Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 143

Chapter 143

Eileen

The afternoon sun felt too bright, too cheerful for the knot of dread tightening in my stomach as I stood outside the dormitory building, scanning the trickle of students returning from lunch. I’d sent Mira a message ten minutes ago–I’m waiting by the oak tree–and forced myself to stay put, to not flee back to the safety of Regis’s arms.

I could still feel the phantom grip of Derek’s hand on my wrist, the way he’d backed me against those shelves. My pulse hadn’t fully settled.

But then, a prickle of warning shot down my spine.

I turned, instinct screaming danger, and my blood went cold.

Celeste was striding toward me across the quad, her face twisted in a fury so raw it bordered on feral. Her eyes had that telltale gleam–pupils elongating, the gold of her wolf bleeding through. And behind her, stumbling slightly as she yanked him forward by the arm, was Derek.

His expression was a mess of panic and calculation, like he couldn’t decide whether to fight her grip or disappear into the ground.

My hand flew to my belly without conscious thought.

“Eileen!” Celeste’s shriek cut across the quad like a whip crack, and heads turned all around us. “You lying, scheming little bitch!”

Oh God. Oh no.

I tried to back up, but the oak tree was right behind me. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. My fingers tightened around the communicator in my pocket, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t think-

Students slowed, stopped, forming a loose ring of curiosity.

“You think I’m stupid?” She was close enough now that I could see the flush of rage mottling her throat, the way her nails had sharpened into claws. Derek tried to pull free, but she wrenched him forward with inhuman strength, half–shifted and twice as strong. You think I didn’t figure it out? The two of you, sneaking around behind my back this whole time!”

“What?” My voice came out strangled. ‘No–that’s not-

“Don’t you dare lie to me!‘ Spittle flew from her lips. The crowd was thickening now, students drawn by the promise of drama. I could feel their eyes on me, judgment already forming. “Playing innocent, playing the victim, when all along you were spreading your legs for my boyfriend like the desperate wolfless

whore you are!”

The words hit like physical blows. My face burned. Around us, whispers ignited.

“I knew something was off-

“She was always following him around-

“Did you see her in the healing wing, acting like she knows what she’s doing?‘

I tried to find Derek in the crowd, to make him speak, to make him tell the truth. Derek, tell her–tell them–we’re not-

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12:22 pm

Chapter 143

ppp.

But he d edged back into the press of bodies, his face carefully blank, and I realized with dawning horror that he wasn’t going to say anything. He was going to let Celeste destroy me while he slipped away untouched.

My hands shook as I fumbled the communicator from my pocket. The screen lit up, showing Regis’s contact right at the top. Please, I thought desperately,

even though I knew he couldn’t hear me. Please just look at your messages—

I managed to tap the screen, to pull up a message window. My fingers trembled so badly I could barely type.

Help. Dorm Quad. Celeste-

A hand shot out from the crowd–I didn’t even see whose–and snatched the device from my grip. It clattered to the cobblestones, screen cracking.

“No-

“You don’t get to call your way out of this, someone sneered.

“Give that back!” I lunged forward, but Celeste blocked my path, her clawed hand catching my shoulder.

“You’re not going anywhere,” she hissed.

Celeste advanced, and I was dimly aware of more students flooding the quad, drawn by the spectacle. Their faces blurred together, a wall of accusation and contempt. I could feel the baby stirring in distress, that golden thread of connection flickering with unease, and my arms wrapped tighter around my middle.

“Celeste, please- My voice cracked. “I never–Derek and I aren’t-*

“Liar!” She was close enough now that I could smell the aggression rolling off her in waves. “I saw the way you looked at him. The way you followed him around like a kicked puppy for years. And now you’re what, playing hard to get? Pretending you’ve moved on?”

“I have moved on!” The words burst out of me, desperate and too loud. “I don’t want Derek–I never want to see him again-*

“Then why was he in the storage room where you work? Celeste’s voice dropped to something deadly soft. “Why did he lie about where he was last night? This morning? Why does he reek of that place?”

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