Claimed by My Ex's Half-Brother-Chapter 117 Masked male

Victoria’s POV

"I’ll do it," Howard agreed, his voice steady despite his wounds.

I drove him directly to one of my properties. As the heir to the Crescent Dawn Pack, I owned several residences throughout this country since Lancaster Enterprises had its headquarters here. This particular house hadn’t been occupied for quite some time.

After bringing him inside, I said, "Rest here while I go get medical supplies."

His pale eyes studied me intently, and I could sense his wolf’s wariness beneath the surface.

"I won’t run," I assured him. "Even if I did, you’d find me anyway, wouldn’t you?"

Howard nodded. "Yes." Then he rattled off a list of items he needed to extract the bullets from his body.

I was impressed by how specific and knowledgeable he sounded. These weren’t minor injuries, yet he spoke about them as casually as someone might discuss a paper cut. I wondered if he was a doctor, or if he’d simply learned to treat himself after years of similar wounds. For werewolves, even serious injuries healed faster than humans’, but bullet extraction was still necessary to prevent silver poisoning or infection.

"Also," he added, "I’m hungry."

"I’ll bring back food too."

"I want Chinese food," Howard stated firmly.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. We were in a European city, not exactly known for authentic Chinese cuisine, especially at this late hour. "Where am I supposed to find Chinese food at this time of night?"

"Not my problem," he replied stubbornly.

I sighed, feeling my wolf Nora grow irritated within me. She didn’t appreciate being ordered around, especially by an injured wolf who wasn’t our mate or Alpha.

I stopped at a pharmacy first, gathering everything Howard had requested. After searching fruitlessly for any open Chinese restaurants, I settled for takeout from a Western place. As an afterthought, I ducked into a 24-hour convenience store and bought some noodles and seasonings.

When I returned and opened the door, Howard was on his phone. He immediately ended the call when he saw me.

"Here’s what you asked for," I said, setting down the medical supplies. "No Chinese restaurants were open, so I got Western food. If you don’t want that, I can make some noodles. It’s late, so you’ll have to make do tonight. I can find proper Chinese food tomorrow." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Howard barely glanced at me before taking the supplies. "Go cook," he commanded.

My wolf bristled at his tone, but I swallowed my pride and headed to the kitchen. I reminded myself that he was injured and had allies who might cause trouble if I didn’t cooperate. Besides, he didn’t seem intent on harming me, which was somewhat reassuring.

I turned on the stove and prepared to make noodles.

While I cooked, I could hear Howard in the other room, treating his wounds. I prepared some pork strips as a topping and made a quick cold side dish to accompany the noodles. My wolf purred with satisfaction at the familiar scents filling the kitchen.

When I brought the food out, Howard had already removed the bullets and was wrapping bandages around his torso. Blood-soaked gauze littered the area, and the sharp, metallic scent of blood hung in the air. Despite what must have been excruciating pain, he hadn’t made a sound.

I winced at the sight of his injuries. For a normal human, wounds like these would be life-threatening, but werewolves were different. Still, the lack of reaction from him was unusual even for our kind.

He’d removed his shirt to treat the wounds, and from my angle, I could see his back covered in old scars. Most werewolves didn’t scar unless the injuries were severe or inflicted with silver. The fact that his body bore so many permanent marks spoke volumes about what he must have endured.

Despite his state of undress, Howard still wore his mask and hat, keeping his identity concealed. My wolf was curious, wanting to know who this mysterious werewolf really was.

I set the food on the table. "You said you were hungry. Come eat."

Howard approached and sat across from me, frowning at the simple meal.

I handed him chopsticks. "Don’t give me that look. Just eat. I’m actually a great cook, and I haven’t poisoned anything. If you died, your friends would come after me, wouldn’t they? I value my life too much for that. Being born into the Lancaster family is like winning the cosmic lottery—I’m not about to risk my next life being less fortunate."

Howard remained motionless, so I added, "If you’re worried I’ll see your face and report you to the authorities later, don’t be. That’s not who I am."

I twirled some noodles with my chopsticks. "I don’t know what you do or how you got hurt, but as long as you don’t harm me or my family, I’ll keep my word to help you. Besides, not all ’bad people’ are entirely bad, just like some ’good people’ are actually monsters. Some villains can do heroic things too."

Howard studied me with an intensity I could feel even through his disguise. My wolf tensed under his gaze but didn’t feel threatened.

"Is that so?" he finally spoke. "Which good person turned out to be bad, and which bad person became good?"

I took a bite of noodles before answering. "You might not believe this, but my ex-boyfriend is one of those ’good people’ who turned out to be terrible. I dated him for five years, thinking he was perfect. Then I discovered he was secretly married to another woman, blamed everything on me, and even tried to kidnap me a few days ago."

The memory of Ethan’s betrayal still made my wolf growl inside me. Nora had never fully trusted him, but I had ignored her instincts, believing my human heart knew better.

"As for the bad person doing good," I continued, "there’s this mob boss who actually saved me. He fired shots that helped me escape when I was being held captive. I don’t know if I’ll ever meet him to thank him properly, but I won’t forget what he did."

I doubted I’d ever encounter that mysterious Alpha again. Our worlds were too different, and I’d heard rumors that outsiders who saw his face rarely lived to tell about it. Besides, with Damien and the authorities investigating what happened to me, A-country wasn’t safe for someone like him. He’d probably returned to his territory by now.

Howard paused before asking, "So you think this mob boss is a good person?"

"I wouldn’t say he’s a good person exactly, but he has good qualities. You can’t judge someone completely by their reputation or occupation. Like you—you don’t exactly seem like a model citizen, yet here I am, helping you."

Howard stared at me silently, his expression hidden behind his mask.

I ate a few more bites before pushing my plate away. "I’m done eating. I won’t look at your face, so you can come and eat now."

My wolf watched curiously as the mysterious stranger considered my words, wondering what kind of man—and what kind of wolf—lay behind that mask.