Me, The Cheerleading Captain, Refusing To Be The Football Captain’s Mate Chapter 01

Me, The Cheerleading Captain, Refusing To Be The Football Captain’s Mate Chapter 01

I was finally about to graduate from Wolfridge University.

At the graduation bonfire party, Isolde from Shadowfang Pack spread her arms and blocked Ronan’s path.

“Ronan from Ironmoon Pack, you were absolutely mesmerizing in this morning’s game. Can I get a winning kiss?”

The second she said it, the crowd around them went dead silent.

Everyone knew Ronan. He was the captain of the campus football team and the Alpha heir of Ironmoon Pack. He was ice-cold to everyone. Some people even wondered if he had ever smiled in his life, because his eyes looked like they had been carved out of frost. He never gave women his number, and he definitely never gave anyone a winning kiss.

Someone beside them was just about to smooth things over.

But Ronan drained the rest of his drink, looked at Isolde, and smiled faintly.

“Why not?”

He bent down and kissed Isolde gently on the cheek.

The touch was so tender that my wolf let out a wounded whimper.

Back then, I had pursued him for two full years before he finally, almost begrudgingly, added me back.

This year marked the fourth year of our secret mate bond.

Even his favoritism was painfully obvious.

All at once, I did not want to love him anymore.

…

The glass in my hand slipped and shattered against the ground with a sharp crash.

Every eye turned toward me.

After all, my feelings for Ronan had never been much of a secret at Wolfridge.

I came from Frostclaw Pack. To get close to Ronan, I waited by the track every day, and whenever he ran past me, I pretended I had just finished warming up so I could fall into step beside him. I even tried out for the campus cheer squad, became cheer captain, and made a point of tossing my pom-poms to him after every game.

For years, I had screamed his name from the sidelines. But whenever I stood there waiting for his winning kiss, he looked away and walked right past me.

It had taken me four years to finally understand that maybe he had never loved me.

“Willa, I’m sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

Isolde seemed to remember only then that people had always whispered about Ronan and me, and she hurried to explain. The way she stood there, helpless and flustered, made it look as if I were the one bullying her.

She was an Omega and a member of the campus track team. Every day, she came to the edge of the field to cheer for Ronan. She said she only wanted to support him.

The truth was, rumors had been going around lately that Ronan had been taking special care of her.

I had even seen it with my own eyes. On a rainy day, Ronan held an umbrella over her and walked her back to her apartment.

I just could not bring myself to believe it.

I could not believe he would fall for someone else that easily.

I picked up the glass of green juice on the table and took a sip. I had never liked the taste of green juice. It always left a bitter edge on my tongue. But Ronan liked it.

I said nothing, and no one else at the party dared to speak either.

Isolde looked like she was about to cry.

At last, one of her friends stepped forward.

“Willa, Isolde didn’t mean any harm. Besides, you and Ronan aren’t even official mates, so what right do you have to control who gets his winning kiss?”

“And from what I heard, Ronan already turned you down anyway. Why keep clinging to him like this? I have a cousin who just came back from overseas. He plays basketball. Want me to introduce you?”

The moment she finished, someone let out a muffled laugh.

Ronan swept his cold gaze over me. It was nothing like the gentle look he had given Isolde moments ago.

“It’s just a tradition,” he said. “It’s not that serious. Anyone can have one.”

Then he grabbed Isolde by the wrist and kissed her on the mouth. Their kiss was so intimate that it looked as if the rest of the party had disappeared around them.

A tearing pain ripped through the mate bond between us. I stared at him blankly, the pain stealing every word from my throat.

Ronan let go of Isolde, whose face had gone bright red. The crowd immediately started cheering and teasing them.

“Ronan, you kissed her just like that? There was a girl who stopped you three times just to ask for your number, and you still wouldn’t give it to her.”

“Exactly. Last time, Coach said if Isolde skipped regular practice again, he would kick her off the track team. Then you went to him and claimed Isolde had been training with you, and that you had asked her to cheer for you from the sidelines, so that was why she missed practice. God, what a terrible excuse.”

“Ronan, don’t tell me…” Miles dragged out the words, grinning. “Are you addicted to Isolde’s scent and thinking about making her your mate?”

The party came back to life.

Ronan only said, “You’re overthinking it.”

He instinctively glanced at me.

“No, that’s not it. Ronan is just a good person.” Isolde blushed hard and waved her hands in a fluster. “Ronan! I’ll stop bothering you now. See you next time!”

She fled like a startled rabbit.

So that was the kind of girl Ronan liked.

She was nothing like me.

My faint smile slowly faded. I lowered my head and silently packed everything on the table into my bag: my team patch, my pom-poms, my white sneakers, my blue-and-white hair ribbon, and the bandages and painkillers.

I did not want to sit there any longer and keep being everyone else’s punchline.

Suddenly, Ronan lowered his head, as if he were texting someone.

My phone buzzed, but I did not look at it.

I was already exhausted by this secret mate bond.

I was the one who had been with Ronan as his mate for four years.

But he would never admit it to anyone.