Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Tylon

The wall cracked under my fist.

Pain exploded up my arm, sharp and immediate, and I welcomed it. The stone fractured beneath my knuckles, spiderwebbing outward as blood smeared across the pale surface. I didn’t pull back. I hit it again, harder this time, ignoring the way my skin split and my bones screamed in protest.

Good.

Pain was clean. Pain made sense. Pain didn’t lie to you or twist itself into something unrecognizable the way fate did.

My wolf surged beneath my skin, furious and restless, urging me to tear something apart properly instead of abusing the structure of my own house, but I kept him leashed. Barely. The echo of the impact rolled through the empty training room, followed by the sound of my breathing, rough and uneven, fogging faintly in the cold air.

Everything felt wrong lately. Not just off balance, but fundamentally misaligned, like the world had shifted its axis and no one bothered to tell me.

Maya.

The thought of her tightened something brutal in my chest, sharper than the pain in my hand. Ever since the grove, ever since she woke up changed in ways none of us were prepared for, it felt like standing too close to a storm you could not outrun. She was still herself, still stubborn and kind and infuriatingly brave, but there was something else there now too. Something old. Something that did not ask permission before it pulled at the world around her.

And the council knew it.

I pressed my forehead against the wall for a moment, letting the cool stone bleed some of the heat from my skull. My blood dripped onto the floor, dark against the concrete, and my wolf paced in tight circles under my skin, growling low and constant.

My father’s face flashed through my mind, uninvited and unwelcome, standing in that council chamber with his spine straight and his eyes empty of anything resembling surprise. He hadn’t even looked guilty. Not once. As if the lie of his life was just another thing he expected me to accept without question.

Sometimes life isn’t what you thought it was.

The words came back to me unbidden, echoing in my head with a bitter edge. The people who were supposed to protect you, guide you, stand between you and the worst of the world, sometimes turned out to be the ones who sharpened the knives first.

I pushed off the wall and flexed my hand, watching as the skin knit itself back together slowly. Too slowly. My wolf was distracted. That alone was enough to make my jaw tighten.

I crossed the room and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around my knuckles before shoving open the door and stepping outside into the night.

Cold air hit my face immediately, biting and clean, carrying the scent of snow and pine and distant smoke. The sky was a deep, endless black, scattered with stars sharp enough to look like they could cut. I dragged in a breath and let it burn its way through my lungs.

Patrol. That was the excuse. That was always the excuse.

In truth, I needed to move. If I stayed still, I was going to tear this place apart brick by brick.

The pack contact was waiting where we had agreed, just past the southern tree line where the land dipped into

a shallow ravine. He stepped out from behind a cluster of frost-dusted pines when he sensed me

approaching, shoulders hunched against the cold, eyes sharp and wary.

“You’re bleeding,” he said by way of greeting

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Chapter 104

“I punched something,” I replied flatly.

He snorted. “Sounds about right.”

We stood there for a moment, the quiet stretching between us, broken only by the distant rustle of branches and the soft crunch of snow beneath shifting weight. He was older than me, not by much, but enough to carry the faint, weary gravity of someone who had seen too many cycles repeat themselves.

“You didn’t call me out here to trade pleasantries,” he said finally. “So let’s get to it.”

I nodded once. “What are you hearing.”

His mouth pressed into a thin line. “Movement. Quiet, but deliberate. Neutral packs tightening their borders. Council messengers traveling more than usual, and not announcing themselves the way they used to.”

That tracked with what I had been sensing, the subtle shifts in territory that did not feel accidental. “And Maya.”

His eyes flicked up to mine. “Especially Maya.”

The words landed heavier than they should have, settling deep in my chest. “They’re watching her.”

“They’re positioning her,” he corrected. “Big difference.”

My wolf snarled, sharp and immediate. “Explain.”

“She’s not just being observed,” he said carefully. “She’s being shaped. Prepared. They want her powerful, but contained. Useful, but obedient. And if she fails to meet their expectations, they’ll decide she’s too dangerous to keep.”

The thought sent a cold, steady fury sliding down my spine. “They won’t touch her.”

He gave me a long look. “You sure about that. Because from where I’m standing, the council doesn’t hesitate when they think the balance is at risk.”

The image of that chamber rose unbidden, the way the air had felt heavy and wrong, the way Maya’s shoulders had drawn in on themselves even as she held her head high. She had been brave. Too brave. And the council had smiled like it was a courtesy.

“If she can’t control her wolf,” he continued, “they’ll act. Quietly, if possible. Publicly, if necessary. And you know what that means.”

Execution. Containment. Erasure. The words didn’t need to be spoken.

I clenched my wrapped fist. “Then they won’t get the chance.”

He studied me for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Careful, Blackridge. You’re walking a thin line.”

“I’ve been walking it my whole life.”

I turned away before he could respond, my decision already settling into place with a clarity that surprised me.

If the council wanted to train Maya, then fine. Let them think they were guiding her. Let them believe they were shaping her future.

They would never own her.

Back at the house, the lights were low, the quiet thick and uneasy in a way I had come to recognize. Leo was

on the couch, blanket draped over his legs, eyes on the muted television without really seeing it.

“Where is she?” I asked, not bothering with preamble.

“With Elise,” he replied. “Ski thing. Society party or whatever they call it.”

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