The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Zayn

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I stood there for a long time, staring at the spot she’d been standing the air still heavy with her scent, faint and familiar, like rain

and pine and something that didn’t belong to me anymore.

I told myself to breathe. To move. To not go after her.

But it didn’t matter.

The second she disappeared around the corner, something inside me cracked open.

I turned on my heel and headed for the dorms, my pulse pounding so hard it drowned everything else out.

By the time I reached my room, I wasn’t thinking at all.

The door slammed shut behind me with a sound that shook the walls.

My chest heaved.

The silence pressed in.

Then I saw it.

The bed. The sheets.

That morning–her–replaying in my head like a curse.

I moved before I even realized it.

My fist hit the wall once.

Then again.

Harder.

The sound was sharp and ugly–skin splitting, bone against plaster.

Blood spattered across the white paint.

I hit it again.

And again.

Until my knuckles went numb. Until I couldn’t feel anything but the burn in my lungs and the ache in my chest.

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Chapter 146

When I finally stopped, I leaned against the wall, breathing hard, my forehead pressed to the cool surface.

The room smelled like dust and iron and regret.

I looked down at my hands–raw, shaking, blood smeared across my fingers.

I wanted it to hurt.

I needed it to.

Because it was easier than thinking about the look in her eyes when she’d said,

You broke me.

I slid down the wall until I hit the floor, my back against the plaster blood still dripping from my knuckles.

For a long time, I just sat there in the half–dark, staring at nothing.

Zade’s voice echoed in my head like a ghost.

End it before I do something you’ll regret.

And maybe I already had.

Because somewhere out there, Aurora was walking away again–this time for good.

And I was still here, bleeding in a room full of ghosts, trying to convince myself it was worth it.

That breaking her was better than losing her forever.

Flashbacks

2 months ago

The morning I lost her, the light came in soft. It slipped through the curtains in thin gold lines, touching her first.

Her hair. Her shoulder. The edge of the blanket that had fallen halfway off the bed.

For a moment, I just watched her.

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Watched the rise and fall of her chest, the quiet way she breathed, the faint crease between her brows. She always frowned in her

sleep–like she was fighting something even in her dreams.

The room still smelled like her skin. Like something I wasn’t supposed to want this much.

I could’ve stayed like that–watching her breathe, memorizing every small detail–forever.

Then my phone buzzed.

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Chapter 146

Once. Twice.

Persistent.

I reached for it carefully, not wanting to wake her. “Yeah?” I muttere, my voice still rough from sleep.

Zade’s voice slid through the speaker, smooth and cold. “Good morning, little brother. Sleep well?”

My stomach dropped.

He only used that tone when he wanted something.

“What do you want?” I asked quietly, glancing at Aurora. She hadn’t moved.

There was a short, cruel laugh on the other end. “What do I want? Let’s start with what you want. Or rather, who.”

My grip tightened around the phone. “Zade-”

“Don’t bother lying,” he interrupted. “I know about her.”

He didn’t need to say her name. I already knew.

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“She’s pretty,” he went on casually. “Soft. Innocent. Not your usual type.”

My jaw clenched. “Zade, don’t-”

“Oh, relax. I’m not the one you need to worry about.” His tone dropped lower. “Father’s been asking questions again. You know what

that means.”

I went completely still.

“You wouldn’t-”

“I would.” His voice sharpened, cruel amusement twisting every word “You think I wouldn’t tell him you’re hiding something? That

you’re hiding her? You know what he’s been looking for–the right kind of girl, the kind that fetches a good price.”

My heart stopped. “Don’t talk about her like that.”

“Then make sure I don’t have to,” Zade said simply. “End it, Zayn. Now. Before I tell Father there’s a girl in your bed who doesn’t

belong here. Oh… and get back with Charlotte.”

He hung up.

For a long time, I just sat there.

The room was too bright. Too quiet.

I looked back at her–at Aurora, still asleep, still safe. The sunlight touched her skin, catching in her hair. She shifted slightly,

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Chapter 146

pulling the blanket higher, mumbling something soft under her breath.

And it hit me.

If my father ever found out about her, she wouldn’t stay safe for long

He’d take her.

And I wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Comments

R Visitor

I knew it was something like that.