The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Isobelle’s lips parted, and when she spoke again, the sound of it nearly cracked me in half.

“It wasn’t Aurora.”

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I closed my eyes, swallowing against the lump in my throat. I already knew what she was about to say, and still, hearing it would

shatter me.

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“You said your name was Aurenya.”

I looked at her, lips parting, ready to say something–to protest, to ask, to scream; I didn’t know what. But no sound came. My

throat was tight, my chest even tighter.

Isobelle’s eyes softened, her voice gentler now, like she was tiptoeing around a wound that might split wide open if she pressed too

hard.

“We took you in… immediately,” she said, her fingers nervously twisting together on the tablecloth. “You were so small, so broken, but there was this fire in your eyes that I’ll never forget. Even then, even with all the pain you carried, you looked at me like you were daring me to leave you there.” She shook her head faintly. “I couldn’t. We couldn’t.”

Her voice wavered, but she pushed through, the words spilling out like she had carried them in silence for far too long.

“You became our daughter that night. We never questioned it again. We gave you a new name, a new home, and we loved you like you were ours. You were ours.” She paused, her gaze drifting down, as if ashamed. “And in time… you forgot. You stopped calling yourself Aurenya. You stopped even remembering it. We told ourselves it was trauma, that your mind was protecting you from

something too dark to carry. PTSD, maybe. A coping mechanism.”

Her eyes lifted to mine again, filled with a pain that almost looked like guilt.

My whole body went cold, like the air had been sucked out of the room. For a moment, I couldn’t even hear the clinking of dishes

around us, the hum of conversation from the other tables. It was just me… and those words echoing in my head.

Aurenya.

That fucking name.

I yanked my hands back from the table, pushing my chair a little farther away from them. “You what?” My voice came out sharper than I intended, trembling with something between rage and fear. “You knew my real name. You knew all this time, and you just—

what? Decided it was easier if I forgot?”

“Aurora, please-” my mother began, but I cut her off.

“No. Don’t call me that. Not right now.” My throat burned, eyes stinging, but I refused to let the tears fall. I wasn’t going to cry in the middle of a restaurant like some broken little girl. “Do you have any idea what it feels like to not even know who the hell you

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Chapter 65

are? To wake up every day and wonder why something inside you feels… missing? And all this time–you knew.”

Dad shifted uncomfortably in his seat, jaw tight, but he stayed quiet. He always stayed quiet when it came to me and Mom.

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“You should have told me,” I whispered, though it came out more like a rasp. “God, you should have told me years ago. I had the

right to know. You kept me in the dark and pretended it was out of love, but it wasn’t. It was a lie. My whole life has been a lie.”

I shoved my chair back suddenly, the legs scraping against the floor. People were staring now, but I didn’t care. My chest felt like it

was caving in, my pulse a thunderstorm in my ears.

“I don’t even know who I am anymore,” I spat, and the truth of it hurt more than the words. “And it’s because of you.”

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She’s become annoying. Zayn is a push over. Zade is more likable at this point. This store took a dark turn with the slaves. I hope it gets better.

5 days ago

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The Human Among Wolves