Betrayed by My Alpha, Claimed by the King

Chapter 1 The Price of Freedom Sophia Martinez's POV Three long years. One thousand and ninety-five days of hell were finally over. I stood outside Silver Ridge Prison's iron gates and took my first real breath of freedom. The air out here smelled different from inside—no desperation, no violence or fear hanging in the atmosphere. Just pine trees and the promise of rain. I felt my wolf Vanya stirring restlessly inside me. This was what being truly alive felt like again. A black Bentley pulled up slowly in front of me. The door opened and familiar scents immediately surrounded me—cedar and mint. That was Damian's scent. There was another smell too, younger and fresher, like grass and milk. That was my son, Connor. My Alpha. My pup. After three years, they'd finally come. Damian walked toward me with sunlight hitting his dark golden hair so I couldn't make out his face clearly. But those green eyes that used to make me weak in the knees were now cold as ice. He stopped three steps away from me, like he was keeping a safe distance. Even now, he still wouldn't get close to me. "Sophia." His voice was low and controlled. "Get in. Hope three years taught you something. Don't screw up again." My heart jumped hard. Not from excitement—from pain. After three years apart, this was the first thing he said to me? No "how are you", no "I missed you", nothing. Connor stepped out from behind him. He was nine now. When I left he was only six, and now he had grown so much taller. He had Damian's eyes and his face still looked so young and innocent, but his expression was so much colder than I remembered. "Mom." His voice was still childlike, but there was something different about the way he said it. The coldness in his tone broke my heart. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to tell him I'd missed him every single day, missed his laughter, missed making him breakfast. But he stepped back, clearly rejecting any attempt I might make to get closer. "You look..." Damian frowned. "Not good." Not good? I almost laughed. I'd spent three hellish years in prison. Other inmates beat me up. Guards humiliated me. They took away my right to shift. My wolf nature got forcibly suppressed and almost disappeared forever. I woke up screaming from nightmares every night, dreaming about that bloody night, dreaming about Grace falling from the balcony. But I didn't say any of that. "I'm fine." My voice came out rough and scratchy. It was the first time I'd spoken to the two people I loved most in three years. "Good." Damian nodded. "Get in the car. Grace is waiting for us at home. She made you a welcome dinner." Grace... That name hit me like a knife to the chest. Grace Winters—the woman my dear husband called an "innocent victim". The woman who put me in prison. And now, she was waiting for us at my house, ready to watch the "criminal" come home. "She's still living in our house?" I asked. Damian's jaw tightened. "That was our decision. Connor needs a mother figure around." A mother figure? I was Connor's mother! I gave birth to him, raised him, loved him! And now this man was telling me my son needed a "mother figure" because his real mother was a criminal? Connor spoke up, "Ms. Winters takes really good care of me. She helps me with homework, cooks my favorite food, and trains my wolf abilities. She's better than..." He paused and glanced at Damian. "Dad's right. Ms. Winters has a kind heart and she forgave you for what you did. But Mom, if you hurt Ms. Winters again, Dad and I will never forgive you." "Forgave?" I finally spoke, my voice sounding like broken glass. "The person who sent his own mate to prison gets to talk about forgiveness?" The memories hit me like a tidal wave. Damian had always been cold and distant with me. Even when we had s*x, he was completely emotionless, like I was just some duty he had to perform. Even our son Connor showed me no warmth. I always thought this was just how Alphas were—calm, logical, never showing their feelings easily. Until Grace came back. Grace was Damian's childhood friend, his first love, the woman who would always hold his heart. When she joined our pack as the new Beta, I saw a side of Damian I'd never seen before. He would smile at her gently. Those green eyes that were usually cold as ice would fill with warmth when he looked at her. He would actively care about her daily needs. Everything fell apart in a bloody night, when Grace fell from our mansion's balcony. She accused me of pushing her. Damian and Connor didn't even bother asking the other wolf witnesses what really happened. They just took Grace's side immediately. I knelt on the ground begging Damian to believe me. Sharp stones cut my knees until they bled. Damian just stood there with no expression on his face. He frowned and stepped back in disgust. He was disgusted by the smell of blood on me ruining his scent. In the end, the pack exiled me to Silver Ridge Prison for attacking pack members. For three whole years, the rogue wolves at Silver Ridge were vicious and brutal. I suffered constant bullying and abuse in there. As an Alpha, Damian could have sent people to make my life easier. He could have made sure I had protection for those three years, or at least kept me from getting hurt. But Damian never did that. He never even visited me once. If it weren't for my healer abilities and the Martinez bloodline being tough enough, I would have died in that place. Damian spoke coldly, "Connor and I are being generous by not holding your exile against you. We're willing to take you back into the pack, which is pretty good of us. Grace is waiting for us at home, so let's not waste time." Connor got impatient too. "Yeah mom, stop being so dramatic. If we get back too late, the moongrass I picked for Ms. Winters will wilt." I listened numbly. My heart filled with layers of bitter irony. Between Grace and me, Damian and Connor would always trust Grace more. They would always favor Grace more. I lifted my head and spoke calmly, "I'm not going back with you." The moment I finished speaking, Damian's cold green eyes flashed with impatience and disgust. "What?" "I said I'm not coming home with you." I repeated myself, my voice even more determined. Connor stepped forward. "Mom, stop being ridiculous. Where else could you possibly go? You're a felon. You don't have a job, no money, no friends. You need us." "I don't need people who threw me into hell and then pretend to be merciful by coming to 'save' me," I said. Damian's expression changed. His Alpha authority started radiating outward, that crushing power trying to force me into submission. I felt it like an invisible hand pressing down on my neck, demanding I bow my head and obey. Don't give in! Vanya spoke for the first time in three years. Her voice came from somewhere deep inside me, low and furious. I straightened my spine and looked directly into Damian's eyes. I wasn't backing down. "Sophia, don't be stubborn. Come home and we'll talk about this." Damian's eyes flickered with surprise. His tone softened slightly, but it still carried that commanding edge. Stubborn? Three years ago, I loved Damian and Connor so deeply that even when they treated me coldly, despised me, and preferred Grace, I kept hoping they'd change their minds. But now... after three years of torture, I wasn't the same Luna Sophia anymore, and I didn't want them anymore. My voice came out flat and emotionless. "I'm done, Damian. I'm breaking our mate bond."