Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 107

Chapter 107

Chapter 107

Maya

We made it home without another word.

The run back felt longer than it should have, not because the distance had changed, but because the space between us had.

Even in wolf form, even with the cold air tearing past us and the familiar land rising to meet our paws, I could feel it. The tension rode between us like a third presence, heavy and unresolved, trailing every step.

When we reached the shifting shed, Tylon didn’t slow for me. He shifted first, quick and efficient, already turning away by the time I followed, the familiar burn of bones and skin leaving me shaky and raw all over again.

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I dressed with numb fingers, pulling on clothes that still smelled faintly of home and smoke and winter, trying to ground myself in the ordinary motions of sleeves and buttons. It was a man’s house, so the only clothes in their shifting shed was a

He didn’t look at me once.

That hurt more than I wanted to admit.

We walked back toward the house in silence, boots crunching over snow that had started to fall again in soft, lazy flakes. The lights were on inside, and for a second I let myself imagine that everything could still be simple, that this was just another night where we came back from training and nothing had shifted between us.

The door opened before I reached it.

Leo was there, already on his feet, shoulders tense and eyes worried. His relief was immediate and unguarded when his eyes landed on me, his posture loosening just enough to make my chest ache.

“There you are,” he said, voice tight. “Are you okay?”

I nodded quickly. “I’m fine.”

His gaze flicked past me to Tylon, sharp and searching, and then back again. “The way he rushed out of here… I thought—” He stopped himself, jaw flexing. “I thought something happened.”

“Nothing happened… I just.. I was just running.”

Leo didn’t look convinced.

“Are you sure? Because it looks like something happened.”

“I told you,” Tylon said before I could respond, his tone clipped. “Nothing happened. I caught her before she could wander off again. That’s all.”

Leo’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t call him out and he didn’t argue. But he didn’t look convinced either, and the way his gaze moved between us made it clear he felt the fracture just as keenly as I did.

“Oh,” he said slowly.

The silence that followed was uncomfortable, thick with things none of us were ready to say.

I shifted my weight, suddenly hyper-aware of myself, of my skin, of the echo of hands and mouths and restraint that still lingered beneath my clothes.

I couldn’t stop the comparison from forming, no matter how much I tried.

10:39 Thu, Dec 25 M

Chapter 107

85

Leo’s kiss had been careful and reverent, like he knew exactly what he was risking and chose it anyway. He had owned it, the feeling, the moment, the truth of it, even when it hurt him. There had been no confusion in his eyes afterward, no attempt to pretend it hadn’t mattered.

Tylon’s had been different.

Tylon’s kiss had felt like a breaking point, something ripped from him in a moment of raw need rather than chosen with any gentleness. It had been ruthless in its urgency, all heat and desperation, and then it had vanished just as quickly, leaving behind a distance so sharp it cut deeper than if he had never touched me at all. It hadn’t felt like restraint afterward. It had felt like regret.

The thought tightened my throat until swallowing hurt. I couldn’t stop wondering if the kiss had only been a means to an end, if he had done it simply to stop me from running, to anchor my body when my wolf refused to listen, to assert control over a situation spiraling out of his grasp. Maybe it hadn’t been about me at all, but about containing something dangerous inside me, something he didn’t trust.

And if that was true, if it had meant nothing beyond that moment of necessity, then the way it lingered in my chest felt cruel and unfair. I hated how much the question stung, hated that part of me had hoped it meant more, and hated even more that I cared enough to be wounded by the possibility that it hadn’t.

“I’m really okay,” I said again, softer this time, forcing a small smile for Leo’s sake. “I just need some rest.”

Leo studied my face for another heartbeat, clearly unconvinced, but he nodded. “If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

I turned toward the stairs before either of them could say anything else. My nerves were shot, my emotions frayed thin, and the last thing I wanted was to unpack all of this in the middle of the living room with both of them watching me.

“Goodnight,” I added over my shoulder.

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