The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 166

The Human Among Wolves

Chapter 166

Kael froze mid–step, his eyes narrowing in the same direction mine had gone. “You saw that?”

I nodded once.

Zayn’s head turned sharply. “Where?”

Kael pointed, careful not to raise his voice. “There. By the birch.”

Zayn squinted, but whatever it was had already melted back into the dark.

Nothing moved now. Not even a leaf.

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A beat passed. Then another.

Kael exhaled, quiet but controlled. “Could’ve been an animal.”

“Yeah,” Zayn murmured. “Because bears love hanging out near ancient witch cabins.”

Kael shot him a look but didn’t bite. He crouched slightly, brushing his fingers across the dirt. “Tracks,” he muttered. “But they’re

wrong.”

I moved closer, careful to step where he’d already stepped. The prints were faint–just impressions in the wet ground–but they weren’t paw prints or boots. They looked… uneven. Too narrow. Too long.

“Human?” I whispered.

Kael didn’t answer right away. Then, quietly, “Not exactly.”

Zayn was already scanning the tree line again, the muscles in his jaw working. “We need to move.”

Kael straightened, nodding. “Stick close. Don’t fall behind.”

We walked again, slower this time. Every crunch of leaves underfoot sounded too loud. The forest seemed to be watching us, the

shadows bending in ways that didn’t feel natural.

The air grew thicker with each step, humid and heavy, carrying the int smell of iron–like rust or old blood. My lungs felt tight.

Zayn’s hand brushed the small of my back once, grounding me. “Keep your breathing steady,” he murmured.

“I’m fine,” I said, though I didn’t sound it.

Kael glanced over his shoulder. “Almost there.”

Almost where, I wasn’t sure. The trees were starting to blur together!

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Chapter 166

Then the clearing shifted.

Literally shifted.

1 Minked, thinking it was my eyes playing tricks, but Kael stopped dead ahead of me. The air shimmered faintly–like heat over

asphalt–and then the trees on the far side of the clearing seemed to twist, bending inward.

“What the hell…” Zayn breathed.

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Kael raised an arm, keeping me behind him. “Stay back.”

It was faint, but I could hear it too–a whisper. Not words exactly, more like sound brushing against the edges of my hearing. Faint,

rhythmic, deliberate.

The pendant under my shirt grew warm again, the pulse syncing with that same rhythm.

Zayn noticed the change in my expression. “What is it?”

The pendant,” I said, reaching for it. “It’s-”

Before I could finish, the whispering stopped.

And the forest went dead quiet.

Even Kael froze, every muscle in his body going still.

For a few seconds, it felt like the world was holding its breath.

Then, somewhere behind us, a branch snapped.

Loud. Sharp. Close.

Kael turned instantly, his hand reaching for the knife at his belt. Zayn’s body shifted forward, tense and ready, placing himself

between me and the sound.

“Don’t move,” Kael said, voice low.

I didn’t. Couldn’t,

Another sound followed–closer this time. A step.

“Someone’s out there,” Zayn muttered.

Kael’s grip tightened on the knife. “Not someone.”

I swallowed hard. “Then what?”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The look on his face said enough.

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Chapter 166

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Zayn’s eyes scanned the trees, sharp, searching. His breathing stayed even, steady–controlled. “Three of them,” he said finally, so

soft I almost didn’t catch it.

Kael’s jaw flexed. “How do you know?”

“I can smell them.”

Kael moved first, his voice quick and quiet. “We can’t fight blind. Keep to the left. There’s a break in the trees–we’ll move toward

that.”

Zayn nodded once, no argument this time. He reached back and grabbed my hand, his grip firm. “Stay with me,” he said.

I barely had time to nod before the shadows moved again.

Fast.

Figures burst from the trees–dark shapes, eyes glinting in the weak light. They weren’t fully human, but not beasts either.

Something in between.

Kael shoved me back, blade flashing as one lunged for him. Zayn yanked me behind him, his body twisting as claws slashed the air

where I’d been standing.

The forest exploded with sound–snarls, shouts, the thud of bodies hitting dirt.

And for the first time since Seraphina’s voice whispered in my head, understood exactly what she meant.

They’d found me.

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