Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Maya

If Elise hadn’t dragged me out of the house by the sleeve of my coat, I would have stayed curled up on the couch pretending I wasn’t counting the days since Caden left me.

Not checking my phone had become a skill I learned out of necessity.

At first, I told myself I was giving him space, that he needed time to cool off and think and come back when he was ready to talk.

Then winter break stretched on, and days passed without a single word, and I realized the truth sitting quietly beneath all my excuses.

He wasn’t coming back until break was over.

Knowing that hurt more than I wanted to admit, but it also did something else. It made the waiting pointless. There was no sense standing still and bracing for footsteps that weren’t coming, and tonight, at least, Elise refused to let me do that.

“You’re going,” she insisted, already halfway down the hall with my scarf in hand. “Leo can walk without falling over now, Tylon is off brooding somewhere in the woods, and you need to remember how to exist around people who are not complicated alpha heirs.”

“I exist just fine,” I protested weakly, even as I let her tug me along.

She shot me a look over her shoulder. “You do not. You stare at windows like you’re waiting for the snow to talk back.”

That earned a reluctant laugh, and maybe that was how she won. Maybe part of me wanted something that didn’t smell like pine smoke and tension and unspoken grief.

The ski party was already in full swing when we arrived.

A temporary lodge had been set up near the slopes, all fairy lights and roaring heaters, music thumping through the snow in a way that felt wrong and exciting at the same time. Wolves mingled easily here, wrapped in layers and laughter, boots clomping and drinks sloshing, everyone enjoying winter break.

And it made me realize just how tense I really was.

This was college right? This was what college kids did. Not fight for their lives, endure torture, turn into creatures they didn’t know exist and mate with three different men.

Elise thrived instantly.

She disappeared into a group of friends with a grin, waving me over with that same look she always gave me when she decided I needed to loosen up. I followed, letting the noise wash over me, letting myself be just another girl in a borrowed coat holding a plastic cup and trying not to think about blood oaths or council chambers or bonds that stretched farther than I understood.

For a while, it worked.

I laughed when Elise spilled her drink on someone’s boot. I let the cold air bite at my cheeks as we stepped outside to watch people ski on the slopes below. I even danced, a little, when the music shifted into something fast and ridiculous and impossible to overthink.

But of course it was too good to be true.

My chest tightened.

It wasn’t pain exactly. It was sharper than nerves but heavier than instinct, like a hand closing slowly around something vital.

I stilled, breath catching halfway in as the noise around me dulled just enough for the sensation to take center stage.

Something tugged.

1/3

Chapter 103

My gaze lifted on its own, scanning the crowd, and that was when I saw him.

That dark hair, broad shoulder and that familiar stillness in the middle of movement, like the world bent slightly around his presence.

My heart slammed so hard it knocked the air out of my lungs, fear racing through me before reason could catch up.

Rohan.

I didn’t think. I couldn’t. My body was already moving, pushing through the crowd as my pulse roared in my ears. Elise called my name behind me, but I barely heard it as I reached him and grabbed his arm, spinning him around with a force fueled entirely by panic.

He blinked at me in surprise, eyes widening as recognition dawned.

“Oh,” he said, smiling slowly. “Hey, Maya, right? From Marketing class.”

The world snapped back into focus all at once, embarrassment crashing into fear so fast it made my face burn.

This was not Rohan. This was a guy who sat three rows behind me and always smelled faintly like mint gum and cologne.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted, already stepping back. “I thought you were someone else.”

He laughed, clearly amused. “No harm done.”

I muttered another apology and retreated before he could say anything else, weaving back through the crowd until I found the makeshift bar set up along the edge of the lodge.

Elise appeared a second later, brows drawn together. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” I said too quickly, grabbing a drink from the counter. “I just… thought I recognized someone.”

She studied me, unconvinced, but let it go as I took a long swallow, the alcohol burning all the way down. I welcomed the bite and the grounding sensation, even as something inside me twisted again.

This time, the tug didn’t fade.

The space felt too bright, too loud, the music vibrating through my bones in a way that made my skin prickle.

My vision blurred at the edges, heat pooling under my layers until sweat gathered at my spine despite the cold outside.

“Maya,” Elise said, her voice cutting through the noise. “You okay?”

“I don’t feel great,” I admitted, and that was putting it mildly. My gums ached suddenly, a deep pressure that made me wince as I pressed my tongue to the back of my teeth.

My canines throbbed.

My breath came shallow as another wave of heat rolled through me, fierce and unnatural, and I knew with horrifying clarity what this was.

A shift.

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