Mated to Her Alpha Instructor (Eileen and Regis) novel Chapter 9

hapter 9

had first

time around down, leaving my rollen and my throat raw. I lay corbed on my side, daring at the wall, ton exhausted the the wind to the Frere time I chose my eyes, I saw him–moonlight turning his silver black hair to liquid mercury, ice blue eyes burning with

and working entry thing that had made me feel seen for the first time in my life.

Tedy face into the pillow, trying to block out the memories, but they clung to me as stubbornly as his scent. The reverence in his touch as he’d

led back. The I was something precious rather than broken. The moment when he d bitten down and I’d felt something inside me click into place,

The mally finding its kry.

them the crashing shame when I’d woken up in his arms in that clearing, reality crashing back in.

What had I die? What had I let him do?

Frentually, exhaustion won. I drifted into a fitful sleep, but even there I couldn’t escape. My dreams were full of him–his hands on my skin, his voice in my ea, the overwhelming rightness of being held in his arms. I woke gasping several times, disoriented and aching, before finally sinking into a deeper.

dreamless void.

When I opened my eyes again, the light slanting through the narrow window was all wrong. Too golden, too low. I blinked at it stupidly for a moment before

the realization hit me.

Afternoon. It was late afternoon.

te slept through most of the day.

I sat up slowly, my body protesting every movement. The soreness between my thighs was impossible to ignore, a physical reminder of what had happened that made my face burn even in the empty room. My fingers drifted automatically to my neck, touching the place where his teeth had broken skin.

The mark was still there, hidden beneath my collar, but I could feel it like a brand. Warm. Pulsing. Alive in a way that made my heart stutter and my breath

I jerked my hand away, forcing myself to focus. To think. To plan.

because if anyone found out about this, if anyone discovered that a wolfless nothing like me had been marked by an Alpha…

My mamach twisted. They d laugh. Or worse, they’d assume I’d somehow tricked him, manipulated him, thrown myself at him like the desperate, pathetic creature they already believed me to be. And he–whoever he was–would wake up and realize what he’d done, would see the mark on my neck and feel

nothing but regret and disgust.

The thought made something crack inside my chest, sharp and painful.

“No.” I whispered to the empty room. ‘I can’t let that happen.”

I could I let them ses. Couldn’t let anyour see. Not until I figured out what to do, how to handle this, whether the mate bond I’d felt pulsing between us in that clearing was real or just some cruel trick of the moon and the magic in those ancient stones.

Then another thought struck me, cold and immediate: the Moon Dance.

I glanced at the small clock on my desk. Two hours until the celebration began. Mira would already be getting ready, probably wondering why I hadn’t

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12:20 pm

Chapter @

shems to whether

toting home here the world, de sheays did when I went quier the rate one font at my switlen eyes mid trae

whats here and these to be what Joippened

pretive The price I she got close enough, if the exaght even a hint of what I was hiding…

1 poched weet of the bed my legs chats but functional 1 had to do something. Had to cover the evidence before she arrived

the selection in the mall mirret above my desk made me wince. My eyes were puffy and red rimmed, my hair a tangled mess, and my skin looked pale and Shawmut it was my meck that drew my attention the faint silver shimmer of the bite mark just visible above my collar, like moonlight caught beneath the

1 rothed to my small closet, rifling through the handful of clothes I owned. My fingers found an old lace skirt I’d bought at the market two years ago, too mall for me now. I’d been planning to donate it, but now… I grabbed scissors from my desk drawer and began cutting with steady hands, reshaping the Fabric until I had something that might pass for a fashionable neck wrap if no one looked too closely.

I wound it around my neck, adjusting it in the mirror until the bite mark was completely hidden, then adjusted it again, paranoid that even a glimpse of the silver–edged skin would give me away.

But the mark wasn’t my only problem.

The scent was still wrong. The chamomile and apples that usually defined my scent had been overwhelmed by something deeper, richer–snow cedar and mint, unmistakably masculine.

Anyone with a decent nose would notice. And Mira had an excellent nose.

I turned to the shelf where I kept my healing supplies, my mind racing through everything I’d learned in my classes. There had to be something, some combination of herbs that could mask a scent, at least temporarily.

My fingers found the familiar jars almost without thought–lavender for calming, sage for cleansing, silver birch powder for… for what? My mind reached for the memory, and suddenly I was back in Healer Moonfern’s class, listening to her drone on about ancient remedies.

“In the old days, when wolves needed to hide from enemies, they would use a mixture of lavender, sage, and crushed moonstone to dampen their natural scent. It won’t eliminate it entirely, but it will muffle it enough that casual observers won’t notice anything unusual.

I thought it was just historical trivia at the time. Now, it might be the only thing standing between me and complete social destruction.

I worked quickly, grinding the herbs together in my mortar, adding a pinch of moonstone dust I’d collected for a class project. The mixture turned a pale, shimmering blue as I added a few drops of water, and when I whispered the activation phrase Moonfern had taught us–more out of desperation than real belief it would work–the paste began to glow faintly.

My hands trembled as I smoothed it over my skin, focusing on my pulse points and wrists where scent concentrated strongest. The cedar–mint that had clung to a like a lovers touch faded to barely a whisper, and slowly, blessedly, the familiar scent of chamomile and apples returned.

It wasnt perfect. If someone with a strong nose got too close, they’d still smell something off. But it would have to do.

I was just sealing the remaining mixture into a small vial–1d need to reapply it later when three sharp knocks rattled my door, followed by two softer

ones

Mira’s signal.

‘Eileen! I know you’re in there. Let me in before I pick the lock,”

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Chapter

The wich man 17 has well enough to th

Taking op both checked to reflection she best time wait in place, eyes only a litle red, expression carefully neutral. The masking paste had done

s like I would barely detect the Alpha’s been anymore beneath the chamomile and apple.

༈ ངད་པ་༥༧༥༩ ཅིར་ཚེ་༥༡

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