The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Aurora

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Zayn tossed his empty cup onto the table and leaned back in the char again, head tipped against the wall. He looked exhausted, but

not the kind sleep could fix.

Kael stood, stretched his shoulders once, then checked the bolt on the door again like it might have undone itself in the last five

minutes.

It hadn’t.

He moved to the window, cupping a hand around his face to peer out “Still the same.”

“Shocking,” Zayn muttered.

I pushed myself up and went to the other window, staying a step back like Kael had told me before. Outside, nothing had changed.

The trees looked painted on–no wind, no sway, no movement. The mist hovered low and still, like it had been frozen mid–creep.

My reflection watched me from the glass. Pale. Tired. Eyes shadowed. For a second, I could’ve sworn my reflection blinked half a

beat slower than I did.

I stepped away.

“So.” My voice sounded too loud in the small space. “We can’t get out. We can’t call anyone. We can’t open the door. And magic is

apparently eavesdropping through the pendant.”

Kael glanced at the pendant. “Don’t take it off.”

“Why?” I asked. “If it’s listening-”

“Because it reacted to the mimic,” he said. “And to the witch. Whateer spell this is, that thing is tuned into it.”

My fingers curled around the metal through my shirt, the cold weigh of it somehow both comforting and unnerving.

Zayn shifted in his chair, elbows on his knees. He looked tired and wired at the same time. “What if this isn’t about the cabin?” he

said suddenly.

Kael glanced over. “What do you mean?”

Zayn shrugged, eyes on the floor. “We keep assuming this place is the center. Witch lived here, spell originates here, mimic shows

up here. But what if the cabin’s just… caught in it? Like we are.”

Kael frowned. “You think the anchor is somewhere else.”

“I think whoever ‘he‘ is,” Zayn said, the word razor–sharp, “he’s not stupid enough to put his leash where we can reach it.”

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Chapter 178

He wants her alive. The half–blood belongs to him.

The words crawled over my skin like frost.

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“So we’re not just stuck in some random witch’s trap,” I said, throat dry. “We’re stuck in something someone else set up. For me.”

Kael rubbed a hand over his jaw, the faint scrape of stubble loud in the quiet. “Spells like this need fuel. It’ll drain the easiest

source first. Fear. Panic. Confusion.”

“So it wants us scared,” I said.

“Yeah,” Zayn replied. “Congratulations. It’s doing great.”

Kael let out a slow breath. “We wait. We don’t feed it more than necessary. We stay awake in shifts, conserve strength. When

something changes, we move.”

“And if nothing changes?” I asked.

He looked at me for a long moment. “Something always does.”

That didn’t feel reassuring.

The hours–if they could even be called that–blurred after that. We tried not to talk about the knock, or the voice, or the way the shadow under the door had stretched like oil. Kael took to pacing the perimeter of the cabin, pausing every now and then to press his palm flat against the wood, like he could feel the magic seeping through.

Zayn alternated between the chair and the wall near the door, knife either in his hand or within reach. His eyes kept drifting to me, then away, like he was still pissed at himself for saying as much as he had earlier.

Every now and then, the lantern would flicker for no reason.

Once, the fire flared high on its own, then dropped back down to a low burn.

None of us commented on it.

The hunger came back in waves–sharp, then dull, then sharp again. ly stomach clenched and unclenched like it couldn’t decide whether to complain or conserve. My head ached, and a light buzzing had settled behind my eyes.

At some point, I sank down by the hearth and wrapped my arms around my knees. My body felt heavy, my thoughts slow and

unfocused.

“Try to sleep,” Kael said quietly. He’d gone back to sitting near the door, legs stretched out, knife resting beside him.

I shook my head. “I don’t think I can.”

“You did earlier.”

“Yeah. And woke up still in the same nightmare.”

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Chapter 178

Zayn’s voice drifted over from the window. “Sleep anyway.”

I looked over. He was watching me now, not the trees. Something in

down.

“If you crash standing up.” he added, “I’m not catching you.”

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