Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 73

**Change Begins With You — Jayden Collins**
**Chapter 73**

**Maya**

Even before I fully surrendered to sleep, the dream ensnared me.

It was as if an unseen force had seized my ankle, yanking me down into that haunting silver forest once more. The air shimmered with an ethereal glow, as if the moonlight had been meticulously unraveled into delicate threads, intricately woven through the swirling mist.

And this time, they were both there.

Aelara stood gracefully to my left, radiating warmth and light. Her curls danced gently, reminiscent of a soft breeze gliding over a serene lake. Her eyes held a familiarity that felt like home, yet the kindness within them pierced my heart with a bittersweet ache.

On my right stood Astrid.

Her brilliance was overwhelming, almost blinding. The intensity of her glow was sharp, hot enough that the trees surrounding her seemed to recoil, bending away from her fierce light. Her eyes, icy and commanding, held a power that sent shivers down my spine. When she smiled, it felt as though something ancient and formidable stirred behind her teeth, awakening a long-buried instinct within me.

“You came,” Aelara whispered, her voice flowing into my chest like a soothing lullaby, wrapping around my heart.

“Because she called,” Astrid interjected, her tone layered with an unsettling complexity. “Not you.”

In that moment, Aelara’s image flickered, glitching like an old video struggling to maintain its form.

“Aelara?” I instinctively stepped closer, reaching for her.

She reached out to me, but her hand splintered into static before it could connect, reforming only to fracture again. “Find me, Maya. They are close. Too close.”

“They cannot touch what belongs to me,” Astrid retorted sharply, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife.

Aelara flinched at Astrid’s words, a shadow of fear flashing across her face.

Astrid advanced, the ground beneath her darkening as if it were swallowing the light itself. “Choose correctly, little wolf, or you will choose wrong forever.”

The mist curled tightly around my legs, its grip suffocating. The air thrummed with a power I couldn’t comprehend, a force that resonated deep within me.

Aelara attempted to speak again, but her voice faltered, cutting off mid-sentence. “Maya… listen… you must find me… quickly. Before she—”

Astrid’s laughter shattered the stillness of the forest, a sound that echoed ominously.

And suddenly, everything twisted.

The world tore apart.

And I plummeted.

I jolted awake, gasping for air, my hands scrambling for something solid to hold onto as my heart raced, pounding so fiercely it felt as if it might burst free from my chest.

But the surface beneath my fingertips was wrong.

The room around me felt alien.

It was too vast, too shadowy, and a chilling cold seeped into my bones.

The sheets beneath me were not the soft gray ones that Caden favored. No, these were darker, heavier, and carried the distinct scent of pine smoke mingled with a clean musk.

Tylon.

My stomach dropped like a stone.

Panic surged through me as I scanned my surroundings, confusion swirling in my mind.

I was in Tylon’s room.

How on earth did I end up here? How? Why?

My feet were bare, my hair a chaotic mess, and I was clad in nothing but a tank top and panties that offered little coverage.

Oh God.

Just as I shot upright, the bathroom door swung open.

A cloud of steam rolled out first, enveloping the space in warmth.

Then Tylon stepped through the haze… shirtless.

A towel hung low around his hips, water cascading from his damp hair, tracing the hard contours of his chest and abdomen. Each movement he made sent ripples through his muscles, and the mere sight of him stole the breath from my lungs.

He froze the moment his gaze landed on me.

“Maya.”

His voice emerged, raspy and thick, as if it had scraped against his throat on the way out.

His eyes roamed over me, slow and bewildered, tracing the bare skin of my legs, moving up the curve of my thighs, and lingering on the thin fabric clinging to my chest.

A darkness crept into his gaze.

Completely.

He took a step closer.

I instinctively stepped back.

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