Ace smiled slightly, then turned his face away, and then he got up from his seat. Abandoning his initial intention to bite the two men, he quickly changed his irises and fangs back to normal. Only then did Ace look back at Theresia.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Ace asked softly, holding Theresia's hands, his eyes staring intently at her.
Theresia did the same, staring intently at Ace without answering his question. A few moments later, Theresia looked at Ace's hands, which were still covered in blood. Without thinking twice, Theresia looked closer at Ace's injured hands.
"Does it hurt?" asked Theresia sincerely, acting this way because she felt indebted to Ace.
"No, it doesn't hurt at all," said Ace with a smile.
Theresia was silent for a moment, glancing at the watch on her wrist. Theresia was already very late for work, and if she didn't leave immediately, she could lose her job. A few moments later, Theresia opened her bag and took out some bandages and ointment.
"Here, treat your hand yourself. I have to go to work now; is that okay?" said Theresia as she handed the items to Ace.
Ace accepted them happily, even though he didn't really need any of them. With his inner strength alone, the wound on his hand would surely heal. However, Ace nodded in response.
"It's okay, I'll treat it later," Ace replied.
"I'm sorry, but I really have to go. Thank you for saving me, and remember! Don't forget to treat your hand." After saying that, Theresia immediately left her spot. She walked away from there, running towards her workplace.
After Theresia left, Ace smiled slightly. He felt that he was getting closer to Theresia, so it would be easier to mark her as his mate.
"Huh... It's good that my hand got hurt," Ace muttered with a light laugh. Then he dashed off, carrying all the things Theresia had given him earlier. He planned to go to his headquarters to meet his friends.
It didn't take long for Ace to arrive at his headquarters. Several of his friends were there, gathered around one of the tables. Curious, Ace approached them with his hand still covered in blood.
"What's going on? It's unusual for you guys to be gathered here," said Ace, sitting casually among them.
They were all surprised by Ace's arrival. Garry, who was Beta and also Ace's best friend, quickly approached him. He pulled Ace's injured hand and sniffed it several times.
"A pocket knife? How did you get injured just from a knife?" asked Gerry, raising one eyebrow.
Ace rolled his eyes lazily and casually threw the items Theresia had given him earlier onto the table. This made them all even more confused and perplexed.
"Bandages and ointment? What for? Don't tell me you want to treat your wound with these." asked Gerry incessantly, because werewolves didn't need such things to heal their wounds.
"Yes, I want you to help me treat my hand with those items," Ace replied casually, leaning back in his chair with his right leg raised onto his thigh.
"Oh come on, Ace, what's wrong with you? You can easily treat your wounds without those items, but..." Gerry stopped talking when Ace looked at him.
Ace raised his hand, signaling Gerry to be quiet. "Shh... Be quiet and just do what I tell you. You know I don't like being argued with, right?" he said emphatically.
Gerry sighed, finally obeying and helping Ace apply ointment and bandages to the wound on his hand. Although a big question mark still lingered in his mind.
A few minutes into the silence, Ace accidentally overheard the pack members talking about vampires. This made him curious, so he asked, "What are they talking about, Ger?"
"One of them saw vampires roaming around the city last night," replied Gerry, trying to stick the bandage on Ace's hand.
Ace frowned. Since he had established the pack in the city, he had never once encountered vampires roaming around. That's why it seemed strange that vampires were suddenly roaming around the city.
"Why would vampires be roaming around the city? They've never dared to enter my territory before," Ace muttered, thinking for a moment about what their reason could be. Ace didn't like other creatures trespassing on his territory.
"Tell them to keep an eye on those vampires. If they cause trouble, just kill them one by one," Ace ordered Gerry. After that, he left his seat and walked away, not knowing where he was going.
***
Elsewhere, Theresia was already at the cafe where she worked. Theresia worked as a waitress there, along with several of her friends. Theresia seemed happy with her job, and she also enjoyed her life as an ordinary human being. Theresia had a best friend in the city named Jessi. She and Jessi had become close when Theresia first moved to Alaska. It was Jessi who had helped Theresia find a place to live and a job.
The clock showed 12:00 p.m., time for the employees to take turns resting. Theresia was at the back of the cafe, sitting alone, lost in thought.
"Theresia, why are you daydreaming here? Eat this. Our break time is very limited." Soon after, Jessi came with food in her hands.
Theresia smiled as she accepted the food, but she didn't eat it yet. This made Jessi sigh deeply. Even though Jessi and Theresia hadn't been friends for very long, Jessi truly considered Theresia like her own sister.
"Hey, why aren't you eating? Aren't you hungry? Hurry up and eat," Jessi scolded with her mouth still full of food.
"I'll eat it later," replied Theresia listlessly, as if she had lost her zest for life. Problems kept coming, making Theresia dizzy thinking about them. Moreover, her grandfather had not reappeared since that night, making Theresia feel even more anxious and restless. What if something happened to Hans? That was what Theresia kept thinking about.
Jessi stopped eating, turned to look at Theresia intently, and said, "Why? Are you heartbroken, hm?"
Smack...
A blow landed on Jessi's arm; Theresia hit her hard. How could Jessi think that? Even Theresia herself had never imagined falling in love with someone else.
"Don't talk nonsense; how could I be heartbroken? I don't even have a boyfriend," replied Theresia, snorting in annoyance. That made Jessi laugh out loud.
"Dorr!!" Someone shouted loudly right behind the two women.
"Aaa!" The scream came from Jessi, who screamed loudly and almost died of shock. Jessi cursed silently in her heart, turning to see who dared to startle her while she was eating.