Chapter 119

Author’s POV

When Damian wrapped up his speech, Lawrence Sterling grudgingly had to admit the kid had a point.

Nobody saw this curveball coming—Victoria Lancaster was Crescent Dawn Pack royalty, one of the most feared wolf dynasties in the country. If she got hurt on their watch, William Lancaster would rip the Sterling family apart piece by piece.

The color drained from Scarlett Sutton’s face when reality sucker-punched her. She’d written Victoria off as some lucky secretary who’d scored a cushy job at Lancaster Enterprises. Finding out Victoria was the Lancaster heir felt like a sledgehammer to the gut.

Scarlett’s thoughts spiraled. Ethan had to be kicking himself raw right about now. She’d set her sights on Ethan Sterling because of his Northstream Pack connections. She knew damn well Ethan had always carried a torch for Victoria, and now Scarlett felt the ground shifting under her feet. With Victoria’s true bloodline exposed, what shot did she have left?

Still, divorce wasn’t on the table yet. If they were both going down in flames, might as well drag each other to hell. And if Ethan turned out to be a disappointment, plenty of other wolves prowled these streets. After all, if Ethan could sneak around behind her back chasing Victoria, why shouldn’t she find herself some eye candy on the side?

“But he’s your blood!” Lawrence’s vein pulsed at his temple. “How can you be so damn ruthless p>

“Ruthless?” Damian’s voice could freeze hell over. “Was he worried about being ruthless when he tried to force himself on her? This is karma biting him in the ass. I warned him to back off more times than I can count. Did he listen? Hell no p>

Arthur prowled restlessly in Damian’s chest, still seething at the thought of another wolf trying to claim what his human was starting to consider theirs.

“We’re done here. Unless you’ve got actual business, don’t waste my time. Given where you stand right now, you’re not even worth a meeting p>

Damian jabbed the security button on his desk. His tone held zero family warmth—he might as well have been talking to a door-to-door salesman.

The room reeked of tension and rage—cedar from Damian mixing with the sour stench of Lawrence’s fury.

“You’re seriously having me thrown out? I’m your old man!” Lawrence felt his alpha authority getting stomped on. What was Damian’s endgame here? Scorched earth? Blood or no blood, he was still Damian’s father, yet here was his son ready to have security drag him out by his heels.

“What father?” Damian’s words cut like broken glass. “All these years, radio silence. I figured you’d croaked. Don’t try playing daddy now. At your age, the shock might give you a heart attack, and that’s not my problem p>

“This is insane!” Lawrence’s wolf snarled in his chest, pissed off by his pup’s rebellion. “What’s your plan here, Damian? Patricide? Don’t think running Blood Moon Enterprises makes you bulletproof. You’re my son—I can knock you down a peg whenever I damn well please. I should own a piece of this company. I’m your father p>

Lawrence had never dreamed Damian would climb this high. He’d assumed his eldest was rotting overseas, living off scraps, maybe waiting for inheritance crumbs.

“Your shamelessness gets worse with age,” Damian shot back without missing a beat. “Think you deserve a cut of everything I built? If I got diagnosed with cancer, would you want half of that too? Should I mail you some tumor cells p>

Damian had learned years ago that giving people like his father an inch meant they’d take the whole damn highway. Arthur was completely on board—Lawrence had torched his right to respect a long time ago.

Without another word, Damian waved security forward. The guards, all betas loyal to him and Blood Moon Pack, moved like a well-oiled machine.

Later that day, Lawrence trudged into Ethan’s hospital room. His younger son lay there like roadkill, a broken shell of what he used to be. His wolf spirit seemed nearly dead, barely flickering, and Ethan ping-ponged between zombie stares and violent outbursts.

Staring at his son’s pathetic condition, Lawrence knew he could never hand the pack business over to this wreck. But Damian’s attitude was equally toxic. Besides Ethan, his bloodline ended there, and at his age, could he really start grooming a new heir from scratch?

This Lancaster mess was serious business. William Lancaster was one of the oldest and most respected alphas in the region. Lawrence decided he needed to eat crow and apologize for his son’s clusterfuck. The next morning, he headed out to meet the old Lancaster alpha, hoping to clean up his worthless son’s disaster.

As he drove toward the Lancaster estate on the outskirts of town, Lawrence couldn’t stop wondering how different things might’ve been if he’d recognized Damian’s potential years ago. But wolves, like humans, rarely got do-overs on fatherhood, especially when the damage cut as deep as the scars he’d carved into his eldest son’s soul.