Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 240

 Chapter 240

A rattling breath. His eyes fluttered open, unfocused but aware. “What-”

I pressed my nose to his forehead once–Stay down–then spun toward the center of the ravine.

Nina stood there, surrounded by a corona of purple–silver magic that crackled like a living storm. Her wolf Thea had fully emerged, merging with the witch power her mother had unsealed. The girl’s eyes glowed amethyst, fixed on the ritual circle where black light

pulsed faster, faster-

“Two minutes!” Cornelius was backing away, stumbling over rocks. His remaining hand clutched uselessly at the stump of his severed arm.

“You can’t stop it! It’s already-”

Nina raised both hands.

Purple magic exploded outward, forming barriers along the ravine walls. Translucent shields of crackling energy that caught the falling rocks, the tendrils of dark power lashing out from the circle. She gritted her teeth, feet sliding backward from the force, but the barriers held.

But that wasn’t enough. The corruption was still building at the circle’s heart, moments from critical mass. Nina’s shields could contain the blast–barely–but they couldn’t stop it.

Not her job.

I padded forward until I stood at the edge of the glowing runes. Close enough to feel the wrongness radiating off them in waves, trying to pull at my energy, my life, the spark of my daughter inside me.

I planted my paws and pushed back.

Not with magic. Not with power like Nina’s. With something simpler, older. The same energy that had driven out Regis’s poison, that had sealed Owen’s wounds–life, pure and stubborn, refusing to be extinguished.

Silver light spread from my paws into the earth. Where it touched the ritual runes, they flickered. Dimmed. The sickly grey glow met my silver and recolled, like infection fleeing from a cleansing flame.

I felt Nina’s magic shift in response, her barriers tightening, drawing strength from the stable foundation I was creating. Our powers weren’t the same–hers was all sharp edges and controlled destruction, mine was warmth and mending–but together-

Together we could hold.

“NO!” Cornelius’s shriek echoed off stone. “You can’t–this is mine-”

The ritual circle gave one final, violent pulse.

Not an explosion. An implosion, all that gathered energy turning on itself with nowhere to go. The runes shattered, light swallowing light, and in the center-

The darkness he’d summoned wrapped around him like chains. He opened his mouth to scream, but the sound never came. Black light consumed him from within, burning through flesh and bone, and then he was just gone–not even ash, just empty air where a man had been.

No anger. No triumph. Just… over.

The wrongness in the air dispersed like smoke. Moonlight broke through the clouds overhead, spilling into the ravine in silver sheets. It touched my fur and I felt it like a caress–well done–before fading back to ordinary light.

But alive,

Behind me, someone stirred, Footsteps, heavy and uneven.

Strong arms caught me before I could topple sideways. Warm fabric–a cloak–wrapped around my shoulders, and then I was being lifted, cradled against a familiar chest.

“Easy. Regis’s voice, rough as gravel but his, “I’ve got you.”

I turned my face into his neck and shook, reaction finally setting in. He was warm. His heart beat steady against my ear. Through the bond I felt his pain, his exhaustion, but underneath it all–awe. Wonder. Pride.

“Our daughter?” The words came out barely a whisper.

His hand settled over my belly, gentle but sure. Through the bond I felt him reach deeper, and then–relief flooded both of us. There. Tiny and perfect and safe, her heartbeat steady as a drum.

“So we’ll have a baby girl. She’s fine.” His voice cracked. “She’s fine, and you–Eileen, what you did,”

I felt his gaze on my face, intense enough to burn. When I finally looked up, his eyes were silver–bright with unshed tears.

“Your wolf.” He touched my cheek with shaking fingers. “She’s magnificent.”