Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Maya

“Elise,” I said, staring at her across the small kitchen table of her small dorm room, “what’s a heat?”

The spoon froze halfway to her mouth.

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Her eyes widened slowly, and for a second she looked like she wasn’t sure whether to laugh, panic, or bolt for the door. I was having breakfast with her because she was my only friend apart from the men and well… I needed a break from them.

But what Aelera said last night was playing over and over in my head, and she wasn’t being very open with answers. I couldn’t take it anymore.

“A heat?” she repeated, voice pitching somewhere between alarmed and horrified. “You’re in heat?”

I shook my head quickly. “No. I don’t think so. Yesterday my wolf said she could go into heat now that Caden’s back. But I don’t know what that means.” I hesitated, then added, “Is it like… actual animal heats?”

Elise set the spoon down very carefully.

“Oh,” she said. “Oh no.”

That did absolutely nothing to calm me.

“I’ve had a very long morning,” I continued, rubbing at my temples. “So if this is something terrible, I’d really appreciate you not easing into it.”

She grimaced. “I’m trying not to scare you.”

“That usually means I should already be scared.”

She exhaled slowly, studying my face like she was gauging how much truth I could handle at once. “Tell me about your morning first.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “Training nearly killed me.”

It had started before sunrise, the cold still clinging to the ground and my muscles aching before I even shifted. Tylon had been in an especially foul mood, sharp and unforgiving, barking corrections and cutting sessions short the moment I faltered like my mistakes personally offended him.

And Caden had been worse.

He hadn’t spoken to me once.

Not a greeting. Not an insult. Not even a warning.

He’d fought me like I was an actual opponent, not someone still learning how to balance claws and limbs and instincts that didn’t belong to me a month ago. He put me on my ass so many times I lost count, knocking the wind out of me with brutal efficiency and stepping back like it was nothing personal.

Leo had been there too, tense and watchful, his movements careful now that he was healed, but his eyes never left me. I could feel his uncertainty like a low hum under my skin, that quiet question of where he stood now that Caden was back and everything felt wrong again.

“So yes,” I finished. “If my wolf decided now was a good time to announce something terrifying, might as well get it over with. Or maybe I’m just going crazy.”

10:39 Thu, Dec 25 M

Chapter 109

Elise winced. “Okay. First, you’re not crazy. Second… yeah. It’s like animal heats. It happens after you’re marked.”

My stomach dropped.

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“I’ve gone through at least three months since I was marked,” I said quickly. “Nothing happened. No heat. No.. whatever this

is.”

“That’s because you didn’t have a wolf,” she said gently. “Not fully.”

I stared at her.

“Elise…” I whined.

“I know,” she said. “Trust me. If this was happening before, you’d know.”

She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. “A heat usually happens the first full moon after a female’s wolf is marked. It’s biological, instinctual, and… intense.”

“How intense?” I asked carefully.

“Your scent changes,” she said. “Completely. It becomes overwhelming to male wolves especially. It’s almost impossible for them to resist.”

My chest tightened.

“They won’t have control?” I asked.

“Very little,” she admitted. “That’s why, traditionally, when a female goes into heat, her mate hides her. Keeps her away other wolves to protect her.”

My mind reeled at her words.

Protects her from what? From who?

from

“It’s usually a night when the moon is at its apex,” Elise continued, her cheeks coloring faintly. “It’s a night of constant sex until you pass out from exhaustion. It’s also when you’re most fertile. It’s your wolf’s way of ensuring a pup.”

I stared at her.

A pup? Like a child!?

My mind latched onto the word and refused to let go.

“Why,” I said faintly, “would Aclera want a child right now? In the middle of everything?”

Elise hesitated. “Instinct doesn’t care about timing.”

Of course it didn’t.

“And if the female resists?” I asked.

Her expression softened. “Then it’s… unbearable. It will be painful and consuming. I’ve never experienced it myself, but I’ve heard the first heat is the worst. Especially if your mate isn’t present.”

I swallowed hard.

“After the first one,” she went on, “it usually happens every six months or so. It’s not as overwhelming after that.”

Everything she said layered over itself in my mind, each detail heavier than the last. Endless lovemaking. Loss of control.

10:39 Thu, Dec 25 M

Chapter 109

Fertility.

And all I could think was that my life was already a mess without my body deciding to betray me on a lunar schedule.

I’d thought periods were bad. Ten years of cramps and hormones and inconvenience, and suddenly that seemed laughable.

“This is insane,” I muttered. “I’m being hunted by councils and rogues and ancient wolves with opinions, I’m still in school, and now my body wants to start a family.”

Elise reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry.”

“Aren’t wolves here at Blackridge mated? That means they had heats, right? They’re not pregnant. So there’s hope, right?”

Elise shrugged. “You’re right. There are bunch of mated peers at Blackridge. But they know it’s going to happen, so they prepare.”

I opened my mouth to ask a question, but she beat me to it.

“But,” she said quickly before I could speak, “no pill or liquid contraceptives will work on your wolf. Generally, the male just uses a condom or you know…”

She made a quick, subtle gesture with her hand, fingers curling as if gripping something invisible before she pulled outward in a slow, deliberate motion, her eyebrows lifting just enough to make the meaning unmistakable.

“…pulls out,” she finished, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, though the faint smile tugging at her lips showed she wasn’t entirely embarrassed. “Old-school, but effective when the wolf’s instincts are running the show.”

Great. So the pregnant preventive part is on the man’s side. My bad luck, considering my mate wasn’t even talking to me.

I stared at my now soggy cereal, my wolf restless in a way she hadn’t been before as a new question came to mind… one that I didn’t want to even consider for a situation like this.

“And what if…” I asked quietly, dread curling in my stomach, “I don’t just have one mate?”

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10:39 Thu, Dec 25 MR.