The Girl Who Refuses an Alpha

"Do you have another schedule after the classes end?"

Mirabella --or Mira for short-- sipped on her drink, flipping the page of the book in front of her. When she heard the question, she shook her head. "There's none. The basketball practice is canceled for today."

The girl didn't look particularly eye-catching with her current appearance. That was probably because she tied her long jet-black hair into a ponytail and the red hat perching onto her head made her seem a bit boyish.

"I will wait for you then. We will walk home together." Azarias grinned while stealing a french fry from her table. She looked up, glancing at the piece of the french fry that was about to enter Azarias's mouth with reluctance, yet she did nothing to stop it.

"You have to buy me food instead," Mira muttered. Azarias chuckled slightly at her reluctant expression and nodded readily. "Alright."

Satisfied by Azarias's answer, her face eased up slightly. After a few moments, Mira glanced at the clock and began clearing up the table. She picked the books and returned them to their places among the shelves. Azarias' eyes followed her movement, waiting for her to finish.

They had different classes for the last period. Despite so, at least they still could walk out of the library together.

"See you then." Mira's words caused Azarias to raise his eyebrow. More like see you with the food then. This girl, despite being so lean and tall eats quite a lot.

Mira strolled in the opposite direction from Azarias, bouncing and humming slightly as she walked to her class.

Azarias and her were among the ordinary students in this college. They were neither famous nor unpopular. They've got quite a number of friends, and among them, there were also werewolves.

The werewolves here mingled around with humans and act like one, except when they were in their wolf form. Most werewolves were among the top in the appearances.

Another trait that differentiates between them and humans was that they had what's called soulmate. Soulmate was something akin to the existence of the other half, someone who was most compatible with them.

Werewolves also possessed more strength than humans. Since some aspects put this race in such a favorable situation above humans, some yearned to be their partners. It wasn't rare to see werewolves being paired with humans.

Mira also had her own number of werewolves she befriended. The common existence of werewolves mingling with humans causes one unable to distinguish between the two races at first sight unless one was a werewolf. However, despite being a human, Mira strangely can do it.

When she arrived at the building, Mira walked up through the stairs. Midway, she caught two people embracing each other on the upper stairs. Looking at the unsightly scene, a frown made its way to her face.

As she got closer to their figures, she vaguely recognized and remembered who the man was. He was one of the Alphas who had managed to enter this college. It was a given since those who had high ranks among werewolves had such privileges.

Frowning in distate, Mira passed the two when they finally separated from each other. She expressionlessly walked through them. The girl had a slightly embarrassed face while the man was frowning, perhaps in annoyance due to getting disturbed. However, it was none of Mira's concerns since it was them who had picked such an exposed place to flaunt the intimacy.

Mira took off the hat from her head and pocketed it, revealing the silky black hair cascading down her back. Her round and clear eyes were more obvious when the hat had already been taken off. Enchanting with those long lashes and thin eyebrows.

The moment she turned around, Mia was a bit taken aback when she found that the man from earlier had gotten so close to her, walking behind her just a few meters away.

The instant their eyes met, Mira looked away.

She didn't have a good impression of a man who treated girls like consumable goods. What she couldn't fathom was that both parties were equally displeasing. The man was a scum, and the girls were willingly throwing themselves at someone with such trashy behaviour, only to get themselves brokenhearted after.

Did they think they could change and made him fall in love like those in love stories? Such things were nearly impossible in reality. One's personality was something hard to be changed that easily, as it had been deeply rooted in their subconscious.

He was an Alpha and bound to have a mate in the future. Even though there was hearsay circulating that some mated to werewolves had fallen in love with their soulmates even before the soulmate bond appeared, what would happen later was still uncertain. It was just a gut feeling of affinity between two people.

Those girls were expecting the same, right?

Soulmate bond came at random. With a random person and also random age. Some werewolves felt it in their teenage years when others were at an older age. Some even didn't manage to felt it at all in their lifetimes.

The man behind her kept on following her until she arrived at her class. It then dawned on her that they had a class together. She tended to keep away from trouble, and in doing so, she avoided people like him the most. Since this was the start of the semester, she should take note of people of his kind in the new classes.

Mira picked the least conspicuous seat, then sat down and put her head to rest on the table. Taking a deep breath, she sighed softly.

Azarias wasn't in this class, though she deeply hoped that he was. They had been friends since childhood and he was the most understanding of her.

Azarias' looks weren't particularly eye-catching with that slightly curly black hair and round glasses. However, hidden behind those glasses were a pair of attractive grey eyes. Due to his way of dressing up, he was among average in terms of looks in this college. Only she knew how he looked without those glasses.

Mira lifted her head, accidentally her eyes met with the Alpha from the previous encounter. She was startled for a moment upon the eye contact. She frowned.

This Alpha was rumored to be among one of the strongest as he came from particularly large packs around this town. In terms of looks, he undoubtedly also among the top. The light brown hair combined with the tanned skin and a good figure. It was no wonder that he had managed to attract girls both from humans and werewolves race into his embrace.

Mira looked away, puzzled as to why would he even gazed her way. When she couldn't figure out his intention, Mira was slightly annoyed. She had a faint feeling that trouble was about to befall her stable and peaceful life.

She didn't have time to take care of any trouble with her current position and her goals...

"Yo, Mira. Are you also in this class?" A slap on the shoulder and the light tone made her almost jumped slightly.

"You are daydreaming again." Josh chuckled at her reaction, causing Mira to feel embarrassed. She glared at him.

"Hmmph, you just wait." There was a spark of warning and promise in her eyes.

Josh widened his eyes at her displeased expression. He hurriedly raised both his hands in surrender. "Just kidding. And please, refrain from beating me up."

Josh was her teammates on the basketball team. She played with the boys' group too often that she was now the unofficial part of the team. Mira was almost known for 'accidentally' had the ball hit someone when she was annoyed with them.

Even if one was a werewolf, that slap using the ball was enough to make the bare skin turn red upon the contact.

Josh was having his back against that Alpha from before, so he couldn't see his expression. However, Mira did. She could see the ever-changing emotions on that face of his. Confusion mixed with doubt, and sometimes also the trace of annoyance.

Mira didn't feel pleased by his attitude either. She snorted and rolled her eyes, looking away while her hand dragged Josh to sit beside her. She didn't want to pay attention to that odd man longer.

Perhaps, he was trying to warn her not to tell the others about what she saw? She found this excuse a bit ridiculous since he was already known to be such a playboy throughout the entire college. There were only a few handfuls of Alphas after all.

Yet this was the only convincing excuse she could come up at the moment. Shaking those annoying thoughts off her mind, she turned to Josh who was grumbling about not sitting beside another girl.

Mira said nothing. After the entire class was over, she already smelled the trouble coming, so she immediately bolted out of the room.

She waited at the front gate for Azarias. She was startled when a sudden ruffle of warm hands touched her head.

Mira looked around, skipping and bouncing as she walked. She was eating candy while her hand played with the ball she had just taken from the basketball field. She was dribbling it nimbly.

The time was too early for the students to come. Azarias probably had woken up quite late, so Mira just left a message that she'd go to the college first.

The college ground was vast and filled with green scenery. It was not such a wonder since the area was so close to a forest itself. Werewolves sometimes spent their time in nature when they were in wolf form.

So, the forest wasn't completely unexplored despite its vast area. It was only right to say that this whole area was practically the territory of the werewolves.

Mira had called that dork, Josh to accompany her to play and come to the college sooner, but he refused. From the drowsiness in his tone, he was probably going back to sleep after picking up her call.

After some time playing around, she grew bored. At the same time, Mira spotted a familiar figure in the distance. He was sticking out like a sore thumb among the others.

He was gazing unrestrainedly at her, which oozing no goodwill in those eyes of his. Mira frowned, disturbed. This man had been acting so strange since yesterday and it irritated her.

Mira continues to look around and her eyes lit up.

"Arlan, look this way," Mira called out to one of her basketball teammates nonchalantly.

A redhead with cute freckles immediately turned his head at the call of his name.

"W-what--" his words were cut short as an expression of shock went through his face. Yet, that shock was only temporary until he finally came to his senses. His body nimbly moved to the side, avoiding the ball coming toward him at full force.

"You ... you, what the hell?" Arlan gasped, clutching his chest as he crouched on the ground.

"Did I offend y-"

The sound of something hitting against the skin caused the whole place to be silent.

Arlan's eyes widened at the sight before him. That light brown-haired man, who was known as an Alpha, had his right arm hit by Mira's ball. Arlan gulped in disbelief, realizing what had happened. At the same time, he was relieved that he wasn't the one who had offended her.

Mira didn't have any expression on her face as she skipped around until she arrived near Arlan. She asked him, "Are you alright?"

The brown-haired man had a frown on his forehead as his lips twitched.

Arlan didn't answer as he stole a glance at him worriedly. That man was an Alpha famous for his strength. Mira, this girl was currently seeking trouble with him.

"Ah, I am sorry." Mira pretended to be 'shocked' as she stared at the man whose name she hadn't been bothered to find out yet.

"I was intending to aim for my friend since I want to test his reflex. Unexpectedly, he managed to dodge, and thus the ball was heading toward you instead."

Arlan cursed in his head. The way she worded it sounded like it was his fault for dodging the ball, and she hadn't expected him to dodge it at all.

Mira sighed, continuing with her words. "I also hadn't expected the ball could still run so long that it reached your position. I think I had underestimated the force I put into it. However, a mere human's girl's power is nothing in front of an Alpha. I hope that the high and mighty Alpha would be magnanimous to forgive this offense of a lower human girl."

No matter how one looked at it, Mira's words sounded quite polite, even to the point of lowering herself. The tone was quite sincere. One would notice that she looked like she was faintly shivering with that almost seemingly frightened, pale expression of hers. She seemed to be afraid.

Something flashed in the brown-haired man's eyes.

"Get lost." His rough voice and harsh tone came after.

Mira secretly took a peek, yet she didn't meet his eyes. She could still feel his intense gaze was secretly assessing her from head to toe. It caused a faint ripple of unknown emotion to rise within her heart.

"Thank you." She gulped, swallowing down the somehow whatever it was the sudden anxiousness crawling within. Inwardly, she narrowed her eyes as her brain thought of something.

"Mira, let's go." It was unknown when Arlan had arrived beside her. He picked the ball and dragged Mira away.

After they had arrived in a place quite far away, he looked around to make sure that none was in the vicinity. They should be out of that man's range of earshot from then.

"What the hell did you just do?" Arlan rebuked her, running his hands through his hair.

Despite his seemingly average built, Arlan was the captain of their team.

His eye twitched when he noticed that lazy and nonchalant look on Mira's face. The complete contrast to the earlier seemingly defenseless little girl in front of a powerful Alpha.

He had suspected from the start that this girl was playing around. Yet, when he saw that the other party was an Alpha, he thought that she was unintentional. He couldn't be more wrong.

Mira snickered, snatching the ball from Arlan's hand. "I put quite a lot of force into the ball earlier."

Arlan was in disbelief when he heard that. "And you aimed that thing to me?"

"Yep," Mira answered almost instantly, no trace of guilt appeared on her delicate face.

"You--" Arlan was speechless when she admitted it so easily.

"And what's your deal with that guy earlier?" He asked in frustration. "You know that you are dealing with a powerful Alpha."

She shrugged, answering without sugarcoating her words at all, "He looks so unpleasant in my eyes, such an eyesore. Even more, he has been staring at me for a long time. What a creep."

Arlan was surprised to hear that. She didn't know whether she was bold or simply too reckless. He seemed to have thought of something. "Eh, really? Could it be..."

Mira blinked. Her hand had covered Arlan's entire face the moment it landed, effectively shutting the words he was about to utter.

Whatever it was, Mira didn't want to hear anything regarding that guy anymore. Then, she spotted Azarias in the distance.

"Rias!" Mira shoved the ball to Arlan's arms, surprising him that she just ditched him like that. Mira bounced over to Azarias happily.

***

Mira checked the watch on her hand, occasionally let out a yawn. She stretched her body and sighed in exhaustion.

She was in the library right now, waiting for Azarias to show up so that they can go home together. Azarias still got one last class for today. Mira didn't mind of course. Walking alone through the woods wasn't fun.

Mira wasn't a studious person. Azarias wasn't either, despite his style that made people mistake him for one. Despite so, Azarias was a naturally gifted genius. His brain was really good that he can remember the contents of a book just by reading it once.

Such a contrast to Mira, who had once had her friend regarded her as having a goldfish memory.

Mira looked at the bag of cookies to her side, munching on it to wash away some sleepiness. She had accidentally fallen asleep in her last class, much to her dismay. It was probably because she was reading her favorite novel for nearly a whole night.

She often regretted it. However, the temptation of wanting to find out what happened next in the story perked her curiosity. She couldn't help it.

Mira yawned again, though it didn't stop her right hand from grabbing for a cookie, while the other hand covered her mouth. She closed her eyes briefly. The next moment, the sight that greeted her eyes somehow soured her mood.

It was the Alpha she had met for over a week ago. She didn't know if he had held a grudge at her for hitting him with a ball or not. Truthfully, she didn't care. The college wouldn't tolerate murder. So, as long as she wouldn't be murdered or kicked out, it was fine. Though, it would be troublesome if she truly got punishment. But, she wouldn't mind if the punishment was some days off.

Ah, she was such a bad girl.

The Alpha unexpectedly approached her. When their eyes met with a slight jolt, Mira narrowed her eyes and didn't back down. She simply waited in her seat, waiting for what this man would say to her.

Fortunately, the library was vast and there weren't a lot of students in the vicinity. Most of them were too engrossed in the books or too busy doing some homework.

Mira raised her eyebrow when he stopped right in front of her. She offered her innocent smile. Mira wasn't as beautiful as other female werewolves. She had delicate looks and a cute smile that could even attract a few male werewolves who hadn't found their mates.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" The sound of her voice sounded soft and sweet.

The Alpha was silent for a moment. His eyes unconsciously trained to her face. Her question made him come back to his senses. He frowned in displeasure.

There was a long silence before he finally uttered his words in an ancient language.

"I, Jason Langton, reject Mirabella Forest as my mate."

"W-what?" Mira's eyes filled with tears as they fell down her cheeks. Her eyes were full of disbelief as she gazed at the Alpha, Jason with an agonized face.

"How could you?" Mira's hand reached out to tug at his clothes.

Jason frowned, looking at the human girl in front of him in displeasure. He moved away, causing her to almost stumbled in the process.

"Can you tell me why?" Mira's voice quivered, her eyes gazing at him with such sadness.

Jason faltered slightly. The momentary silence hung uncomfortably. However, his eyes suddenly turned cold.

"You are not worthy."

The ruckus between the two had begun to cause some people to look their way. She was so loud that people would soon come to find out what happened.

Rejecting one's mate was still a taboo in werewolves' world. It was considered blasphemy against the moon goddess. After all, she was the one who watched over the werewolf race and bestowed them with mates.

He wanted to get out of here.

Jason gave one last look to the girl, wanting to quickly depart before others come and find out what he had done. However, when he turned his head to look at her again, his pupil constricted at the sight before him.

Mira was wiping her tears with a tissue as she looked at him solemnly. "That's what you want to see, right?"

She blinked, looking to the side at one last cookie in the bag. She popped it into her mouth, then continue to look at Jason nonchalantly. "How's my acting? Should I try to be an actress? Hmm, I definitely should."

So, that tears earlier was an act.

"Aren't you a cocky one?" Mira changed her tone. She swallowed down the cookie in her mouth, savoring the taste without the care to the world.

"Well, I reject you too." She said almost playfully, not the slightest bit bothered, unlike the earlier crocodile tears. She even still had the gall to enjoy her cookie in this supposedly tense atmosphere.

Jason was so stunned that he froze in his place. Even humans were supposed to felt pain when they got rejected by their mates. He had been holding the unbearable pain as if his heart was getting ripped out earlier.

He stood there, falling into a trance of deep contemplation. By the time he came to his senses, Mira was no longer sitting on the chair in front of him.

She was humming while looking around at the books on the shelf. She acted as if nothing had happened at all.

Jason frowned.

Mira continued to look for a book to read until she stopped in front of one in the high row. She was pretty tall, but it wasn't enough to reach for it. She looked adorable while trying to grab the book she intended to read.

Jason shook his head. He was about to leave when he noticed someone walking toward Mira in large strides. It was a man in glasses, he was quite tall that he can easily manage to snatch the book Mira was trying to reach.

The Alpha narrowed his eyes, yet he didn't stay to watch the two any longer. Without looking back, he could even hear Mira's voice.

His expression was gloomy. When he arrived at the door of the library, there was already a girl waiting outside.

Did that human girl was putting an act to catch his attention?

***

"Rias, give it to me," Mira said, looking at the book in Azarias' hand. Azarias raised his eyebrow and looked at the title, "The Murder in Stormy Night."

"Why do you like this kind of book so much, hmm?" He muttered.

Mira snorted, waving her hand without too much care. "Hey, don't judge my preference."

"Of course, alright." Azarias just went along with her, his hand reached out to ruffle her hair.

"No, not my hair," Mira jumped away. She narrowed her eyes at him unhappily, her hands covered her hair and busily fixing it. She had tied her hair into a ponytail. Now, it was a bit messy. Thanks to Azarias.

"Give me the book." Mira glared at him.

Azarias chuckled. "Who are you planning to murder?"

Mira pouted, then she protested. "It's just a story. Give it to me."

"Alright, Bossy Little Miss." Azarias put his hand up in surrender, handing the book to her. Their hands brushed together in the process.

Mira beamed, hurriedly snatching it from Azarias in case he'd changed his mind. He probably would if he take a look at the bag which was previously full of cookies.

Azarias took out something. It was another bag of cookies. Instantly, the sight caught Mira's attention.

Azarias glanced at those shining eyes of hers. She looked cute while pretending as if nothing happened. But how he wouldn't have known that this girl was practically addicted to sweets.

"You heard about the recent rumors, right?" Two students suddenly appeared out of nowhere, much to Azarias' displeasure. Mira had her expression went back to normal as sat on her chair like an obedient student.

"What's rumors? The one about that werewolf guy who got attacked this morning? I couldn't believe that something like this happened within the college ground."

Mira took a glance at the two of them. They were a pair of human males; one was wearing thick, round glasses with average height while the other was so tall and burly like a towering mountain.

"Right? He was a werewolf, yet he has been reduced into such situation where he had lost his left hand." The other student muttered, his voice quivered slightly.

"Has the perpetrator gotten caught yet?"

"From what I have heard, not yet. I hope that the authority will soon catch the perpetrator. Otherwise, there might be another victim."

They continue to chat, oblivious to the fact that someone was eavesdropping on their conversation. Azarias popped another cookie into his mouth, his eyes trained to Mira's serious expression.

After the tallboy picked a book, he and his companion left, resuming the ongoing discussion.

A frown marred Mira's face. Azarias couldn't help but stuff a cookie into Mira's mouth, which she accepted readily.

"What are you thinking so serious about?" Azarias leaned forward, his right hand supported his head.

"Someone got attacked this morning?" Mira asked, munching on the cookie.

Azarias looked at her face more closely and frowned. "Why are your eyes so puffy?"

Mira hummed. "I am trying to ... no, I managed to fool someone again this time. But he was a fool even without me fooling him."

She grinned in satisfaction.

Azarias raised his eyebrow. Things probably weren't as simple as she'd make it out to be.

"Yes, there was a delta who got attacked this morning. He was alone on his way to the toilet." Azarias' expression turned into one of worry. "So, you should be careful from now on."

Mira blinked. She nodded and began to say in a softer voice. "Right, you should also be careful."

Azarias studied her expression. She looked quite pale somehow as if she was sick.

"Mira?" Azarias called her. She didn't immediately respond. It was as if she hadn't heard him at all. He was getting worried, so he called her again.

"Hmm, what? Sorry, I got lost in thought." She finally snapped out of it and smiled at him, yet it seemed more like she was wincing. Mira swallowed, trying to keep her expression neutral. She didn't want to tell Azarias about things that happened today yet.

At this moment, Mira couldn't help but curse that Jason to the generation of his eighteen ancestors. The excruciating pain hitting her chest was so sudden that she found it hard to breathe.

She had been trying to hold it in this entire time, yet it was getting unbearable. She didn't even like that guy. Why did she have to feel this kind of pain then? It's infuriating and unfair at the same time.

"Are you sick?" Azarias looked on worriedly.

Mira's pain was getting harder to bear. Even she was sweating now. The chest felt like it was being ripped out, and her heart stepped on and torn into pieces.

She had underestimated the sheer pain of such rejection without proper ritual. She had ever once guessed that how to hurt it would be if a werewolf were to be rejected by their mate. The book she read did no justice at all about the sheer pain.

Or perhaps, it was directed to fellow werewolves. For humans, this kind of pain would've killed them.

"Ri-rias!" She gasped, one hand clutching on her chest while the other roughly tugged on Azarias' arm. "Bring me home."

That was when Mira couldn't hold in any longer. She lost consciousness.