I Gave Back Everything, Even His Mark

On our wedding night, my werewolf CEO husband Xavier locked me out of the master suite and had my things moved to the servants' wing.

Right in front of me, he walked a casino showgirl he had picked up that night through our bedroom door.

The next morning he made me kneel and scrub the wine they had spilled on the Persian rug, then serve the two of them breakfast by the pool.

I endured that loveless contract marriage, with no dignity at all, for five years.

Until his thirtieth birthday gala, when Xavier walked in with his arm around Roxanne, a nightclub singer in a diamond-studded slip dress.

Roxanne nestled against him and stretched her heel out toward me. "Sweetie, lick the tip of my shoe clean and call me your mistress, and I'll ask Xavier to give you this week's allowance."

Xavier tightened his arm around her waist and smiled coldly. "Elise, kneel! Don't forget your whole family lives on my money. You're just a dog I keep around to take my anger out on!"

I wouldn't take any more humiliation. Right there, I tore the mate pendant from my neck and told him I was ending the contract.

The whole hall of wolf executives roared with laughter. They thought I was just jealous and throwing a tantrum, playing hard to get.

What they didn't know was that I had wavered for five years, and this time I had truly made up my mind to sever our mate bond and leave for good.

1

The crystal chandeliers were blinding.

The wolf executives roared with laughter and slapped checks down on the gaming table.

"Alpha, how many hours do you think Elise's little rebellion will last this time?"

"A hundred thousand says it won't last the night!"

"Before morning she'll be on her knees begging you to put her pendant back on!"

"Ha! Two hundred thousand!"

"Five years ago her lowlife mother tricked the Alpha into a mate bond. Everyone in the city knows she's crazy about him."

"Every time the Alpha brings a new girl home, she cries and makes a scene and threatens to leave, and every time she ends up kneeling by the door polishing his shoes, doesn't she?"

Roxanne, the nightclub singer in the diamond-studded slip dress, leaned against Xavier.

She took out her phone, snapped a picture of me looking wretched, and posted it straight to Instagram.

"Oh no, sweetie, why did you break your pendant?"

"Your neck's bleeding. You poor thing."

Roxanne stretched her diamond-studded heel a little closer to me.

"Sweetie, if you can't bear to give up the Luna's seat, lick the tip of my shoe clean right now."

"I'll film it and post it on Facebook. When everyone sees how obedient you are, I might even put in a good word with Xavier for you."

I swallowed the taste of blood in my throat and walked up to Xavier.

"The dissolution agreement and the petition to sever our bond are on the desk in your office on the top floor."

"Remember to sign them."

Xavier swirled his red wine and didn't even look at me.

"Sign them?"

"Elise, don't you think it's pathetic, using cheap tricks like this to get my attention?"

"You think if you play hard to get, I'll look at you twice?"

"Dream on. Just seeing your face makes me sick!"

I beckoned a waiter over and had him bring a black velvet tray.

I took off the pink diamond wedding ring from five years ago and dropped it on the tray.

Then I took from my bag the black-and-gold card that came with the Luna's privileges and laid it beside the ring.

I picked up the tray and held it out to Roxanne.

"The ring is a flawless pink diamond, worth five million dollars."

"This black card has no limit. It can empty every private account in Xavier's name."

"Now it's all yours."

Roxanne's hand, reaching for the tray, froze in midair.

"Sweetie, what's that supposed to mean?"

"You're throwing this junk at me to play the victim in front of Xavier and make me look like a gold digger?"

I looked at her lacquered red nails and went on.

"Take your pick of the rooms in the east wing of the estate."

"Nineteen girls have stayed there before you, and every one of them looked a lot like you."

"Showgirls, students, singers. Every one of them came home with Xavier in the last five years, and every one of them was gone within a few months."

"Ask the staff. They'll tell you how to get through one of his rages in one piece."

The laughter in the hall stopped dead.

Roxanne's arm, linked through Xavier's, stiffened, and she turned to look at him.

"Xavier, is that true?"

"Nineteen women in the east wing?"

Xavier pushed Roxanne away and took one step to stand right in front of me.

"Elise, do you want to die?"

"Who gave you the nerve to talk nonsense at my birthday gala!"

I ignored the whole silent room, straightened my back, turned, and walked toward the doors of the banquet hall.

One more second there and I would have thrown up.

"Stop!"

Xavier lunged after me and clamped his hand around my wrist.