Too Late Alpha, Your Brother is Mine

Rosie’s POV: I was counting seconds until Matthias smiled. My palms burned from the scalding, spicy dumpling soup through the paper bag, but I barely felt it. Amidst this harsh downpour, I’d gone over 2 miles away just to get his favorite late-night meal. "Matthias, you better be grateful, it’s raining like crazy—" But all of a sudden, the words died in my throat. "Ahh, Matt... faster... Babe…I love it so much..." The muffled moan hit my gut like a punch. My breath hitched, and my hand froze against the brass doorknob. Mustering all the strength left in me, I pushed the door open anyway, praying my ears had played a cruel trick on me. But they hadn't. The air in my dorm room was suffocating with the scent of sweat, s*x, and raw arousal, thick enough to make me gag. Then, the paper bag slipped from my fingers, splattering hot broth across the floor. On my twin bed, under the handmade quilt my late grandmother had knitted for me, Matthias sat back against my pillows, slick with sweat, completely naked. And riding him, her head thrown back in ecstasy, was Seraphina. The Pack Gamma’s daughter. Seraphina didn't flinch or reach to cover her bare chest. Instead, her glossy lips curved into a slow, victorious smirk. "Look who’s back." Matthias went rigid beneath her. For a split second, panic flared in his eyes, but it vanished so fast I wondered if I’d imagined it. "Rosie—" Matthias shoved Seraphina off, reaching for his sweatpants. "Wait—" "How long?" My scream almost tore from my throat. "How long have you been f*****g her in my room?! And…on my bed?!" "Lower your voice!" Matthias snapped, yanking his pants up. "It’s not what it looks like." "Not what it looks like?!" A hysterical laugh tore from my chest as I pointed a shaking finger at the sheets. "She was literally riding you!" "It just happened, Rosie." Seraphina chimed in, picking her lace bra off my desk, but her tone suggested she was glad to watch me crumble. "Besides, why sound jealous? I'm his fated mate. A useless, dormant like you couldn't possibly understand a mating call. It’s not something our wolves can control or deny…" Dormant. Hearing that word from her hit me like a physical blow. A year ago, when my wolf failed to awaken, Matthias had publicly rejected Seraphina for me and promised to choose me when the right time comes. But when the academic stress triggered my PCOD and I gained fifty pounds in six months, Matthias slowly drifted away from me. His behaviour had changed. He stopped holding my hand and stopped sitting next to me in the cafeteria. In public, he only called me his "childhood best friend," and like an i***t, I was content with it. I kept thinking if I kept working a bit harder, if I loved him a little more, he would gladly love me back. Now, I looked at him, waited for him to shut her down…and validate the promise he had made to me. Instead, Matthias’s eyes dragged down my wet hoodie, my tummy, and on my wide hips before dropping on the spilled dumplings on the floor. "Rosie," he said, his tone dropping into an icy register that cut deeper than a blade. "Look at you." I flinched. "What?" "I rejected Seraphina a year ago because I thought you were worth standing next to me," he snarled, as Seraphina leaned against his shoulder as if she belonged there. "She’s still gorgeous as ever. And you? Look at her, she’s everything you’re not. You’re fat. And you dress up like a boring nerd. Frankly, I'm ashamed to be seen with you here. “I know I had promised to make you my mate when the time comes, but how am I supposed to choose you when there’s no guarantee you would ever awaken your wolf? At this point…I feel like we are better off just being friends. Nothing more than that.” I stared at him blankly, my vision blurred with hot, angry tears, but I refused to let them fall. His bitter rejection froze me. All the unconditional love I had poured into him for the past 10 years…everything was trashed just because my body had changed? But deep inside my chest, the fragile part of me that had spent a decade begging for his scraps of affection had finally snapped. "If..." My voice shook, but I forced my chin up, locking eyes with him. "If you’re so ashamed of being seen with me..." Then, reaching the door, my fingers coiled tightly around the heavy wooden handle of the broom in the corner. "...then stop being with me." I spat, ripping the broom out as I shrieked, “And now…get the hell out of my room! f**k off... BOTH OF YOU!" "Rosie, what the f**k—" WHAM! The heavy bristle end of the broom slammed straight into Matthias’s chest. He grunted in shock, stumbling backward. "Get out!" "Ow! Stop it, you crazy b***h!" Seraphina yelled, raising her arms to shield her face when I rained down another blow. “Ah! Matthias, do something! She’s f*****g insane!" "Get the f**k OUT!" I drove them out of the room before I tossed out their clothes and shoes without a second delay. "You’re going to regret this, Rosie!" Matthias roared from the hall, holding up his clothes with his face flushed red in humiliation. "Nobody else will ever put up with you! You’re nothing without me!" "Then, I’d rather be nothing than spend another second near you!" I yelled back. Then, I slammed the heavy wooden door shut and locked it, but the silence that followed was deafening. The tears finally came. I pulled my knees to my chest, buried my face in my soaked hoodie, and wept until my ribs ached. Ten years. I had wasted 10 damn years of my life loving a boy who decided to measure my worth by the size of my waistline. But he was right about one thing…I was an i***t who had let him convince me that my worth was tied to his validation. Not anymore. I wiped my face aggressively with the back of my hand. Most importantly, I couldn't stay here any longer, because Matthias’s dorm was right next door. Hearing his voice through the walls, smelling his scent, or running into him in the courtyard would drive me insane. I had to leave. I grabbed my laptop off the desk with trembling hands and opened the student forum with my blurred eyes, typing out a desperate post. “Looking for an immediate move-in tonight. Off-campus room preferred. I don't care if it's a small, moldy, shabby basement room…but it is urgent.” When I posted it, I slumped my back against the chair, staring at the screen. It was 10:00 PM on a Sunday, in the middle of a harsh downpour. Everyone knew me as the boring nerd who was Matthias’s shadow. Who would answer a post like this? Ping. But then, a notification chimed just within 30 seconds of my post. A user handle named ‘D_Silver’ had replied to me “My off-campus apartment is 10 minutes from South Gate. Are you free for a quick meet-up at the Grind Cafe in 15 mins?”