Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 26

Chapter 26

39

Regis

The training grounds were shrouded in morning mist when I arrived, the pale sun barely cresting the horizon and casting long shadows across the packed earth. Kieran was already there, running through warm–up drills with the kind of methodical precision that came from

years of military discipline, and he looked up as I approached, raising one hand in greeting before returning to his stretches.

I nodded in response and moved to join him, rolling my shoulders and trying to shake off the restless tension that had been my constant companion for the past two weeks–the hollow ache in my chest where the bond had been, the gnawing sense of something vital and irreplaceable slipping away day by day, the maddening silence from Eileen that told me everything and nothing at once.

“Ready?” Kieran asked, straightening and rolling his neck until it cracked audibly.

“Ready,” I said, though I wasn’t sure I believed it.

We began with the basics–hand–to–hand combat drills, the kind of close–quarters sparring that required focus and speed and the ability to read your opponent’s movements before they happened. Kieran came at me with a low feint to the left, then pivoted and drove his shoulder toward my ribs, and I should have seen it coming, should have blocked or countered or at least stepped aside, but instead I hesitated for half a second too long and his momentum carried him straight into me, sending me stumbling backward and nearly knocking

me off my feet.

He pulled back immediately, frowning. “You all right?”

“Fine,” I muttered, resetting my stance. “Again.”

We went again, and again I missed the opening, my reflexes sluggish and my attention scattered. Kieran landed a solid hit to my shoulder -not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to make his point–and then followed it up with a sweep that put me flat on my back in the dirt, staring up at the pale sky with my lungs heaving and my pride somewhere in the mud beside me.

Kieran stood over me, arms crossed, his expression somewhere between exasperation and concern. “All right, that’s enough. You’re done.”

I pushed myself up onto my elbows, scowling. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine,‘ he said flatly, “You’ve been distracted recently, and today you’re worse than ever. If this were a real fight, you’d be dead three times over. He paused, then added more gently, “Talk to me, Regis, What’s going on?”

I sat up fully, brushing dirt from my tunic, and stared at the ground between my knees. “It’s been almost two weeks,” I said quietly. “Since

I sent her that message.”

“And she hasn’t replied.”

“She read it,” I said. “But she hasn’t said anything.”

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Chapter 26

Kieran was silent for a moment, and then he moved to sit beside me, his shoulder bumping mine in a gesture of solidarity. And the

mark?”

“Gone,” I said, the word tasting like ash in my mouth. “Five days ago. Completely faded. I closed my eyes, remembering the way Valdor had howled in my mind when the last trace of silver light had vanished from my senses, the way the emptiness had crashed over me Site a wave and left me gasping for air. ‘Valdor hasn’t spoken since.”

“Shit, Kieran said quietly. “I’m sorry, Regis.

I shrugged, though the gesture felt hollow. “I gave her a choice. I told her I would respect whatever she decided. And the decided… this.

So I have to accept it.”

Kieran turned to look at me, one eyebrow raised, and there was something almost amused in his expression despite the seriousness of the conversation. “Do you, though? Because honestly, watching you mope around like some tragic hero from a bad romance novel is getting

old.”

I shot him a glare. “I’m not moping.”

“You’re absolutely moping,” he said, grinning now. “You’re doing the whole noble suffering in silence thing, and it’s painful to watch. He nudged my shoulder with his. “Look, I get it. You’re trying to be respectful. You don’t want to push her. But has it occurred to you that maybe–just maybe–she’s waiting for you to actually do something?”

“I did do something,” I said, frustrated. “I apologized. I offered to talk. I gave her space.”

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