Claimed by My Ex's Half-Brother-Chapter 23 Something’s not right

Damien’s POV:

I was truly shocked that Victoria had taken first place in the racing competition.

I rushed to the race scene, unable to wait any longer.

Felix looked at me, his eyes wide with surprise. "Damian? When did you get here? I thought you said you weren’t coming!"

I kept my expression neutral, not wanting to reveal how quickly I had dropped everything when I heard Victoria was participating in the race.

Felix had sent me countless messages about this event, and I hadn’t replied to a single one. Let him think whatever he wanted.

"Didn’t you invite me to come watch the show?" I responded coldly. "What’s happening now?"

Felix’s face glowed with excitement. "Victoria took first place, but that Scarlett woman won’t accept it. She’s demanding Victoria race her professional driver in a rematch. It just started. Man, Victoria’s driving skills are insane! I initially thought she was a professional racer. Can you believe that’s really her?"

I fixed my gaze on the track, where two cars were speeding along, Victoria’s slightly behind Scarlett’s driver.

"This race is going to be epic," Felix continued excitedly. "Wonder who’s going to win?"

From where we stood, Victoria seemed at a disadvantage at the starting point, with her opponent taking an aggressive lead. But this didn’t last long.

Her car quickly accelerated, and at the next turn, she executed a perfect drift, overtaking the professional driver.

"Holy shit!" Felix exclaimed beside me. "Did you see that drift? That was incredible!"

I narrowed my eyes, focusing on Victoria’s driving pattern.

Something was wrong. Even for aggressive racing style, the car was moving too fast. My Alpha instincts began kicking in.

"Something’s not right," I muttered, my jaw tightening.

Felix looked at me, his face full of confusion. "What do you mean? What’s not right?"

I didn’t bother explaining. Victoria’s car was maintaining dangerously high speeds even when approaching sharp turns. No experienced driver would approach that curve at such speed, unless...

As Felix watched the race, he said loudly: "That turn ahead is dangerous! Why isn’t she slowing down? Is she really risking this much just to win?"

"This isn’t about winning," I growled, already moving. "Someone tampered with her brakes."

I strode away, ignoring Felix calling after me. There was no time to explain. Victoria was in danger.

I found an available race car, not bothering to change into racing gear.

I slid into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and charged toward the track.

Behind me, I could hear track officials shouting: "Hey! Where do you think you’re going? There’s a race in progress! You can’t enter the track!"

Felix’s voice carried over the noise: "Damian, you don’t need to win first place for me! I don’t want that car anymore!"

No time to correct his misunderstanding. Every second counted if I was going to reach Victoria before disaster struck.

I saw her car flash past the finish line, taking first place again.

But as I feared, she didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. The professional driver was still on her tail, repeatedly trying to force her into the barriers. This was no longer competition—this was attempted murder.

I floored the accelerator, Arthur’s keen senses guiding my movements.

My wolf and I now had a single focus—reaching Victoria before it was too late. The professional driver continued ramming her car, clearly trying to force her into a fatal crash.

Rage surged through me as my knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. Someone had deliberately put her in danger, and they would pay dearly for it. But first, I needed to save her.

"Hold on, Victoria," I whispered, though she couldn’t hear me. "I’m coming for you."

Victoria’s POV:

I could feel my heart pounding as I gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white. The realization hit me like a physical blow—Scarlett had sabotaged my car. She actually wanted me to crash here, to die on this track.

That venomous bitch.

I wouldn’t let her succeed. Never.

My car continued hurtling down the track, the engine roaring beneath me. That’s when I spotted something unexpected—another race car ahead. Where had it come from? The race was supposed to be just between me and Scarlett’s driver. How had another car suddenly appeared?

This mysterious vehicle wasn’t moving particularly fast, deliberately leaving an open lane—just enough space for me to pass through. My wolf Nora stirred within me, suddenly alert and curious.

I shot past like an arrow from a bow. In my rearview mirror, I saw the car that had been ahead of me suddenly change lanes the instant I passed. A tremendous crash followed—that car had collided with the driver who had been tailing me. My pursuer was now effectively blocked.

Who was in that car?

A powerful scent drifted into my nostrils, and my wolf immediately went on high alert.

Damian? Why would he be here?

I had no time to dwell on the thought. My immediate survival took priority.

From my mirrors, I could see Damian’s car pinning Scarlett’s hired racer against the edge of the track. He kept ramming the other car’s front end until it began to wobble. Eventually, Scarlett’s driver had no choice but to pull into the emergency lane.

Meanwhile, my car refused to slow down. Even using the guardrails for friction, I couldn’t force it to stop. My brakes had completely failed.

Just as panic began to rise in my throat, I saw the car that had helped me earlier accelerating from behind and overtaking me. It passed me then deliberately slowed directly in front of me. I immediately understood his intention. I could have swerved around him, but instead, I deliberately crashed my front bumper into his rear. His car lurched forward but stayed ahead of me. We continued this collision dance, with him gradually reducing speed and forcing my car to decelerate as well.

If he hadn’t intervened, I would have had to wait until my car ran out of fuel—which could have taken God knows how long.

After several laps of this controlled collision, both our cars finally came to a stop. I was immensely grateful to the other car’s driver, but when I looked over, I saw the car parked to the side with no trace of the driver.

Grace ran toward me, worry etched across her face. "Victoria, are you okay? What the hell happened? I nearly had a heart attack watching that!"

My car’s front end was completely mangled from the impacts, and the other car’s rear was almost destroyed.

"I’m fine," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "Someone sabotaged my car. The brake lines were cut."

"What? Your brakes were sabotaged?" Grace’s eyes widened, then narrowed in fury as she pointed at Scarlett standing in the distance. "It was you, wasn’t it?"

Scarlett clearly hadn’t expected me to survive. The woman beside her—Sophia Smith—was literally shaking like a leaf and couldn’t even look in my direction. Her guilt was written all over her trembling body.

"You don’t have any proof," Scarlett said dismissively, waving her hand.

"Who else would it be but you, you snake?" Grace shot back. "You’re just jealous of Victoria!"

Scarlett let out a cold laugh. "Jealous? Jealous of her? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the one married to Ethan now. If anything, she should be jealous of me. She’s probably faking this whole incident to frame me."

I didn’t respond to her accusations. Instead, I was busy tapping on my phone screen, pulling up what I needed.

Taking my silence for weakness, Scarlett continued her tirade. "You’re nothing but Victoria’s lapdog. Your Alpha isn’t even defending herself, so why are you barking for her? Accusing me without evidence... you’re just asking for trouble—Ah!"

Her words were cut off by my palm meeting her cheek. The slap echoed across the racetrack.

Scarlett clutched her reddened face, glaring at me with hatred. "You dare hit me!"

"What did you expect when you foam at the mouth like a rabid dog, snapping at everyone?" I said coldly. "Grace is my friend. Insult her again, and my hand might find your face once more."

"How crude," Scarlett hissed through gritted teeth. "You’re nothing but trash, and so is your friend. You’re both just worthless bit—"

"Ah!" Another slap landed on her other cheek. I felt no remorse—only cold satisfaction.

"Go on," I challenged. "Let’s see how many slaps it takes to turn your face into a swollen mess."

Unable to control her rage, Scarlett lunged at me. I easily sidestepped her attack, letting her stumble forward. As she struggled to regain her balance, I quickly kicked the back of her knee. She went down, kneeling right in front of Grace.

I couldn’t help but smirk.

"Mrs. Sterling, or should I still call you Miss Sutton? You don’t need to kneel to apologize, but since you’re already down there, I suppose we can overlook your previous vicious words."

Scarlett had managed to get back up and was attempting to attack me again. I caught her wrist mid-swing, restraining her with one hand while raising my phone with the other.

The screen displayed surveillance footage from the track. "You deliberately challenged me to another race to distract everyone while Sophia here sabotaged my car," I said coldly. "The video is evidence, the damaged car is evidence, and I’ve already notified the Northstream Pack tribunal. This is attempted murder, and I’m sure they’ll be very interested in what I have to show them."

"You actually..." Sophia’s face drained of all color.

She was clearly panicking, wondering how I had obtained the surveillance footage so quickly.

"That video is fake!" Scarlett protested. "You could have fabricated it from anywhere!"

She hadn’t expected me to acquire the footage so rapidly. She probably planned to delete the surveillance video after my "accident," but I was one step ahead.

"Whether it’s fake or not will be determined by the Northstream Pack tribunal elders," I replied calmly. "If Sophia touched my car, her fingerprints will be all over it. Once they match, that’s all the evidence they’ll need."

Sophia’s face crumpled with fear as the severity of what she had done finally sank in. She had acted without considering the consequences, and now she was beginning to understand just how serious this situation was.

My wolf Nora growled with satisfaction inside me. No one tried to kill a Lancaster and got away with it.