The Beast's Defiant Mate

From the back cover

At the grand Moonwise Festival, my fiancé, Archon Elliott, decided to publicly humiliate me in front of the entire court.

He commanded me to kneel and beg for his betrothal flower, treating me like a broken slave rather than the heir to House Leon.

When I refused, he brought his mistress, Corliss Schneider, into my study to deliver his ultimate punishment.

"Our marriage will be in name only. I will not share your bed, and I will certainly never give you a child."

He wanted to make me a barren laughingstock, while forcing me to publicly request Corliss be made his Junior Consort.

To make things worse, Corliss pulled out a jeweled dagger-the exact kind her cousin had used to cripple my brother's leg.

"On your wedding day, you will take this dagger, and you will slice open your own arm."

She demanded I bleed at the threshold of the Underwood estate as "payment" for offending her.

Elliott didn't stop her. Instead, a dark flicker of pleasure crossed his eyes. He wanted to see me mutilated.

I had wasted years loving a man who blindly protected the woman who ruined my family, believing he could force my submission.

But I didn't cry or beg. I simply laughed at their sheer stupidity.