The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 19

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It had been nearly two weeks since I made that call.

The last time I heard from my parents–the people who raised me, anyway–was that day. A single conversation, sharp and shattering, like a stone thrown through stained glass. Since then, their texts had piled up like unanswered questions, buzzing silently on my phone

screen. I hadn’t replied to any of them. Not once.

I didn’t know if it was anger keeping me silent… or fear.

Maybe both.

All I knew was that I didn’t have the strength to open that door again. Not yet.

The teacher–the one who’d cornered me after class and told me I didn’t belong here–was still watching me. I caught her looking sometimes. Always from across the room. Always too still. Too quiet.

She’d spoken to the warden shortly after our conversation. I knew because he told me, though he didn’t say what she’d asked or how suspicious she’d become. He’d kept our deal–he didn’t give her anything solid. Only that I had a right to stay. That I wasn’t to be

removed. Not yet.

That was enough to shut her up. For now.

As for me?

I trained.

Every morning before class, the girls dragged me out of bed and into the cold, unforgiving wood

We ran.

ademy grounds

We fought.

We sparred until my muscles screamed and my lungs felt like fire in my chest.

At first, I thought I was going to die.

They were werewolves–stronger, faster, and more durable than I could ever hope to be. And me? Just a human. Or… something wearing

the skin of one.

Whatever I was, it was still locked inside me. Dormant. Sleeping.

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Even when I bled

Even when thven knocked the wind out of me and Selene told me I moved like a frightened to

Because I had to be ready.

After school, I practically lived in the library.

Hour after hour, combing through books that reeked of old paper and dust and forgotten stories. I read everything I could get my harde on–tomes on suppressed memories, magical wards, shapeshifters, fae bloodlines, concealed identities, and eves ancient progres had nothing to do with me but still made my heart race.

I was hunting a ghost in a forest of myths.

And still–no answers.

Just more questions.

Who had left me on that bridge? Why was my memory erased?

Was I running from something… or had someone been hiding me on purpose?

What did I see?

What did I know?

Or worse–what was I that needed to be buried so completely?

Sometimes, I let the darker thoughts creep in.

Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be found.

Maybe I wasn’t meant to survive.

I couldn’t sleep. Not really.

The dreams were getting stronger now.

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Chapter 19

Vague images at first–mist and cold stone and who

But lately, they felt more like memories.

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language I didn’t know.

A woman with silver eyes. A man’s voice calling me by a different name. A fire. A scream. A hand pulling me back.

I woke up drenched in sweat, my breath ragged, heart racing like I’d run for miles.

Food felt like ash in my mouth. I picked at my meals, pushing food around my tray while Mira gave me side–eyes and muttered about calories and collapsing from exhaustion. But I couldn’t bring myself to care.

I didn’t tell them everything. Not yet. Not about the dreams.

But I knew they suspected. They always did.

And then there was the book.

The girls and I were searching for the spell–the one that would unlock the book Warden showed me. The same day he told me everything. That he knew who I was. Or rather, who I wasn’t. That I had no memories before the age of ten. That the people who raised me weren’t really my parents, just kind strangers who had found me abandoned.

The book had been sealed shut with an ancient spell, its surface marked by sigils that shimmered faintly whenever touched, as if the magic inside still breathed. Whatever was locked within its pages, it was clear someone had gone to great lengths to keep it hidden.

And so far? We had found nothing. No clue, no spell, not even a whisper of the kind of magic strong enough to bind something like that.

Deep down, I knew it was naïve to think the answer would be sitting on a shelf in the Academy library, catalogued like any other dusty volume. A spell that old, that secret – it would be hidden. Guarded. Buried in places students weren’t meant to go. If it still existed at all..

I exhaled and snapped the book shut harder than I meant to. The sharp thud echoed through the glances I didn’t return.

Tibrary, drawing a few

Enough research for today.

I pushed the heavy chair back and stood, stretching my legs for the first time in hours. The scent of old parchment and candle wax clung to my clothes, the library air thick and stale. I gathered the stack of books I’d combed through–most useless, some vaguely interesting- and returned them one by one to their shelves.

Dinner before curfew. That was the plan. I hadn’t eaten since a single piece of toast this morning, and even that felt like a lifetime ago. My thoughts were fried, my eyes gritty from reading too long in dim light. Maybe food would help. Maybe not.

I turned toward the exit, fingers trailing the edge of a bookshelf–only to stop cold.

Zayn.

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Chapter 19

He stood there, hall hidden in the shadows betw

Crossed and jaw set hard.

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I hadn’t spoken to him since that day. The day the warde

wed me the hook. The day Zayn told me he’d protect me and I told him

not to. That I didn’t need protection of pity. Especially not from him.

ite must’ve gotten the message, because he hasn’t come near me since.

Until now.

I didn’t say anything. Just stared, one brow lifted, daring him to speak first.

“I know you said you don’t need my help, but-”

“Yes. I said that. And I meant it.”

He tilted his head, watching me like he was measuring something. “Can you just… let me finish?”

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The Human Among Wolves

Chapter 20