Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 179

Chapter 179

An orphan

“Maybe Or… Mira lowered her voice further. Or someone who needed to disappear. Someone running from something.”

The words settled over me like a shroud. Could it be Silas?

“We should keep an eye on her.” I said finally, “Make sure she’s okay.”

Mira nodded, but her expression remained troubled. “Eileen… be careful, yeah? You need to put yourself first.”

“I know, I’ll be careful.”

But as 1 left the compounding room and headed toward the patient wards, I couldn’t shake the feeling that careful might not be enough. Not if Nina was already in Silas’s sights.

I was heading back toward the dormitory wing, intending to knock on her door whether she wanted company or not. But after no one answered, I pushed the door open to find the room empty. Unease settled in my chest. I needed to leave for the cottage soon–Regis was waiting for me. Reluctantly, I sent Mira a quick message asking her to let me know the moment Nina returned.

Walking down the familiar path, I was mulling over whether to tell Regis about today’s strange encounter–maybe he could look into whether Silas actually knew Nina–when I heard voices drifting from the direction of the birch grove on the east side of the trail. One voice was raised in what might have been protest or pain, the other lower, soothing in the way that predators soothe prey before the kill.

My feet carried me toward the sound before conscious thought could intervene. The path through the birches was well–worn, used by villagers who wanted a quick route to the main road. But as I drew closer to the voices, I found myself slowing, moving with more caution.

Oh gods. Oh gods, what was this?

Nina was shaking, I could see it even from my hiding place, but she didn’t try to fight or flee. She stood frozen, like a rabbit caught in a wolf’s jaws, waiting for the bite that would end it.

The resemblance is quite striking, you know, Silas murmured. “Same eyes. Same delicate bones. Though you’ve filled out better than she did at your age. And all this- his fingers brushed her thick bangs, making her flinch, -the shapeless clothes, the hair hiding your face. So clever. Who would ever guess witch blood runs in your veins?”

Witch blood. The words echoed in my skull. Nina was descended from witches? And Silas knew, had known her mother, had done something terrible.