The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 183

Chapter 183

Aurora

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The air in the cabin felt different now–thicker somehow, full of things unsaid. Zayn still had Kael pressed against the wall, his

chest rising and falling in uneven bursts. The look in his eyes wasn’t just anger anymore; it was something older. Something like

disbelief curdled into fear.

Kael didn’t fight back. He just stood there, breathing steady, gaze fixed on the space over Zayn’s shoulder like he was remembering

something far away.

“Let go,” Kael said quietly.

Zayn didn’t move.

“I said-”

“I said,” Kael cut in, his voice low but sharp enough to slice the air, let go before you do something you’ll regret.”

Zayn’s jaw flexed. He hesitated, then shoved off him, hard enough to make Kael stumble a step but not fall. He turned away, running a hand through his hair, pacing in tight, restless lines.

“Start talking,” he muttered. “You throw something like that at me–you don’t get to stop halfway.”

Kael exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down his face. “It’s not my story to tell.”

Zayn turned on him, his voice cracking like thunder. “It sure as hell isn’t yours to hide, either.”

Kael looked at him for a long time. Then, finally, he spoke.

“When I was little–three, maybe–my father took me to your kingdom. Fenris and Velmoria were still… pretending to be allies back then. The kings traded favors. Promised loyalty they didn’t mean.” He paused, gaze distant, voice soft. “Your father was one of the

first men I ever remember fearing.”

Zayn said nothing.

Kael went on, slower this time. “We stayed in the palace for a week. My father met with him almost every night in that cursed study of his. I’d wake up to their voices–low, angry. Talking about things didn’t understand. Bloodlines. Experiments. Legacy.”

He swallowed, the muscle in his throat working. “One night, I woke up. My father wasn’t in the guest chambers. I went looking. Found him in the west wing–alone. Or I thought he was alone. Then I heard a sound.” His eyes unfocused slightly, the words coming slower now, quieter. “A woman. Screaming. Not from pain. From rage. I’d never heard something like that from a human throat. My father found me listening, dragged me away before I could see her, but I remember what he said later. That your father

was keeping something he couldn’t destroy.”

Zayn frowned. “Something?”

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12:17 Thu, Jan 29 BG B

Chapter 183

Kael looked at him. “Your mother.”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

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Zayn blinked once, slow. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

Kael’s mouth twisted d into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “I know exactly what I’m saying.”

“I told you–she died when she birthed me,” Zayn said, the words too sharp, too quick.

Kael’s laugh was quiet and bitter, not mocking, just tired. “That’s what he wanted everyone to believe.”

I stood frozen, watching them like the walls might collapse if I breathed too loud. “Kael…” I said softly, but he didn’t look at me.

His gaze stayed locked on Zayn’s.

“Years later, when I was still living in Fenris, I overheard the Dominion guards talking. One said the queen had escaped again. The

other said not to worry–she’d been caught before sunrise.” Kael said “That was ten years after her supposed death.”

Zayn froze.

My stomach twisted. The fire popped, too loud in the silence.

Kael’s voice softened, just a fraction. “I’m not saying she’s alive now. But your father buried her somewhere no one would find her.

And he made damn sure no one ever spoke her name again.”

Zayn’s grip fell away completely. He

Mapped back, breathing hard, eyes glassy like he wasn’t really seeing either of us anymore.

“You’re lying,” he said, but his voice broke halfway through the word

Kael didn’t answer.

“I said “Zayn started, but the sound died in his throat. He turned suddenly, shoving past the chair, past me, toward the door. His

boots thudded heavy against the floorboards.

“Zayn, don’t-” I started, but he was already wrenching the door open. The cold night air slammed into the cabin, thick with mist.

Kael caught my wrist before I could follow. “Let him go,” he said quietly.

“Kael, it’s not safe out there-”

“He won’t listen right now. He needs to break something before he can think again.”

The door slammed behind Zayn, and the sound of it echoed like thunder in the still cabin.

I turned back to Kael, heart pounding. “You shouldn’t have told him like that.”

He gave a short, humorless laugh. “There’s no good way to tell someone their father’s a monster.”

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