Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Eileen

The carriage lurched forward, wheels crunching over gravel as the convoy began to move. I watched the Academy gates recede, the familiar stone walls and arched windows slipping past, and felt a strange tug in my chest–part anticipation, part trepidation.

You can do this, I told myself firmly. You’ve already proven you belong here. Now prove it again.

Through the bond, I felt Regis’s presence like a steady pulse at the back of my mind–calm, watchful, unwavering. It soothed something raw in me, that

constant awareness of him.

Mira was still chattering, something about the kinds of injuries we’d likely see and whether the border camps had decent food. Nina turned another page. The landscape outside shifted gradually from the Academy’s rolling lawns to farmland, then sparse forest, the trees growing thinner and more gnarled as we

traveled farther from the heart of the territory.

And then, through the window, I caught a glimpse of Regis. He was the leading rider on horseback, keeping pace with our carriage.

My breath caught. He sat astride his horse with easy grace, shoulders squared, one hand loose on the reins. The morning light caught in his dark hair and

limnod the hard line of his jaw, and for a moment I forgot to breathe. He looked every inch the warrior he was–strong and unyielding and impossibly

beautiful.

As if sensing my gaze, he turned his head. Our eyes met through the opened window, and everything else fell away.

I couldn’t speak to him, couldn’t reach out and touch him, but I didn’t need to. Through the bond, I felt his steady reassurance wrap around me like a cloak:

I’m here. I’m watching. You’re not alone.

“Eileen, are you even listening?”

Mira’s voice jolted me back to the present. I blinked, pulled my gaze away from the window, and found her watching me with a knowing smirk.

“You were staring,‘ she accused, delighted. “Completely mooning over him.”

“I was just watching the scenery go by,” I said quickly.

“Uh–huh. Mira leaned in, her grin wicked. “But you know he looks ridiculously good in the saddle.

“I wasn’t ogling, I protested, though my cheeks were already burning.

Mira just laughed, and even Nina’s mouth twitched–barely, but enough for me to notice.

I ducked my head, letting my hair fall forward to hide my smile, and turned my attention back to the window. Regis was still there, riding steady and sure, and the sight of him settled something anxious in my chest.

Whatever lay ahead–whatever tests or trials or scrutiny awaited me at the border I wouldn’t face it alone. Not really.

The hours passed slowly. Mira’s chatter ebbed and flowed; Nina remained absorbed in her book; and I drifted between watching the landscape change and retreating into my own thoughts.

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Chapter 155

B

I thought about the healers I’d be working alongside, the soldiers I’d be treating. I thought about Silas Crowe–the observer Regis had warned me about. He’d said Silas was a minor administrator from the border, but told me to keep an eye on him… and to keep myself safe. A cold knot of apprehension twisted in my gut.

I thought about the bond between the child I carried and me, that fragile thread of awareness that had grown stronger each day. I wondered if they could feel my fear–or my determination.

You’re going to see me prove myself, I told them silently, one hand resting over my belly. You’re going to see that your mother is strong.

I closed my eyes and breathed.

The convoy began to slow as we approached a fork in the road. One path led toward the training encampments where Regis would take the combat students; the other veered toward the medical outpost where I’d be stationed. The two weren’t far apart–perhaps an hour’s ride–but far enough that we’d be separated for the first time since we’d completed the mate bond.

My throat tightened.

‘We’re splitting up here,” Mira said quietly, noticing the road marker.

I nodded, not trusting my voice, and leaned toward the window. Outside, Regis had already reined his horse closer to our carriage, and when I pushed the window open, the cold air rushed in, sharp and bracing.

He guided his horse alongside us, close enough that I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his knuckles whitened slightly on the reins. Through the pond, I felt his reluctance, his instinct to keep me close warring with his knowledge that I needed to do this on my own terms.

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I thought they were gonna live together

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