The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 374

Chapter 374

Aurora

The sun was already high enough to paint the curtains gold when the door opened again.

The same maid from last night stepped inside-small, thin, quiet in that trained-to-be-silent way.

I was sitting on the bed.

I hadn’t slept.

Not even for a minute.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the auction lights. The cold blue eyes of the man who bought me. The mark burning my wrist. Zade’s fading face.

So I just… sat there. Waiting. Dreading.

She didn’t seem surprised to find me awake.

Maybe she expected it.

“Miss?” she said softly, voice carrying that same thick Russian accent. “It is time.”

I lifted my gaze to her. My throat felt tight.

“What time is it?” I managed, barely louder than a whisper.

“Just past nine,” she replied, folding her hands in front of her, as if she were reporting to someone much stricter than me. “Master wants to have breakfast with you.”

The words settled slowly-like drops of ice sliding down my spine.

Breakfast.

With him.

Not an order barked by a guard.

Not a routine shower or forced march down a hallway.

But something worse.

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Chapter 374

Something intentional.

My fingers curled in the blanket around my waist. I inhaled carefully, trying to steady myself, but my voice still trembled when I spoke again.

“What… what does he want?*

Her eyes flickered-just for a moment-like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to answer.

But then she lowered them and said quietly:

*I do not know. I only know you must look perfect.”

She stepped closer, slow and cautious, as though approaching a wild animal she didn’t want to startle.

“Come,” she added, her tone gentle but firm. “We get ready now.”

And just like that, there was no more time left to sit, or think, or hope for anything else.

*Come,” she repeated softly. “We get ready now.”

She didn’t touch me.

Not wel

But she hovered close enough that I felt the urgency behind her calm expression-something quiet and nervous tucked between her ribs. Not fear of ane.

Fear for me

No. Fear off Inim

I swallowed hard and forced my legs to move.

The carpet felt too soft under my bare feet, too clean, too warm for a house that felt carved from ice. I wrapped my arms around myself as she guided me toward the bathroom, and the cold air spilling out of it raised goosebumps along my skin.

The maid reached for the faucet, letting the shower run until steam fogged the mirror. She didn’t speak, but her movements were brisk washing bottles arranged, towels stacked, everything precise, rehearsed.

When she turned back to me, she hesitated for the first time

“You take off your clothes,” she said gently, “please.”

Please.

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It wasn’t kindness-it was survival. A word she used like a shield.

I didn’t argue. Didn’t protest. What was the point? I peeled the clothes off slowly, feeling her gaze shift away respectfully, but I knew it wasn’t out of decency. She had rules. Protocols. Instructions she wouldn’t dare break.

I stepped into the shower.

The water hit me like a shock-too hot at first, then warm, almost comforting. I tilted my head back, letting it wash over me. My hair grew heavy, clinging to my back. For a moment, I closed my eyes and pretended I was home.

Just for a moment.

But then-

The pain.

The mark on my wrist flared violently, heat tearing through the thin layers of my skin like acid. My breath hitched as the burn crawled up toward my elbow.

Not enough to make me scream.

Enough to remind me that someone owned me now.

I pressed my lips together and kept washing.

The maid didn’t join me this time-not the way the handlers had during the auction days. Instead, she stayed near the doorway, hands clasped, eyes lowered. But I felt her watching my silhouette through the steam.

When I stepped out, she wrapped a large towel around me and began drying my hair with another one, gentle and methodical. She didn’t rush. Didn’t speak.

But every few seconds, she glanced over her shoulder toward the door. Like she expected him to appear at any moment.

When she finished, she opened the closet.

I didn’t breathe for a second.

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