The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 176

Chapter 176

Aurora

The knock came again.

Soft. Three times.

Not frantic, not forceful–just patient.

We froze.

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Kael turned first, every muscle in his back coiled tight. “Don’t move,” he said quietly.

Zayn had already drawn his knife, the blade catching a glint of firelight.

A fourth knock. Louder.

Then-

“Aurora?”

My blood ran cold.

It was Mira’s voice.

Warm. Familiar. Exactly right.

“Mira?” I whispered before I could stop myself.

Zayn shot me a look sharp enough to cut. “Don’t,” he hissed.

But it sounded so real.

The tone, the way she drew out my name–like she always did when she was half–annoyed, half–worried,

“Aurora, it’s me,” the voice called again, softer now. “It’s freezing out here. Please, open the door.”

Kael stepped between me and the sound, his hand gripping the hilt of his knife. “That’s not her,” he said, low and certain.

My heart pounded. “You don’t know that. Maybe the spell broke. Maybe they found us.”

Zayn shook his head, eyes never leaving the door. “No one could’ve tracked us this deep. No one knows where the cabin is. Except

us.”

Then the voice again–closer, like her mouth was pressed right against the wood.

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Chapter 176

“Rory, please. I know you’re in there.”

She even used the nickname. My nickname.

The sound of my pulse filled my ears. “How could it know that?” I whispered.

Kael didn’t answer. He motioned silently for Zayn to take the left side of the door while he took the right.

“Maybe she tried calling,” I said, my voice shaking. “Maybe the signal came through now-

Zayn’s voice cut through, flat and calm. “Don’t rationalize it.”

“But it sounds like her.”

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He turned his head, eyes meeting mine in the dim light. “That’s what it wants.”

Silence again.

Then Mira’s voice cracked, trembling, like she was crying.

“Rory, I swear it’s me. Please. Something’s out here.”

I took a step forward before I even realized it. Kael’s arm shot out, stopping me cold.

“Don’t,” he said, his voice steel.

My throat felt tight. “She sounds scared.”

Zayn’s expression didn’t change, but I heard the edge of something in his tone–fear, maybe, or fury at what he already knew. “Ask her something,” he said quietly. “Something only Mira would know.”

Kael nodded once. “Do it.”

I swallowed. My palms were slick with sweat. “What did you say to me the first night I moved into the dorms?”

Silence.

Then Mira’s voice came again, perfectly smooth.

“I said your side of the room smelled like pine and nerves.”

My heart clenched.

That was exactly what she said.

Kael’s jaw tightened. Zayn’s eyes flicked to him, uncertain for the first time.

My throat tightened. “It’s her,” I said, barely above a whisper.

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Chapter 176

Zayn’s eyes didn’t waver. “No. It’s not.”

“How could it know that?”

Kael moved toward the latch slowly, deliberately. “It’s trying to get us to open it. That’s all this is.”

The voice came again, urgent now. “Please, Rory. You know me. You now me.”

I shook my head, half in denial, half in hope. “It sounds just like her

Zayn’s voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s the point.”

Kael raised a hand, motioning for silence.

For a moment, there was nothing. Just our breathing and the faint pop of the fire.

Then-

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A soft scrape.

Like nails dragging slowly down the wood.

The sound crawled up my spine.

Kael moved closer to the door, careful, his hand hovering near his knife. “Back away,” he said quietly.

“I just want to come in,” the voice said again.Only this time, it didn sound like Mira. It sounded like someone trying to remember

how Mira should sound.

The tone warped mid–sentence, stretching, cracking, too high before snapping back into place.

Zayn’s fingers brushed my wrist–his way of keeping me still. “It’s mimicking,” he whispered.

I stared at the door, heart pounding. “Then what do we do?”

“We wait,” Kael said.

Outside, the voice started to hum.

A low, tuneless sound that made the air in the room vibrate.

It went on for too long.

Then, in perfect rhythm, it said again-

“Aurora. Open. The. Door.”

Kael’s hand twitched toward the bolt, but he stopped himself.

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