Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 52

**Change Begins With You — Jayden Collins**
**Chapter 52**

**Maya**

“Have you ever had that unnerving feeling that everyone around you is watching your every move?”

The question tumbled out of my mouth before I could catch it, the words hovering in the air between us like a fragile butterfly.

Elise turned her head, her dark hair glistening in the sunlight as we navigated through the bustling university courtyard.

“Well, considering you pretty much vanished for an entire week and then reappeared looking like you just stepped out of a royal photoshoot,” she replied with a teasing lilt. “Yeah, I’d say a few heads are turning your way.”

I forced a laugh, but it came out more like a nervous chuckle, betraying the unease that was settling in my stomach. “Right. Totally normal.”

But deep down, I knew it was anything but normal.

I hadn’t shared the details of my recent ordeal with Elise, and this morning at work, Jamille had given me a hard time, convinced I had been slacking off.

The truth was, I could feel the weight of their gazes, each one flickering toward my neck, a spark of curiosity igniting in their eyes. Jamille’s look was laced with contempt, but I could sense the unspoken question hovering in the air: Did I finally know the truth? And, more importantly, who among them was responsible for my transformation?

Yet, that wasn’t the primary concern gnawing at me.

With every pair of eyes that met mine, I felt a shift—a new awareness washing over me. These people weren’t merely fellow students; many of them were not even human. I could see it now, the subtle predatory elegance in their movements, the quiet vigilance that surrounded them, as if they were attuned to the secrets lurking just beyond the corner of perception.

In the past, I might have dismissed these thoughts as paranoia. But now, I was unable to unsee the truth.

Caden had once mentioned that nearly everyone at Blackridge belonged to some pack or alliance, a fact that contributed to the school’s “exclusive” reputation.

And here I was, the girl who had fallen for one of their heirs, who had been abducted by the Council, and somehow emerged from the chaos with a story to tell.

The girl who returned forever altered.

“Hey.” Elise nudged my shoulder gently, breaking me from my thoughts. “You good? You’ve been gnawing on that pen cover for what feels like an eternity.”

“I’m fine,” I replied, though the words felt hollow.

“Uh-huh.” Her brow arched skeptically, a clear signal that she wasn’t buying it.

As the professor wrapped up the class, announcing an upcoming exam we needed to prepare for, Elise and I walked in silence for a while. I could feel the weight of even more eyes on me, and the odd thing was, I couldn’t decipher whether it was due to the mark on my neck, the whispers of my recent abduction, or the suspicion that I was no longer entirely human. Perhaps they were just… curious.

We paused by one of the fountains, and I finally exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“I owe you an apology,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “For ghosting you the other day. For making you worry. You didn’t deserve that.”

Elise crossed her arms and tilted her head, her expression serious. “You’re right. I didn’t.”

The raw honesty in her tone made me flinch, a pang of guilt twisting in my chest.

“But,” she added, her eyes softening with understanding, “I also figured something significant must have happened. You don’t just disappear for days and come back looking like you’ve survived a hurricane and a breakup at the same time.”

“Technically, it was a Council imprisonment, and… not a breakup.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Wait, what?”

I took a deep breath and began to share my story. Not every detail, but enough—the confrontation at Caden’s house, the attack, the needle that had pierced my neck, and the strange compound where they had kept me. I carefully omitted anything that might lead to accusations of treason or worse.

By the time I finished, Elise looked utterly stunned, her eyes wide as saucers. “So basically, you were kidnapped by our werewolf politicians?”

“Pretty much,” I confirmed, a bitter smile forming on my lips.

“And your boyfriend broke in to rescue you?”

“Yeah.”

“And now you think they injected you with something that’s making you… what, act weird?”

“I have no idea what it’s doing to me.” I rubbed my arms absentmindedly, recalling the strange shimmer that had danced across my skin in the mirror just the night before. “Sometimes it feels like there’s something stirring inside me. Not in a physical way, but more like… energy. Heat. It’s as if I’m being drawn toward something.”

This particular detail, however, I hadn’t even shared with Caden. The thought of keeping it from him gnawed at me, especially after I had chided him for holding back his own secrets. Here I was, withholding the names that haunted my thoughts daily: Astrid and Aelera.

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