"I bought you to work my lands, not to warm my bed," Alpha Draven growled, his golden eyes tracking the bruises on Mona’s neck. "But the moon has a cruel sense of humor. You are my mate."Mona didn't flinch. She stood in her dirty slave rags, her eyes burning with a fire that should have been extinguished weeks ago."Then the moon is a fool," she spat, her voice cold and unafraid. "You bought a slave, Alpha. You didn't buy a mate. I would rather rot in the dirt with my people than wear your crown."Draven stepped into her space, his heavy, authoritative scent filling her lungs. He reached out to grab her chin, but she slapped his hand away. The silence in the slave quarters was deafening."I don't lose what I pay for, Mona," he whispered in a threat. "And I don't take no for an answer. I will break that pride of yours until you are begging to be mine."Mona leaned in, her face inches from the most powerful man she had ever met. "I am not going to be your mate, Alpha Draven. I've been sold to you as a slave, not your bed warmer.”