The Alpha I Dumped Is Now Begging Me to Return

Jettie POV:

The cold woke me first. The damp air was filled with a thick and nauseating scent of blood. My eyes trembled open, and darkness surrounded me. The only light came from a sliver of moonlight shining through a high, barred window. Rough iron cuffs and shackles dug into my wrists and ankles, locking me against the wall.

The heavy iron door creaked open, scraping against the stone. A tall figure appeared in silhouette against the torchlight from the hallway. My heart suddenly jumped, beating against my ribs like a frantic bird. I recognized his silhouette, his proud shoulders.

"Caiden!" I cried, my voice hoarse and broken. "This is a mistake! I'm innocent! I have nothing to do with another man. Get me out of here!"

He slowly walked into the cell. As his face appeared in the light, the relief that had surged through me moments ago instantly froze in my veins. There was no worry in his eyes, no urgency. Only cold, emotionless indifference. The familiar scent of sandalwood that had always made me feel safe now felt suffocating, carrying something I could not identify.

A wave of fear tightened in my stomach. "Caiden, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

He looked down at me, his beautiful lips curving into a smile I had never seen before. It was cruel. "A mistake? No, Jettie. There is no mistake."

My heart didn't just sink. It fell. His words were like a bucket of ice water poured over my head. "What... what do you mean?"

The cell door opened again. A small and delicate figure walked in.

My half-sister, Anais.

Seeing her, I cried out in joy, "Sister! You came to save me? I never had anything to do with another man. Please help me explain to the prince!"

"Explain what? Explain the man the prince personally sent into your room? Or explain that from today onward, you are no longer the prince's future Luna, but a wolf accused of adultery?"

She moved to Caiden's side and nestled into his arms, her face filled with a triumphant and gloating smile.

I looked at them, unwilling to believe it. I looked at the Caiden I had loved for years and struggled desperately against my chains. "Is what she said true?"

Several guards rushed forward. One kicked hard against my knee, and a sharp slap struck my face.

The sudden blow made my head spin. Hearing his words, my eyes were filled with disbelief.

"That's right. That man was sent there by me!" Caiden said. "To get rid of you, I went through a lot of trouble!"

Caiden looked down at me from above, his arm around Anais's waist. He sneered, "If it weren't for the fact that only you can activate the Gamma token, the person I wanted to marry from the beginning would have been Anais!"

Caiden laughed softly, the sound unpleasant. He reached into his coat and pulled out a familiar token—the Gamma token my grandfather had left behind, the symbol of the Hamilton Pack's military authority. I had only known that my grandfather entrusted it to someone important before his death. I had been searching for its whereabouts all this time. I never expected it to be in Caiden's hands.

"My naive little Omega. Didn't expect this, did you? The Gamma token you've been searching for is now in my possession. Once I use your blood to activate it, I will no longer need a weak and useless fiancée."

The sight of the token struck me like a physical blow. I had given him my whole heart, my complete trust. How laughable—his only reason for getting close to me had always been my blood, the key to activating the token.

"You see, sister?" Anais's voice was sweet as honeyed poison. "I told you the prince would choose me in the end. A powerful Alpha needs a partner who can stand beside him, not a useless burden like you."

I watched them holding each other. The rumors I had dismissed as vicious gossip were all true. My stomach churned with nausea.

"Why?" The word was a strangled gasp torn from the depths of my soul. Tears I didn't know I still had streamed down my face.

"Anais, we're sisters!"

Anais let out a sharp, mocking laugh. Her eyes were filled with contempt. "Sisters? Don't make me laugh. From the day your mother took the Luna position that should have belonged to my mother, we were destined to be enemies. You and your 'noble' mother both deserve to die."

Caiden waved his hand dismissively. Two guards stepped forward, unlocked my chains, and dragged me out of the cell.

They dragged me into a torture chamber and strapped me onto an X-shaped wooden frame. Caiden picked up a long whip, the leather tail dark from being soaked in saltwater. He walked toward me step by step.

"Since you care so much about your family," he said as he raised the whip, "let me show you the price of betraying the royal family."

The first lash landed. A raw and piercing scream tore from my lungs. The pain of my flesh splitting open was nothing compared to the agony in my chest.

Again and again, the whip fell. My consciousness began to blur, dissolving in the burning pain. I heard Caiden's voice whispering in my ear. He told me he had never loved me. He said getting close to me was only for the Hamilton Pack's power.

He said my weak Omega status embarrassed him in front of the other Alpha princes.

I felt my life draining away, drop by drop. Through the haze of pain, I saw Anais approach me.

Anais approached with a dagger in her hand. She leaned close, her voice a venomous whisper that only I could hear.

"Grandfather only likes you. Why? Why did your mother's status make my mother and me suffer so much humiliation? Why am I only a daughter born outside the main line? Since that is the case, all of you should die!"

Anais laughed sharply. Her nails dug into my cheek, and thick blood seeped out from between her fingers. As if that was not enough, she kicked me hard in the stomach.

Pain shot through my spine.

"No, my child."

I was carrying a fully formed child inside me. I had always foolishly believed that I could give birth to the child that was the result of Caiden's love and mine.

She leaned closer, her voice like a snake's whisper.

"By the way, I have a secret for you. Your beloved mother and brother did not die by accident. My mother and I were instrumental in their deaths."

Her words were like a bolt of lightning, splitting my fading consciousness in two. Mother... Leo... So it was you!

She leaned closer again, her voice like a gentle yet poisonous caress.

"Do you know how pitiful your precious little brother Leo looked when he died? He cried so miserably. When his heart was taken out, it was still beating."

My mind went blank.Leo...

My ten-year-old little brother...His heart...

Caiden's voice interrupted, casual as if he were talking about the weather.

"That little wolf cub's heart became a perfect offering for the Shaman's Circle. You can say that his sacrifice contributed to my future empire."

My eyes widened. I wanted to scream, I wanted to rush toward them, and I wanted to tear them apart with my own hands. My eyes burned with the promise of damnation.

"I will haunt you from my grave!"

Anais only smiled. Then she plunged the dagger deep into my heart.