We study cross -relaxation features near zero magnetic field with ensembles of nitrogen -vacancy (NV) centers in diamond and examine their properties in samples with a range of 0.9-16.0 ppm of NV concentrations. The observed NV -NV cross -relaxation features between differently oriented NV centers in high (>= 0.9 ppm)NV-density samples hold promise for a variety of magnetometry applications where microwave fields (or any bias field) disturb the system under study. We theoretically determine the values of the bias magnetic fields corresponding to cross relaxations between different axes and experimentally validate them. The behavior of zero -field cross -relaxation features as a function of temperature is also investigated.