Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Leo

The first time I ran without pain, I didn’t trust it.

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I stood at the edge of the tree line behind Blackridge house, breath fogging in the cold, waiting for the familiar hitch in my neck or the dull ache along my ribs that always followed movement.

But it didn’t come. My body felt light, responsive, almost eager, and that scared me more than the fractures ever had. Being broken had given me boundaries. Healing erased them.

I started slow anyway, boots crunching over frost-hardened earth, testing each stride like it might betray me.

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The forest opened and closed around me, branches etched white with snow. With every step, the quiet grew louder, and with it the memories I’d kept locked away because pain had made it easier not to feel.

When I finally shifted, it was smooth. No tearing. No lag. Just the rush of fur and muscle and the world snapping into sharper focus.

I ran harder then, faster, letting the burn build in my lungs, letting the cold slice across my senses until it felt like proof that I was still here.

By the time I circled back to the house, my wolf had settled, content in a way that felt new and old at the same time.

I shifted behind the shed, pulled on clothes with hands that still trembled from exertion, and stepped inside with snow clinging to my cuffs.

Maya was in the kitchen, standing at the counter with a mug she wasn’t drinking from. She looked up when she heard me. green eyes catching the light, and for a second the room tilted.

Not because of desire-though that was there, always humming-but because she looked tired in a way that went deeper than sleep. Like she was bracing for something she couldn’t outrun.

“You’re moving better,” she said, soft smile in place like it was habit now.

“I ran,” I replied, then hesitated. “For real.”

Her smile warmed, then faltered.

“I’m glad,” she said anyway. “You needed that. You’re actually fully healed now.”

“Thanks to you,” I said.

She shrugged. “Taking care of you was the least I could do. You almost died for me, after all.”

“Was that the only reason?” I asked. She met my eyes, but decided not to respond.

But her silence was response enough.

I leaned against the counter across from her, close enough to feel the heat of her body without touching. My wolf stirred. attentive, and I stilled him with a thought.

“You’re shaking,” I said.

She glanced down, surprised, as if the tremor had only just registered. “Am I?”

“A little.”

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Chapter 113

Maya exhaled, something brittle in the sound. “Figures.”

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We stood there for a beat, the house quiet except for the low hum of the heater. Outside, the day was already paling toward evening, the sky bruising with the promise of a full moon that felt like it had been waiting for us all along.

“I should tell you something,” she said finally, eyes lifting to mine. “Before you sense it anyway.”

“I already do,” I admitted. “I just didn’t want to say anything.”

Her brows knit. “You sensed it?”

“Yes.” I kept my voice even, careful. “It’s… coming off you in waves. Not strong yet. But it’s there.”

She laughed, short and humorless. “Great. So I’m a walking countdown.”

“Maya-”

“It’s fine,” she cut in, then winced as if the word hurt. “I mean, it’s not fine, but I’m trying to pretend it is.”

I watched her fingers tighten around the mug until her knuckles paled. “What are you going to do?”

She shrugged, a brittle lift of her shoulders. “Caden wants to lock me away in the safe room because it’s scent-resistant. All that.”

My jaw tightened before I could stop it. I said nothing, waited.

“But Elise says I can stay with her,” Maya continued, eyes flicking to the window, to the snow beyond. “She says she’ll help me with the pain, I guess.”

The room felt smaller all at once. My wolf surged, a hot, urgent thing that demanded I close the distance, demanded I say the words that rose to my throat unbidden. ‘Let me take you. Let me help. Let me be the one’

I didn’t.

Instead, I anchored myself to the counter and breathed through the instinct until it loosened its grip.

“Is that what you want?” I asked.

She hesitated. “I don’t know what I want,” she said honestly. “I just know I don’t want to be caged. And I don’t want to make things worse.”

“You won’t,” I said, and meant it. “Not by choosing what keeps you alive.”

Her eyes softened, gratitude flickering there, and that almost undid me, “You’re being very calm about this.”

“I’m trying,” I admitted. “Doesn’t mean it’s easy.”

She studied me then, really looked, as if weighing something. “You’re… better,” she said again. “Not just physically.”

“I’m remembering,” I said quietly.

Maya set the mug down and crossed her arms, bracing. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The offer was gentle, open. But I shook my head.

“No. You have more pressing matters.”

She reached out then, fingers brushing my sleeve, a grounding touch that made my wolf purr low in my chest. “You don’t have to decide that today.”

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Chapter 113

“No,” I agreed. “Today is about you.”

Silence settled, heavy but not uncomfortable. The house creaked, the world outside holding its breath.

“My wolf wants to ask you something,” I said suddenly, a rueful curve to my mouth.

Maya huffed. “Figures. What is it?”

I shook my head, thinking against it.

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