Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Maya

Chaos erupted so fast I barely had time to scream.

One moment the rogue wolves were still, waiting for Rohan’s command, and the next they launched into the clearing with a force that shook the ground beneath my feet. Caden and Leo shifted instantly, fur exploding through skin with the violent grace of born Alphas, while Tylon vaulted forward in human form, daggers flashing as he spun toward the first attacker.

Everything happened in a blur.

The sound of teeth snapping, claws tearing into earth and bodies slamming against trees was almost instant. The air thickened with heat and the metallic tang of blood within seconds, and I barely had time to even register.

Shadows darted between the trunks as more rogues burst into the grove from the south side, ripping through the underbrush like they had been waiting for this exact moment.

I could barely breathe.

The grove pulsed under my feet, the stone slab behind me humming with the same warmth that stirred every time Aelera whispered in my dreams. My wrist burned faintly as the wolf mark beneath my skin glowed just enough to make my pulse skip.

The voice I’d heard for nights rolled through my mind like a breath of wind across ancient stone.

‘Open it.’

My eyes snapped to the stone as the carved wolf sigil glowed faintly.

A rogue wolf lunged at me from the side before I could move, but Leo crashed into it midair, flipping it over his shoulder and Tylon finished him as he drove a sword through its throat. Blood sprayed, and Leo stumbled back, breath shaking as he checked me briefly before diving into the next attacker.

I couldn’t even thank them. I couldn’t speak. I could only stand there, trembling, watching the chaos unfolding around me as panic clawed at my throat.

I couldn’t lose them. Not Caden or Leo or Tylon. No matter how complicated everything between us had become, the thought of any of them dying in front of me made something inside my chest tighten so violently it was almost painful.

I had to do something. Anything.

My gaze shot back to the relic.

It pulsed again, brighter now.

‘Open it.’

“How?!” I shouted. Maybe if I did… maybe if I released Aelera, I could help them fight.

But I didn’t know the first thing to do.

“No!” Tylon’s voice thundered through the clearing. I jerked around to see him half-shifted now, claws out, eyes blazing silver as he ripped a rogue off Caden’s flank and threw it across the grove.

He spun toward me, chest heaving. “Maya! Don’t touch that relic!”

“It’s calling me,” I shouted back.

“I can feel the power from here,” Tylon yelled. “It’s ancient and unstable. If you open it, you could kill yourself!”

“I can’t just stand here and watch you guys die!”

“We’re not dying,” he snapped. “We’ve done this all our lives.”

A roar cut him off as three rogues tackled him at once, dragging him back toward the trees. My heart lurched painfully as he disappeared under a pile of bodies.

“Tylon!”

Caden barreled into the group, ripping two off him in one movement. Their bodies hit the ground hard, and Caden spun, using his massive weight to crush the third. His fur was streaked with blood, some of it his, most of it not, and his eyes locked on mine for a split second before he turned back into the fight.

He was bleeding.

Leo was bleeding.

Tylon was bleeding.

The rogues weren’t dying fast enough. More kept coming from the shadows, drawn like predators to a wound, teeth bared and eyes locked onto the three men between me and them.

And Rohan…

He stood at the edge of the grove, completely still, watching everything with an expression that made my skin crawl.

He didn’t move. He didn’t fight. But his eyes never left me, as if he was waiting for me to do something.

Why? Why wasn’t he fighting? Why wasn’t he intervening? Unless he wanted this. Unless the entire fight was orchestrated to push me toward…

My gaze shot back to the relic. That’s it, wasn’t it? He wanted me to open it. He wanted me to set it free. How did I even know it was Aelera in there?

No.

If he wanted me to open it, I couldn’t trust it. I couldn’t trust anything tied to him.

But the grove pulsed again beneath my feet, like a heartbeat echoing through the earth.

‘Open it!’

I screamed as my wrist burned hotter and my head spun as a ring shot through my head. It sent me to my knees, and I felt the warm sticky content of blood dripping from my cars.

‘Maya!’ Caden’s voice roared through the bond. ‘Get away from there!’

“I can’t,” I whispered.

You need to leave,’ he begged. ‘Now! I’ll keep them distracted.’

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