Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 244

Chapter 244

The memory shifted, blurring forward in time. Ianthe, healed and grateful, lingering in the forest. Cornelius returning day after day, bringing her food, talking with her. She showed him magic–small things, harmless spells. He watched with wonder in his eyes.

Then something darker crept in. Ianthe, using her magic to strengthen Cornelius’s weak wolf form, to give him the power he’d always

lacked. His wonder turned to hunger. To obsession.

“You could do this for others,” he said one night, eyes gleaming. “Wolves who’ve been cast aside, who’ve never known strength. You could build an army of-

“No.” Ianthe pulled away from him, horror dawning on her face. “That’s not what this power is for. That’s not what I’m for.”

But Cornelius didn’t listen. Couldn’t listen. The taste of power had already poisoned him.

The memory fractured into chaos. Ianthe, pregnant and terrified, locked in a cell. Cornelius standing outside, cold now, empty of the warmth he’d once shown.

“You’ll help me,” he said flatly. “Or you’ll watch your child suffer the same fate.”

Janthe spat at him. “I’ll die before I let you use me that way.”

“Then you’ll die slowly,” Cornelius replied, and walked away.

Years collapsed into moments. Ianthe, growing weaker, magic being drained from her in brutal sessions. Silas’s cruel hands, other men’s cruelty. And through it all, she held onto one thing–the child growing inside her. The daughter she’d never wanted but refused to abandon.

Nina’s birth was a blur of pain and blood. Ianthe, barely conscious, whispering words I couldn’t hear. Purple light flaring around the newborn, sealing something deep inside. Then hands tearing the baby away, and lanthe’s scream of loss echoing through stone walls.

But there was one final memory, clearer than the rest. Ianthe, skeletal and dying, pressing her bleeding palm against this very handkerchief. Her lips moving, words meant only for her daughter:

“Forgive me, my little shadow. Forgive me for bringing you into this world of pain. But know this–you were never a mistake. Never a burden. You were my light in the darkness, the only good thing that ever came from my choices.”

Tears streaked down lanthe’s gaunt face.

“They will tell you that you are broken. That your blood is cursed. Don’t believe them, Nina. You are stronger than any wolf, braver than any warrior. And when you find the courage to break the chains I placed on you… when you finally let your true self emerge… you will be magnificent.”

“I love you. I have always loved you. And wherever you go, whatever you become… I will be watching. Waiting. So very proud.”

chose to keep me. She wanted me.”

Nina’s grip on the handkerchief tightened, but something in her expression shifted–still broken, still grieving, but underneath it… hope. Fragile and tentative, like a seedling pushing through frozen ground.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “For being here. For… for seeing me.”

I brushed her hair back from her face, the gesture instinctive. “You’re not invisible, Nina. Not anymore. You’re a woman who saved all of us last night. Who stood up to monsters and won. Your mother would be so proud of you.”

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. It didn’t last, but it was there. Real.

“I want to live,” Nina said suddenly, fiercely. “Not just survive. Not just exist. I want to live, the way she never got to. I want to be free.”

My heart swelled. “Then live,” I said. Live loudly, brilliantly. Be everything they tried to stop you from becoming.”

Nina nodded, clutching her mother’s handkerchief like a lifeline. And as I sat beside her in the quiet dawn, I knew that something fundamental had shifted. The girl who’d hidden in shadows her whole life was finally stepping into the light.

And she was going to shine.