Rejecting The Alpha

Chapter 4 - Bittersweet Resolve

Now let's see what we have here. The dress my mother picked out was not bad in the slightest. It was a lovely black maxidress that had sequins scattered about like stars in the sky. The only problem was that I was feeling spiteful right about now and wanted to show a bit of my rebellious spirit by picking a different outfit. I tossed the dress back into the drawers and opened my closet to pick out a red sundress that ended just above my knees and matched my eyes. I would've worn a jumpsuit, but my mom would most likely go ballistic on me. I layered a white shawl wrap over it and brought out my white flats.

"Hey," I said, gripping the doorknob, "Sorry I was so harsh on you today, it's just I really want to stay with Renard for the rest of my life and-"

"Actually," Nova retorted, "You know what, maybe, just maybe, if our mate decides to reject then you can go back to that boy toy of yours. But I'll have you know that even when he rejects you the bond won't disappear for-"

"I see, thanks for telling me."

"Thanks? For what?"

"Even if the whole severing of a mate bond is extremely rare, it isn't zero," I said, opening the door. "And everyone knows how stubborn Miss Noelle Wilson can be."

I made my way to the main building of the pack house. I was confident at first but the ever potent smell of fresh books kept distracting both my wolf and I. It was annoying, to say the least, but it isn't like I could do anything about it. I reach the dining hall and am immediately greeted by a warm hug from my cousin. 

"You've finally come of age!" Amelia said, grabbing a drink from the feast table. "You'll be able to find your one true love like me now!"

"I know," I sigh, "But isn't it a little too early for that kind of talk?" 

We chatted for a bit, mainly about my school life and such, before being interrupted by a surprise attack from behind. 

"Happy birthday, darlin!" Renard hugs me from behind, wrapping his hands over my shoulders. Oh, he's holding a bag. "Cheers to being one year closer to the legal drinking age."

"Ah, if it isn't little loverboy," Amelia said, looking at me as if I had suffered an unfortunate fate. "I'll leave you two be, gotta catch up with my fiance!"

Good Grief, I smiled. She really doesn't hide her intentions very well. Unlike the rest of my family, she knew that I had a crush on Renard and constantly tries to push us together despite knowing that we may never end up as mates. I appreciate her because of this, she knew that love was a feeling that one simply cannot control and that it differs from that of a mate bond which was predestined by the Moon Goddess. She said she only got lucky that her first love just so happened to be the one she was to be mated to. Her fiance, Walter, who was coincidentally the Beta of the pack, met Amelia during a heavy storm, both of them were stuck hiding under a bus stop and love soon blossomed from there. This brings back the memories of the many times my mother had told me about how she met my father at the ceremony herself which was arguably less romantic.

"It's a real shame that the thing being celebrated isn't your birth," Renard said, shoving the bag at me. "Once again, happy birthday. I wish you a prosperous year ahead of you."

"Aw, dude!" I gush, grabbing the bag. Nobody else has actually said happy birthday to me, not even Amelia. "I would say that you didn't have to but honestly, I would've beaten you if ya didn't."

"Hey!" He added, before shifting attention to a new voice that had appeared behind me.

"Mate"

I hear both the voice and Nova mutter. It's him, Alpha Damien Knight, the mate I don't want. Good grief. His glares were striking, I couldn't look away from them as much as I wanted to. He shifted his gaze from me to Renard and back to me again, seeming really mad at Renard's presence. I used whatever amount of will I had to break my line of sight with him to see a girl onto his right arm. Vera, the hottest girl in school, I didn't like her very much, not because she has slept with more than half of the entire school, but because she used to be Renard's mate.