The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 261

Chapter 261

Cecilia

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The forest seems to be holding its breath along with us. I can feel the tension humming through the air, skittering over my skin like static. My grip tightens on the frostbloom without me meaning it to. The blade hangs loose at my side–not raised, not hidden.

Honest.

Theron’s eyes drop to it anyway.

“You won’t win,” he says calmly. Not a threat. A fact. “Not if you try

“I didn’t come here to fight,” I answer. “And I don’t intend to start now.”

He huffs out a quiet, almost–laugh.

“Witches always say that.”

“And wolves always assume the worst,” I shoot back.

That earns me a sharper look. His gaze rakes over me openly now–taking in my stance, the way my weight is balanced on the balls

of my feet, the way the air bends just slightly around my shoulders. He sees it. He’d have to be blind not to.

“All four,” he murmurs before he seems to realize he’s spoken aloud.

I stiffen. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His mouth curves, slow and knowing. “I know exactly what I’m looking at.”

For a moment, irritation flares hot and bright in my chest–fire reacting to being seen. I tamp it down quickly, letting water smooth

it out, letting earth settle my spine. I will not lose control here. Not in front of him.

“I’m leaving,” I say, shifting my weight back a step. “I have what I came for.”

Theron mirrors the movement instantly, blocking the narrow path behind me without even seeming to try. It’s infuriating how

effortless it is.

“No,” he says. “You’re not.”

My jaw tightens. “You just said it yourself. I can’t win.”

His eyes flash. “That doesn’t mean I’ll let you walk out of my territory with something you took.”

“I didn’t steal it,” I snap. “The plant grows wild. It doesn’t belong to you.”

“It grows on my land,” he counters. “That makes it mine.”

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Chapter 261

I let out a slow breath through my nose.

“Then your land is going to be responsible for what happens when my coven runs out of ward tonics.”

He tilts his head slightly. “That’s not my problem.”

“It becomes your problem when the wards fail,” I say quietly. “When whatever you think those wards are keeping out starts

wandering closer to your borders.”

That gives him pause. Just a fraction of a second–but I see it. I always see it. Earth doesn’t lie. Air carries truth whether people

want it to or not.

“You’re lying,” he says, though there’s less certainty in his voice now

“I don’t need to,” I reply. “And I don’t bluff.”

Silence stretches again. Somewhere deeper in the woods, a branch creaks. A bird startles and then goes still.

Theron exhales, sharp and controlled. “You could have sent an emissary.”

“We did,” I say. “Three winters ago. Your people chased her back bleeding.”

His expression darkens. “Then she crossed farther than she should have.”

“Like I did,” I say evenly.

He doesn’t deny it.

For a long moment, he just watches me. Close enough now that I can see the faint scars across his knuckles, the tension coiled in

his shoulders like he’s perpetually braced for a fight. He smells like pine and iron and something wild beneath it all.

“You’re reckless,” he says finally.

“Coming from a man who shifts naked in front of strangers?” I arch brow.

That does it.

A sharp, surprised laugh breaks from him before he can stop it. It’s brief–gone almost as soon as it appears–but it changes

something. The edge dulls, just slightly.

“Watch your mouth, witch,” he says, though there’s a glint of something almost amused in his eyes now.

“Then watch your borders,” I return.

Another pause.

Then, abruptly, he steps aside.

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Chapter 261

The path behind him opens.

“You have until sundown,” he says. “Be gone from the eastern woods by then.”

I blink, genuinely caught off guard. “That’s it?”

“Don’t mistake mercy for weakness,” he warns. “If I see you here again without permission, I won’t be this generous.”

I nod once. “Understood.”

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I take one step back. Then another. I don’t turn my back on him–no until the trees thicken between us and I’m sure he’s not

following.

Only then do I let myself breathe.

The walk back feels longer.

Every sound makes me tense. Every shift of shadow draws my attention. I keep my magic close, coiled and ready, but nothing else

comes for me. No wolves. No warnings. Just the steady rhythm of my boots against the forest floor.