Chapter 4

"Oh? This is new. You are not actually hanging out with Sera today."

Even without looking back, Asher already knows who is speaking to him from behind. Asher ignores it and he proceeds on eating his lunch with an obvious frown on his face. The food on his plate is obviously his favorite, chicken pasta. But the delicious taste of it has changed seventeen minutes ago. Now he feels like tasting several strips of coated wax on his tongue.

"Weird. I can smell a hint of Sera's scent on this table. Is she eating lunch with you? But I cannot see her bag."

"Stop sniffing her scent, scrub." Asher whispered although they can hear the growl in his voice.

Not only Asher but also the wolf inside of him is irritated with his brother. Aster did not put it into the heart. Instead, he rolled his eyes and pulled the vacant seat next to his brother.

"It is not my fault if her scent is still lingering in the air, jerk." Aster said. "And why is her scent still sticking on you?"

"Tch. Why are you here? You are supposed to be with Terrence, right?" Asher asked him back and effectively changed the topic.

"Rence was called by his professor to talk about his test scores." Aster simply explained.

"Oh." Asher replied since he is not interested to know about his brother's soulmate.

Asher and his wolf will never admit it even if a powerful thunder will strike on them right this instant. But they are jealous of Aster. A month after his and Aster's sixteenth birthday, he quickly found his soulmate. It was Terrence Miller, one of Aster's classmates in his class.

His brother's soulmate mark is located on his left wrist. The cursive word 'Home' is tattooed on it with yellow and green color splashes around it. Terrence also has the exact same soulmate mark on his left wrist. Their mom told them that if two soulmate marks are the same, it means they feel the exact same way for each other.

Don't get him wrong. Asher is happy for his brother because he easily found his other half. He is happy that Aster is lucky enough to find his soulmate that soon. There are people who spend years before they can find their other half. There are also rare cases when a person fails to find his soulmate until the day they died.

Still, Asher sometimes cannot help but feel jealous of his brother. After receiving his soulmate mark, Aster found his other half in just a few months. Asher, on the other hand, still does not know who is his soulmate. The worst part of it, he is still subconsciously hoping that Sera's soulmate mark will magically appear under her collarbone that is similar to his.

But of course, that is very impossible to happen. Sera had already received her soulmate mark on her sixteenth birthday. Asher is not just sure where is it since Sera refused to show it to him no matter how much he pleaded to her. Sera once said that she will only show it once she finds her soulmate.

"So where is Sera?" Aster asked him again.

Asher clicked his tongue in annoyance. He underestimated his brother's persistence once again. He should know that Aster only temporarily forgets their original topic.

"Their club adviser suddenly called an emergency meeting and Sera obviously needs to attend it."

"Aww. So my big brother is sulking here because his crush needs to leave him behind—What the fuck, Asher?!"

"You deserve it, jerk." Asher said before pushing the plate of pasta away from him.

Asher just spilled a few drops of water on Aster's shirt to make him stop from teasing him. His miseries always put his annoying brother into a good mood. Asher decided that it is better to ruin his sick happiness in advance so Aster's mood will not improve once again.

"Stop sulking like a puppy abandoned by his master, will you? Your scent is starting to smell foul." Aster said as he swat his hand in front of his face.

"Shut up. My scent will never smell foul."

"Yeah, yeah. The air is starting to smell like burnt vanilla."

Asher grumbled although he still calm himself to control his pheromones from releasing more of his scents. He suddenly consider using a scent suppresant patch just like Sera, but Asher quickly dismissed that idea. He is too proud of his scent that it will be a pity to hide it from anyone. And besides, Asher does not want Sera to be worried about him for using a scent suppressant.

Sera is always like that. After her sixteenth birthday, her mentality suddenly transformed into a matured lady trapped inside a teenage girl's body. She keeps on scolding him because of his bad habits like eating too much at midnight or losing sleep because of video games. But the irony of it, Sera is also doing the same, and yet she even prepared excuses for her bad habits.

'Hmph. The nerve of that woman.'

"Alright. I am willing to listen to you while waiting for Rence." Aster said in a calm voice.

"Huh?"

Right. Aster is still with him.

"You will not feel that stressed if Sera just left you to attend a simple club meeting. So what really happened?"

Asher clicked his tongue again. As much as he wants to admit it, Aster really knows him just like the back of his hand. Asher is also the same. He knows that Aster decided not to bicker with him anymore since he is starting to feel more stressed than before.

"So? Are you going to speak or not?" Aster asked again.

"Tch. It was those damn omegas." Asher complained.

"Huh?"

Now it was Aster's turn to be confused.

"Their club adviser called Sera to help her control their new recruits. She knows those omegas will listen to Sera because they are fond of her." Asher explained.

Before their club adviser disturbed them, Asher and Sera were happily eating their lunch. Only a few students were eating in the cafeteria because most of them were still taking their exams. Every minute that Asher spends with Sera is all important to him. He never takes their time together for granted.

For him, every minute that he is with Sera is very precious. For now, both of them haven't met their soulmates yet. And Asher cannot help but be happy about that. Both of them can easily fall into a deep conversation because they can effortlessly understand each other.

They can also discuss things that other people will never understand. Even Aster surrenders every time he hears them talking about the topics that they find interesting. It really feels like they are in a different world and the only people there are Sera and him.

And Asher always wishes that it stays that way.

"Oh, I see. You are just jealous." Aster said while nodding his head.

Asher scoffed when he heard those words.

Who is Asher Myein? If someone will ask the students if they know him, they will say that Asher Myein is a well-known student in their university. Many students admire him because of his handsome face, good grades, and his exceptional talent in sports. He is also the captain of their volleyball team who brought them to the finals. He is also running a successful social media accounts that is followed by thousands of people.

And his jerk of a brother will just say he is jealous of those weak omegas? Who in their right mind will believe that? Even if they removed their secondary gender from them, it is obvious that Asher Myein is still the best among them all. Asher has no reason to be jealous of them.

"I know what you are thinking right now." Aster said. "But you need to acknowledge the truth, brother. You are jealous of those omegas because they are stealing 'your' Sera from you."

Fuck.

Asher glares at his brother who is now busy texting someone on his phone. He really hates it when Aster can read him like an open book all the time. He once complained about it to his mother when they were younger but she only laughed at him saying it is only natural since they are twins.

Asher is only ten minutes older than Aster. As twins, there are things that make them similar to each other. One of them is their faces. If you will know them for the first time, you will easily get confused about who is who. But once you take a closer look at their faces, you will see the difference between the two brothers.

Asher has a pair of sharp eyes that can intimidate anyone if he glares at them while Aster has a pair of calm eyes that people usually mistake him for as a quiet person. They both shared the same face except Aster has more soft features on his face especially his cheeks. When people ask him why, the younger will answer that it is probably because of his secondary gender.

"Asher, did I tell you before that you are stupid?"

"If you have nothing good to say, just shut your mouth."

"No. Listen to me first. You are really stupid." Aster insisted. "If not, why are you feeling jealous when you are just her friend?"

"What?"

"Seraphine is not the one for you."

Oh.

Isn't that a direct blow on his chest coming from Aster? He tries to open his mouth and form a rebuttal but no words come out from his lips.

What can he say anyway? His brother is right. They have no other label for their relationship except being childhood friends. They are close but not enough to be lovers.

"Sorry. I let my mouth speak again without thinking."

Seeing the guilty look on Aster's eyes makes him scoff.

"First, you are bold to accuse me. And the next second, you will apologize to me with your ugly face. Make up your mind, jerk."

Aster scowled at him but he did not try to hurt Asher with his words anymore. He knows that his brother is well-aware of it. If not, then Asher had probably lost his mind years ago and stupidly confessed his love to the person that is not destined to become his in public.

Mismatched relationships are something that is not yet welcomed in their society. Being in love with a person who is not destined to be with you is like a sin to the public eye. In their opinion, they are people who are being selfish and do not care for their true soulmates who is literally their partner in this life. It is also considered as cheating and it will only make their reputations worst in their society.

But still, it does not stop his brother from feeling jealous and overprotective towards the female alpha. When others questioned his behavior, Asher will only conceal his feelings as a brotherly affection to his younger sibling. Aster did not know that his twin brother is a good actor, but others are quickly convinced with his made-up reason.

Before Aster can explain his side more, his inner wolf quivers a little when he feels his brother's wolf growling in anger. Following the direction where Asher is looking, Aster saw Sera talking to a male omega. Sera is obviously enjoying her time talking to the younger omega who is obviously sticking too much to her.

To put a cherry on top in their situation, they both witnessed Sera putting a hand on the omega's head and ruffling his hair. There is a smile on her lips as she watches the omega being obedient in front of her. An obvious blush is spreading on his cheeks too.

Before Aster can try to calm his brother, Asher is quick to stand up and march towards the two. Aster saw how the omega shivered in fear when he feels the bubbling anger of his brother. Soon, the omega run away from them while Aster saw Sera hitting Asher on his arm before letting out a long sigh.