The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Zayn

Eventually, I swiped the screen and lifted the phone to my ear. My throat felt tight, the word catching on the way out.

“H–hello?”

I cursed myself instantly for the stammer, for letting him hear weakness in my voice.

“Took you long enough,” came the reply–low, smooth, and cutting as ever. Zade.

The sound of his voice dropped into my stomach like ice water. I sat frozen, waiting for him to continue, for some explanation, for the blow I knew was coming. But silence stretched, thick and deliberate, the kind he always used to make me speak first.

My tongue felt heavy, but I forced the words out. “Is… something wrong?”

A pause. Then, with a weight that made my pulse quicken: “Depends.”

Of course. Never a straight answer. I clenched my jaw, rolling my eyes at the ceiling even though he couldn’t see me. Every second he dragged it out was intentional–he wanted me uneasy, cornered, small. And yet, I knew better than to argue. I’d learned that lesson a long

time ago.

I drew in a breath, keeping my tone as even as I could manage. “Depends on what?”

His voice sharpened, all the pretense of patience gone. “If Charlotte is still your mate.”

The words hit like a strike to the ribs. My grip tightened around the phone until my knuckles ached.

Oh.

So that was it.

A bitter laugh almost escaped me, but it stuck in my throat. Of course. That bitch. She must’ve run straight to him–straight to Father- the moment I rejected her. Maybe she’d been planning it all along, waiting for me to slip. Maybe that sweet little act she always put on was just a mask, and the second I gave her an opening, she’d slipped the knife in my back.

She knew. She knew exactly what this would mean for me.

And she did it anyway.

“She called the King?” The question scraped out of me before I could stop it, low, almost a whisper. I pushed myself off the bed so quickly the springs groaned, pacing across the room because sitting still suddenly felt impossible.

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Chapter 33

Monik

Now

Zade, the parted to the wire sin a the

1 clenched my is, foreing the word out when they red at eg if it

Silence pressed down, thick and suffocating. My paise thundered in my ears as I grigned the edgy of me

“Charlotte is no longer my mate.” I said finally

The silence stretched. Stretched until it became unbearable, until I swore I could hear the faint end of my men weath

me through the line. Waiting. Judging.

And still–Zade said nothing.

The line was so quiet, I started to wonder if he’d hung up. I almost pulled the phone away from my ear to check when his through at last–low, deliberate, and colder than winter steel.

“I see.”

Two words. That was all. But they were heavy enough to sink me.

My grip on the desk tightened until my nails bit into the wood. “Zade…” I hated how unsteady my voice sounded, how small it let next

his.

He ignored it, or maybe he just didn’t care. “You do understand what this means, don’t you?” His tone was calm, too calm, and that was worse than if he’d been shouting. “The King does not take kindly to… disobedience.”

A muscle in my jaw twitched. I swallowed hard, tasting something bitter. “It wasn’t disobedience hollow that sounded. “It was a choice. My choice.”

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