Me, The Cheerleading Captain, Refusing To Be The Football Captain’s Mate Chapter 05

Me, The Cheerleading Captain, Refusing To Be The Football Captain’s Mate Chapter 05

I turned to face Ronan.

The moment I saw his blue eyes again, my wolf whimpered inside me.

Everything needed to end.

Ronan hurriedly grabbed me.

“Willa, come back and apologize to everyone. Because of everything you’ve done for the team in the past, they’ll act like none of this ever happened.”

“Don’t make Coach Aurelian angry. I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“Stop being so stubborn. Since when did you become this unreasonable?”

He sounded frantic, as if he was afraid I would do something that could never be undone.

I snapped at him, “Get away from me. I am not apologizing. You deserve every bit of this.”

I raised my right hand. My nails dug into my palm until they broke the skin, and a thin line of blood slipped from the wound. Without changing expression, I swept my gaze over everyone in the room.

Everyone took a step back, frightened by the look in my eyes.

“I am Ronan’s mate,” I said softly. “I can’t stand anyone else’s scent. I have no reason to steal anything just to catch Ronan’s scent, because we’ve already been living together.”

“What?” Everyone was stunned.

“But now,” I said in a low, steady voice, “I, Willa Windrider, reject you, Ronan Greymoor, as my mate.”

Ronan’s face went deathly pale.

The man who had always been unbeatable on the field suddenly lost strength in his legs. He clutched his chest, dropped to his knees, and gasped for breath as if he were enduring pain he could not resist.

Anyone could tell at a glance that this was what happened to a werewolf after being rejected by their mate.

So I really was Ronan’s fated mate. I had no reason to become the thief in the locker room. Someone had framed me.

But I no longer cared.

I felt the pain spreading through my chest. This would be the last time I ever suffered because of this man.

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and turned to leave.

I was not only the queen of cheer on the field. I was also the queen of my own life.

I left the equipment room, moved out of the apartment Ronan and I had shared, and temporarily stayed at Lyra’s house. When my friends heard what had happened to me, they all stood firmly by my side.

I checked my overseas graduate-school documents, and only after seeing that the locker-room scandal had not affected my evaluations did I finally breathe easier.

After that, I focused on training the cheer squad and helping my girls show their best selves on the field. But I would not return to the sidelines myself, because I could not cheer for people who had framed me.

A few more days passed, but then Ronan suddenly appeared outside Lyra’s house.

When I opened the door, he looked haggard. He reached out as if he wanted to grab me, but I stepped aside and avoided him.

His hand froze in midair.

“Willa, do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you?”

“Why were you looking for me? I already rejected you. Is there anything left between us?”

Maybe my indifferent tone cut him. His eyes were bloodshot.

“When did you get your acceptance letter to study overseas? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

I gave a small laugh and looked at him.

“Tell you? What would you have said? Would you have told me to give it up and stay here with you?”

After hearing that, Ronan’s eyes widened. His lips parted, but he could not say a single word in his own defense.

I laughed again, my voice full of mockery.

“See? From beginning to end, you were never honest with me.”

“Fine. Even if we don’t talk about the past, I had no one to blame but myself. But what about what happened in the equipment room?”

“I didn’t steal anything. I never stuffed anyone’s clothes into that storage locker.”

“But why did she have the code to my locker? And for her, you actually wanted me to admit that I was falsely accusing her? Honestly, it’s ridiculous.”

Ronan’s face went white in an instant, and he suddenly lifted his head.

“That’s not what happened. I don’t know how Isolde knew the code. I was just worried that since she had only recently joined the track team, Coach Aurelian would kick her off if he found out she had made such a serious mistake.”

“So I was the one forced off the field instead!”

Ronan looked as if he had been struck by lightning. He grabbed my wrist, his voice hoarse.

“Willa, I didn’t know it would turn out like this.”

“I actually told Rafe before that you were my mate, so he would give you access to the practice field. I thought he would never really punish you.” He stared at me as if he was desperate to prove he had once been sincere. “Didn’t we agree we would hold our mating ceremony after graduation? I never thought about breaking the mate bond with you.”

“Ronan.”

I yanked my hand free again.

“I saw her kiss you that day when you were lying at the edge of the practice field, exhausted and supposedly asleep.”

He froze, then said, “She was the one who kissed me. It wasn’t like I—”

I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face.

“I also know you weren’t asleep that day. I’m not blind, and I’m not stupid. You walked her home late at night. You took the blame for her in front of Rafe. You kissed her so easily.”

“You betrayed me. That is why I rejected you.”

“Stop coming after me. Leave at least a little dignity for what we used to be.”

After saying that, I shut the door in his face.

He knocked outside and shouted for me to listen to his explanation one more time.

It made the whole thing feel like a romance drama, and I was the side character who walked away and never looked back.

That was fine too. It meant I would never have to love him again.