Ruby trembled with rage, but Sylvia turned to the healer. "What do you do when patients can't pay?"

He hesitated. "They. gather herbs from outside the pack to cover it."

Sylvia nodded. "Then Isabella can gather her own herbs."

Ruby gaped. "She's half-dead! How can she-"

"It's her responsibility," Sylvia said coldly. "No exceptions, not even for Stone Manor's lady."

"What's all this noise?" Adrian's voice, cool and sharp, came from the doorway. He stood there, hands clasped behind him, scanning us.

Ruby threw herself at his feet. "Adrian, please! Isabella's hurt, and Sylvia's making her gather herbs herself. It'll kill her!"

Sylvia didn't back down. "If you help her, Adrian, I'm leaving."

He was quiet for a moment, then said, "Do as Sylvia says."

I closed my eyes, the pain in my chest sharper than the wounds on my back. "I'll go," I whispered, forcing myself up.

The mountain path was brutal. Thorns tore my hands, blood dripping as I gathered herbs. My whip wounds burned, vision blurring with every step. Hours later, I staggered back to Stone Manor, blood-soaked but with the herbs in hand.

Passing Sylvia's courtyard, I saw Adrian painting her brows, his touch tender, like she was his world. I froze, remembering last Thanksgiving when he did the same for me. "Your brows are like distant mountains," he'd said. "I'll spend my life tracing them." The whole town envied me then.

Now, his hands belonged to her.

I smiled, but tears blurred my eyes. Back in my room, Ruby saw my state and broke down. "How long are you gonna live like this, Isabella?"

"No more," I said, my voice steady despite the pain. "I'm breaking the bond."

Ruby froze. "But Alpha Alexander's decree binds you two. Without his permission-"

I cut her off, a faint smile on my lips. "My family saved the alpha once. He gave us a blank decree. Anything I write, as long as it's lawful, he'll grant." My eyes hardened. "I'm using it to break this bond and never see Adrian again."

"Ruby, go to Joravia Town. Get the decree. When it's here, we're gone."

Forever.

Ruby was gone, and I was alone, nursing my wounds. The summer heat and cicadas' drone kept me awake, pain throbbing with every heartbeat. But Luna Helena's birthday feast was today, so I dragged myself up, dressed, and headed out.

At the manor's gate, Adrian was already there, holding a horse's reins. Sylvia stood beside him, glowing in a fancy dress, all smiles.

"Isabella," Adrian said, his tone flat, "the manor's ten-cent rule means we can only afford one horse for two. I'm taking Sylvia to the palace. You'll walk."

My fingers tightened on my sleeve, but I just nodded. "Fine."

I watched him lift Sylvia onto the horse with care, then swing up behind her, his arm circling her waist protectively. The clatter of hooves faded, and I was alone.

Three years ago, when I first went to the palace, Adrian had ordered a cushioned sedan so I wouldn't be uncomfortable. "My mate," he'd said, "won't suffer a single slight." Now, those words were for someone else.

The walk to the palace took half an hour. Rain started pouring, soaking me through by the time I arrived, looking like a drowned rat. The feast was in full swing, music and laughter spilling from the hall. I stepped inside, only to see Sylvia sitting in my place-the seat of Stone Manor's lady.

Whispers stung like needles. "Isn't that Isabella? Why's she standing there?"

"Adrian's all about that lotus-picker now. No room for his mate in his heart."

"Remember when he knelt for three days to get the decree to bind with her?"

I kept my head down, taking a servant's spot. Adrian glanced at me but said nothing, pouring Sylvia a glass of wine instead.

"Present the gifts!" the herald called.

When it was Stone Manor's turn, Sylvia stepped forward with a delicate box. "I, Sylvia, wish Luna Helena endless blessings and long life."

Helena smiled, opening the box-then her face twisted. She hurled it to the ground, hawthorn candies spilling out. "You dare mock me with this?"

Sylvia stammered, "Luna, you're used to fancy feasts. I thought you'd like something simple, like what poor folks eat."

"Silence!" a noble she-wolf snapped. "Don't you know Luna nearly lost a pup from eating hawthorn? She despises it! And you offer this filth to the pack's mother?"

Sylvia paled but doubled down. "I didn't know! And hawthorn's delicious. Besides, she didn't lose the pup, did she?"

"Insolence!" Helena slammed the table, her crown trembling. "Guards, drag this wretch away!"

Sylvia panicked, pointing at me. "Spare me, Luna! Isabella prepared the gift. I just presented it!"

I staggered forward, stunned. "You're lying! You run the manor now. How could I have chosen the gift?"

"It's my first time at the palace!" Sylvia cried, tears welling. "You told me what to bring!"

We argued until Helena slammed the table again. "Enough! Adrian, whose idea was this?"

The hall went silent. Adrian stepped forward, his robe glinting in the candlelight. He paused, then said, "Luna, it was Isabella's doing."

His words hit like a thunderbolt, freezing the blood in my veins. "It's my fault for not guiding her better," Adrian continued, bowing deeply. "I'll make amends with a new gift. Please forgive her."

Each word was a knife, carving into my heart. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

"Isabella," Helena said, shaking her head, "I always admired your grace and virtue. This mistake disappoints me deeply." She waved a hand. "No death penalty for Stone Manor's lady, but punishment is due. Guards-slap her face one hundred times!"

"Luna, I'm innocent!" I crawled forward, pleading, but two matrons grabbed me, their grip like iron.

Slap!

The first hit numbed half my face, blood pooling in my mouth. The second was worse, my vision blurring, ears ringing, cheeks burning like they'd been branded.

Adrian stood there, watching as slap after slap landed, blood dripping from my lips, staining my dress. His fingers twitched, like he might step forward, but then Sylvia grabbed his sleeve. "Adrian, I'm scared."

"It's my fault," she whimpered. "I shouldn't have brought that gift."

He closed his eyes, then covered hers gently. "Don't be afraid. I've got you, even if the sky falls."

The hundred slaps left me barely conscious. They ascendednew page

They dragged me back to Stone Manor and locked me in the chapel to copy scriptures in blood as penance. In the flickering candlelight, I knelt on a mat, my trembling hands dipping the brush in ink. Every stroke felt like a cut to my soul.

I thought of Adrian shielding me from the world, promising no one would ever harm me. And today, covering Sylvia's eyes, whispering, "Don't be afraid. I'll protect you."

A tear fell, smearing the bloody ink.

When I woke, I was in a soft bed, Adrian sitting beside me, blowing on a bowl of medicine. "You awake? Still hurting?" His voice was soft, like the old days.

The whip marks screamed, snapping me back. This wasn't my Adrian anymore. He'd watched me suffer for her.

"Why aren't you with Sylvia?" I rasped, turning away.

He sighed, setting the bowl down. "She's shaken up from the feast. Nothing cheers her up. except she mentioned wanting to see you dance The Crimson Swan."

I stared at him, disbelief burning in my chest. "You want me to dance? Look at me, Adrian. I can barely move."

His eyes, once warm, turned cold. "You're Stone Manor's lady. Your duty is to obey your mate." He stood, towering over me. "I say dance, you dance."

Rough hands yanked me from the bed, my wounds tearing open as I struggled. "Adrian!" I screamed, but he walked away.

In the lake pavilion, I danced on a jade platform, every step agony. The Crimson Swan demanded grace, so I gritted my teeth, forcing fluidity through the pain.

Sylvia lounged in Adrian's arms by the shore, her eyes gleaming. "She dances so beautifully!"

This dance was for him, once. I'd practiced for months to surprise him on his birthday. Now it was for her.

On the final spin, my foot slipped. I plunged into the icy lake, water swallowing me. Gasping, I broke the surface, seeing Adrian leap up, panic in his eyes. "Isabella!"

But Sylvia's maid shrieked, "Adrian! Sylvia's choking on a fishbone!"

He froze, glancing at me, then at Sylvia coughing in the pavilion. That moment of hesitation gutted me worse than any whip.

"Get a healer!" he barked, rushing to Sylvia, scooping her up, and vanishing down the corridor.

The cold water dragged me down, the light fading. In my mind, I saw Adrian in Joravia Town, riding up in white, offering his hand. "Come to Belmor Town with me, Isabella. I'll keep you safe forever."

"Lady Isabella!"

I gasped awake, choking on air. Ruby knelt by my bed, tears streaming. I was in my room, alone.

"Who. saved me?" I croaked.

"Martha from the kitchen saw you fall. She and some maids pulled you out."

I gave a bitter laugh. Stone Manor's lady, saved by servants while my mate ran to another.

Days passed in a haze of pain and gossip. "Adrian burned his hand making Sylvia's medicine." "He rode at dawn to get her favorite cake." "He's crafting her golden armor, like she's his treasure."

Each rumor was a dagger. I remembered when I was sick, and he wouldn't leave my side, tasting my medicine first. "If anything happened to you, Isabella, I'd die too," he'd said. Now, I nearly drowned, and he didn't even check on me.

Sylvia burst in one day. "It's market day. Come see how ten cents can stretch."

She dragged me to the bustling market, picking through rotten vegetables. "How much did you used to spend on supplies?"

"Five hundred silver," I said.

"Five hundred?!" she shrieked, drawing stares. "That could feed the poor for years! You leeches ruin the pack!"

She ranted, then pointed at the moldy rice and wilted greens. "This is what we'll eat for months."

I picked up a bug-ridden leaf. "Really? Then why do you get fresh millet porridge and new cotton clothes every day? You preach against wealth but live better than us."

Her face flushed with fury, but a commotion cut her off. An old woman was sobbing, held by a shopkeeper. "My pup's waiting for dinner! Please, let me go!"

"You broke three jars of ten-year wine!" he roared. "Ten silver, now!"

Sylvia charged over. "How heartless are you? Her pup needs her!"

The shopkeeper scoffed. "Pay for her, then!"

Sylvia hesitated, then slapped a few coins on the counter. "Here!"

He laughed. "Ten silver, and you give me pennies? Pay up, or I'm calling the enforcers!"

Sylvia, flustered, glanced at a brothel across the street, then at me. "Go work there for a few days. Earn the silver for her."