The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 23

Zayn

I just stood there, watching her disappear down the dim hallway, her boots clicking against the stone in a steady beat that was driving me

nuts

She didn’t even look back.

Not once.

My jaw tightened, the words she’d thrown at me still ringing in my head.

Your mate.

Like it was a curse. Like that was all I was. All I’d ever be.

If she had any idea…

I blew out a slow breath, forcing my fingers to unclench. The warmth of her skin still lingered against my palm where I’d grabbed her. I’d meant to stop her, to make her understand that she didn’t have to do this alone–but she pulled away like I’d burned her.

Charlotte’s name on her lips had been the final nail. If she believed what everyone else believed… maybe it was better she kept her

distance.

2

Maybe.

But then I thought of the Tower. Of the cold press of shadows, the whispering thing that should not exist, and the way she’d looked at me

when we found that spell–like maybe, just maybe, she trusted me.

And that thought burned hotter than her anger.

The ancient book’s sigils still flickered behind my eyes. Filis umbrae et silentii. I hadn’t told her everything–couldn’t. Not yet. Not until I

was sure.

Because if I was right… this wasn’t just a fragment of a binding spell.

It was part of something much, much older.

Something dangerous enough to make even my father keep it buried.

I turned toward my own dorm, steps slow, thoughts faster.

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0:09 Thu, Jan 20

Chapter 23

She thought she didn’t need me,

She had no idea how wrong she was.

I was halfway to my dorm, still lost in the echo of my own thoughts, when movement in the corridor ahead pulled me up sheart.

She stepped out from the shadows like she’d been waiting. Her hair was perfectly in place–it always was–but there was a shergest in her eyes I’d seen too many times before.

I exhaled, long and tired. Not now. “What are you doing here? It’s almost two in the morning.”

Her gaze swept over me from head to toe, slow and deliberate.

“I should be asking you that,” she shot back. “Where the hell were you after curfew?”

I rubbed a hand over my face. “Charlotte… just stop. Please.”

“Stop?” she echoed, voice climbing. “I’m your girlfriend, Zayn. I deserve to know where you’ve been at two in the fucking morning

Something in me snapped. The restraint I’d been holding onto–the patience I’d been forcing for months–burned away.

“No,” I said quietly, but there was steel under it. “You’re not my girlfriend. You’re the person my father tied me to. Forced me to maer.

That’s it. And I’m done.”

2

Her lips parted, but I didn’t give her the chance to cut in. “I don’t care that my father will probably kill me for this. I don’t care what it does to the alliance. I can’t keep pretending.”

Her face paled. “Zayn, don’t-”

But I was already saying it. “I, Zayn Duskbane, Prince of the Velmoria Kingdom, reject you, Charlot

Kingdom, as my mate.”

2

Princess of the Moordusk

The words hit the air like a blade. I felt them leave me–felt the severing–and for the first time in

eased.

weight around my chest

Tears welled in her eyes, slipping down her cheeks unchecked. The sight should’ve hurt. Maybe once, it would have. But not anymore.

“Your turn,” I said, voice flat, cold as the stone walls around us.

For a heartbeat, Charlotte just stared at me, frozen. The tears on her cheeks caught the dim corridor light, but the tremble in her jaw

wasn’t grief.

It was fury.

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0:09 Thu Jan 29

Chapter 23

She laughed short, breathless, disbelieving. “You

voice dropped low, trembling not from pain but!

Zayn?”

y? That you can just say the words and walk away from me?” Isr

to hold herself back. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done,

I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to.

Her hands curled into fists at her sides, nails biting into her palms until her knuckles whitened. “You’ll regret this,” she whispered, and the way she said it wasn’t a threat–it was a promise.

I kept my expression flat. “Your turn.” I repeated.

Her lips pressed together so tightly they blanched, and for a second I thought she’d refuse. But then she stepped closer, so close I could

smell the faint sweetness of her perfume undercut by the sharpness of her rage.

“I, Charlotte Aeloria, Princess of the Moordusk Kingdom…” She paused, her eyes boring into mine like she wanted to carve my name into

her memory with a blade. “…reject you, Zayn Duskbane, Prince of the Velmoria Kingdom, as my mate.”

The bond between us snapped like a cord pulled too tight. I felt it tear away, the last threads of forced connection dissolving into

nothing.

Her tears stopped as abruptly as they’d started. She smiled–slow, cold, poisonous. “Enjoy your freedom, Zayn. You have no idea what it’s

going to cost you.”

She brushed past me, her shoulder clipping mine hard enough to jar me, and walked away without looking back.

I stayed still, listening to the sound of her heels fade into the dark. But the silence that followed didn’t feel empty – it felt aware.

Watching.

Charlotte wasn’t going to let this go. Not now. Not ever.

And I knew with bone–deep certainty exactly where her wrath would land first.

I didn’t move for a while after Charlotte disappeared, The echo of her words clung to the air, he is pulled from the skin.

ke the sting after a blade

Finally, I turned toward my dorm. My steps were slow and measured, not because I was tired–though I was–but because the halls felt different now. Every shadow seemed to follow me. Every creak in the old stone made me glance over my shoulder.

By the time I reached my door, the clock on the wall down the corridor read 2:32 a.m. Way past curfew. Not that it mattered–my father’s name meant I could get away with more than most here. Still, the academy was always quieter at this hour. Too quiet.

I slipped inside, shutting the door with a soft click. The room was dark, but I didn’t bother with the light. My bed was an unmade mess in the corner, blankets tangled from the last night I’d barely slept.

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0:09 Thu, Jan 29 –

Chapter 23

Dropping onto the mattress, I dragged a hand ove about–it was the way she’d meant every word.

I should warn Aurora.

But she wouldn’t believe me. Not now.

shake the memory of Charlotte’s smile. It wasn’t her i was worried

My head hit the pillow, the stiffness of the sheets grounding me just enough to let my eyes close.

Sleep didn’t come easy. When it did, it was thick and restless.

Comments

RVisitor

thoroughly enjoying the read so far. the locked chapters is very annoying.

1 days ago

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