My Convicted Wife is My Mate (Bella and Kane) novel Chapter 7

chapter 7
BELLA’S POV

The video I played was still on the screen. Damien and Kathy’s betrayal was displayed for everyone to see. Whispers spread across the room again

“Oh my Goddess…” “Is that really Alpha heir Damien?” “And Kathy…? How shameless…

Faces turned, eyes widened, and accusations poured. Kathy’s face flushed an angry red before she let out a strangled cry and ran way from the hall. Damien stood frozen. He looked pale and stiff, as if someone had ripped his pride right out of him.

I stood tall. My heart pounded in my chest but my chin lifted. For once, I wasn’t the girl cowering in the shadows. For once, I was the one holding the truth.

The elders rushed to begin the ceremony again. They kept whispering among themselves. It was rushed, almost messy, but the motions were carried out. The blessings were said, the symbols were traced in the air. I could feel every pair of eyes on me and Kane.

Kane.

He stood beside me, tall and composed. His aura was calm but commanding.

I stole a glance at him, and his profile stole my breath again. The world could mock him, could call him wolf-sealed, could paint him a criminal, but at this moment he looked like the only man with any honor in the room.

When the final words were spoken, he leaned close. His voice was deep and velvet against my ear.

“It’s over. Let’s leave.”

And just like that, Kane took my hand and led me out, ignoring the whispers that followed.

-

Kain walked beside me toward the house we now shared.

His broad shoulders were relaxed, his deep green eyes unreadable as they scanned the forest beyond. Though physically close, his silence hung like frost between us.

Words tangled in my throat each time I tried to speak.

Instead, I watched him—the sharp angle of his jaw, the faded scar near his temple, the way stillness itself seemed to orbit him. I didn’t know what to say. Worse, I feared saying anything.

When his gaze finally cut to me, I jerked my head down, fussing with my skirt. Heat flared across my cheeks. Goddess, why does he unravel me like this?

By the time we reached Kain’s house, my heart had pounded against my ribs a dozen times.

It was a small cabin and with almost no furniture, but it was very clean. The moment I stepped inside, I felt…safe.

Kane’s scent filled the space.

“Forgive the emptiness, I’ve been years away from the pack.” he murmured, his voice bouncing off the bare walls. “This was my childhood home. My mother raised me here.”

I turned to look at him. His expression was unreadable. My chest tightened, both with curiosity and an ache I couldn’t explain.

We stood in silence as I looked around. My body hummed with a strange, magnetic pull. Mates. I didn’t dare name it, but I could feel it in my bones.

So when I looked at her now - nervous, blushing, undeniably attractive - I couldn’t stop my chest from tightening.

Was she trembling because of me… or because she had been forced into this marriage with a wolf-sealed outcast?

So no, I would not surrender to the bond.

Still, I couldn’t stop myself from leaning down, close enough for her to feel my breath against her skin. I had trapped her with my body.

“Tell me, Bella…” My tone dropped into something darker, something commanding. “Do you not want to marry me?”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted.. I could smell her fear, but beneath it, I could sense her shyness, her raw attraction. She trembled, and the sight of it nearly shattered my restraint.

But I couldn’t. Not with her. Not now.

I straightened abruptly, forcing distance. My chest was tight with an ache I didn’t want to name.

“Don’t worry,” I said, my voice cold again. “This marriage is only contractual. You won’t be bound to me as a real mate. In a year, it will be over.”

Her lips parted, as if she wanted to say something. But there was silence between us instead.

I turned my back to her before I could change my mind.

One year. That was all this would last. No matter how much my body screamed otherwise.