The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 204

The Human Among Wolves

Chapter 204

Aurora

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He immediately shot forward, panic slicing through his expression as he reached for me. One hand wrapped around my shoulder

while the other started patting–no, thumping–at my back like he was trying to resuscitate me through sheer force.

“Breathe–Rory–hey–slow down–shit-”

His voice kept tripping over itself, rising with every second I kept coughing.

My eyes watered, my throat burned, and I was pretty sure my soul briefly left my body out of pure embarrassment. It felt like

forever before the coughing finally eased, tapering off into a rough, shaky exhale.

I slumped back against the pillows, chest heaving, hair a mess, face burning hot. Zayn hovered over me like he was ready to perform

some dramatic medical intervention if I so much as wheezed again.

I wiped my eyes, glaring at him between breaths.

“If you’re gonna say some shit like that,” I rasped, still trying to get air back into my lungs, “you could at least give me a heads up.”

For a second, he just stared–wide–eyed, tense–then a slow, disbelieving laugh slipped out of him. Not mocking. Not amused. Just relieved. Like the sound of someone who’d genuinely feared I was about to collapse.

“Okay,” he murmured, dragging a hand down his face. “Noted. Warn Aurora before dropping life–altering revelations.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. “That’d be nice.”

He watched me quietly after that–really watched me–like he was trying to memorize every blink, every breath, every second of me recovering. There was something raw in his expression, something unguarded and painfully tender.

He reached out, slower this time, thumb brushing the corner of my mouth where a drop of tea had escaped.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said softly.

“You didn’t scare me,” I lied. “You just made me choke on hot tea and reconsider my entire existence. Big difference.”

His lips twitched. “Baby…”

But I lifted a hand, stopping him.

“No. You don’t get to ‘baby‘ me right now. Not after that.”

His laugh was quiet–almost silent–but real. And when it faded, the room felt heavier, warmer, tighter around us.

Because now that I wasn’t dying…

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12:20 Thu, Jan 29 BG B.

Chapter 204

I finally had the space to actually process what he’d said.

Fated mate.

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My heart thudded once. Twice. Hard enough to hear.

“Zayn,” I whispered, voice still hoarse. “Explain.”

“Okay,” he said immediately–like he’d been waiting for me to ask, like the words were already balanced on the edge of his tongue.

His posture softened, shoulders loosening just a fraction as he scooted closer on the mattress, keeping his voice low.

“You probably don’t feel it yet,” he murmured, “because your wolf is still… quiet. Hidden. But I do, Rory.”

His eyes flicked to mine–dark, steady, painfully honest.

“I feel everything you feel.”

A breath hitched in my chest.

He continued, tone soft but unwavering, like he’d rehearsed this truth in silence a hundred times.

“When you’re sad, I feel it.”

His fingers brushed the blanket near my knee, not touching me–just close.

“When you’re anxious.”

He swallowed, jaw tightening.

“When you’re happy. When something scares you. Even when you’re trying to hide something from me.”

My throat tightened.

“And it started that night,” he added–quieter now, like the memory was a fragile thing he was scared to touch too roughly.

I knew exactly which night he meant.

His room.

His breath against my skin.

The kind of closeness that tasted like forever even though neither of us said it out loud.

My pulse hammered, heat creeping up my neck.

He wasn’t looking away.

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12:21 Thu, Jan 29 G GG.

Chapter 204

Not from me.

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Not from the truth he’d dropped between us.

“That was the first time it hit,” Zayn admitted. “When I woke up, it felt like…” He exhaled shakily. “Like something in my chest had been locked my whole life, and suddenly it snapped open.”

I didn’t speak.

I couldn’t.

The room felt thick–like the air had weight, sinking into my lungs, heavy with things we’d both ignored for too long.

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