Chapter 414

Chapter 6
It’s as if he knows that I’m unravelling. He probably does. Christian and I aren’t alike in many ways, but one thing I’ve always valued about my brother is that he often sees what others don’t This time. I’m the object of his insight.
I feel my throat tighten and I nod, standing and taking the glass before following him from the room. I’m sure the others notice our departure, but they don’t say anything.
I follow him outside to a place that’s far enough away from the packhouse so that we have some privacy. Then we find two chairs and sit.
He takes his time. He always does. It’s one of the ways in which we’re different. I bulldoze right into something. He waits and watches with a patience I’ve never mastered and have always admired.
“You’re very quiet tonight,” he says, watching me.
I nod, looking at my drink. How do I tell him I’m terrified about going to the Academy? How do I tell him I’m terrified that I’ll fail and let everyone in my family down? I’ve always expected to follow in my family’s footsteps. Every one of them has been on the leaderboard at one time or another. In the past, I just assumed that I would get there too, that it would be easy because I was raised by a family of over–achievers.
But what if I don’t? What if I become the blight on our family, the one person who doesn’t make it to the leaderboard? The one person who fails?
“Talk to me, Sebi,” he says softly.
“Were you nervous when you went to the Academy?”
“Terrified,” he says, shocking me. I look up to see if he’s joking, but his eyes are serious.
“We have quite the reputation to live up to in this family. That’s a huge weight to put on someone‘
s shoulders. It’s a huge burden that we put on ourselves, especially considering that we’re going up against a group of our peers who are also hoping to get on that leaderboard.”
“Yes,” I whisper.
“That burden snuck up on you, didn’t it?”
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Chapter 6
I nod. “What if I fail?” I whisper.
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that,” I say, still staring at my drink.
“Do you want to know what I do know?”
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I look up at him and nod. He sets his drink aside and leans forward. “You are Sebastiana fucking Webb. Hurricane Sebastiana,” he says, making me huff a laugh. “Nothing stands in your way, Sebi. You’ve always gone for what you want, no holding back, no worries about the
consequences. You set your sights on something, and you go for it. Have you ever failed to obtain or achieve something that you wanted?”
I think about his question. I nearly lost Shane because of my impulsivity, but I didn’t. He’s right. I did what I needed to do to keep Shane in my life. What I did for Shane was completely out of the norm for me, but it was worth it. So I did what I needed to do to show him that I was serious about wanting to be with him. I learned how to run a packhouse while Enya was gone, so I could show him that I understood how important his role is as Alpha and that I wanted to help with the responsibility that he was taking on.
“No, I guess not.”
”
“What do you want to achieve at the Academy, Sebi?” he asks.
I feel my lips quiver. “I want to make my family proud. I want to live up to the reputation that our family has set.”
”
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