The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 410

Chapter 410

“So?”

“So maybe the bond works a little differently with her.”

Zayn didn’t sound convinced.

“That kind of connection across continents isn’t normal.”

“Neither is Aurora.”

Another pause stretched between us.

Then Zayn exhaled slowly.

“Is the girl safe?”

“Yes.”

“Where is she now?”

“In the bathroom.”

“The bathroom?”

“She’s taking a shower.”

“And you’re just… sitting there.”

“Yes.”

Zayn sounded tired now.

“Kael.”

“What?”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I get that a lot.”

The shower shut off suddenly in the bathroom.

Steam thickened in the room.

I glanced toward the door.

“She’ll be out in a minute,” I said casually.

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Zayn’s voice hardened slightly.

“You’re staying in Russia?”

“For now.”

“You’re not coming back?”

“Not yet.”

“Why?”

“Because there are more girls,” I said.

“She’s going to ask about them.”

“I know.”

“And?”

j

“And we’ll keep getting them out.”

Another pause.

Then he muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a curse.

“You’re going to start a war.”

“Maybe.”

The bathroom door handle clicked.

Steam rolled out into the room.

“Well,” I said into the phone, glancing up as the door slowly opened, “that’s a problem for later.”

Zayn sighed.

“Kael-”

But I had already lowered the phone slightly from my ear, my attention shifting toward the doorway.

“Talk to you later,” I murmured before ending the call.

I didn’t wait for the response on the other end. The line clicked dead beneath my thumb, the faint glow of the screen fading as I lowered the phone and set it down on the small table beside the couch.

For a moment I just leaned back there, letting the quiet of the motel room settle again now that the tension of the conversation had disappeared into the silence. The heater rattled faintly in the corner, pushing uneven waves of warm air through the vents while snow continued drifting outside the window in slow, steady spirals.

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Across the room Viktor glanced up briefly from the laptop.

“Zayn?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“He wanted to know what happened.”

Viktor gave a small nod and returned his attention to the screen, the blue glow of the laptop reflecting across his face as his fingers moved across the

keyboard again.

Before either of us said anything else, Anastasia stepped out of the bathroom.

Steam rolled slowly into the room first, spilling into the cooler air like fog drifting across the floor.

Her copper-red hair was damp from the shower, falling loosely around her shoulders in soft waves that were darker now without the dust and dried blood that had clung to them earlier. Without the grime and tension that had coated her when we first found her, she looked almost like a completely different

person.

And then there were the clothes.

The oversized hoodie I had given her hung halfway down her thighs, the sleeves far too long so that her hands disappeared completely inside them, while the sweatpants were clearly meant for someone much taller, the drawstring pulled tight around her waist to keep them from sliding down.

For a moment I just looked at her.

Then I let out a quiet breath of amusement.

“Well,” I said slowly, leaning back against the couch. “That’s… adorable.”

Anastasia blinked,

“Adorable?”

She looked down at herself, lifting one sleeve only to watch it flop uselessly over her fingers.

“These sleeves are ridiculous.”

“I warned you they’d be big.”

“This isn’t big,” she muttered, shaking the fabric slightly. “This is like wearing a blanket.”

Despite herself, a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“But they are comfortable,” she admitted.

“Good.”

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She stepped further into the room, barefoot against the worn carpet while she pushed a damp strand of hair behind her ear. Then her gaze drifted toward me again, studying me for a second with a thoughtful expression.

“You know,” she said thoughtfully, “everything about you is bigger than expected.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“That sounds like it could be interpreted a lot of different ways.”

She rolled her eyes faintly.

“I mean physically,” she said, gesturing vaguely toward the hoodie hanging off her shoulders. “You’re taller than I thought, your shoulders are huge, your hands are massive, and your clothes look like they belong to someone twice my size.”

She tugged at one sleeve again.

“I feel like I robbed a giant.”

Viktor snorted quietly from the desk.

“Not inaccurate.”

Anastasia ignored him and wandered over to the bed, sitting down near the edge while she pulled the sleeves over her hands again like the fabric itself was

comforting.

Now that she was talking more, the rhythm of her voice became clearer to me. There was a subtle accent woven into her words, soft but unmistakable. It hadn’t been obvious earlier when she had barely spoken more than a few sentences, but now that she was relaxed enough to talk freely, it was impossible to

miss.

I tilted my head slightly.

“You’re not Russian.”

She glanced up.

“No.”

“Eastern Europe though.”

Her eyebrows lifted slightly, a hint of curiosity flickering in her eyes.

“You can tell?”

“The accent.”

She gave a small shrug.

“It comes out more when I’m tired.”

“Where from?”

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“Near the Carpathians,” she said. “Small place. You’ve definitely never heard of it.”

“Try me.”

She shook her head with a faint smile.

“Trust me. You haven’t.”

For a few seconds she didn’t say anything else.

Then her gaze drifted toward the phone sitting on the table beside me.

“Important call?” she asked.