The Human Among Wolves Chapter 66

Aurora

The trees stretched tall and dark around us, the moonlight cutting through in thin, silver slices. We walked in silence for a while, Kael’s hands tucked into his pockets, his strides easy and unhurried.

It was… nice, actually. The quiet. The space to breathe.

Finally, I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “You do know I was serious about that, right?”

He blinked, then turned his head toward me. “About what?”

I made a vague gesture with my hands, suddenly feeling awkward. “About… you know. Us. Not… doing anything.”

Kael’s lips twitched like he was fighting back a grin. “You mean fucking?” he said, completely deadpan.

I groaned, covering my face with my hands. “Oh my god, don’t say it like that.”

He laughed then, low and warm, and for some reason it didn’t feel like he was mocking me—just amused.

“Relax,” he said, his voice softer now. “I heard you the first time. And the second time.”

I peeked at him between my fingers. “Good. Because I meant it. I just… I’m not in a place for that. Not now.”

He nodded once, his expression easy, like he didn’t take it personally at all. “Fair enough,” he said. “For the record, I didn’t follow you out here to get you naked against a tree.”

My face heated. “I wasn’t— I didn’t think you—”

Kael laughed again, cutting me off. “You kind of did.”

I sighed, dragging a hand down my face. “Okay, maybe I did. A little.”

“Guess I should be flattered,” he said, still smiling, though his tone was light.

We wandered deeper into the trees until the noise of the party was nothing but a faint hum behind us. The ground here was softer, covered with leaves that crunched underfoot.

Kael stopped near a wide oak tree, leaning his shoulder against the trunk. “You’ve had that look all night,” he said finally, his voice calm but curious.

“What look?” I asked, even though I knew exactly what he meant.

“The one that says you’re here, but you’re not really here.” His gray eyes flicked toward me, sharp but not unkind. “You want to tell me who’s got you looking over your shoulder like that?”

I hesitated, kicking at a patch of leaves with the toe of my boot. “You wouldn’t want to hear it.”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” Kael said simply, lowering himself to sit on a half-buried root. He patted the spot next to him, and after a moment, I sat too, my hands twisting together in my lap.

“It’s…” I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry. “It’s complicated.”

Kael raised an eyebrow, waiting.

I stared at the ground, tracing patterns in the dirt with my boot. “There’s this guy,” I said quietly. “He—he was important to me. I thought he cared. I thought I mattered to him.”

Kael didn’t speak, didn’t even move, just listened.

“And then…” My chest tightened, like saying it out loud might shatter me. “And then he told me some awful things after we...had sex” I said, not wanting to repeat the exact words.

Kael’s jaw tightened, but he stayed quiet.

“I don’t even know why it hurt so much,” I went on, my voice breaking a little. “Maybe because he was the first person I trusted in a really long time. And he made me feel like I was… enough. Like I wasn’t just some girl who didn’t belong here. But then—”

My voice cracked completely this time, and I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to stop the tears that were threatening.

Kael shifted slightly, his knee brushing mine, steady and grounding. “Sounds like he’s an asshole,” he said, his voice even but edged with quiet steel.

A short, bitter laugh escaped me. “Yeah. Yeah, he is.”

“So,” he said casually, but there was something curious under his tone, “this guy you’re talking about… he wouldn’t happen to be the one who stormed up to us while we were dancing, would he?”

I crossed my arms and looked away. "Maybe."

“Figured as much,” he said finally, his tone even but thoughtful. “The way he was looking at me… like he’d tear my throat out if I so much as breathed wrong.”

Despite myself, I huffed out a weak laugh. “That’s… not far off.”

Kael’s brow lifted slightly, like he was inviting me to keep going.

I stared down at the dirt between my boots, my chest tight. “He’s not just some guy,” I said quietly. “For a while, he was—he meant something to me. More than I wanted him to, probably.”

Kael didn’t move, didn’t even shift, but somehow he felt closer—like the air between us was pulling tighter.

“And then?” he asked softly.

My throat worked as I swallowed, trying to force the words out. “And then he made it very clear what I meant to him.” I let out a shaky breath. “Which apparently was… nothing.”

Kael was quiet for a beat, his jaw flexing once. “Sounds like he’s an idiot,” he said at last, his tone low but edged with steel.

I almost smiled at that—almost. “Yeah. He is. But that doesn’t stop it from hurting.”

Kael tilted his head, studying me in a way that made it feel like he could see straight through me. “You still want him?”

The question made my chest twist.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “Half the time I hate him, and the other half…” I trailed off, pressing my lips together. “The other half I just wish he’d come back.”

Kael let out a slow breath through his nose, thoughtful. “You know,” he said after a moment, “wanting him and knowing what you deserve aren’t the same thing.”

I blinked at him, caught off guard by how simply he’d put it.

“You can miss him all you want,” Kael went on, his voice calm but steady. “But you don’t owe him the chance to break you twice.”

The words hit something deep in me, and before I could stop it, my throat burned with the threat of tears. I swallowed hard and nodded, more to myself than to him.

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “You’re right.”

“You know,” Kael said eventually, his voice low and thoughtful, “you don’t have to figure it all out tonight. Or even tomorrow.”

I glanced at him, my fingers twisting in my lap. “Feels like I should,” I admitted. “Like if I just keep letting it sit there, it’ll rot inside me.”

Kael shrugged one shoulder, his eyes catching a sliver of moonlight. “Maybe. Or maybe you just need to give yourself a little grace.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, my chest feeling lighter and heavier all at once. “You’re annoyingly calm, you know that?”

His mouth curved into a small, lopsided grin. “You’d prefer I start throwing punches? Because I can, if that’s what you need.”

A laugh escaped me—soft, reluctant, but real. “Tempting.”

The quiet settled again, but it didn’t feel as heavy now. I pulled my phone from my pocket and blinked at the screen.

“Holy shit,” I breathed. “It’s three in the morning.”

Kael leaned over enough to glance at the screen, one brow lifting. “Guess the party went a little long.”

I slid the phone back into my pocket and stood, brushing dirt from my hands. “We should probably go back.”

Kael rose too, stretching slightly before shoving his hands into his pockets again. “Lead the way.”

The walk back through the woods felt quieter than before, almost peaceful. The music and laughter from the clearing grew louder as we got closer, but it didn’t have the same pull it had earlier in the night. Maybe it was just me. Maybe I’d left my urge to dance somewhere back there with all the things I’d said to Kael.

When we stepped back into the clearing, the party was clearly winding down. The fire had burned low, just glowing coals and a few lazy flames. A handful of people were still scattered around—some slumped together on logs, others sitting cross-legged on the ground, talking in low voices.

I scanned the space for my roommates but didn’t see them anywhere. The spot we’d claimed near the start of the night was empty, their drinks gone.

“They bailed on you,” Kael observed, his voice light but not unkind.

“Looks like it.” I blew out a breath, shoving my hands into my pockets. “Guess that’s my cue to head back too.”

Kael nodded once. “I’ll walk you.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I know,” he said, glancing down at me with that calm, steady look of his. “But I want to.”