Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 32

Chapter 32

‘There, see? I knew you’d want some. Mira’s face lit up with satisfaction. “Oh, and she sent this special healing herb mix too. Said it’s good for energy and – She paused, peering at me more closely. “Eileen? Are you okay? You look kind of… I don’t know, like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

i blinked, trying to organize my thoughts, but what came out was: “Mira, I’m not dreaming, am I?”

She laughed, warm and familiar and grounding. “What? No, you’re definitely awake. Though if you were dreaming, I’d be offended that dream–me is still obsessing over food. She reached out and pinched my cheek gently, her fingers warm against my skin. “See? Solid. Real. Not a dream. Why, are you feeling weird? Did something happen?”

The urge to tell her everything rose up so strongly I had to physically bite my tongue. About the pregnancy, about Regis, about the impossible choice I’d just made. But I couldn’t. Not yet. Not when I hadn’t even begun to process it myself, not when it involved Regis’s privacy as much as my own.

“Just tired, I managed, forcing my lips into something approximating a smile. “It’s been a long day.”

Mira studied me for another moment, hovering between concern and curiosity, before she seemed to accept my explanation. “Well, sit down then. Eat something. Mom will actually kill me if I let you waste away on my watch.” She patted the bed beside her.

I sank down onto the worn quilt, and she immediately pushed more food at me–a strip of the smoked meat, some of the berries. “She also packed this for you specifically, Mira said, holding up a small cloth bundle. “Some kind of fortifying tea blend. You know how she is about her herbs.”

As I nibbled at the honey cake, Mira chattered on about her break–her mother’s new recipe experiments, her younger brother’s latest training mishap, the absolutely scandalous thing her neighbor’s daughter had done at the last full moon gathering. I let the normalcy of it wash over me, let her voice and the familiar comfort of our shared room anchor me back to something real and simple.

This was real too, I realized. Not just the terrifying future waiting for me, but this: friendship, someone caring enough to bring me food and fuss over whether I was eating properly, someone who looked at me and saw a person worth taking care of.

“Thank you,” I said suddenly, interrupting her story about her brother. “For bringing all this. For… for caring.”

Mira blinked, then her expression softened. “Of course I care, you idiot. We’re friends. That’s what friends do.” She bumped her shoulder against mine. *Besides, someone has to make sure you don’t work yourself to death in those kitchens.”

Late that night, after Mira had fallen asleep, I lay staring at the ceiling. Moonlight came through the window as I placed my hand on my stomach.

This morning I’d woken up alone and scared. Now I had Regis’s promise, Mira’s support, and this life growing inside-me. People like me didn’t get wanted- we got used, tossed aside. But Regis looked at me like I mattered. Called this baby ‘ours like it was obvious.

And here I was, about to do something crazy–accepting the mate bond with my instructor. The thing that would make me both his student and his mate. sitting in his class while pregnant with his child.

It probably started that night when everything changed. I was just finally letting myself want what felt right.

The idea still scared me. But under the fear was something new: hope.

What if I was worth wanting? What if this wasn’t a dream? What if when Regis said he wanted me, he actually meant it?

I closed my eyes, hand still on my stomach, and let myself believe it.

1/2

2:37 pm pppp.

Chapter 32

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