The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 343

Chapter 343

I swallowed hard.

I still couldn’t see.

That F**king thing was still over my eyes, cutting me off from everything light, no shapes, no sense of direction. fost derzees and cond and the crushing awareness of how completely trapped I was.

Forty-three minutes had passed since the car started moving.

I knew because I counted.

Every turn of the wheels. Every bump in the road that jarred my teeth tog her. Every stoplight, every pause that lingered at bay south for my hope to spike and die again. I marked time by motion, by sound, by the way the engine shifted under me, because it was the only thing

still had control over.

The car had turned left six times. Right four. One long stretch where the ad smoothed out and the speed picked up, followed by another stretch where the ride grew rough and uneven, like we’d left the main roads behind.

I memorized it all.

The men on either side of me hadn’t spoken a word. Their hands never losened, never shifted, fingers still locked around my wrists like restraints made of bone and muscle. Every time I breathed too deeply, one of them tightened his grip just a fraction-silent reminders that they were there, that they were watching even if I couldn’t see them.

The radio was on.

Low at first, almost easy to ignore, but the longer we drove the more it crawled under my skin. The same song played again. And again. And again. No change in rhythm. No break between tracks. Just a loop, relentles and monotonous.

It was in Russian.

That much, I was sure of. I didn’t understand the words, not a single one, but I recognized the rhythm, the harsh consonants and rolling sounds I’d heard earlier. The voice was male, deep, almost hypnotic in its repetition, like it was meant to wear you down rather than entertain

you.

1 hated it.

By the third replay, the melody had started to blur into the background, sinking into my head in a way that made my thoughts feel sluggish, slippery. I clenched my jaw and focused harder, refusing to let it drown m

My wolf had been quiet the entire time.

Too quiet.

Through the planes, through the car ride, through every violent shift and orced transfer, she hadn’t stirred once. No growl. No warning. No comfort. Just silence where her presence should have been. The absence pressed against my chest harder than the bindings ever had.

I tried to reach for her, instinctively, the way I always did when panic crep too close-but there was nothing. No response. No warmth. Just an

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Chapter 343

unsettling void.

Was she hurt?

Or worse-had something been done to her?

The thought made my stomach twist.

At minute fifty, the car slowed.

The engine idled for a brief moment before cutting off completely. The sudden quiet felt wrong, like the world itself had paused to watch what

would happen next.

Two minutes passed.

Then the door to my right opened.

Cold air rushed in, sharp and biting against my skin. A hand closed around my arm and yanked me forward. I stumbled as he dragged me out of

the car, my foot catching on the edge of the seat, my body pitching forward hard enough that I nearly went down.

He didn’t slow.

Didn’t care.

J

He hauled me along beside him, my steps uneven and rushed as I struggled to keep my balance. Gravel crunched underfoot. The air smelled Wrong-stale, damp, metallic. We moved like that for maybe another minute before he stopped abruptly.

Voices followed.

Russian again.

The sound of it scraped against my nerves, each unfamiliar word tightening something in my chest. I hated the language now.

Hated the way it followed me, wrapped around every threat I couldn’t understand but felt anyway.

The men spoke for a few minutes. Short sentences. Sharp tones. One voice deeper than the other.

Then-movement.

A door opened.

Not a car door.

This one groaned in protest, metal grinding against metal, like it hadn’t been used in years. The sound echoed, hollow and eerie, the kind that belonged to abandoned places, forgotten by time and people alike.

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