Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 21

Eileen

I woke to the sound of voices in the hallway-loud, cheerful, the kind of noise that only happened when classes were canceled and students had nowhere urgent to be. For a moment I just lay there, disoriented, until I remembered: today was Friday. The start of the three-day monthly break.

I blinked at the ceiling, then turned my head toward the window. The light was already bright, slanting through the thin curtains in sharp golden lines. My gaze drifted to the small clock on the nightstand: nearly nine o'clock.

I'd slept later than I meant to.

Mira was already up, humming to herself as she rummaged through her wardrobe, pulling out dresses and folding them into her travel bag. The sound was cheerful, almost musical, and it made something in my chest tighten with a strange mix of fondness and loneliness.

I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. My body felt heavy, like I'd been running all night in my sleep. This week finally passed, I thought. I've been avoiding him. Avoiding the training grounds, avoiding the hallways where his office might be, avoiding even the possibility of running into him.

The memory of Monday's Defense class surfaced—me hiding in the back row, staring at my notebook, too afraid to even lift my head. He hadn't called my name. Hadn't looked my way, as far as I could tell. It was as if we'd silently agreed to pretend the other didn't exist.

And the mark... Id been checking it every morning. Watching it fade from vivid silver crescents to blurred outlines. Each day a little less. Each day a little closer to disappearing entirely.

This is for the best, I'd told myself over and over. But my fingers always lingered on the spot longer than they should have, as if I could hold onto something that was already slipping away.

"Eil!" Mira's voice broke through my thoughts. "You're finally awake. I was starting to think you'd sleep through the whole morning."

I managed a small smile. "Sorry. I forgot we would go home." 

"Three-day break, finally." She held up a pale green dress, considered it, then tossed it onto the bed. "A lot of students left yesterday afternoon to get home early, but you know how I hate rushing." She glanced at me, her expression softening. "You're going home today too, right?"

My stomach tightened. "Yeah. My family's expecting me."

I tried to summon the words I'd been telling myself all week.

*This is better. This is what I wanted. Now I can move on. Now

I can prepare myself to accept his rejection, and after that, he'll just be the combat instructor and I'll just be a student. Hell find a proper mate someday. Someone worthy of him.*

Then I started pulling clothes from my drawer, folding them into my old canvas bag. A few plain dresses. An extra scarf. The small pouch of herbs I kept for emergencies.

Mira glanced over at me, her brow furrowing slightly. "You okay, Eil? You look kind of... I don't know. unwell."

"I'm fine," I said quickly. "Just tired. It's been a long week."