The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 41

Chapter 41

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Zade didn’t sit. He leaned against the desk instead, crossing his arms, eyes fixed on me like he had all the time in the world. “So,” he said slowly, “why don’t we make this interesting? Tell me… what are you?”

The question hit harder than I expected. My pulse spiked.

I blinked, trying to school my face into something casual. “What am I?” I repeated, buying time.

“Yes.” His black eyes gleamed, sharp and knowing. “You don’t smell like any of the others around here. Not quite wolf, not quite…” His words trailed, a deliberate trap, daring me to fill the silence.

I forced a laugh, light but hollow, hoping it sounded convincing. “I’m a werewolf. Just like everyone else here.”

For a moment, Zade didn’t move. Didn’t blink. The weight of his stare pressed against me like he could peel the lie straight from my skin.

Then, slowly, that smirk tugged back at his mouth. “A werewolf,” he repeated, as tasting the word. “How ordinary.”

I shifted, uneasy under the way he said it–like he didn’t believe me for a second but was content to let me dig my own grave.

Zade tilted his head, studying me as if I were a puzzle he was already halfway through solving. “Funny. You don’t look ordinary.” His tone dripped with implication, though whether it was flirtation or suspicion, I couldn’t tell. Maybe both.

I opened my mouth to respond, but the words caught. My mind screamed at me to be careful, to guard every syllable. This was Zayn’s brother–the King’s

son.

“Um… uh…” The words tangled on my tongue before I could stop them. I cleared my throat, forcing something–anything–out. “What’s your name?”

The second it left my mouth, I cringed inwardly. Out of everything I could’ve asked, that’s what I went with?

His mouth curved, the kind of slow smirk that suggested he knew exactly how unsettled I was. “Zade,” he said simply, voice low and smooth. No explanation, no follow–up. Just his name, and the weight of it hanging between us.

I nodded quickly, like that somehow made me look less foolish, and moved farther into the room. My steps carried me toward Zayn’s bed, familiar ground in an unfamiliar moment. I sat carefully at the edge, fingers twisting in the hem of my shirt. The silence stretched, thick and awkward, while Zade leaned back against the desk as if he owned the place.

He was nothing like Zayn. Where Zayn’s presence felt sharp and unpredictable, Zde’s was steady, deliberate, and almost suffocating. Older. More put together. And undeniably intimidating. His gaze stayed fixed on me, unreadable, though he had all the time in the world to watch me squirm.

I bit my hip, fumbling for something to break the tension. The first thought that popped into my head slipped out before I could stop it. “How old are you?”

One eyebrow lifted, like I’d just amused him. “Twenty–five,” he said, leaning forward slightly. His lips tugged into that same insufferable smirk. “And you, beautiful?”

I rolled my eyes, heat crawling up my neck despite myself. That word again–beautiful. Used and casual on his tongue, like he’d said it to a hundred girls before me. Maybe he had. Still, the way it slid from his mouth made my stomach lip in a way I didn’t appreciate.

“Eighteen,” I muttered finally, almost defensively.

Zade hummed low in his chest, like the answer confirmed something he already suspected. His black eyes flicked over me once more, sharp and assessing, and the corner of his mouth curved again–this time slower, almost deliberate.

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11.57 Thu, Jan 29 EBB

Chapter 41

“Eighteen,” he repeated softly.

Comments

Su. R

why is she entering a room with a stranger?