The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 351

Chapter 351

Zayn

2.63%

I didn’t know how much time had passed.

Minutes. Hours. Maybe both. My sense of time had snapped the moment we stepped out of that empty house, and nothing about me had

returned to normal since.

Kael was the one driving.

And for once, neither of us spoke.

We didn’t have to.

We didn’t want to.

Every time I looked at him, every time I caught even the faintest scent of him, the hrast bristled, snarling under my skin. Not just because he hated Kael on instinct—but because Kael was Aurora’s mate. Because somewhere in him, in the bond he felt with her, he was hurting too.

The only thing keeping us from tearing each other apart was her.

Aurora.

Her name kept replaying in my head like a heartbeat I couldn’t shake.

Kael’s voice finally cut through the suffocating quiet.

“Zayn? We’re almost here.”

I dragged my gaze away from the window and looked at him. His eyes weren’t on me-they were fixed ahead, both hands tight around the wheel, jaw clenched so sharply I could see the muscle jump.

Good.

He was barely holding it together too.

I turned back to the window.

Snow blurred past us, caught in the beams of the headlights-thick, heavy lakes falling steadily as the road curved downward. The landscape outside was familiar, painfully so. Dark pines stretching endlessly along the road, the sky hanging low and heavy. Each passing second pulled us deeper into territory that made my chest ache

Home.

Or what used to be.

My father’s kingdom sat in a valley below, hidden beneath layers of forest and stone and guarded walls. You couldn’t see it until you were nearly on top of it-another calculated design of his.

1/3

III

O

<

11:39 Fri, Feb 13 DAB.

Chapter 351

By the time we rounded the final curve, my hands were shaking.

It came into view like a beast rising from the dark.

༢.,63%

The castle stretched across the valley-black stone, tall towers, spires cutting up into the gray sky like sharpened blades. Lights glowed from

the windows, warm and golden, but nothing about it felt warm. Not to me. Not anymore.

Cold wrapped around my ribs, squeezing hard.

Kael slowed as we approached the gates.

The guards were already waiting.

Dozens of them lined the entrance, armor black and silver, chests bearing the crest of my family-an obsidian crown encircled by fangs. They looked tense. Alert. Weapons drawn but held at their sides, as if expecting trouble but not knowing from which direction it would come.

Two stepped forward, one on each side, their hands raised in a practiced motion. A silent signal to the others.

Then the massive iron gates groaned and began to open.

It was too slow.

Or maybe I was too desperate.

As soon as the opening was wide enough for the car to pass, Kael drove through. His grim expression didn’t change-not even when dozens of eyes landed on us, on him, a stranger in enemy territory.

They watched us like predators.

Me with recognition.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify