Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 191

Chapter 191

I’d like to be her friend, Cora offered softly, “if she’ll let me. Sometimes it helps, having someone to talk to who isn’t in a position of authority. Just…

companionship, without expectations.”

The knot in my chest loosened slightly, warmth spreading through the perpetual cold that had taken up residence since I’d heard Nina’s broken confession.

“Thank you, I managed. “Both of you.”

The rest of the day passed in the familiar rhythm of treatments and consultations, but I felt the change rippling through the station like wind across still water. Nina emerged from her quarters mid–morning, moving with the careful deliberation of someone testing whether the ground would hold, and when

Cora approached with a gentle offer to help reorganize the herb stores, Nina actually nodded, her voice barely audible but present.

I caught her eye once across the treatment room and something passed between us–not quite trust, too fragile for that, but acknowledgment. A shared understanding that we were both trying, both learning to believe that maybe there were people who would choose kindness without demanding payment.

The afternoon sun was slanting through the windows when the communicator buzzed.

Can you meet me at the cottage tonight? I need to speak with you about something.

The careful phrasing sent ice down my spine. This wasn’t my mate asking for a stolen evening together–this was the Alpha commander who’d uncovered something that required privacy and security wards.

What’s happened?

Don’t worry. I’ll tell you then, Eileen. I’ll send the carriage at sunset.

After he’d disconnected, I stood in the dimness among shelves of bandages and tinctures, one hand pressed against my abdomen where our child grew, feeling the flutter of anxiety through our bond that Regis couldn’t quite suppress. Whatever he’d discovered was serious enough to pull him away from his investigation, serious enough to risk the exposure of our frequent meetings.

By the time sunset painted the sky in shades of amber and rust, I’d worked myself into a state of barely controlled panic that I tried desperately to hide. The medical station’s perimeter had transformed since morning–more guards, tighter patrols,

The carriage waited where Regis had promised, dark and anonymous. But it was Regis himself who stepped down as I approached, his face unreadable in the fading light, and the moment his hand closed around mine to help me up, I felt it–the tightly leashed fury vibrating through our bond, the iron control keeping Valdor from surfacing, the fear he refused to name wrapped around his heart like thorns.

“Tell me,” I demanded once we were enclosed in the carriage’s privacy, before he could deflect or shield me.

His jaw worked, and for a moment I thought he might refuse. Then his shoulders sagged slightly and he pulled me against his side, one hand coming up to cradle the back of my head as though he could protect me through sheer proximity. “Let me get you somewhere secure first. I don’t want this conversation anywhere someone might overhear.”

The forest road passed in tense silence broken only by hoofbeats and creaking wheels. I felt Regis’s heartbeat against my ear, too fast, his breathing carefully measured in a way that told me he was fighting for composure. Through our bond I caught flashes of his inner turmoil–protective rage warring with calculated strategy, the Alpha’s instinct to solve threats with violence colliding with the need for proof and procedure.

The cottage appeared through the trees. Regis guided me inside with a hand at the small of my back, then immediately moved to secure the door.

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Chapter 191

I accepted a glass of water he pressed into my hands, watching as he built up the fire. Finally, he turned to face me, and the naked worry in his eyes made my breath catch.

“Tell me, I repeated, gentler this time.

He came to me then, sinking onto the couch and pulling me down beside him, keeping our bodies in contact as though the physical connection could anchor us both. “Silas wasn’t working alone. We found evidence–supply theft, intelligence being passed to hostile packs, everything pointing to a coordinated effort

to undermine border defenses.”

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