The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 379

Chapter 379

Something shifted in his expression.

Satisfaction.

Because he knew.

He knew it controlled me.

it could force obedience, even if my mind fought it.

burn at my wrist pulsed once-soft, but unmistakable.

My breath hitched.

“I won’t repeat myself,” he said, his voice dangerously soft. “Stand.”

The mark burned again.

Hotter.

Sharper.

Like fire running beneath my skin.

A shiver tore up my spine, and before I could stop myself -before I could force my legs to stay rooted-my body moved.

Not willingly.

Not freely.

But under that pulsing, twisting pain.

I pushed myself off the bed, standing slowly, trembling so hard I could barely stay balanced.

His gaze followed the movement with unsettling stillness, like he was observing a behavior he expected, and nothing about it surprised

him.

He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel the cold radiating from him, close enough that the room suddenly felt too small.

I didn’t blink.

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Chapter 379

I didn’t breathe.

I couldn’t.

He lifted his hand-not to touch me, not yet-but as if he intended to reach out and adjust a piece of me the way someone straightens a picture on a wall.

His voice shifted-lower, colder, almost quiet enough to sound like a whisper meant only for me.

“Now…” he said slowly, letting the word stretch across the room like a blade dragging over stone. “Strip. Or I will do it for you.”

The threat wasn’t loud.

It didn’t need to be.

finality that told me he’d follow through without hesitation, without remorse, without even raising an eyebrow while

htened so hard I thought my ribs might crack. Tears stung at the corners of my eyes, blurring the edges of the room, but I

myself not to blink. Not yet. He wouldn’t see me cry. I wouldn’t give him that.

But I also knew better-much better-than to disobey him.

The burn at my wrist pulsed in warning, as if reminding me what happened last time I hesitated.

My fingers shook violently as I reached for the straps of the dress the maids had chosen for me, tugging them down with slow, clumsy

movements. The room felt too bright, too sharp. Every sound was amplified-the soft rustle of fabric sliding over my skin, the uneven

breaths I tried to swallow, the quiet hum of something mechanical behind the walls.

My dress pooled at my feet, whisper-soft against the carpet.

I stood there in nothing but the lace underwear they’d forced on me earlier-tiny, delicate pieces chosen for someone else’s gaze, not

mine. The air felt colder against my skin, raising goosebumps along my arms, my stomach, the back of my neck. I wrapped my arms

instinctively around myself, but it didn’t help. I felt exposed in a way that went deeper than fabric.

His gaze moved.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Up my legs. Over my stomach. Across my chest. And finally, up to my face.

It wasn’t a leer. It wasn’t lust.

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Chapter 379

That made it worse.

It was assessment.

Ownership.

Calculation.

Like he was appraising a weapon. Or livestock. Or something he’d purchased for a specific purpose and was now confirming the quality of.

My stomach turned violently, threatening to claw itself up my throat. A tremor ran down my spine.

I felt

ated.

gnity.

oped of control.

But beneath all of that, hotter and sharper than the shame twisting in my gut-

I felt rage.

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