The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 396

Chapter 396

Aurora

Steam still clung to my skin when I stepped out of the bathroom, the warmth from the shower fading quickly as the cooler air of the house touched me. I had wrapped one of the thick towels around my body, twisting the edge tightly at my chest so it wouldn’t slip as I walked down the hallway.

My hair was still damp, dripping faintly against my shoulders.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, the quiet of the house settled around me again.

Zayn was sitting on the couch.

He had changed into clean clothes at some point while I had been upstairs. A dark sweater clung loosely to his shoulders, one arm resting across the back of the couch while the other held a book open in his hand. The fire in the fireplace had burned lower, the light flickering across the room in soft orange

shadows.

He looked up the moment he heard my footsteps.

His eyes landed on me immediately.

For a second, he didn’t say anything.

His gaze moved slowly-taking in the damp strands of hair clinging to my neck, the towel wrapped around my body, the faint marks still visible along my arms where dried blood had only recently been washed away.

Not in a way that felt predatory.

Just… quiet.

Careful.

Like he was checking that I was actually there.

Still alive.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, shifting my weight slightly.

“Um…”

The word came out softer than I intended.

“Can I borrow your phone?”

His eyes lifted back to mine.

“For what?”

“I want to call my roommates,” I said, my fingers tightening slightly in the towel as the memory surfaced again “They took my phone when they when I

was taken.”

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Chapter 396

The last words trailed off before I could finish them.

For a moment Zayn didn’t respond.

Then he closed the book slowly and set it down on the table in front of him.

“I don’t have one.”

I frowned slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“My phone,” he said calmly, leaning forward slightly with his elbows resting on his knees. “I destroyed it a few days ago.”

My confusion must have shown on my face because he continued before I could ask.

“After you were taken,” he said. “Anything with a permanent signal can be tracked. My father has people who specialize in that kind of thing.”

His voice remained even, but there was something tight behind the words.

“I had a burner phone for a while,” he added. “But once we got close to finding you, I got rid of that too.”

Silence settled between us again.

I hadn’t really thought about that.

While I was locked in that cell, while I was being dragged from place to place, the outside world had kept moving. Plans had been made. Precautions taken.

Zayn had erased himself from every network that could have led someone to him.

To me.

I wrapped my arms around myself a little tighter.

“So… no phones at all?” I asked quietly.

He shook his head.

“Not here.”

My shoulders dropped slightly.

“I just wanted to tell them I’m okay.”

His expression softened just a fraction.

“I know.”

For a moment neither of us spoke.

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11:39 am

PP

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Chapter 396

The fire cracked softly in the fireplace, sending another wave of warmth through the room.

Zayn finally leaned back against the couch again.

“We’ll figure something out tomorrow,” he said. “But tonight… it’s better if no one knows where you are.”

I nodded slowly.

He was probably right.

But that didn’t stop the small ache in my chest at the thought of Mira and the others waking up another day without knowing if I was alive or dead.

Zayn seemed to read that thought in my face.

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