Claimed by My Ex Chapter 106 How could this happen?

Chapter 106: Chapter 106 How could this happen?

Ethan’s POV:

I sat in my hotel room, surrounded by empty bottles, the scent of liquor saturating the air around . Since being denied entrance to Joseph Miller’s gathering and enduring Father’s subsequent verbal lashing, I’d been drowning myself in alcohol. Lawrence Sterling, Alpha of the Northstream Pack, had berated

for hours about the opportunity I’d squandered, demanding to know if I understood how many influential figures had attended the event.

His words had barely registered. All I could think about was Victoria.

I’d been drinking since yesterday, falling into a cycle of drinking until unconsciousness took , then waking only to reach for another bottle. Sobriety ant facing my regrets, and I couldn’t bear that weight.

"How could this happen?" I mumbled, my voice slurred as I poured another glass with trembling hands. "It’s impossible... Victoria... Victoria..."

My wolf, Leon, whined pathetically inside , equally distraught at losing our potential mate. The bond we could have ford with Victoria and her wolf would have been powerful, strengthening both our position in the pack and our bloodline. But I’d thrown it all away.

Victoria couldn’t possibly be the Lancaster heiress, the next Alpha of the Crescent Dawn Pack. It had to be a lie, a fabrication to make

suffer. She must have invented it to punish , to make

regret my choice.

And it was working. Goddess above, it was working. I regretted everything now.

I fumbled for my phone, calling Victoria’s number for what must have been the hundredth ti. As expected, the call didn’t connect. She had blocked

completely, severing our connection just as decisively as I had severed our relationship.

"Victoria," I groaned, clutching the bottle to my chest like it might sohow ease the hollow ache there. "Victoria, I love you so much. I’ve always been yours alone. Please don’t reject ."

Leon howled mournfully inside , the wolf recognizing what my human side had been too stupid to see—Victoria had been our true mate all along.

"I was wrong," I continued, tears streaming down my face. "I never should have touched another female, never should have agreed to marry soone else. Just look at

one more ti, please."

The alcohol burned my throat, but it couldn’t burn away the mories of her face, her scent, the way she used to look at

with such love and trust.

"Victoria, what will it take for you to forgive ? Don’t I deserve another chance? I love you so much. I was desperate, backed into a corner. If you had told

about your identity earlier, I would have married you in a heartbeat. I never would have looked twice at Scarlett."

My words echoed in the empty room, mocking

with their desperate tone. The reality of what I’d lost was crushing . Victoria Lancaster—not just the woman I loved, but a female Alpha of one of the most powerful packs in the country. The perfect mate in every way. And I’d been too blind to see it.

A darkness crept into my thoughts, Leon’s desperate instincts rging with my own despair.

"Maybe I should just lock you away sowhere," I whispered, imagining scenarios where I could force her to stay with . "Won’t you give

even the slightest chance? If not, perhaps we should both go to hell together. Then no one could ever separate us again. We’d be together for eternity—truly forever."

My eyes burned with a manic light, my wolf’s possessive instincts feeding into an obsession that was consuming us both.

The sound of the door opening barely registered until a familiar scent reached my nostrils. Not Victoria’s sweet fragrance, but sothing else—Mona, my assistant.

She rushed to where I lay sprawled on the floor. "Mr. Sterling! Mr. Sterling!"

I looked up through bleary eyes, my vision swimming. In my intoxicated state, her features blurred and shifted. For one wild mont, I thought—I hoped—

I reached up, touching her face with clumsy fingers. "Victoria, you ca back..."

"I knew it," I mumbled, my heart soaring with false hope. "I knew our separation was just a nightmare. You love

too much to leave

forever."

I cupped Mona’s face in my hands and pressed my lips against hers. But the mont our lips touched, sothing felt wrong. My wolf recoiled instantly, recognizing the deception my human brain had created. These weren’t Victoria’s eyes, this wasn’t her scent.

I shoved Mona away with enough force to send her stumbling. "No! You’re not my Victoria! Victoria’s eyes are beautiful, her features are perfect. Who are you? Get out! GET OUT!"

I began throwing bottles, smashing them against walls, my wolf’s rage taking over as I destroyed everything within reach. Mona fled the room, the door slamming behind her.

Alone again, I collapsed to my knees, claws extending from my fingertips as I fought to contain my partial shift. "Victoria, where are you? Where have you gone? Why can’t I find you anymore? I need to find you, I need to bring you back to ..."