The Human Among Wolves Chapter 73

Aurora

“You scared me,” I said, my voice coming out softer than I meant.

He tilted his head slightly, like he found that funny. “Didn’t mean to.”

I turned back toward the fire, trying to pretend my heart hadn’t just kicked up a notch. “You’re really good at sneaking up on people, you know.”

“It’s a gift,” he said casually, then leaned down just enough that I could feel the warmth of him at my back. “Want to take a walk?”

The words were barely louder than the crackle of the fire, but they sent a little shiver through me anyway.

I blinked, twisting toward him again. “What?”

He nodded toward the shadowy line of trees just beyond the circle of tents. “The woods. They’re quiet now. It’s better than sitting here listening to everyone argue over who burned their marshmallow.”

I hesitated, glancing around automatically—like a professor might appear out of nowhere and catch us. “They told us not to wander off after dark—”

Kael’s mouth curved into a slow, easy grin, and he crouched down until he was level with me. “Relax, princess,” he said, his voice low enough that only I could hear it. “We won’t go far. No one’s gonna care.”

I swallowed, glancing toward the professors, who were busy laughing at something one of the seniors said near the fire.

My pulse skipped.

“You coming?” he asked, standing again and offering me a hand.

For a second, I just stared at it, my thoughts a tangled mess.

I shouldn’t.

But the idea of sitting here, still feeling like the ground had been kicked out from under me, while Zayn sat across the fire looking perfectly fine—that felt unbearable.

So I slipped my hand into Kael’s, letting him pull me to my feet.

“Good girl,” he said with that same quiet grin, before jerking his chin toward the tree line. “Come on.”

The firelight faded behind us as we stepped off the grass and onto the narrow dirt path leading into the trees. The woods swallowed us quickly, the night air cool and damp, the sounds of the camp muffled until it felt like we’d stepped into an entirely different world.

Kael walked just a step ahead, close enough that I could smell the faint leather-and-cedar scent of him.

“You’re quieter than I thought you’d be,” he said after a moment, glancing at me over his shoulder.

I shrugged, shoving my hands into the pockets of my hoodie. “Just… tired, I guess.”

He hummed like he didn’t believe me but didn’t push.

“So…” I finally said, my voice breaking the quiet that had settled between us.

Kael hummed, a sound low in his throat, like he’d been waiting for me to talk.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, then quickly looked away, focusing on the way the moonlight spilled across the dirt path. “What are you even doing here today?”

He arched a brow, not answering right away, which only made me keep going.

“I mean…” I gestured vaguely with my hands, the words spilling out a little too quickly. “You’ve said it yourself—you’re never in class, you barely even show up at the academy, and suddenly you’re out here doing field trip team challenges? It’s kind of…” I trailed off, searching for the right word. “Random.”

Kael’s mouth curved into a slow grin, like he found me amusing.

“You were paying that much attention to me, huh?”

My face heated, and I scowled at him. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Sure it isn’t.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning slightly toward me as we walked. “You sound suspicious. What, you think I showed up just to annoy you?”

“That wouldn’t surprise me,” I muttered, trying to keep the corner of my mouth from twitching.

Kael chuckled under his breath, the sound low and warm in the dark. “Relax, princess. I’m here because my professor practically bribed me to get some credits in before the semester ends. And maybe…” He glanced at me, his grin turning a little sharper. “Maybe I was curious to see who you’d get paired with.”

That made me stumble for half a step, my heart giving an irritating little jump.

“You were watching?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

Kael shrugged, like it was no big deal. “You’re interesting to watch.”

I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore the way my chest tightened, focusing instead on the path ahead. “You’re impossible.”

“Yeah,” he said, smirking like that was exactly the answer he wanted. “But you still asked.”

I rolled my eyes again, exaggerating it this time just to make sure he noticed.

But then I stopped walking.

Kael took another step before realizing I’d frozen, and when he turned, one brow arched lazily. “What?”

I glanced around, the shadows suddenly feeling closer now that we were deeper in the woods. “I don’t want to go too far in,” I admitted, my voice a little quieter than before. “We might get lost.”

For a beat, he just stared at me—then he laughed, low and warm, the sound curling through the dark like smoke.

“You really think I’d let us get lost out here?” he said, stepping closer, so close I could catch the faint smell of pine and something sharp, like his cologne. “Relax. I know these woods.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “You don’t even come to class. You expect me to believe you hang out here like some forest guide?”

He grinned, and somehow that made him look even more dangerous in the moonlight. “Who said I need class to know where I’m going?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to look unimpressed even though my heart was beating faster now. “You’re very confident for someone leading me deeper into the dark.”

“Confident,” he said, taking another step toward me until we were just a breath apart, “or just good at convincing you to follow me?”

I hated the way heat rose to my face at that.

Kael tipped his head toward the shadows ahead. “Come on, princess. It’s quiet. No professors, no teammates, no rules. Just a walk.”

I hesitated, glancing over my shoulder toward camp. The distant sound of voices and laughter barely reached us anymore.

And maybe that was what finally made me nod, even though I wasn’t sure why.

“Fine,” I muttered. “But if we get eaten by something, it’s your fault.”

His grin widened as he fell into step beside me again. “Deal.”

The deeper we went, the quieter it got.

The air felt cooler here, the canopy blocking most of the moonlight. My hoodie did nothing to stop the goosebumps running up my arms, though I wasn’t entirely sure if it was because of the cold… or Kael.

He kept glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, like he was trying to figure out what was going through my head.

“So…” he said finally, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You gonna tell me why you were looking like you’d rather be anywhere else back there?”

I made a face. “Was I?”

“Yeah,” he said with an easy shrug. “Kinda hard not to notice.”

I kicked at a rock on the path, avoiding his gaze. “It’s nothing.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

I sighed. “It’s just… being here. The trip. The people.”

His grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “People as in Zayn?”

I shot him a glare, but he only laughed.

“Not funny,” I muttered.

“Didn’t say it was funny,” he said, tilting his head. “Just asking if he’s the reason you’ve been walking around like you swallowed a lemon.”

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. “Can we not talk about this?”

Kael stepped in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. “Fine,” he said, his voice dropping just slightly, softer but rougher somehow. “Then we can talk about something else.”

Before I could ask what, his hands found my hips, and he backed me gently against a tree.