since they are twins.

Blake is only ten minutes older than Blaise. As twins, some things make them similar to each other. One of them is their faces. If you know them for the first time, you will easily confuse who is who. But once you look closer at their faces, you will see the difference between the two brothers.

Blake has sharp eyes that can intimidate anyone if he glares at them. Blaise has calm eyes that people usually mistake for being a quiet person. They both share the same face except Blaise has more soft features on his face, especially his cheeks. When people ask him why, the younger will answer that it is probably because of his secondary gender.

"Blake, did I tell you before that you are stupid?"

"If you have nothing worthwhile to say, shut your mouth."

"No. Listen to me first. You are really stupid." Blaise insisted. "If not, why are you jealous when you are just her friend?"

"What?"

"Felicity is not for you."

Oh.

Isn't that a direct chest blow from Blaise? He tries to open his mouth and offer a response, but no words come out of his lips.

What can he say anyway? His brother is right. They have no other label for their relationship except childhood friends. They are close but not close enough to love.

"Sorry, I let my mouth speak again without thinking."

Seeing the guilty look in Blaise's eyes makes him scoff.

"First, you accuse me boldly. After that, you will apologize to me with your ugly face in an attempt to win me over. Make up your mind, jerk."

Blaise scowls at him but does not hurt him anymore with his words. He knows that his brother is aware. If not, Blake lost his mind years ago and stupidly confessed his love to the person not destined to become his in public.

Mismatched relationships are not yet welcomed in society. To the public eye, being in love with a person who isn't destined for you is a sin. In their opinion, they are people who behave selfishly and do not care for their true soulmates who are literally their partners in this life. It is also considered cheating and will only ruin their reputations.

But still, it did not stop his brother from feeling jealous and overprotective towards the female Alpha. Whenever someone questioned Blake's behavior, he concealed it as a brotherly affection. Blaise did not know his twin brother was a talented actor, but others are convinced by his made-up reason.

Before Blaise could explain his side more, his inner wolf quivers lightly when he feels his brother's wolf growl in anger. Following Blake's direction, Blaise saw Lizzy talking to a male omega. Lizzy enjoys talking to the younger omega who sticks too much to her.

To put a cherry on top of their situation, they both witnessed Lizzy putting a hand on the omega's head and ruffling his hair. There is a smile on her lips as she watches the omega being obedient in front of her. His blush spreads to his cheeks too.

Before Blaise can calm his brother, Blake stands up and walks toward the two. The omega shivered in fear when he felt his brother's bubbling anger. Soon, the omega runs away from them while Blaise sees Lizzy hitting Blake on his arm before sighing.