Chapter 98 Desperate Measures
Aurora's POV
The video call connected with a soft chime, and Nolan's face filled my phone screen, his expression brightening the moment he saw me. I forced my lips into what I hoped was a convincing smile.
"Aurora, hey," Nolan said warmly, his eyes scanning my face with obvious concern. "I wanted to check in on you. How's the new place treating you?"
I let out a soft laugh that I carefully calibrated to sound just slightly hollow, adding a touch of weariness to my voice. "Oh, you know, it's fine I guess. Just feels really cold and empty living by myself. I'm not used to all this quiet, you know? The Pack House always had people around, always had some kind of energy flowing through it."
The concern in Nolan's expression deepened, and I could see the sympathy radiating from him through the screen. "I'm sorry you're going through this adjustment. It must be really hard."
I shifted slightly, letting my gaze drop as if reluctant to voice what was really on my mind before looking back up at him with carefully orchestrated vulnerability. "Actually, I've been thinking about Grandma a lot. You know her knees have been bothering her lately, and she always said my massage technique was the only thing that really helped when the pain got bad. I just worry about her, being there without anyone who knows exactly how she likes it done."
The words were perfectly chosen, designed to remind Nolan of my connection to the family, of my usefulness and the care I'd supposedly provided. I waited for him to pick up on the implicit suggestion that maybe Matilda needed me, that maybe my absence was causing problems.
Instead, Nolan's response hit me like a bucket of ice water. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that at all. Damian actually brought in a team of professional medical massage therapists who specialize in elderly care. They come in twice a day and work with Grandma, and honestly, her mobility has improved significantly. She's been in much better spirits too."
I felt my chest tighten painfully, the careful smile on my face threatening to crack as fury surged through my veins.
Nolan continued with what he clearly thought was reassuring news. "Actually, there's been some changes happening at the Pack House. Damian's planning to renovate your old room. He's thinking about converting it into a dedicated space for Maple, you know, with climbing structures and comfortable sleeping areas. He figured since you've moved out and the room would otherwise just sit empty, it might as well serve a purpose, and Grandma wouldn't have to look at an empty room and feel sad about it."
I felt my vision actually blur for a moment as rage threatened to overwhelm my carefully maintained composure. They were erasing me. Not even a week had passed, and already Damian was literally removing every trace of my existence from the Pack House, replacing my space with accommodations for that damn dog.
My hands clenched around my phone so tightly I heard the case creak in protest, and I had to force myself to breathe slowly through my nose to keep from losing control entirely.
"That's... that's great," I managed to choke out, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "Maple deserves her own space."
Nolan, oblivious to the storm raging beneath my brittle smile, nodded enthusiastically. "Right? And honestly, Aurora, I think this whole situation might actually be better for you in the long run. I was always worried about you living at the Pack House, you know? The atmosphere there can be pretty intense, and I always wondered if you felt comfortable."
He leaned closer to his camera, his expression turning earnest. "Look, I know the apartment isn't ideal, but I actually have a few properties around the university district that might work better for you. Nicer buildings, better locations. Or if you want, we could look at places closer to campus. I'd be happy to help you find something that feels more like home."
My face felt frozen, the smile I'd been maintaining now a rigid mask that I could barely hold in place. The muscles in my jaw ached from the tension. "That's really thoughtful of you, Nolan. I'll definitely think about it."
The conversation wrapped up quickly after that, my responses becoming increasingly monosyllabic as I fought to maintain control. The moment Nolan's face disappeared from my screen, I hurled the phone across the room with all the force I could muster, watching with savage satisfaction as it bounced off the bed and clattered to the floor.
"Useless," I hissed into the empty apartment, my voice shaking with fury. "All of them, completely useless!"
I paced the small space like a caged animal, my hands clenching and unclenching as the full scope of my failure crashed down on me. The rage gradually crystallized into something colder and more focused as I forced myself to stop pacing and think strategically.
If gentle manipulation wasn't going to work, if the Sterling family had collectively decided I was expendable, then I needed to stop trying to earn my way back and start taking what should have been mine by right.
"Silk," I called out mentally, feeling my wolf's presence stir in response. "When I reach maximum favorability with a target, I can withdraw their energy at will, correct? I can even take everything they have in one transaction if I choose to?"
Silk's voice resonated in my mind with cool confirmation. "That's correct. Once you achieve perfect favorability, you have complete access to drain their destiny energy, either gradually or all at once."
I felt a dark smile curve my lips as the pieces of a new plan began to fall into place. "Then lwhat if I wanted to take the destiny energy from every core member of the Sterling family simultaneously? What if I wanted to drain the entire Alpha bloodline in one coordinated strike?"
There was a pause before Silk responded. "The system allows you to collect half of what you drain as tribute, with the other half going to you directly. However, members of an Alpha family have their individual energy deficits automatically filled by the family's collective fortune. Their personal losses would be absorbed and distributed across the pack's overall destiny reserves."
I sank down onto the edge of the bed, processing this information. The Sterling family's attitude shift had derailed everything. "Then I don't want to borrow anymore," I said flatly. "I want it all, Silk. I want to take the Sterling family's entire fortune and leave them with nothing."
Silk's presence in my mind sharpened with interest. "There is a way to accomplish that, but it requires specific conditions to be met."
"Tell me everything," I demanded.
"The most direct path would be to achieve maximum favorability with the three most powerful members of the Sterling family simultaneously," Silk explained. "Specifically, you would need perfect standing with the former Alpha, Alpha Sebastian, and Damian. If you could drain all three completely at the same moment, the sudden massive deficit would create a vulnerability in the family's collective destiny. Through those three connection points, you could reverse the flow and pull the entire Sterling pack fortune into yourself."
I felt my stomach drop as the full impossibility of that plan became clear. They were the three most intelligent, most perceptive members of the entire Sterling family. "I can't do that," I admitted, hating how defeated the words sounded. "Those three specifically are the ones I've never been able to fully manipulate. They're too smart, too observant."
"Perhaps we should consider an alternative," I asked. "What about using the substitution dolls?"
Silk said immediately, "After that incident with the curse doll, security has been massively increased. You'd need to get a substitution doll close enough to them for seven days of proximity."
Silence stretched between us. Then Silk's presence shifted, taking on a quality of calculated strategy. "There's another way. It's more complex, but it would allow you to accomplish your goal without needing access to the three most powerful family members. Instead, you would target three different Sterling pack members, ones you can more easily manipulate. You drain them completely using substitution dolls, and simultaneously, you establish a destiny-draining formation within the Pack House itself."
I leaned forward, my full attention locked on Silk's explanation. "How would that work?"
"The formation would create a constant drain on the family's collective fortune," Silk explained. "When you drain three pack members completely, the family fortune will automatically move to fill those voids. But if you time it so that drain happens while the formation is actively pulling on the collective reserves, both systems will be drawing from the same source simultaneously. The family's destiny reserves can defend against external attacks, but they're not designed to handle internal betrayal combined with external assault."
Understanding began to dawn. "So the family fortune gets hit from two directions at once, and the whole thing becomes unstable."
"Exactly," Silk confirmed. "Once both drains are active and the family fortune is depleted to a critical level, I can guide you through a ritual that will let you absorb everything that remains. The collective destiny of the entire Sterling pack, all of it flowing into you in one massive transfer."
I processed the magnitude of what Silk was proposing. "Using the substitution dolls won't be difficult. I know exactly who to choose. But the formation in the Pack House is more complicated. Won't Elara be able to detect it?"
Silk's response carried absolute confidence. "My power can mask the formation's signature completely. The energy I can channel operates on frequencies that Guardian bloodlines aren't trained to recognize. Remember, I've already helped you place items throughout the Pack House over the years, and none of them have been discovered, have they?"
That was true. I'd been hiding my insurance policies in various locations around the Pack House for years, small objects infused with Silk's power. Not one had ever been found. "The things I've already hidden there," I said slowly. "They're still in place. You're saying I can use those as anchor points for the formation?"
"Precisely," Silk confirmed. "You've already done most of the groundwork without even realizing it. All you need to do is return briefly to activate and connect them, which can be accomplished during a single visit."