Housebound with the Blackridge Heirs novel Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Maya

The dream didn’t fade this time.

It released me.

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I came back to myself the way one surfaces from deep water, lungs burning, senses colliding, and my body already moving before my mind fully caught up. My feet hit the cold floor, bare and silent, and the pull in my chest tightened like a hooked line being reeled southward.

It was the same direction.

Always the same.

I didn’t think. I didn’t question. I just followed it, heart thudding too loud in my ears as the house slept around me. The hallway lights were dimmed, the walls heavy with silence, but the bond hummed softly beneath my skin, restless and urging.

Aelera stirred inside me, not frantic this time, but alert and watchful, like she knew this moment mattered.

The back door loomed ahead, moonlight leaking through the glass panes.

I reached for the handle.

But before I could, strong fingers closed around my wrist.

I gasped and spun, instinct slamming into instinct as my wolf surged forward, and for half a second my vision fractured, the world sharpening too fast, too bright. Heat rolled through me and my skin prickled as the shift tried to take me.

“Maya.”

Tylon’s voice was low but steady, not sharp, not angry, just there, anchoring me.

“Easy,” he said, tightening his grip just enough to keep me grounded. “You’re not going anywhere like that.”

My breath came out uneven as the shift stalled, pain flashing white-hot before receding, leaving me shaking and suddenly very human again. I sagged forward, and he caught me without hesitation, one arm coming around my waist, the other still braced over my pulse.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

His heartbeat was strong beneath my palm.

“You were dreaming again,” he said quietly.

I nodded, swallowing past the tightness in my throat. “It was different this time.”

“That’s what worries me,” he replied, gaze searching my face in the low light. “You usually don’t make it this far before shifting.”

Something about that landed heavy.

I pulled my hand from the door and let my forehead rest briefly against his chest, breathing him in, grounding myself in the familiar scent of pine, steel, and something uniquely Tylon. His arms didn’t tighten, but they didn’t let go either, and I realized he had been waiting here.

Watching.

18:46 Tue, Dec 23 MJM.

Chapter 95

“How long were you up?” I asked softly.

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“basically all night,” he admitted without hesitation. “I figured that after the meeting, you would be triggered to try again. I had a feeling you’d move closer to dawn.”

I closed my eyes, guilt curling low in my stomach. “I didn’t mean to scare anyone.”

“I know,” he said. “That’s why I’m here instead of dragging you back to bed.”

I looked up at him then, really looked, and caught the flicker of exhaustion he tried to hide. The tension that never quite left his shoulders. The way his jaw set, like he was bracing for something he didn’t want but expected anyway,

“The pull is stronger,” I whispered. “It’s not just calling anymore. It feels like it’s…. waiting.”

His expression darkened slightly. “Still south?”

“Yes.”

He nodded once, as if that confirmed something he had already suspected. “You’re not going there alone.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” I said, then hesitated. “At least… not like before.”

He tilted his head, studying me. “Talk to me.”

I exhaled slowly, letting the words form instead of fighting them. “I can’t keep waking up like this. Running… Shifting without control. It’s getting worse, not better, and whatever is pulling me isn’t going to stop just because I pretend it isn’t there.”

“That’s not pretending,” he said.

“Not anymore,” I replied quietly. “Not like this.”

Something shifted in his eyes then, a flicker of respect cutting through the worry.

“You’re thinking about training,” he said.

“Yes.”

“With Caden?”

Something broke inside of me at that question. Caden still haven’t come home, and after our bonds and wolves were restored after leaving the Council, he blocked me again.

“With all of you,” I corrected gently, hiding the pain. “But tonight… I think it needs to start now.”

He was silent for a moment, then glanced toward the darkened windows at the back of the house, where the forest waited like a held breath.

“You’re still half in it,” he observed. “Your wolf’s riding close.”

“I can feel her,” I said. “She’s not panicking anymore. She’s… curious.”

That earned a small, humorless huff from him. “That’s usually when things get dangerous.”

“Or when they get honest,” I countered.

He studied me for a long moment, then finally stepped back, releasing my wrist but not the space between us.

“Shift,” he said.

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Chapter 95

My heart stuttered. “Here?”

“Yes,” he replied calmly. “In the open. Conscious. On your terms.”

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