CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
1176 Words
STERLING’S POV
Do it again.
Those words rang like a f*****g broken record every damn time he said them.
My palm hit the ground with a sharp slap as I fell flat on my back for the fourth time. The wind knocked out of me, my ribs screaming, and my pride even louder.
“Get. Up.”
My father’s voice was like gravel and disappointment wrapped in steel.
Everything screamed disappointment for him.
I coughed, sucking in air through gritted teeth, and pushed myself to my feet, sweat dripping into my eyes. My knuckles were scraped raw, and my shoulder throbbed from where I'd hit the training post.
This was hell.
And not just because the training grounds were blistering hot under the afternoon sun or because I hadn't eaten since morning.
No.
It was hell because no matter what I did, it was never enough for him.
Was this what Silver went through in her training?
I never watched her train because it was always done in a closed room.
This room.
"Your stance is off," he barked.
"Your swing is weak. You’d be dead if this were a real fight.”
I clenched my jaw.
“It’s training, not war, father.”
He stepped forward.
“And if you were Alpha, training would be war. Always. We didn't come out to be second for nothing. And we have to prove the Cassano pack we are fit for the alliance. There will be no room for slipping.”
Right. If.
The word clung to me like a parasite. Because lately, I could see it in his eyes. That flicker of doubt. That gnawing hesitation.
And all because of her.
Silver.
The perfect daughter. The exiled little princess. The one who everyone still talks about in hushed whispers like she’s some mythical being.
What a joke.
She wasn’t perfect. She was a fraud. And I made damn sure everyone knew it.
I was the one who set the perfect trap to catch her.
The one who whispered the idea into Kaiden’s ear. The one who suggested the “compromising position.” even if she turned out to be Kaiden’s f*****g mate. The one who nudged the narrative until our father had no choice but to send her away.
I spread her "lost" virtue around the pack.
I knew she wasn't compromised, but the position she and Kaiden were caught in was daming.
I made Kaiden break their mate bond.
Father couldn't do anything to mate her Alpha after the scandal.
No one knew she was ever mated to Kaiden, no one believed her.
The truth was that, I have been feeding lies to mother for a long time, ever before this.
Mother favoured me and I knew she was father's weakness.
Father couldn't say no to his darling mate and luna.
Because it should’ve been me.
It’s still supposed to be me.
But here I was, getting thrown around like some pathetic pup while my sister played queen for a stupid Italian pack.
“I asked you a question,” my father snapped.
I blinked.
“What?”
He growled low in his throat.
“Are you even listening, Sterling?”
“I am,” I bit out.
“No, you’re not. You’re distracted. Unfocused. Reckless. You’re too much in your head and not enough in your instincts. Do you know what that makes you?”
I didn’t answer.
He stepped closer, eyes cold.
“Unfit.”
That word struck harder than any punch.
“I said,” he repeated, louder now.
“unfit to lead.”
And something inside me snapped.
“Oh, so I’m unfit now?” I threw off my training vest, letting it hit the dirt.
“Because I don’t train like a damn war machine? Is that how your own father trained you? Is this how you trained Silver?”
“Because you don’t think like a leader.” he growled.
“You don’t act like one. You want the title, but you have none of the discipline.”
I took a step forward.
“You gave her everything. I bet you didn't train Silver this way. You trained her for years. Then the moment she slips up—”
“She didn’t slip up, Sterling,” he cut in sharply.
“She was set up.”
I froze.
He knew.
He knew.
“I don’t know what game you and Kaiden thought you were playing.” he continued, voice low and dangerous.
“But Silver’s exile wasn’t justice. It was a distraction. A punishment for being strong.”
“She’s not strong,” I said quickly, my chest tight.
“She’s manipulative. Arrogant. She walks around like she’s better than everyone else.”
“She was better,” he snapped.
“She was born for this.”
“And I wasn’t?” I shot back.
Silence.
That was worse than an answer.
"Sterling, you were never meant to be Alpha, but you pushed anyways. You ruined you own sister, you twin, your blood out of selfishness. You think I would comfortably give out my daughter to a ruthless Alpha? We needed the alliance and I salvaged the damage you caused to this pack. I took Silver far away from you before you kill her. I knew you better than anyone, Sterling. Everything you do, I know about it. You think I don't know that you made Kaiden reject her? You cannot outsmart me, boy. Your sister is in a better place than with you. Your greed will lead to your downfall."
My fists clenched at my sides.
“You’re just like the rest of them. The pack, the elders, the damn Omegas—they all worshipped her like she’s some goddess. You think I don’t see the way they look at me? Like I’m a downgrade?”
My father’s expression didn’t change.
“Then prove them wrong, because you are still the same Sterling Night, a shadow of his sister.”
“I’m trying.”
“Try harder.”
I wanted to scream. To punch something. To shift and run until the air burned my lungs.
Instead, I turned and stormed off the field.
I could hear him behind me, but he didn’t call out.
He never did.
Not unless it was to criticize.
I made it to the edge of the woods before I finally stopped, chest heaving.
Everything felt like it was unravelling.
Silver was out there playing Luna to some exotic Alpha we are in alliance with, probably charming her way into power, while I was stuck here fighting for approval I’d never get.
No matter what I did, I was still second best to her.
And worst of all… somewhere deep down, I knew she hadn’t deserved what we did to her.
But I didn’t care.
She was gone. That’s what mattered.
And I was next in line.
Even if it killed me.
Even if I had to fake it.
Even if I had to destroy what was left of the Night Pack to do it.
- Writer
