Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 180

Chapter 180

Eileen

The words hung in the air like a noose tightening around Nina’s throat. I remained crouched behind the fallen log, my breath shallow despite the wild

hammering of my heart. Every instinct screamed at me to run, to get help–but I forced myself to stay still, to listen, to understand what was unfolding.

“Your mother had more spirit, Silas continued, his hand at Nina’s throat. “She screamed quite beautifully before we broke her.”

Nina made a sound that wasn’t quite words–a whimper from somewhere deep and primal. Her body had gone rigid against the birch trunk, every muscle

locked in terrible stillness.

“The resemblance is quite striking, you know,” he murmured, his free hand brushing Nina’s thick bangs away from her face. She flinched violently. “Same eyes. Same delicate bones. Though you’ve filled out better than she did at your age. His fingers traced along her jaw. And all this–the shapeless clothes,

the hair hiding your face. So clever. Who would ever guess witch blood runs in your veins?:

Witch blood. The confirmation sent ice through my veins even as it answered so many questions about Nina.

Witches were supposed to be nothing more than folklore now–ancient enemies from the territorial wars centuries ago, before the Great Schism drove them into hiding or extinction. The history texts mentioned them only in passing: powerful healers who could manipulate living energy itself, whose blood was said to amplify any magic it touched. They’d vanished after the last great conflict, presumably scattered to distant lands or wiped out entirely. Most wolves my age had grown up thinking of witches the way we thought of dragons or fae–legends that belonged to dustier times, not flesh–and–blood people who

could be hurt and hunted.

But the way Silas spoke of Nina’s mother, the casual cruelty in his words, made it horrifyingly clear that some wolves had never stopped looking for them.

Had never stopped using them.

“Do you know what your mother learned?” Silas’s voice dropped lower. “How accommodating she became? Used to please me so prettily, beg so sweetly.” He leaned closer. “You could do the same. Take her place, earn your keep. She understood her value in the end–what her witch blood was good for. The pleasures your kind can provide that no she–wolf ever could. If you’re very good, if you please me the way she did, perhaps I’ll even let you live. Perhaps you’ll learn to enjoy it, just as she did before she took the coward’s way out.”

Nina’s breathing had become rapid and shallow, her eyes glassy and unfocused. She was disappearing inside herself, retreating to whatever dark place had kept her alive through childhood horrors.

And something inside me broke.

I’d been Nina. I’d stood in that long elder’s office ready to sign away my dignity because I’d been taught to suffer in silence. But I had Regis now. I had his voice telling me I deserved teeth. I had my daughter moving inside me, depending on me to keep her safe.

So I moved.

My hands shook as I backed away from the log, every step feeling like walking through water. But I forced myself to think, to remember Regis’s words: “If you’re ever in real danger, don’t try to fight a wolf head–on. Create chaos Make noise. Use the environment.”

The stables. I was near the stables.

I moved as quickly as I dared, keeping to shadows. The stable door was open–negligent luck I sent a prayer of thanks fot. Inside, a large bay stallion dozed in his stall, known for being high–strung and easily spooked.

Perfect.

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4:10 pm P M M

Chapter 180

My hands fumbled with the stall latch. It gave way with a soft click. I reached for the nearest thorn bush and snapped off a branch, the thorns biting into

my palm.

Forgive me, I thought to the horse. Then I jabbed the thorns hard into his flank.

The stallion exploded into motion with a scream of rage. He burst from his stall like a force of nature, hooves clattering, eyes rolling white with panic. I threw myself sideways as he charged for the open door.

Straight toward the birch grove. Straight toward Silas.

The bond with Regis flared hot in my chest. I grabbed it mentally, sending pure distress through the connection–not words, but raw emotion. Danger. Help.

Nina. Now.

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