Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 109

Mated to Her Alpha Instructor

Chapter 109

Eileen

I had just finished clearing the dinner dishes when Mother’s sharp voice cut through the kitchen. “Gareth needs his bandages changed. Go upstairs now.”

My hands stilled over the washbasin. I dried them on the frayed towel, then gathered my medical supplies–clean gauze, salve, a basin of warm water. Just get through tonight, I told myself as I climbed the stairs. Check the wound, make sure there’s no infection risk, and then I can leave.

This would be the last time I played the dutiful daughter. Once I confirmed Gareth was stable enough to manage his own recovery, I would message Regis properly, pack my things, and walk out of this house. The girl who automatically obeyed every command was done.

Gareth’s room smelled of sweat and blood. He lay propped against the headboard, scowling. “About time. Were you daydreaming about that pathetic Beta

again?

I didn’t respond. Showing emotion would only please him. I’d learned my lesson the day he read my diary–since then, I never write at home. And Derek was so far in my past the mention barely registered.

I set my supplies on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed. “I need to check for infection. Try not to move.”

I began unwrapping the soiled bandages, my movements efficient despite my exhaustion. The sooner I finished, the sooner I could send Regis a real explanation and start counting down the hours until I could leave.

I leaned forward to reach the gauze on the far corner of the nightstand. My body angled across Gareth’s, arm extending–and I felt it. The subtle slide of silk against skin, the loosening of the scarf I’d been wearing constantly since I returned home.

The scarf Regis had given me to hide his mark.

Cold air touched my neck.

My heart stopped.

“What the hell is that?”

Mother stood in the doorway. Before I could react, before I could adjust the scarf, she was across the room. Her fingers dug into my shoulder and yanked me upright. I stumbled, my hand flying to my neck, but she slapped it away and ripped the scarf aside entirely.

I stood frozen as her eyes fixed on the mark–the clear crescent shape of teeth, healed into smooth scar tissue.

She leaned in close, inhaling deeply, searching for the scent that should accompany such a mark. But there was nothing. The suppression salve I’d been using had masked Regis’s cedar and mint completely, leaving only my own chamomile and the faint herbal tang of treatment.

Her expression shifted from shock to something worse–cold, vicious satisfaction..

“There’s no scent. Her voice dropped dangerously low. “You let some nobody use you, didn’t you? Some weak–blooded mongrel who didn’t even have the spine to properly claim you–who just took what he wanted and left you with this.”

That’s not- The words caught in my throat.

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11:51 am

Chapter 109

M

Every instinct screamed at me to defend him, to defend us. But a cold clarity settled over me. If I told them the truth–if I said Regis’s name, explained who he was–they would never let it go. Mother’s eyes were already calculating. If she knew I was bonded to an Alpha heir, to the future head of the Vane family. she would show up at the academy. She would demand to meet him, to “discuss our future–which really meant negotiate what she could extract from the connection. They would latch onto him like parasites, turning something beautiful into another transaction.

I wouldn’t do that to him.

So I swallowed the truth and said nothing.

“I always knew you were stupid, Eileen, but this?” Mother shoved me backward. I stumbled into the nightstand, jars rattling. Pain shot through my hip where it struck the wooden edge, but I barely noticed through the roaring in my ears. “Get yourself cleaned up. Then come back and finish treating your brother

properly.”

She grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin as she dragged me out of Gareth’s room and down the hall toward my own. I tried to pull free, but her grip was iron.

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