Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Maya

This had to be a trap.

The letter came at noon, hand delivered by a man in a black suit at our doorstep. The Council was summoning me to a meeting. Not demanding this time. Not ordering.

Asking…. Inviting.

Was this the same Council who shot the heirs, kidnapped and tortured me and risked killing me just to figure out what I was?

I turned the creamy folded paper over in my hands for the tenth time, tracing the embossed seal with my thumb.

Aelera stirred faintly in the back of my mind, like she was pushing up from a very careful sleep, but she said nothing. Astrid remained completely silent, which somehow made all of this worse. Since the first time she spoke, she hasn’t again,not even

onder what exactly was her plan. But main concern this very moment.

across from me at the kitchen table,

elbows braced on the wood, eyes fixed on the letter

like it might jump up and bite me. His curls fell over his forehead in a messy way that would usually make me want to push them back, but right now they shadowed the worry in his eyes.

“Read it again,” he said. His voice was steady, but his jaw was tight.

I unfolded it and cleared my throat. “Miss Maya Cole, the Council of of the First Packland hereby requests your presence for a private hearing to discuss recent events and future accommodation of your… unique status. We assure you this is a peaceful audience and no physical testing or harm will be inflicted. Attendance is strongly advised.”

“Strongly advised,” Caden repeated, like the words tasted wrong. “They mean required. They are just prettying it up.”

I folded the letter back up, fingers digging into the paper. “They said requested. They said peaceful. That is not their usual vocabulary with me.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t trust a single word,” he muttered.

They had been quiet since Tylon’s father saved me from “further testing”. But that was no more comfort as Astrid’s silence was.

“Maybe they learned their lesson,” I said, though

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eyen I didn’t believe it. “Maybe they know they can’t risk trying that again.”

Caden snorted quietly. “The Council doesn’t learn lessons. They adjust their tactics. That’s all.

Before I could answer, footsteps padded into the doorway.

“What did they want?” Tylon asked.

He leaned against the frame, arms folded, eyes narrowed on the letter like he already knew what it was. He wore a dark shirt, sleeves shoved up to his elbows, and I noticed for the first time that he looked just as exhausted as Caden. It lived around his eyes now, in the shadows the light couldn’t quite reach.

“The Council sent for her,” Caden said flatly, not taking his eyes off me.

“Requested,” I corrected automatically, lifting the letter. “Apparently they are being polite now.”

Tylon’s mouth curved without humor. “How charming. The same Council who tried to kill you?”

“Exactly,” Caden said. “It is a trap.”

“I know it might be,” I admitted, the words heavy. “But if I ignore it, what happens then? Do they go back to hunting me? Do they try something worse?

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At least this way I know where I am walking into.”

Aelera hummed softly, a low vibration of unease and curiosity mixed together. She didn’t like the Council, but she liked half-truths even less.

It was still strange having a wolf, yet comforting… an ever present feeling of knowing I wasn’t alone.

Tylon’s eyes flicked to Caden, then back to me.

“You have to go,” he said slowly. “If they are pretending to be reasonable and you ignore them, the next move wont be this pretty. They wont ask again.”

Caden’s head snapped toward him. “You want her to walk into their territory after everything they have done?”

“I don’t want her to,” Tylon said calmly. “I think she has to.” He pushed away from the doorway and stepped closer, resting his hands on the back of the chair beside me. “They tried force. It failed. Now they are trying pressure. If she refuses both, they escalate. If she shows up, we buy time. We get information. We see what they are really planning.”

I looked between them. Two Alphas staring each other down while my fate sat in my hands like folded paper.

“You’re not going alone,” Caden said immediately.

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“They can request all they want, but I’m going with you.”

“We both are,” Tylon added.

The certainty in their voices settled some of the buzzing in my chest, but not all of it. I opened the letter again, scanning it slowly until my eyes caught on a date printed near the bottom. Aelera’s

awareness tugged when I read it, like she was mentally circling it too.

“They want me in three days,” I said. “At the central hall.”

Caden’s jaw ticked. A small, sharp muscle jumped near his ear.

Tylon noticed instantly. “What is it?” he asked.

Caden hesitated, then exhaled slowly.

“My father.” He sounded like the words themselves were a curse. “He scheduled a mission that day. An enforcement sweep near the outer border. I was supposed to lead it.”

A small weight dropped in my stomach. Of course his father would manage to make this harder. Something told me it was even intentional.

I still remembered that it was after escaping his death sentence that the council came for me.

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“Then you tell him you aren’t going,” Tylon said, as if it were simple.

“It’s not simple,” Caden answered, voice tight. “You know how he is. He already thinks I am distracted. That I am putting my mate before my duties.”

“You are,” Tylon said. “As you should.”

They glared at each other across the table, stubbornness sparking between them like flint.

I reached over and caught Caden’s hand. His fingers were tense, but they softened under mine.

“You should go,” I said quietly. “You can’t ignore your responsibilities forever. Your father will make you pay for it, and he wont just aim at you. He will use me if he has to.”

His eyes snapped to mine, hurt flashing there like I had betrayed him just by suggesting it.

“I didn’t say I want you to,” I added quickly. “I just know what he is like.”

He dropped my gaze briefly. “It’s not him, you know, why I keep going.”

Tylon’s hand tightened on the chair. “I’ll go,” he

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