Claimed by My Ex's Half-Brother-Chapter 94 THE Ashirens?

Ethan’s POV:

"What?" Ethan gasped, his wolf Leon whimpering in confusion inside him.

What did Damien just say? Had I heard correctly?

Ashirens? THE Ashirens?

My mind raced as I tried to process this revelation. Ashirens was one of the most prestigious identities in our world. ME Group currently ranked among the global elite, dwarfing Northstream Pack’s business holdings by orders of magnitude.

Father had spent years trying to forge an alliance with ME, but every approach had been firmly rejected. After multiple failures, even Lawrence Sterling, our Alpha, had eventually given up.

All this time, I’d believed Damien had returned to stake his claim on the Sterling legacy, to wrestle control of our family’s assets. I’d convinced myself he was putting on an act, pretending not to care about Father’s approval while undermining my position at every turn.

But now everything made horrifying sense. Damien had never wanted anything from Northstream Pack. In his eyes, our family’s holdings were probably worth less than pocket change.

I couldn’t speak, couldn’t even form a coherent thought. This couldn’t be real. The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

No wonder Victoria had gravitated toward him. She must have known Damien’s true identity all along!

I clenched my fists so tightly that my claws began to dig into my palms. That explained why Victoria had completely ignored me after Damien’s return. She had latched onto someone more powerful, more wealthy.

The bitch had upgraded to a higher branch! All her talk about love and betrayal was just a convenient cover. How sanctimonious she’d been, when all along she was just after money and power!

Rage boiled within me, Leon snarling and thrashing against my control. My hands were shaking with fury, my face burning with humiliation.

Even Joseph Miller looked shocked as he stared at my brother. "You... you’re Ashirens?"

Damien nodded casually, as if confirming he enjoyed baseball. "Yes, but please, call me Damien."

Miller practically vibrated with excitement as he shook Damien’s hand. "Mr. Sterling, I’m truly honored! Your reputation precedes you. Such remarkable achievements at your age! Having you here tonight elevates this entire gathering. Please, come in, come in!"

But Damien wasn’t in any hurry. His glacial stare remained fixed on me. "Mr. Miller, I apologize for disrupting your event. We have some... family business that needs resolving. My brother here lacks proper manners. I take full responsibility for the disturbance."

The temperature around us seemed to drop several degrees with each word Damien spoke. His eyes held the kind of cold that could freeze blood, making several onlookers physically recoil.

I couldn’t take it anymore. "So what if you’re Ashirens?" I spat, my voice trembling with jealousy. "Victoria is only interested in your money! I was with her for five years. I know exactly what kind of woman she is—playing innocent while always looking for the next opportunity. She’s not the good woman she pretends to be! She’s just climbing the social ladder! You should dump her before she shows her true colors!"

My emotions poured out unfiltered, Leon howling in distress inside me, directing all my venom toward Victoria.

Joseph Miller frowned deeply. "Who is this ill-mannered wolf, daring to slander Victoria Lancaster like this?"

I raised my chin proudly, clinging to the only status I had left. "I’m from the Northstream Pack. In Capitol City, we’re among the elite packs."

To my mortification, Miller actually laughed. "Is that all? Just the Northstream Pack? I thought you might actually represent someone important. You think the Lancasters need anyone’s money? Victoria, what’s going on here? Is this man deranged? Even if Crescent Dawn Pack went bankrupt tomorrow, they’d still have more resources than this... what was it... Northstream Pack."

My world tilted dangerously. "What... what do you mean? What Lancaster Pack?"

Miller turned to Victoria with genuine confusion. "Victoria, does this man not know who you are?"

She shrugged with casual elegance that I’d never seen from her before. "I suppose he’s just dense. I’ve mentioned being a Lancaster multiple times."

But I’d never taken it seriously. It had never occurred to me that Victoria could be connected to the international Lancaster dynasty.

"Lancaster?" I stammered. "The Lancaster family? That Lancaster?"

Grace Mitchell, watching from the sidelines, looked like she was enjoying the greatest show on earth. Her eyes sparkled with vindictive pleasure as she stepped forward.

"Which other Lancaster family could there be?" Grace said with exaggerated patience, as if explaining colors to a child. "Obviously the Crescent Dawn Pack. Victoria has recently taken full control of Lancaster Enterprises as CEO. It was all over the news last week. Don’t you follow current events?"

The blood drained from my face. My knees nearly buckled as the full implications hit me. I stared at Victoria as if seeing her for the first time—this stranger wearing the face of the woman I thought I knew.

"That’s impossible," I whispered, taking an involuntary step backward. "It can’t be."

How could Victoria possibly be the Lancaster princess? The heir to Crescent Dawn Pack would be sophisticated, educated, powerful—not the simple woman I’d dated for five years.

"This has to be a lie," I insisted, desperately clinging to my understanding of reality. "You never mentioned any of this when we were together! You... you had nothing! You were working as a waitress, in a factory! You didn’t even go to college! You—" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Now that her identity was public, Victoria didn’t bother maintaining her previous facade.

"Who told you I was a waitress or factory worker?" She raised one perfect eyebrow. "I was inspecting family holdings. As for the restaurant incident, that was simply a misunderstanding. Only you would assume I never attended university. For your information, I studied abroad and graduated early due to my exceptional performance. And yes, I was with you for years, but you always resented wealthy people, didn’t you? You’d criticize anyone with money. I actually thought you loved me for me, not my status. I was planning to reveal everything before our mating ceremony."

She smiled then, a cold expression that made Nora’s white fur visible for just a moment behind her human eyes. "Looking back, I’m fortunate I discovered your true nature before making that mistake. And equally fortunate you chose to marry someone else."

My wolf howled in anguish as something that felt remarkably like fate settled between us.

Still, I refused to accept this new reality. "No! You’re just a secretary at Lancaster Enterprises! You slept your way to the top! You can’t possibly be the Lancaster heir!"

"That’s just your perception," Victoria replied evenly. "In your eyes, I was uneducated, fit only to wait tables. That’s why you assumed the only way I could enter Lancaster Enterprises was by selling my body, by using men for advancement."

"I saw you with my own eyes!" I nearly shouted. "You were holding a resume!"

That memory had convinced me she was job hunting. I’d even mockingly offered to help her find employment, suggesting she could never qualify for Lancaster Enterprises on her own merits.

The irony now burned like acid.

Victoria’s expression softened briefly with recollection. "Ah, that. Yes, I was holding resumes—candidates Kane had selected for me to review. I was conducting interviews, not applying for positions." She shook her head, contempt evident in every line of her body. "Ethan, you’re just embarrassing yourself now. If I were you, I’d leave before making things worse."

Arthur, my brother’s massive black wolf, materialized briefly behind Damien’s eyes, staring me down with predatory intensity. The message was clear: challenge Victoria again, and there would be consequences.

For the first time in my life, I recognized my own insignificance in the grand scheme of things. Leon whimpered and lowered his tail within me, instinctively submitting to the more dominant wolves surrounding us.