3- Promises

"Alpha Levi?"

"Hmm?" He turned his head sharply with confusion written all over him. "Right!" He tapped the side of his head before scratching it.

Surely his wolf was giving him as much a hard time as Anna's.

She wondered if anyone else could smell the rich scent of his pheromones that smelt like french caffeine.

The rich overpowering scent was driving her crazy.

"Sorry, I uhm," he started to apologise to the judges. "I still don't understand how these work. Sorry," he smiled a bit but those eyes were lost in confusion and in thoughts.

He had a lot going on with his wolf right now, he could barely concentrate.

Maureen placed her hand on his shoulders and cracked a reassuring smile at him, "It's okay, Alpha Levi. It must be hard for you. If you want, we can postpone this trial for another day."

The offer seemed appealing to him because his shoulders slumped in relief and he gave a simple nod.

As if planned, the guards outside stepped in and they tugged at her chain, helping her to her feet and with a bow of their heads, they started to exit the room.

Anna had never fought a temptation as strong as this before. Torn between looking back at him one last time, she finally gave in.

Their eyes met for a brief second and two things struck at her heart before he was out of sight; one was the uncanny resemblance to her dead Alpha and the second was actually what made her heart beat a little faster.

That man was her mate. She would be cursed with staring into Alpha Weston's face and having her wolf jump in excitement.

Something she had wished for, for years and something that had sadly never happened until now.

Alpha Levi watches her leave with a tightness in his chest. He had to squeeze his fist to keep himself sane and remember he was before the judges of the Noble Hunters City Pack.

He felt nervous all week but actually being here was putting a strain on his mind especially with his wolf reacting that way. He had never felt that was for anyone- he usually thought his wolf was dormant and lacked any energy to look forward to things.

But Klopp's sudden interest in that woman couldn't be called a mere attraction. She had to be his mate.

The room still smelled of her scent. He never thought roses could be this… strong and suffocating. It was a bit overbearing. Was it the red hair? It looked like a mess but it was probably because of the state she was in.

Actually, Levi had seen her pictures before he embarked on this journey and he had thought his brother must've been a lucky bastard to have had a woman with such great high sex appeal by his side.

Her hair like wildfire, they were wavy and curly resting all the way down to her tits that looked like a handful- in the photo of course. The woman that had appeared before him looked a little less of the version.

"It's almost like Alpha Weston never left," the judges said.

"You're the spitting image of him… or he's the spitting image of you. You get what I mean,"

He had heard that a lot growing up so he smiled at them like he always did and tilted his head to the side, "Thank you and I'm really sorry for your loss."

"Silly man. We're sorry for your loss. He was our Alpha but he was your younger brother."

At least they seemed reasonable enough to understand that fact. He managed to leave their presence after a while with the excuse of getting some rest but his feet took him in her direction. He followed the trail of her scent that she left behind and with each inhale, Levi wanted nothing more than to put his hands on her.

How he had never visited his brother after all these years was still a shock to him. He had left the Pack when he was just twenty and that meant that even if he had seen Anastasia, she wasn't of age around that time.

"Anastasia," her name was like a fairytale. He felt like he was starring in a movie- this attraction and sudden connection he felt towards this… stranger just couldn't be real.

"I can smell you," her voice was bold and demanding. He felt a bit intimidated but he walked out of the corner and into her view.

She was standing in the cell, wearing a big brown T shirt and pants that hung loose around her waist. The cell was a bit dark but he could make out her features quite well.

Now that he was here, he found that he was at a loss for words.

"A-Anastasia… is it?" He knew, but why did he still ask? He was nervous, he had to admit.

"Yes," unlike him, she was actually very calm. He didn't like the thought of that. "Levi."

She whispered his name and he almost shivered. "Alpha," he corrected, "That's Alpha to you."

She was quiet for a while, "Of course. Forgive me." Yet, she made no attempt to correct herself. The only Alpha she'd ever called out to was Alpha Weston. How could she stare into that face and call him a different name?

"You were having a hard time during the hearing," she cleared her throat and spoke so freely like she wasn't feeling the way he felt.

How she managed to remain so calm was starting to irritate him. He had Alpha blood in his veins yet he cowered when she spoke and she managed to have more composure than he.

For a moment there, Levi saw a bit of Weston in her. Maybe that was what their father saw too that made him handover to his younger brother.

To everyone else, Levi allowed Weston to be Alpha but their parents knew the truth.

"You should get some rest-"

"That's for me to decide, don't you think, Anastasia?" He didn't mean to sound as harsh as he did.

"Anastasia Robbie," she said. "If you're here to reject me, then I'm ready-"

How dare she- "Why do you think that?" Now he sounded pained. Darn it! Why couldn't he put a leash on his emotions! He was a total mess before this woman.

"You have a wife. I hear she's your mate. You wouldn't want any complications especially with a traitor like myself-"

"So you admit to killing my brother?"

"I only call myself what the Pack has seen me as, don't think it too much," her tone took on a light path and he wished he could see her face up close. Did she smile a little?

"I don't believe that," he said. "I don't believe you killed him-"

She scoffed a little, "Why? Because of what you feel right now?" She felt it too but unlike him, she was holding herself real good. Especially when she dug her nails in her palm. The pain was sharp enough to keep her sane.

"No," he sighed. "Because I trust him."

She froze.

"He always had a better sense of judgement," he stepped into her cell, flooding it with his scent that she stopped breathing. His voice was low, "He always talked about you on the phone and I thought 'how lucky you are to have someone ready to die for you'."

Anastasia was convinced that she cried enough for a whole year yet her eyes grew misty and her visions blurred. She inhaled deeply to calm herself but all she could breathe was him.

"Weston would have never kept a traitor by his side," he was before her now, their scent was all over the place, their breathing could be heard from a mile away. The way they panted, the way she shuddered before him made him feel a type of way.

He rubbed his fingers, wondering what it would feel like to touch her face. He wanted to do that. Could he do that? Would she let him place a hand on her cheek- even if for a second?

He didn't wait to find out. He acted on his own. The first touch and they both drew in shuddering breaths into their lungs, almost gasping and choking on each other's scent.

He knew there and then that he must save her. He must get her out of here. He wanted nothing more than to keep her by his side. He had never felt this good about anyone.

She leaned into his hand, unable to stop herself. She kept her eyes open and stared up at him, keeping her fists by her side.

When he caressed her cheek, a low whimper escaped her lips.

It hadn't even been a day and she was already a mess for him. Her body had never craved another man so badly. She would give anything to come apart in his arms-

With a gasp, she turned her face away. Realisation slammed her hard that her chest heaved and fell with rapid breaths. She snapped out of her trance and took a step back, leaving his hand to hang.

How could she think of offering him this body when she hadn't even seen a shower for two days… or was it longer than that? She needed a warm bath with her perfumes and rose petals in the water. Her skin would glow and her scent would drive him further with lust.

She blushed at the thought and her wetness pooled in response.

Levi reached for her hand and pulled her gently, "Come. Let's get you out of here."

Those words were like a shock but he walked her out of the cell and she stared at his back frame like he was an angel sent to rescue her from prison.

They were in her room in Weston's mansion before she knew it. All she needed to prepare herself was there. She wasted no time in getting ready, brushing her teeth and washing her skin.

She stepped out with her towel firmly tied on her chest and her hair wet sticking to her skin. She found him on her bedside table with her picture frame in his hand. The one where she smiled brightly with her arm around Weston's neck and her fist ruffling his hair.

It was her favourite because Weston had a smaller copy of it inside the locker pendant and of his necklace.

"You two must've been really close," Levi said and turned to her. His eyes ate her up and that fuelled the lust in the room.

"We were," it was still foreign to address their friendship in the past tense but what could she do?

"You must've gone through a lot," those words shook the dam of tears she'd been holding back on.

No one stopped to think for a second if she was hurting too. His death had ripped a hole inside her heart and now staring at his face came so close to her, Anna realised the moon goddess could be a curse too if she wanted to be.

He took long strides and he cupped her face and kissed her. Her lips tasted warm against his own but their bellies had been filled with desires from the moment their eyes met.

She let go of her towel and wrapped her hands around his back, pulling him closer to herself.

In all her thirty-one years of being alive, she had only kissed one man and never taken things this far for fear of what they would become. Sometimes, she wondered if he remembered or if he chose to play dumb.

But that night, Levi commanded her attention with the things he did to her body. She could only moan and cry out in pleasure and when she laid in his arms, she realised how easy it was to love one's mate.

"I'll save you," he mumbled as he kissed her skin during the early hours of the morning before he returned her to the cell. "So rely on me a little."