Xavier's POV

I felt complete and at peace in that moment, my arms wrapped around her, and she clung to my body as if it were the only support she had left.

The last three years have been hell for me. I felt so alone and incomplete without my mate. My father tried to get me to meet a lot of girls, but I couldn't find that sense of belonging with anyone. In all of them, the only face I could see was hers. She was in my head all the time.

But then I remembered the crime she committed in retaliation for my rejection. She made a mistake. If she hadn't done that, I might have given her another chance and thought about my decision again.

Looking at her innocent face and the way her heart is thumping in her chest, my inner instinct says she can't do something like this because she doesn't have deceitfulness in her heart, but we are often unable to see the true face of people, and just because she is my mate, I cannot deny the fact that she has gone against my pack and deserves the same punishment as I would have given to someone else at her place.

Her eyes were so deep that I just lost myself in them, but after a minute, she blinks, breaking my reverie and reminding me of why I came here.

"Where were you these three years?" I asked her in a low, deep, and authoritative tone.

I know she was scared because of how my man dragged her here and my intimidating personality, but it was her fault. She had to think twice before committing that crime.

"Study," she blinked twice, wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes, "I shifted to study outside."

"Lier" I squeezed her skin because I despise liars, and she is lying right now. She did not go there for studies; she fled after committing the crime.

A very important piece of information about our pack was leaked one month after the Mate Ball. When we looked for the truth, we saw the shadow of a girl fleeing with the files from my house, and what my man could figure out was that she was the same girl I had rejected on my birthday. My beta said she must have done it to exact her revenge for rejecting her and humiliating her in front of so many people. I wasn't ready to believe it and needed to hear it from her. But his words came true when I learned that she had escaped on the same night that the information was leaked. She didn't leave any room for doubt by running away.

As innocent as she seems, she is very clever and cunning.

"Do you know me?" I asked.

She slowly nodded her head. One of my brows raised, indicating she had to move ahead and tell me something about herself. She gulped deeply and blinked, as if preparing herself.

"Alpha King Xavier Wulfric," she took my full name with ease, and the way she pronounced Xavier gave me a strange sensation in my groin. The full moon was working its magic on my body.

"I am not asking about my name; I am asking; do you know what I do with the traitors?" I inquired further.

She again nodded, and I tilted my head, asking her to answer in words.

"Kill them inch by inch, burn them alive, or chop them into pieces."

"Hmm"

My arm, which was wrapped around her shoulder, moved up, and my fingers started playing with her open strands, curling them on my finger and leaving them for another second.

"What do you think is most suitable for you?" I asked, my eyes still on her hair strands.

"No! Alpha, I haven't done anything. I swear!" She cried, moving her head away, but I didn't let go of her hair.

"Every culprit says this after getting caught. What's new?" I shrugged.

"Believe me, Alpha, I was not even here, I have come here after..."

"I know, right," I interrupted before she could complete herself.

It was a limit to my capacity to control my anger. I came here to punish the criminal, not to look for my mate and listen to her rubbish. As this thought dominated my mind, I laced my fingers into her hair and pulled it down. She yelped in agony, her hand reaching out to free her hair, but I wasn't in the mood to be merciful.

Because she is a female and my mate, I am not abandoning her for the punishment she ought to get.

"Please." Her hands came forward and rested on my chest. "It hurts."

Her palms moved up and down my chest before her right palm stopped just above my heart. I groaned, and my hold on her hair loosened.

This girl truly knows how to play!

If this is what she wants, then let's play the game with her rules. I left her hair and took a small step back from her. Her eyebrows squinted together as she was confused by my move.

"As much as I want to ruin you, I am certain that you do not have the strength to commit this crime alone, and I am sure that someone else is the mastermind behind this plan. I just want to know who asked you to do all of this. I will set you free."

"Believe me, Alpha King, I haven't...."

"Shhhh....."

One step, and I was again standing in front of her, My breath started fanning her face, and she froze in place, her lips sealed as I wanted.

"I only want to hear that name!"

I was expecting her to respond verbally this time, but all I got was silence. I was now certain that she would not open her mouth and tell me the truth, and I knew what I was going to do next to make her spill the truth.

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Isabella's POV

The oxygen was knocked out of me the moment he closed the gap between us and stood face-to-face with me.

I had no idea which crime he was referring to, but I am certain of one thing: they are misunderstanding me as someone else. But he isn't even willing to listen to me. I am not sure how I am going to explain my innocence to him because he is so enraged right now that he is not ready to believe me.

Because he didn't lift me this time, he was towering above me, threatening me with his eyes and his personality. I would have told you the truth if I had known it.

The only thing I know is that I am not the perpetrator, and he refuses to listen to me.

I could see his face even more clearly up close, and I could bet he was the most handsome man I had ever seen.

But, as beautiful as he appears on the outside, his heart is dark. He wasn't satisfied, even after rejecting me in public. He is now accusing me of a crime that I did not commit. In fact, I have no idea what he is on about, and on top of that, he is not ready to believe me.

His arm again wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me closer to his powerful frame, His breath again started fanning my face, and like the last time, he smelled delightful, spicy, and warm.

Everything about him felt so perfect to me except the fact that he was not ready to trust me.

As he drew me closer, my shirt drew down, exposing my cleavage, and his eyes didn't miss an opportunity to scrutinize it. And I was frozen in place when I should have been adjusting my clothes, covering myself from his predatory eyes. I didn't feel the inclination to protest because the sensation was so pleasant.

"There is no doubt that you are exquisitely beautiful."

He gently tugged one of my free strands, forcing me to look straight up into his eyes as his eyes moved around my face, taking in the features, taking his time in appreciating them. My skin burned from the heat of his unwavering inspection of every inch of my face.

I was so engrossed in his eyes that I didn't notice his fingers inching toward my face until his knuckles began rubbing my cheek, drawing slow, deep, and sensual circles.

My eyes closed on their own, and I let out a low moan. This was the first time he touched me so smoothly, and I was already melting in his arms.

Every time his knuckles moved, I felt a surge of electricity run through my body, and his eyes were telling me he knew exactly what he was doing to me. His thumb rose and began rubbing the half-dried tears from my skin.

And before I could open my eyes to see his lovely face, I felt his warm lips brush against mine. They effectively covered my lips, as if they were meant to be there. His lips tasted like grapes as if he had had wine before coming here.

I wanted to protest, fight, and push him away, to clear up the misunderstandings between us before we took any action, but he didn't give me a chance, and my body also ditched me, moving at his fingers. I had no control over it.

I was feeling like I belonged, and there was an urge to pull him towards me.

He licked my lower lip, but I was so engrossed in the kiss that I didn't get what he exactly wanted. His fingers, which had been on my cheeks, slid down to my neck and wrapped around my throat. His thumb drew circles in the crook of my neck, where I had always hoped to be marked by my mate.

At the thought, I let out a loud moan, and he took advantage of my parted lips, slipping his tongue inside my mouth and exploring every corner. With the confidence with which his tongue was moving in my mouth, it seemed like my mouth belonged to him.

It was my first kiss, and the sensation was so intense that I felt like molten fire ran through my veins. Warmth rose in my chest, and sparks flew between my thighs, dampening my womanhood.

I moaned again when his hand, which was wrapped around my waist, dropped down to my buttocks, and his kiss became more urgent.

Our tongues tangled, and my submissive side won, allowing him to dominate the kiss without even attempting it, and the pleasurable moan that left his mouth made it clear that he actually enjoyed my submission.

I am sure he was losing control under the full moon, helpless in the face of his carnal desires, just like me.

I groaned in disappointment when he drew his head back, but I am glad I didn't say anything because I can't show him how desperate I am. He would take it as my weakness.

His gray eyes had turned a darker shade of black, and they were filled with lust and desire. He stayed at his spot, breathing deeply, looking deep into my eyes, many scenarios running through his head, but he kept himself calm and under control, but his next words caught me off, guard,

"I want you."

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