My Convicted Wife is My Mate (Bella and Kane) novel Chapter 20

chapter 18
BELLA’S POV

The cabin was too quiet. It was the kind of quiet that made every creak sound louder than it should.

Kane still wasn’t back.

I sat by the small wooden table as I stared at the door. It had been hours since I’d come back and I didn’t see him. Each passing minute tightened the knot in my stomach. He didn’t even have a phone. He was old-fashioned like that. So, there was no way to call him, no way to find out if he was okay.

“What if something happened?” I whispered to no one.

The thought sent a chill through me. Kane wasn’t the type of man who could be easily hurt. He was strong and dominant. He had this kind of dangerous calm that made everyone else cautious. But still… accidents happened. And I didn’t know where he went, or who he might have met.

Then another thought came into my mind. What if he’d already moved on? What if he’d left me?

Maybe he’d gotten tired of living with me already. Maybe he realized I wasn’t worth the trouble. I was just an ex-convict, a woman with no wolf, no pack, no place. We had an arranged marriage that was forced on him. He didn’t owe me anything.

I swallowed hard, trying to silence the ache in my chest.

“Don’t be stupid, Bella,” I muttered. “He’s a grown man. He can take care of himself.”

Still, sitting there doing nothing was driving me crazy. So I pulled on my sweater, stepped outside, and started walking down the dirt path that led away from the cabin. The cold air bit at my skin, but I barely noticed. I kept looking down the road, scanning for any sign of him.

The night grew darker. My hope was getting thinner by the minute.

Maybe he was gone. For good this time.

The idea hit me harder than I expected. I tried to reason with myself - why would he stay? He didn’t need me. He was powerful and devastatingly handsome. He could have anyone. He could go anywhere. He didn’t owe a broken woman like me anything.

My illusion of having family was gone. I thought we could be what we both needed for each other. I was really hopeful that I had someone that I could come home to, someone I could call my family.

Pathetic.

I laughed bitterly. “Guess I fooled myself again.”

By the time I went back inside, my hands were numb. My eyes landed on the stack of papers Tara had given me. They were right where I’d left them, sitting untouched on the table. I stared at them for a long time. Those papers were my last chance at clearing my name, at maybe being accepted again. Maybe even being seen as something other than a criminal.

I picked them up, then sighed and set them down again. What was the point? I went to the corner, grabbed the small trash bag from the bin, and tied it up. I thought about throwing the papers in with it, ending the false hope once and for all—but I couldn’t.

I knew what Tara was trying to tell me. If I could appeal my case, prove my innocence, the Council might actually reconsider. I could have a life again. It wasn’t impossible. I’d seen rogues get a second chance before. I just… didn’t know how to start.

I had no money, no allies, and the few pack doctors I used to know wouldn’t risk helping me. They were all loyal to their packs. And I had none.

I sighed and carried the trash outside, still turning it over in my head. I walked to the row of metal cans by the gate and dropped the bag inside. I was just about to go back inside when movement down the street caught my eye. A tall muscular figure was walking toward me.

Even in the darkness, I recognized him instantly.

“Kane?” I called out.

He didn’t answer. He just kept walking toward me. His arms hung loose by his sides, but there was tension in the way he moved, like he was ready for a fight at any second. He had this kind of military rigidness. It was probably a thing for Alphas. Maybe he got it from pack training.

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