The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 323

Chapter 323

He froze.

Not completely-but enough.

Enough that my stomach twisted.

“You said you didn’t know what I was talking about,” I continued softly.

tell me why your face just did that.”

“She’s dead,” he said immediately.

“I thought so too,” I replied quietly. “Until she came to me.”

His brows knitted together. “What are you talking about?”

“She appeared in my dream,” I said. “She was hurt. Weak. Barely holding on. But she was alive.”

“That’s not possible,” he said, shaking his head. “If Seraphina were alive, someone would know.”

“She didn’t come to everyone,” I said. “She came to me.”

He stared at me, searching my face, like he was trying to decide whether finally snapped.

“She told me what happened to her,” I continued. “Who took her. Why. And what she heard while she was being held.”

His jaw tightened. “Aurora-”

“She heard him talking,” I said, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. “Talking about me.”

He went still.

“She heard him speak to someone else,” I added. “Someone he trusted. Someone close.”

His lips parted slightly. “You think that was me.’

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“I don’t think,” I said. “Your name was mentioned.”

Silence crashed between us.

Not panic. Not denial.

Just tension-tight, stretched thin.

“That’s impossible,” he said finally. “If she was alive… if she really spoke to you-” He stopped himself. “You’re being manipulated.”

“Or,” I said softly, “you didn’t expect her to survive long enough to warn me.”

Kael’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and then he shook his head quickly, like trying to dislodge the thought I had just accused him

III

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“I-no,” he said, voice low, measured, but not defensive. “Aurora, I swear… had nothing to do with him. I never… I wouldn’t-”

“You wouldn’t?” I interrupted sharply, my hands balling into fists at my silles. “Kael, you don’t understand! I trusted you! I thought-” My voice cracked, but I swallowed hard, forcing it back down. “I thought you were…someone I could rely on.”

He took a step closer, but I didn’t flinch this time. “I know,” he said quietly, almost painfully. “I know you trusted me. And I didn’t… I haven’t done anything to betray you. Not like that.”

I wanted to shout. I wanted to throw every word I’d been holding in for days at him.

“Then why? Why all the secrecy? Why the strange behavior? Why do I feel like I don’t even know who you are?”

He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. For a second, he looked. vulnerable. “I didn’t want you to see this side of me,” he admitted. “Not yet. You think I’m playing some game with you… that I’m working with him-but I’m not. I’ve been trying to protect you. That’s all.”

“Protect me?” I echoed, disbelief and fury twisting together. “By lying? By hiding everything? By-by acting like a friend while… while keeping

me in the dark about who you really are?”

He flinched at the accusation, but his voice stayed calm, deliberate. “You think I’ve been lying, but not everything is black and white. Some

things… I can’t explain yet. I haven’t betrayed you, Aurora. I’d never betray you.”

I let out a sharp, bitter laugh, shaking my head. “You know what’s worse than betrayal?” I whispered, voice raw. “It’s trust… wasted. And I don’t

know if I can take that anymore.”

Kael’s jaw tightened, his expression unreadable for a moment. Then he spoke, slowly, carefully, choosing every word like it might tip the scales.

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