Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 172

He left quickly–too quickly for a man with nothing to hide.

I stood alone in the depot as shadows lengthened across half–empty shelves. The missing supplies themselves weren’t catastrophic. We had reserves, and the shortfalls wouldn’t cripple operations in the immediate term. But the pattern troubled me far more than the gaps.

Perfect ledgers. Conveniently delegated oversight. A commander who suddenly couldn’t explain his own procedures.

And all of it happening while Silas Crowe–Council observer, political operative, and quite possibly something worse–lurked around the medical station where my pregnant mate worked under evaluation.

Valdor paced in my mind, hackles raised. Coincidence?

No. I pulled out my communicator, thumb hovering over Eileen’s contact. She’d be finishing her shift soon, expecting to hear when I’d arrive at the cabin. Expecting the night we’d both been counting toward.

My chest constricted. Through the bond I could feel her anticipation, warm and bright despite the exhaustion of a long day. She’d been so strong these past weeks, proving herself to skeptical soldiers and hostile observers alike. Tonight was supposed to be refuge. Rest. Us.

But if I was right about what these missing supplies implied–if someone in Garrick’s command was compromised, if the camp had been penetrated by hostile elements–then Eileen was in more danger than either of us had realized. The medical station sat barely two miles from here, protected by protocols I’d personally established. Protocols that assumed the officers enforcing them could be trusted.

I couldn’t go to her tonight. Not until I knew what we were facing.

My finger moved to her contact, then away. Then back. The bond thrummed with her presence, so close and yet impossibly distant. Finally I forced myself to type.

Emergency situation in camp. Can’t make it tonight. I’m sorry, love.

The message felt inadequate. Cold. But I couldn’t risk saying more over potentially compromised channels, and I couldn’t bear to hear the disappointment in her voice if I called.

Her response came quickly. Is everything okay?

Just politics and logistics. Nothing dangerous. The lie tasted sour, but the truth would only frighten her. Rest well. I’ll see you soon.

I love you too.

I pocketed the device before I could say anything more. Before I could promise things I wasn’t certain I could deliver. Through the bond I felt her acceptance warring with disappointment, felt her deliberately soothing her own worry so it wouldn’t echo back to me. Always trying to make things easier for everyone else, even when she had every right to demand more.

I drafted the message carefully. Need background on Commander Garrick. Full history, recent contacts, financial records if possible. Highest priority. Respond to this channel only.

Valdor growled low and dangerous. Find the threat. Eliminate it.

I will, I promised him. Promised myself. Promised Eileen, who couldn’t hear but deserved the vow anyway.

Whatever shadow had crept into my command, I would drag it into the light. Before it could reach her.

Before anything else could threaten the future we were building one careful day at a time.

I turned back toward headquarters, leaving the darkened depot behind. There would be no sleep tonight, no reunion with my mate. Only questions that needed answering before dawn.

And if those answers led where I suspected, then Goddess help whoever had decided my mate’s safety was an acceptable price for their schemes.

Because I would show them no mercy at all.