The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 210

Chapter 210

Zayn

She didn’t look at me again.

༥ ཊཱི84%t

Not when she stepped back.

Not when she pulled in a breath that sounded like it hurt.

Not when she turned toward the small pile of her clothes neatly folded on the chair.

I stayed where I was–hands at my sides, jaw locked, every muscle drawn tight with the effort not to reach for her. The room felt like it was shrinking, like all the oxygen was being pulled out of it with her.

She moved quietly, quickly.

Peeling off my hoodie.

Pulling on her shirt with trembling hands.

Stepping into her jeans.

Her hair fell forward as she bent to tie her shoes, and something in my chest cracked in a way that was almost physical. Because she looked… small. Tired. Like the weight of everything I’d thrown at he was settling on her shoulders all at once.

And I caused it.

I did this to her.

When she finally straightened, she didn’t say another word. She didn’t have to–the space between us already told me she was retreating, shutting down before her emotions could betray her.

She reached for the door.

My beast snarled inside me, sharp and vicious, shoving against my ribs at the sight of her leaving. It wanted her close, wanted her scent in this room, on my skin, in my lungs. Wanted her next to me where it believed she belonged.

I swallowed it down. Hard.

She needed space.

She asked.

I heard her.

I wasn’t going to be the reason she felt trapped.

O

1/5

12:21 Thu, Jan 29 BGG.

Chapter 210

Still… watching her walk out was its own kind of agony.

ས ཟྭ 84%༎

Her hand touched the doorknob. Her shoulders rose–just a little–as if she were steadying herself. Preparing for something heavier

than a walk down the hall.

Then she opened the door and left.

The click of the latch closing behind her felt like someone drove a blade straight between my ribs.

For a long moment, I just stood there.

Breathing.

Or trying to.

The air felt thick, useless.

I moved without thinking, sitting on the edge of the bed because my legs didn’t feel steady enough to keep me upright. The mattress dipped under my weight, still warm from where she’d been wrapped in the blankets minutes earlier.

Her scent lingered–tea, lavender, something soft and unmistakably her. It wrapped around me like the ghost of a touch I wasn’t

allowed to feel.

My hands braced on my knees, head dropping forward as I forced in slow, controlled breaths. The beast inside me paced, restless, hating every inch of space between us. Its agitation pressed against my spine, my chest, like claws dragging along the inside of my

ribs.

She asked for space.

She needs time.

Let her go.

But logic didn’t make it easier.

I dragged a hand down my face and let out a slow, unsteady breath.

She was overwhelmed–of course she was. I’d given her too much, too fast.

And now she had to carry it.

Alone.

The thought made something inside me twist painfully.

I glanced toward the door, half expecting–half hoping–she might come back. She didn’t.

The room felt wrong without her in it. Too quiet. Too still. Like every sound had been sucked out with her last step.

<

2/5

12:21 Thu, Jan 29 BGB.

Chapter 210

ས 84%

My gaze dropped to the nightstand, to the place where her mug sat empty. Her fingers had been wrapped around it minutes ago, knuckles white, trying to make sense of everything I’d confessed.

I reached out and picked it up.

It was still warm.

I closed my eyes, just for a moment, letting the warmth seep into my palm as if it anchored me to something real. Something hers.

The beast inside me huffed, low and agitated, but quieter than before. Like holding the mug was the closest thing it could get to

holding her.

“She just needs time,” I muttered under my breath. “Don’t fuck this up again.”

But the truth was, letting her walk away felt like prying open my own chest and handing her the pieces.

I leaned back, lying on the bed where she’d been minutes earlier, staring up at the ceiling. My hand rested over the spot where my

heart hammered too hard, too fast.

I had felt her since the beginning.

Before I even understood why.

And now… she was gone from the room, but every part of me still ached toward her.

Give her space, I reminded myself again.

It didn’t make it hurt any less.

But lying there didn’t help.

If anything, it made everything worse.

Because the second I closed my eyes, I saw her.

Her face when she said Zayn, we can’t.

Her hands shaking when she dressed.

The way she didn’t look back–not even once.

My throat tightened, something dark and helpless curling low in my stomach.

The beast inside me prowled, restless, pushing thoughts I didn’t want to entertain.

Go after her.

Find her.

3/5

12:21 Thu, Jan 29 BGB.

Chapter 210

She’s upset. She needs you.

But she didn’t.

84%

Not right now.

Not after everything I’d put on her shoulders tonight.

So I forced myself to stay still, even as every instinct in me screamed to do the opposite.

I sat up again, elbows on my knees, dragging in a slow breath. My fingers curled in the blanket she’d wrapped herself in earlier, pulling it closer like a pathetic attempt at keeping her near. Her warmth was fading from the fabric, but her scent clung stubbornly, threading through the cotton like it didn’t want to leave either.

My jaw clenched as a wave of frustration hit me–at myself, at my father, at the life I’d dragged her into without ever giving her a

choice.

I’d kept so many things from her thinking it would protect her.

Instead, all I did was blindside her.

Hurt her.

Again.

I leaned back against the wall, tipping my head until it thudded softly against the plaster. The impact didn’t hurt. I almost wished it

did.

A hollow silence settled over the ”

room. Outside the window, the campus grounds were quiet, covered in snow that reflected dim

grey light into the room. The cold seeped through the glass, but I barely felt it; my thoughts were too loud, too crowded with her.

I wondered where she was now.

Whether she was pacing her dorm room, shaking, overwhelmed.

Whether she was crying.

Whether she regretted asking me for time.

Whether she regretted hearing the truth at all.

The idea made something inside me twist sharply, hard enough that pressed a hand over my sternum like I could physically hold

the pain in place.

She wasn’t rejecting the bond.

Not yet.

4/5

12:21 Thu, Jan 29 BGB.

Chapter 210

Not ever, I hoped–though I had no right to hope for anything.

ཏྲཱ84%1

But she walked out of my room with her guard up and her heart spinning, and for the first time in a long time, I couldn’t read what

she wanted.

For the first time… I wasn’t sure if wanting her was enough.

I stared at the door again, the quiet stretching thin, and breathed her name into the empty room–soft enough that only my beast

heard it.

“Aurora…”

And then I waited.

Not because I thought she’d walk back in.

But because the truth was simple, brutal, and unavoidable:

Whatever happened next…

my world had already shifted around her.

And now all I could do was hope she came back before it shattered completely.