Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Maya

I woke slowly, dragged up from the dark by a voice that didn’t belong to the room.

Wake up.”

Astrid’s tone was gentle, almost kind, and that alone sent a ripple of unease through me. She had never wounded like that before. Never patient. Never soothing.

‘You’re safe,’ she added, as if sensing my instinctive tension. ‘You can open your eyes now!

I did, blinking against the soft light spilling through the tall windows.

Astrid’s voice unfurled through me like silk drawn over steel.

I sucked in a breath, my heart stuttering. ‘You’re awake!

There was a pause, filled with amusement and an ancient, awareness.

‘Of course I am,’ she replied. ‘You couldn’t complete the triad without me noticing

The word hit me harder than it should have.

Triad.

Morning had crept in quietly, pale and cold, frosting the edges of the world beyond the glass. For a moment, I didn’t move. I just lay there, breathing, letting my senses orient themselves.

I wasn’t alone.

Caden was behind me, his arm heavy around my waist, his chin tucked close to my shoulder like he’d fallen asleep guarding me and never quite stopped. Tylon lay on my other side, one arm thrown over my legs, broad and warm and solid, like an anchor. Leo was closest to the headboard, turned toward me, his hand resting lightly against my back as if even in sleep he needed to know I was still there.

All three of them. Wrapped around me.

The sight hit me with a strange mix of comfort and weight.

What surprised me was that there was no panic or shame. Just the quiet awareness that something fundamental had changed, and there was no unmaking it now.

I shifted carefully, easing myself free without waking them, arfd slipped out of bed. The floor was cold beneath my feet as ! crossed the room and moved toward the window, drawn there without quite knowing why.

The forest stretched out below, dark trunks cutting through the lingering mist, snow clinging to branches like a held breath. My eyes scanned the treeline automatically.

Rohan wasn’t there.

Relief came first, sharp and immediate, loosening something tight in my chest.

Then, almost just as quickly, came the question that followed it.

Or was I disappointed?

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Chapter 118

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I frowned, pressing my palm against the cool glass as Astrid’s presence stirred again, closer now, clearer than it had ever

been.

‘I’m awake because you’re ready,’ she said. ‘Finally fully mated and fully aligned.

My jaw tightened. ‘You’re talking now because you got what you wanted.’

There was a pause, then a soft sound that might have been a laugh.

‘I’m talking now because you stopped denying who you are, Astrid replied calmly. ‘You were never meant to walk this path half-formed.’

I turned slightly, keeping my conversation internal so I wouldn’t wake the others. ‘You could’ve spoken before. You could’ve warned me. Explained any of this.’

‘You wouldn’t have listened,’ she said without hesitation. ‘You were too busy clinging to the idea that your life was supposed to be simple.’

“That’s not fair,’ I shot back. ‘Nothing about this is simple.

‘It was never meant to be,’ Astrid said, her tone sharpening just a fraction. ‘That’s why only the best are chosen.’

I scoffed softly. ‘Chosen for what? A mess of bonds and power struggles and council games?’

‘For greatness,’ she replied. ‘For legacy.

I folded my arms, suddenly cold for reasons that had nothing to do with the winter air.

‘I know what you did,’ I said softly. ‘I know what the stories say. I know you betrayed your mates. I know what you did to

Aelera.’

The air inside my head shifted.

Before Astrid could answer, another presence surged forward, hotter and sharper.

‘You locked me away for centuries,’ Aelera snapped, her voice cutting like flame. ‘Stripped of form. Stripped of will. What if I hadn’t found Maya? What if she’d never broken the relic?’

The tension between them was immediate and suffocating, like two opposing storms colliding inside my skull.

Astrid hissed. ‘You know exactly why you were sealed. And I will do it again if I must.’

Fear flared hot and fast in my chest. “No,” I said, louder than I meant to, panic bleeding into my voice. ‘You can’t. You can’t do that.’

Aelera’s presence pressed closer to mine, protective and fierce, and for the first time I felt how deep our bond really went.

Astrid didn’t respond right away, and the silence that followed was worse than any threat.

‘Enough,’ I said, steadying myself, forcing my voice to stop shaking. ‘Both of you. I’m done being pulled apart by half-truths.”

The words echoed, not just in my head but through something deeper, something newly solid.

‘I’ll get to the bottom of this, I went on. ‘All of it. And Astrid, I know you’re the one Rohan wants.

That did it.

The air shifted again, this time with something like surprise.

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It made sense now, the pieces clicking together in a way that made my stomach twist. Rohan wanting me as his mate, yet pushing for all three of them to bond with me first. Knowing Astrid wouldn’t surface fully until the triad was complete.

‘You needed this,’ I said slowly. ‘You needed me fully mated for you to come forward.

Astrid’s response was measured. ‘You’re learning.’

‘And Rohan?’ I pressed. ‘What does he have to do with you?’

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