The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 393

Chapter 393

“You should take a shower.”

He said it quietly, almost carefully, like he was choosing each word so it wouldn’t set something off again.

For a moment I didn’t answer.

I was still standing in the middle of the room, staring somewhere past the fireplace without really seeing it. The warmth inside the house

had started to seep into my skin, melting the last bits of snow clinging to the hem of my dress, but it didn’t reach the cold that had

settled somewhere deeper.

Then I looked down.

And I saw it.

The dried blood.

Dark stains streaked across my body. Smears along my hands. Under my nails. Crusted along my forearms where it had dried hours ago.

My stomach twisted as the memories slammed back into me all at once-hot, violent flashes of red and screaming and tearing flesh.

His blood.

Their blood.

Pieces of things I didn’t want to remember seeing.

I swallowed hard.

My fingers twitched at my sides.

Zayn hadn’t moved. He was still standing near the door, watching me with that same careful stillness he’d had since the plane. Like he

was trying not to spook me. Like he was waiting to see which version of me was going to respond.

“You’re covered in blood,” he added quietly after a moment. “You’ll feel better once you clean up.”

I almost laughed.

Not because it was funny.

Because it sounded so simple.

Like everything that had happened could be washed down a drain.

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Chapter 393

But he was right.

I was dirty.

Not just from the blood soaking into my clothes, but from the way it had dried on my skin, sticky and stiff. The smell of it lingered faintly

now that the warmth of the house was bringing it back to life.

My throat tightened.

“I know,” I said softly.

My voice sounded strange to my own ears-thin, distant.

Zayn nodded once toward the hallway behind the kitchen.

“There’s a bathroom upstairs,” he said. “First door on the left.”

I hesitated.

Something about turning my back to him still felt… wrong. My body hadn’t caught up to the fact that the danger was gone. Every instinct

was still wired tight, still expecting something to jump out of the shadows.

But the exhaustion pressing down on my bones was heavier.

I nodded once and started toward the staircase.

Each step creaked faintly under my weight as I climbed, my hand trailing along the wooden railing without really thinking about it. The

warmth from downstairs faded slightly as I reached the upper floor, replaced by a cooler quiet that made the house feel even more

isolated.

The hallway was dim, lit only by a small lamp on a side table.

The first door on the left was already slightly open.

I pushed it wider and stepped inside.

The bathroom was larger than I expected. Dark tile floors, a wide mirror above a long sink, thick towels folded neatly on a shelf against

the wall. A glass shower stood in the corner, steam already beginning to fog the edges of the room as I turned the water on without

thinking.

The sound of it filled the quiet.

I stared at my reflection for a moment.

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Chapter 393

My hair was tangled and matted in places. My skin pale beneath the streaks of dried blood. My eyes looked wrong-too bright, too sharp. like the wolf was still lingering just beneath the surface.

I looked… feral.

Slowly, I peeled the dress off.

It slid to the floor in a heavy, stained heap.

My stomach twisted again as I saw how much of it there was.

Blood everywhere.

I stepped into the shower and let the hot water pour over me.

At first it ran red.

Dark streaks swirling down the drain as the blood washed off my skin. I scrubbed my hands hard, then my arms, my shoulders, my neck- like if I didn’t get every bit of it off immediately it would sink into me forever.

The water grew clearer.

The heat filled the small room with steam.

But my hands kept moving anyway.

Because even as the blood disappeared from my skin…

The memory of it didn’t.

And I had a feeling it wasn’t going away anytime soon.

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