Leaving My Cruel Mate

Everyone in Belmor Town knows Stone Manor's got a new rule: ten cents a day for the whole household, no exceptions. And it's all because of Sylvia Harmon, a lotus-picking she-wolf who's got a bone to pick with wealth.

I'm Isabella Frost, the she-wolf bound to Stone Manor's master, Adrian Stone. One extra penny spent on medicine for my cough, and Sylvia had me dragged out and whipped twenty times.

Crack!

The whip sliced into my back, splitting skin with a sound that echoed through the silent courtyard. Blood seeped through my plain white dress, staining it red. My fingers clawed the dirt, knuckles white, as I knelt there, my body frail and trembling, barely holding together.

"Lady Isabella!" Ruby, my maid, sobbed, throwing herself forward. "Stop! Please! She's too weak for this!"

Sylvia stood on the porch, her expression cold as frost. "Stone Manor's rules are ironclad. One extra penny, twenty lashes. Adrian gave me his word."

I bit my lip, blood trickling down my chin. Begging wouldn't help. Not anymore.

Ever since Sylvia strutted into our lives, Adrian's been a different wolf. The mate who once swore I was his everything now looked at me like I was a stranger.

Through the haze of pain, I saw him approach, his dark robe flowing, jade crown glinting in his hair. Still the same breathtaking Adrian, cold and noble as ever.

"What's going on?" he asked, his voice sharp.

Ruby scrambled to his feet, clutching at hope. "Adrian! Isabella's got a cough, always has. She spent an extra penny on medicine, and Sylvia's punishing her with twenty lashes! She can't take this-please, have mercy!"

Adrian's eyes flicked to my bloodied back, a flicker of something-pity, maybe-crossing his face. "Sylvia," he said softly, "enough."

Sylvia's eyes welled up, her voice trembling. "You promised me, Adrian. You said the whole manor answers to me. If you let her break the rules, what's the point of me being here?" She turned to leave, her steps dramatic.

Adrian caught her arm. "Alright, alright, I won't interfere."

Then, gently, he covered her eyes. "Don't look, Sylvia. It's too gruesome."

I stared at them, my heart cracking open, the pain worse than the whip. How did we get here? The Adrian who once said he'd die for me-where was he?

Three years ago, in Joravia Town, I met him. I was sheltering from the rain under an awning when our eyes locked. His held a spark of warmth, a smile playing on his lips.

"Hey, miss," he'd said, his voice smooth as a summer stream, "you dropped your handkerchief."

Later, I learned he was Lord Adrian, the youngest alpha in the pack's history. He did wild things for me back then. When he heard I loved peonies, he had ten barrels of them shipped from Lysara Town just to show me their "true pack-wide beauty." When he knew I hated the cold, he hunted a white fox in a snowstorm, pricking his fingers bloody to sew