The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Aurora

We dumped our trays and shuffled out with the crowd. The halls buzzed with gossip I couldn’t catch but knew was about me. My roommates didn’t say anything, but I felt the glances they traded behind my back.

Outside, the sun was sinking, and Moonbound’s towers threw long, sharp shadows across the sky. Beautiful, but in a way that made my stomach twist, like I didn’t belong there.

Our dorm was on the far edge of campus, and the walk back dragged on forever. The air smelled like pine and smoke, and every rustle in the trees made my skin prickle.

By the time we got to our room, my legs ached deep in my bones. I collapsed onto my bed and stared at the ceiling, desperate to stop replaying everything.

Malric’s smirk.

Zayn’s grip on his wrist.

The way he looked at me.

Not like he was protecting me. Not kind. Just… intense.

And I hated it.

I shoved the thought away and yanked the blanket off my pillow, pulling it over my face.

Because if I kept thinking about him, I might actually start caring why he even bothered.

And I wasn’t about to give him that win.

The blanket muffled everything–the faint chatter outside the window and the creak of Mira’s bed frame as she settled cross–legged across from me. For a moment, I just stayed there, hidden, breathing in the faint scent of detergent and pine from the laundry soap.

“All right,” Mira said after a while. “Out with it.”

I peeked out from under the blanket. “Out with what?”

She raised a brow.“The whole ‘spiky mess‘ thing you’ve got going on. You’re practically vibrating.”

“I’m not vibrating.”

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0:06 Thu, Jan 20

Chapter 9

Riven dropped onto the rug beside Mira, leaning b

‘I’m fine.”

bows. “You are. If you shake any harder, the bed might collapse.

“Nope,” Mira said with a knowing grin. “You’re stewing. And honestly? I can’t blame you. First day, and you already have Malric and Zayn looking at you like you’re either lunch or a

problem they have to solve. Impressive.”

“I don’t want to impress them.” I sat up so fast the blanket fell into my lap. “And I didn’t need him stepping in, okay? Malric’s just-

“A wolf with half a brain cell?” Riven offered.

“Exactly! I could’ve handled him.”

“Yeah,” Mira said, nodding. “But it wouldn’t have looked good.”

My hands clenched into fists in the blanket. “So what? I’m supposed to just sit there and let him shove people around?”

“No,” Mira admitted. “But Zayn stepping in? That’s going to get around. People will assume-”

“Assume what?” I snapped.

“That he… cares,” Riven said carefully.

A laugh ripped out of me, sharp and humorless. “Please. He doesn’t care. Did you see him? He looked as confused as I did about why he even bothered. Probably just didn’t want a scene at his royal lunch.”

Mira and Riven exchanged a look but didn’t argue.

Good. Because the idea of Zayn Duskbane helping me out of some noble instinct?

That was laughable.

I flopped back onto the bed, letting my head hit the pillow with a dull thump. The ceiling stared back at me like it was waiting for some great revelation to drop out of it. Nothing came, obviously. Just more silence. More weight.

“I’m not some fragile new girl. I mean, I am new, and on top of that I’m not even a werewolf. But I’m not made of glass.”

“No one said you were, Mira replied, softer now. “But this place–Moonbound–it runs on a kind of… unspoken rulebook. You push the wrong person the wrong way, and suddenly your life here is hell.”

I snorted. “So I’m supposed to let them walk all over me? Let people like Malric treat me like I’m trash?”

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006 Thee 20 –

Chapter o

Ne, Riven cold fem the B, 70er

anted my epe tot didn’t argue Misstly because I didn’t have the

maybe Bart pote the wolf pay an de

Outside the window, a breeze rustled the branches, and somewhere far off, I could hear the faint hours of something. An actual well?

student out past curfew? At this point, it could be either.

1 sat up again, legs swinging off the side of the bed. “Do you think he’s going to say something? Zayn”

Mira blinked. About what?”

“About me. What happened. I didn’t know why I was even asking. It wasn’t like I cared–except that I clearly did, and the realizati

tasted bitter in my mouth.

Riven sighed, sitting up. “Honestly? He doesn’t seem like the talking type.”

“He’s the brooding–in–the–corner type,” Mira added. “Maybe the occasional death stare for fun.”

1 snorted, but it came out more like a sigh. “Great. Just what I need. A royal with commitment issues and a savior complex.”

Riven grinned. “Oh no, he doesn’t have a savior complex. He’s way too pretty to care that much.”

That made me laugh, and for a second, the knot in my chest loosened. Just a little.

“I still don’t get why he did it,” I said quietly.

They didn’t answer, and I didn’t push them to. Instead, I got up and crossed to the window, pressing my hand to the cool glass. The forest beyond the dorms stretched on like a sea of shadows, dark and endless. Beautiful in that way dangerous things usually are.

I saw a flicker of movement–just a student probably–but my brain still whispered what if.

What if this place doesn’t want me here?

What if Zayn stepping in just made everything worse?

What if this wasn’t a start but a warning?

“Do you think he’ll come looking for me?” I asked before I could stop myself.

There was a beat of silence behind me.

“Do you want him to?” Mira asked gently.

I didn’t answer. I didn’t have an answer.

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006 Thu an 20

Chapter 9

Because the Truth was, I didn’t know. I wasn’t so

none of it happened.

apology, an explanation… or just distance. Or enmigh space to pretend

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How was it night time so quickly after lunch? I could understand if the incident happened at dinner.

7 days ago

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