Chapter 186 What had she wanted to say?
Ethan’s POV
The moment the security guards forced us out of the building, my father collapsed.
His body went rigid mid-step, eyes rolling back as his knees buckled. I barely caught him before he hit the pavement.
"Dad! Dad!"
My hands were shaking as I lowered him to the ground, one palm pressing against his chest where his wolf should have been surging to heal him.
But there was nothing. No pulse of regenerative energy. No flicker of his Alpha strength trying to knit him back together.
His wolf was silent.
An hour later, the ER doctor emerged from behind the double doors, her expression grim.
"Alpha Holt," she said quietly, pulling me aside. "Your father’s suffered a severe rejection response. His wolf has withdrawn completely—a stress-induced severance. We’ve stabilized him for now, but..."
She hesitated, and I felt my stomach drop.
"Even if he recovers consciousness, there’s a strong likelihood he’ll never shift again. His wolf may be permanently dormant. In some cases, patients lose mobility entirely. He could be bedridden for the rest of his life."
The words hit me like a physical blow.
Wolf severance was rare—almost unheard of in Alphas. It happened when the bond between human and wolf snapped under extreme trauma, when the wolf retreated so deep it couldn’t be called back.
For a wolf to heal, both halves had to be whole.
Without his wolf, my father was as fragile as a human. Possibly more so.
I stood outside the ICU, staring at the sterile white tiles beneath my feet. My lips felt numb. My eyes burned.
My nails bit into my palms hard enough to draw blood, but I didn’t feel it. Didn’t care.
*This is my fault.*
If I hadn’t been so weak, so indecisive, none of this would have happened.
If I’d just chosen Clara from the start—if I’d never dragged Aria into this mess—my father wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed with his wolf shattered beyond repair.
Aria.
Her name alone made my chest tighten with something that felt like grief and rage tangled together.
I’d never made a mistake this catastrophic. I’d known she was dangerous. Known she had the power to destroy me.
And I’d gone to her anyway. Believed in her anyway.
She’d looked me in the eye and promised me forever. She’d told me she’d stand by me no matter what.
And now she’d gutted me in front of the entire board, leaked our private life to the media, and watched my father collapse without so much as a flicker of remorse.
How could she betray me like this? How could she trample everything we’d built together?
My phone buzzed incessantly in my pocket—texts and calls from Pack members, business contacts, people I hadn’t spoken to in years all suddenly very interested in the scandal.
I didn’t answer a single one.
Outside these hospital walls, my world was imploding. The scandal was everywhere. Holt Enterprises had been ripped out of my hands. My father was broken.
And in the business circles of this city, the Holt family had become a joke.
I slid down the wall slowly, my legs finally giving out. My back hit the cold plaster and I sank to the floor, burying my face in my hands.
"Ethan!"
Clara’s voice cut through the fog. I looked up to see her hurrying down the hallway, a shopping bag in one hand, her expression stricken.
She dropped to her knees beside me, setting the bag aside as her hands found my shoulders.
"Baby, what happened? I came as soon as I heard—"
"He’s in the ICU." My voice came out flat, hollow. "His wolf’s gone. The doctor said he might never shift again."
Her breath caught. "Oh my God. Ethan, I’m so sorry."
She pulled me into her arms, and I let her. I was too tired to do anything else.
For a long moment, we just sat there on the floor outside my father’s room, her fingers running through my hair, her scent trying and failing to soothe me.
"Listen to me," she said after a while, her voice soft but steady. "The media storm will die down eventually. These things always do. Give it a few weeks, maybe a month, and people will move on to the next scandal."
I wanted to believe her. God, I wanted to.
"And as for the company," she continued, pulling back just enough to look me in the eye, "you still own fifty percent. Aria can’t turn Holt Enterprises into her personal empire without diluting your shares first. And when she tries, you’ll have leverage again."
Her amber eyes were fierce, determined.
"We have time, Ethan. Time to regroup. Time to fight back."
I exhaled slowly, some of the tension easing from my shoulders.
She was right. This wasn’t over.
*I have to go seek Aria’s forgiveness* I thought bitterly. *I can’t believe she’d be that heartless*