Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 45

**Change Begins With You — Jayden Collins**
**Chapter 45**

**Caden**

The atmosphere was thick with the scent of impending rain, a metallic tang hanging in the air as we approached the perimeter of the compound.

Dawn was still three hours away. We had sprinted to this point, and now we needed to tread softly for the remainder of the journey. A car would have attracted too much attention, and that was the last thing we could afford right now.

The Council referred to this grim place as Sanctum, claiming it was a haven for diplomacy.

But that was nothing more than a façade, a carefully crafted lie.

In truth, it was a cage for wolves who dared to defy the rules. The very essence of this place screamed control, a suffocating grip on freedom. Every breath I took felt as if it belonged to someone else.

They believed they could snatch her away from me, imprison her behind layers of glass and steel, but they had underestimated me.

I crouched low by the fence, my gaze fixed on the shimmering barrier that hummed ominously just above the ground. The vibrations pulsed through my skull, a thick blend of wolfsbane and blood wards that made my skin crawl.

Leo settled beside me, his keen eyes analyzing the intricate rune patterns etched into the barrier. “It’s two layers. The first is wolfsbane poison, and the second is a blood ward. If you break one, the other flares up.”

“Fantastic,” Tylon muttered, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “I just love the idea of dying twice.”

I chose to ignore his comment, my focus narrowing. Maya’s scent lingered in the air, faint and almost obliterated by the sterile environment surrounding us. Yet, I could still sense her essence, flickering like a candle in the dark—faint, but undeniably alive.

A wave of anguish surged through me, nearly pushing me into a frenzy at the thought of what they were doing to her.

“Focus,” Leo instructed, his voice steady. “We’ll enter from the north side. The guards change shifts every nine minutes, which gives us a three-minute window to move.”

“Three minutes is all I need,” I replied, my determination unwavering.

Tylon shot me a skeptical look. “I hope you’re certain about this.”

I nodded, gratitude swelling within me. I knew Ty and I had our differences, but their willingness to risk everything for a half-human girl who was my mate—and not theirs—meant the world to me.

We slipped into the shadows, our movements fluid, as if we had rehearsed this countless times before. The rain transformed the world into a silvery blur, and I could feel my wolf pacing restlessly within me, eager to break free.

Maya.

Her name steadied me, yet it also tore me apart.

Leo pressed a small metallic disk against the lower node of the barrier. The runes flickered, short-circuited, and then went dark. I didn’t question where he had acquired such tools; I knew he had experience from his previous pack.

“Go,” he whispered, urgency lacing his tone.

We slipped through the barrier. The air was sharp and stung against my skin, leaving my arms tingling, but the pain was a mere whisper compared to the urgency that drove me forward.

Inside, the environment was stark and sterile, illuminated by harsh white lights. There were no guards in sight, and an unsettling silence enveloped us.

I didn’t like this eerie calm.

We moved swiftly down the main corridor, silent but with purpose. I kept my senses honed in on the faint tugging in my chest. The bond between Maya and me might not have been fully realized, but it was strong enough for me to feel her fear.

“The containment rooms are just ahead,” Leo murmured, his voice low.

Tylon nodded, his expression grim. “She better be there.”

“She is,” I asserted, conviction coursing through me. “I can feel her.”

We rounded the final corner and halted abruptly. Two guards stood at the end of the hall, their backs turned to us.

Before either could react, I was upon them. The first guard collapsed before he even had a chance to register my presence, knocked out cold with a swift strike. Leo dispatched the second with equal efficiency.

“Quiet,” Leo hissed, urgency in his voice. “If they trigger the sensors—”

He didn’t finish his sentence. The hallway lights shifted abruptly, dimming from bright white to a foreboding red.

A voice, smooth and chilling, echoed from the darkness.

“Unauthorized entry detected. Level-three breach. Activate containment.”

Tylon swore under his breath. “So much for stealth.”

We sprinted toward the containment door marked Subject 27, my pulse racing, something warm tugging insistently at my chest. I knew it was her.

“That’s her,” I declared, a fierce determination igniting within me.

The door was locked tight with reinforced silver latches. They didn’t question my certainty; Leo knelt beside the panel, working his tools with a focus that spoke of urgency.

But then, his expression shifted. “Caden?”

“What is it?”

He looked up sharply, a flicker of concern in his eyes. “This isn’t standard tech. It’s connected to her. Any attempt to override it will trigger a countermeasure.”

“What kind of countermeasure?” Tylon demanded, his jaw clenched tightly as the alarms blared around us.

“The kind that kills.”

I didn’t hesitate. I threw my shoulder into the door. The first impact rattled the frame, the second made it shudder, and on the third, the metal screamed in protest before bending inward. The wolfsbane burned against my hands, but I pushed through the pain, not stopping until the latch finally broke free.

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