The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Aurora

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I didn’t wait for them to say anything. I grabbed my bag from the chair and stormed out of the restaurant, my boots striking the floor too loudly, drawing more attention, but I didn’t care. The cold air outside hit me like a slap, and for a moment, I just stood

there on the sidewalk, breathing hard, trying to keep it together.

I had planned this whole conversation in my head. I was going to sit them down and tell them everything–about accidentally ending up at a school that was for werewolves, lycans, and what else not. About the book that had my name on it and how its pages were locked away like secrets waiting to be uncovered, about the dreams that left me waking up shaking and breathless. I would tell

them everything.

But now?

Now I couldn’t.

If they could hide something as big as my name, what else were they keeping from me? What else had they chosen not to say because they thought it was “for my own good“?

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I leaned against the brick wall of the restaurant, fingers gripping my bag strap until my knuckles ached. My chest was so tight I could barely breathe. For years, they had been my safe place. My parents. My family. But now every memory felt tainted, every laugh, every hug layered over with the question–was it ever real?

The door opened behind me, and I heard my mother’s soft voice call my name, “Aurora-‘

“Don’t,” I snapped, without turning around. My voice shook, but I forced it out. “Don’t say anything right now. Just… don’t.”

I started walking before she could reply, heading toward the car, toward anywhere but here. I didn’t want their apologies. I didn’t want their explanations. Not now. Not when everything inside me was screaming.

If I told them about the academy, about the book, about what I might actually be… they’d just twist it into something it wasn’t. They’d tell me what to think and how to feel, just like they always had.

No. This–all of this–was mine now. My name. My truth. My search for answers.

I would figure out who Aurenya really was.

But I’d do it on my own.

I yanked the passenger door open and slid in, slamming it shut harder than I meant to.

“Drive me back,” I said flatly.

My mom followed me out of the restaurant, stopping just short of the car. “Aurora-”

“I said drive me back.” This time my voice cracked, not from anger but from exhaustion. I just wanted to go home–to the academy,

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Chapter 66

to my dorm, to anywhere that wasn’t here.

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Mom hesitated, but Dad didn’t. He entered the car and started the engine without a word. She climbed into the back seat silently, and for the first few minutes, no one said a thing. The tension in the car was thick enough to choke on, every tick of the turn signal

sounding louder than it should.

I stared out the window, watching the city pass in a blur. My reflection in the glass looked like a stranger–pale, drawn, hollow–eyed.

I hated that they could see me like this, hated that they could probably guess what I was thinking.

“Sweetheart,” Mom finally said softly from the back seat, like she was afraid to scare me off again.

I didn’t turn around. “Don’t,” I said quietly, my throat tight. “Not right now.”

And just like that, silence returned, heavier than before.

By the time we reached the academy gates, my chest felt like it was going to crack open from everything I was holding in. The

moment the car stopped, I grabbed my bag and opened the door.

“Aurora” Mom tried again.

I didn’t look back. “Thanks for the ride.”

Then I shut the door and walked away, fast, before they could say anything else, before the part of me that still loved them so much

would make me turn around and forgive them right there.

I didn’t stop walking until I was through the gates, until the academy swallowed me up and I could breathe again–even if that

breath felt sharp and broken.

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