The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 385

Chapter 385

Aurora

And even if I hated him-

even if my wolf still whimpered beneath my skin-

even if my chest still held fragments of fear, rage, and betrayal-

I followed.

The wind shoved against my back as I climbed the steps into the plane, Zayn close behind me, too close, his presence electric in a way

that made my skin crawl. The moment the door shut behind us, the silence pressed in, thick, heavy, suffocating.

I stepped down the aisle, aiming for the row near the window-any window, any place where I could curl up, look outside, pretend he

didn’t exist. But he was faster. His hand shot out, fingers curling around my arm, no gentleness, no hesitation, just raw, frustrated force.

Before I could even gasp, he pulled.

Not a tug.

A drag.

Like he couldn’t trust me to walk on my own. Like I might disappear again if he loosened his grip by even an inch.

“Let go,” I hissed under my breath, but it only made his grip tighten.

He didn’t answer.

Didn’t even look at me.

He marched me down the aisle, jaw set, shoulders stiff, as though every breath he took was fueled by the same restless anger simmering

in my veins. When he reached the row, he shoved me-not violently, but definitely not softly-into the seat against the window.

The impact jolted up my spine. My breath caught somewhere between my teeth and the edge of a curse. Before I could say anything, he

dropped into the seat beside me, muscles tense, expression unreadable.

For a moment, the two of us just sat there.

Stiff.

Silent.

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Cold in a way that had nothing to do with the air around us.

My skin still stung where his fingers had been. And I hated that. Hated that part of me still felt the imprint of him. Hated that he thought he had a right to touch me at all.

1 jerked my arm out of his reach and turned-

completely.

My knees tucked toward the window, my shoulder against the cold panel, my face aimed at the blur of snow outside.

I didn’t want to see him.

want him to see me.

this.

Not right now.

Not when every emotion inside me was stretched so thin it felt like a bruise.

The engines hummed beneath the floor, vibrating through the seat. The plane shuddered slightly as it prepared for takeoff, but the real

turbulence was inside the cabin-inside me.

I stared at the snow drifting across the tarmac, letting the cold outside swallow the heat of everything burning in my chest. If I focused

hard enough, maybe I could pretend he wasn’t sitting inches away.

But pretending was useless.

I could feel him.

His anger.

His guilt.

His panic.

His breathing.

Every inhale, every shift, every small movement was like a pulse against my spine.

Ten minutes passed.

Then fifteen.

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Chapter 385

Every second stretched like melted glass.

I could practically count the exact moment he lost whatever restraint he was clinging to.

A heavy exhale.

A shift beside me.

The kind of restless movement he only made when he was too full-too full of emotion, too full of words, too full of the need to fix

something he’d already destroyed.

His hand touched my shoulder.

Warm. Familiar.

Unwanted.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

The words shot out of me like a reflex, sharp enough to cut the air between us. I didn’t even turn my head. Didn’t need to.

His hand froze.

Not on my skin-

that had already recoiled-

but in the air, suspended, as if he didn’t quite know what to do now that I’d snapped.

“Rory-

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