I Left after The Alpha's Mate Tortured Me

I bit back the pain, keeping my eyes down, voice soft. "I wouldn't dare dream above my place."

"You'd better not!" Diana snapped, shoving me away. "If I catch even a hint of you scheming, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

The rest of the day was pure torment.

First, I cooked for her, dish after dish, but nothing was right-too salty, too bland. Finally, she flung a scalding plate of food at me, the heat searing my skin.

Then came the laundry. In the dead of winter, I plunged my hands into icy water, scrubbing a mountain of clothes. My fingers swelled, red and numb, barely able to feel anything.

When I finished, Diana barely glanced at the pile. "This is how you wash? You ruined them! Useless!" She waved a hand. "Take her away. Teach her some manners."

Her version of "manners" was a torture device-wooden sticks clamped around my frostbitten fingers, yanked tight. The pain was blinding, a scream tearing from my throat as I nearly blacked out.

By evening, when Benedict came to fetch me on Alpha Edgar's orders, I was a battered mess, barely clinging to consciousness.

Diana leaned close, her smile cold as she hissed, "You know what to say and what to keep quiet about when you're back with Alpha Edgar. One wrong word, and I'll make sure you regret it."

I nodded weakly, voice faint. "I. understand."

Back outside Alpha Edgar's den, he sat at his desk, reviewing pack reports without looking up. "Back already?" he asked, his tone flat. "How was it with Diana?"

Before I could answer, Lily, a young she-wolf I'd befriended, couldn't hold back. She threw herself to her knees, tears streaming. "Alpha Edgar, please, you have to stand up for Aurora! Diana-she tortured her! Used brutal methods! Aurora's hands are nearly destroyed!"

Alpha Edgar's pen froze mid-stroke.

He lifted his head, his gaze icy as it swept over Lily. His brows furrowed. "Drag her out. Twenty lashes."

My heart sank. I dropped to my knees, pleading, "Alpha Edgar, this has nothing to do with her! It's-"

His eyes turned to me, sharp with impatience. "Nothing to do with her? She slandered my future Luna. That's a crime."

My chest went cold.

He couldn't bear Diana facing even a whisper of criticism.

I took a deep breath, pressing my forehead to the floor. "If you must punish someone, let it be me in her place."

His gaze hardened. "You're defying me now, Aurora?"

"Please, Alpha Edgar, let me take it," I said, my back straight despite my trembling voice.

"Fine!" His voice crackled with anger. "If you insist on taking her place, you'll get the twenty lashes. Guards, take her out and make it heavy!"

The cold staff cracked against my back, each blow a ripping agony.

I clenched my teeth, silent, sweat beading on my forehead.

When it was over, they dragged me back to my room like a broken rag.

That night, Benedict slipped in with healing salve, sighing. "Aurora, why do this to yourself? Alpha Edgar. he cares about you, deep down. He's just caught up in Diana's spell right now. He'll come around."

I took the salve, my face pale, and said nothing.

Who he cared about never mattered to me.