Claimed by My Ex's Half-Brother-Chapter 118 About Howard’s background
Howard’s POV
It was getting late, and Victoria was preparing to leave.
She put down her chopsticks and stood up. "You can stay here for a couple of days," she said. "I don’t usually come here, but don’t use this place for any illegal activities or turn it into some kind of den for your pack. I’ll have the property management check in two days, understood?"
After saying this, Victoria left.
I watched her walk away, saying nothing to stop her.
Once she was gone, I sat at the dining table and removed my mask. There was still plenty of noodles left. I picked up a clean fork and began eating. The flavor was indeed exceptional, reminiscent of childhood memories.
My mother used to make Chinese food for me when I was small. It tasted wonderful, but it had been so long since I’d had it that I’d almost forgotten the flavor.
As a half-breed - born to a werewolf father and human mother - I possessed striking features with my light-colored eyes that humans found captivating. My mixed blood had been both my curse and my salvation.
The Reiner family commanded significant power in Europe, but my position today was built on ruthlessness and violence. My path to power had been paved with blood.
My father was no saint - he had multiple wives and countless children, both legitimate and illegitimate. My mother was just a human tourist he’d abducted during her travels. He kept her imprisoned, and after I was born, I was despised by everyone in the pack.
When my mother attempted to escape, my father, fearing she would expose our kind to humans, shot her right in front of me. That bullet wasn’t just for her; it was a warning for me. He was telling me that in this world, he was the alpha, and without his permission, no one could escape.
With so many children, my father barely acknowledged my existence. I was the youngest, and everyone in the pack felt free to torment me. Who would have thought that I would be the one to carve out a bloody path to power?
Victoria had made plenty of noodles, and I finished every last bite. The taste truly reminded me of when my mother used to cook for me as a child.
When I was little, locked away with my mother, she would often tell me how beautiful America was. In her homeland, people lived peaceful lives, nothing like the violent world we inhabited. She hoped that someday I would visit America and see it for myself. As a child, I desperately wanted that too.
But as I grew older and experienced more of life’s cruelties, I lost my courage to go. My wolf, Steel, whined softly inside me at the memory.
"I know," I whispered to him. "She would have wanted us to see it."
I feared that someone like me - a half-breed alpha who’d clawed his way to power through violence - had no right to set foot in such a beautiful place. I belonged in the darkness, in the mire of the supernatural underworld. How could I possibly touch something so pure?
That’s why after taking control of the Reiner family and establishing my own rogue pack, I never extended our operations into America. No matter what, business in America was off-limits.
My wolf paced restlessly within me, confused by Victoria’s scent. There was something unusual about her - something hidden beneath the sweet fragrance that clung to her skin. Something powerful.
I ran my fingers over the edge of the empty bowl. Victoria Lancaster was an enigma - one I found myself increasingly drawn to despite every instinct telling me to keep my distance.
......
Damien’s POV
Victoria was safe. She got home safely after finishing work. I got back to my place.
The weight of alpha authority settled over my office like a heavy cloak as I heard them approaching—their angry footsteps echoing down the hall before they even burst through my door. I didn’t bother looking up from the contracts spread across my desk. Arthur, my wolf, stirred inside me, sensing the confrontation before it began.
"Damien!" Lawrence Sterling’s voice boomed as he slammed the door open, Scarlett Sutton trailing behind him like a faithful shadow. The scent of their fury filled the room—bitter and acidic. "How could you do this to your own brother?"
I finally raised my eyes, keeping my expression deliberately neutral despite the satisfaction curling inside me. Lawrence had just returned from visiting Ethan at the detention center, and judging by the vein throbbing at his temple, the news wasn’t good.
"Jeff," I addressed my beta who had followed them in apologetically, "you can leave us."
"Sorry, Alpha," he murmured, using the formal address despite the presence of others. "I couldn’t stop them."
Once the door closed behind him, leaving just the three of us, I leaned back in my chair. Arthur growled low in my consciousness, disliking both intruders equally—Lawrence, the man who had cast us out years ago, and Scarlett, the woman who had helped Ethan betray Victoria.
"That’s your blood brother in that cell!" Lawrence continued, slamming his fist down on my desk. "The doctor says his wrists may never fully heal, but worse—" his voice cracked with emotion, "he’ll never father children. The damage is... permanent."
Scarlett covered her mouth with trembling hands, tears welling in her eyes. The performance might have been convincing if I couldn’t smell the calculation beneath her distress. She was already wondering what this meant for her position in the Northstream Pack.
"And you’re responsible," Lawrence snarled, his aging wolf rising to challenge mine despite the futility of it. "You’ve been targeting him since you returned. First you stole his mate—"
I cut him off with a laugh so cold it silenced the room. "Victoria was never his mate. A fact he knew perfectly well when he planned to use her as his mistress while marrying into the Black Snake Pack’s beta family." My eyes flicked to Scarlett, who had the decency to flinch.
"You’ve always been jealous of him," Lawrence continued. "You couldn’t stand that I favored him. You’ve already managed to eliminate your stepmother and those unborn pups. Now you want Ethan too? I’m still Alpha of Northstream, and I swear to the Moon Goddess, you’ll never have any claim to our pack!" 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
I could feel Arthur rising closer to the surface, eager to put this lesser wolf in his place, but I controlled the impulse. Instead, I smiled, slow and deliberate.
"Given that you’re standing in my office, I assume you’ve finally discovered who I really am." I gestured to the building around us—headquarters of the Blood Moon Pack’s business empire. "Do you honestly think I want your pathetic pack territory? Your assets wouldn’t cover a month of my charitable donations."
Lawrence’s face paled, his wolf retreating slightly as the reality of my position sank in. For years, he’d dismissed me as his wayward son, never imagining I’d built one of the strongest packs in the Western hemisphere.
"And for the last time," I continued, my voice dropping to a dangerous octave that made both of them step back instinctively, "I had nothing to do with your second wife’s death or those pups. I’ve told you to investigate Ethan’s mother. She was the one desperate to secure her position."
I stood up slowly, towering over both of them as I placed my hands on the desk.
"What I did to Ethan wasn’t punishment—it was mercy. Do you have any idea whose mate he attempted to abduct and violate? Victoria Lancaster is the sole heir to the Crescent Dawn Pack. Her grandfather William would have torn Ethan apart limb by limb, slowly, over days." I let that sink in before continuing. "By putting those bullets in him myself, I saved his miserable life."
"You crippled him!" Lawrence roared.
"I prevented William Lancaster from executing him," I corrected. "Victoria is his only grandchild—his precious heir. If anything had happened to her, do you think Ethan would still be breathing? The entire Northstream Pack would have been decimated as punishment."
I watched understanding dawning on Lawrence’s face. The pack hierarchy was absolute—and Crescent Dawn stood far above Northstream in both strength and territory. Even as Alpha, Lawrence knew he couldn’t protect Ethan from William’s wrath if Victoria had been seriously harmed.
"A few sliver bullets is a small price to pay for his life," I said more quietly. "And trust me, I don’t want Ethan dead quickly." A dark smile spread across my face. "Death would be too kind. I want him to live—to witness every consequence of his actions, to feel the full weight of his regrets."
