Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 64

**Change Begins With You — Jayden Collins**
**Chapter 64**

**Maya**

The oppressive silence in my room was suffocating, twisting my stomach into knots.

I found myself pacing, my footsteps echoing softly against the floor, before gravitating back toward the window. I hesitated, my hands still trembling from the last time I had dared to peek outside.

The scene below was eerily still, as if the entire world had paused, holding its breath in anticipation of something dreadful. A wave of unease washed over me when I realized I couldn’t feel Caden through our bond. The memory of him blocking me sent a fresh surge of anger and fear crashing into my chest.

What if something terrible had happened to him?

What if this was the last time I would ever see him?

Just then, a gentle knock on my door shattered my spiraling thoughts.

I jumped, nearly losing my balance on the carpet. My heart raced, pounding in my throat.

“Who’s there?” I called out, my voice quivering more than I intended.

The door creaked open, and in stepped a tall, familiar figure.

Tylon.

He closed the door behind him, his sharp gaze sweeping across the room with an intensity that made every muscle in my body tense up. His presence was a storm—powerful yet restrained, with an undercurrent of something darker lurking just beneath the surface.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he remarked, his brows furrowing in concern.

“Tylon?” I gasped, instinctively stumbling toward him. “You… you’re back?”

His frown deepened. “Yeah. Why do you sound like that? What the hell happened?” He glanced around the room, as if assessing whether everything was in its rightful place. “Where are Leo and Caden?”

The words spilled from me in a frantic rush.

“The wolves came back,” I exclaimed. “Three strange ones. They were just standing outside, watching the house. Watching me.”

His jaw clenched, but he remained silent, allowing me to continue.

“And then Caden and Leo went after them, and Caden…” My breath hitched, the memory making my chest tighten. “He locked me in here. Every door, every window. He blocked the bond and just left me here, stuck watching him run into the forest.”

Tylon ran a hand over his jaw, exhaling sharply, the weight of the situation settling around us.

“Oh. So that’s why he used the emergency shutdown.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. “You knew about that?”

“It’s a safety protocol,” he replied calmly. “If there’s a threat, any Blackridge heir can lock the estate to keep those inside safe, including us if necessary.”

“Safe?” I snapped, my frustration bubbling over. “I wasn’t going to do anything!”

He shot me a flat stare, unyielding. “Really? You clearly don’t know yourself. If you’d gotten outside and distracted them, they’d both be dead right now.”

His words struck hard, not out of mockery, but because they echoed a haunting familiarity.

A voice inside my head had said the same thing.

My stomach twisted, and a chill crept over my skin.

Tylon’s eyes narrowed. “What is it? Your face just went pale.”

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “It’s just… I heard something. A voice in my head. It said almost the same thing you did.”

His expression shifted, no longer dismissive or shocked, but alert and focused.

“A voice?” he repeated, his curiosity piqued.

“A female voice,” I admitted quietly. “And I was here alone. She just… spoke. Like she was listening. Or watching.”

Tylon stepped closer, his eyes searching mine with that intense, unreadable gaze that sent my heart racing.

“Did she tell you who she was?”

I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of his question. “No.”

“Then ask,” he urged simply. “Tell her to introduce herself. Maybe it’s your wolf.”

“What?” I blinked in disbelief. “You think it’s my wolf?”

“Who else would it be?” he replied, his tone steady. “You clearly aren’t human. You’ve survived things no human could. So yes, Maya, whatever is inside you might be waking up.”

The mere thought sent a jolt of panic through me.

My wolf? Me?

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