Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 198

Chapter 198

The question, offered so immediately and without qualification, made my throat tighten with emotion. “Just keep your eyes open,” I said. “Notice if anyone’s asking unusual questions or showing too much interest in station operations. And Mira… I hesitated, then pushed forward. “If you see anything that makes Nina uncomfortable–anyone paying too much attention to her, anyone asking about her–I need you to tell me immediately.”

Understanding flickered across her features, pieces clicking into place that I hadn’t explicitly confirmed but which she was too perceptive not to intuit. ‘She’s also the one Silas was after, Mira said quietly, and it wasn’t a question.

I didn’t deny it, just held her gaze in silent acknowledgment, and she nodded once, sharp and decisive. I’ll watch out for her. For both of you.” Then her expression softened slightly, one hand coming to rest on my arm with gentle pressure. “You’re being careful too, right? Because if anything happened to you

‘Regis would burn down half the territory,” I finished with a small, strained smile. “I know. And yes, I’m being careful. I promise.”

For a long moment I simply stood there, watching her careful movements and trying to find words for what I needed to ask, for the impossible balance between respecting her trauma and needing information that might keep us all safe. Finally I moved to the opposite side of the work table, picking up a bundle of silvered root and beginning to strip the outer bark with slow, deliberate motions that gave my hands something to do while my mind searched for the right approach.

“I need to ask you something, I said quietly, keeping my tone gentle, non–demanding. And I understand if you can’t answer, if talking about it is too difficult or if you simply don’t remember clearly enough. But Regis is trying to figure out what Silas was planning–what he wanted from…” I paused, correcting course. “What his larger goals were. And I thought maybe, if you remembered anything from when you were younger, anything your mother might have said or done that seemed important to Silas and his people, it might help us understand what we’re dealing with now.”

Nina’s hands stilled on the moonwort, her shoulders going rigid with tension that spoke of instinctive retreat, and for several heartbeats I thought she might refuse entirely, might shut down the way she had so many times before when the past pressed too close. But then, slowly, she set down the herbs and turned to face me, her expression carefully blank in a way that couldn’t quite hide the turmoil beneath.