Mated to Her Alpha Instructor Chapter 102

Eileen

The afternoon sun felt too bright, too cheerful for the knot of dread tightening in my stomach as I stood outside the dormitory building, scanning the trickle of students returning from lunch. I'd sent Mira a message ten minutes ago—*I'm waiting by the oak tree*—and forced myself to stay put, to not flee back to the safety of Regis's arms.

I could still feel the phantom grip of Derek's hand on my wrist, the way he'd backed me against those shelves. My pulse hadn't fully settled.

But then, a prickle of warning shot down my spine.

I turned, instinct screaming *danger*, and my blood went cold.

Celeste was striding toward me across the quad, her face twisted in a fury so raw it bordered on feral. Her eyes had that telltale gleam—pupils elongating, the gold of her wolf bleeding through. And behind her, stumbling slightly as she yanked him forward by the arm, was Derek.

His expression was a mess of panic and calculation, like he couldn't decide whether to fight her grip or disappear into the ground.

My hand flew to my belly without conscious thought.

"Eileen!" Celeste's shriek cut across the quad like a whip crack, and heads turned all around us. "You lying, scheming little *bitch*!"

Oh God. Oh no.

I tried to back up, but the oak tree was right behind me. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. My fingers tightened around the communicator in my pocket, but I couldn't move, couldn't think—

Students slowed, stopped, forming a loose ring of curiosity.

"You think I'm stupid?" She was close enough now that I could see the flush of rage mottling her throat, the way her nails had sharpened into claws. Derek tried to pull free, but she wrenched him forward with inhuman strength, half-shifted and twice as strong. "You think I didn't figure it out? The two of you, sneaking around behind my back this whole time!"

"What?" My voice came out strangled. "No—that's not—"

"Don't you *dare* lie to me!" Spittle flew from her lips. The crowd was thickening now, students drawn by the promise of drama. I could feel their eyes on me, judgment already forming. "Playing innocent, playing the victim, when all along you were spreading your legs for my boyfriend like the desperate wolfless *whore* you are!"

The words hit like physical blows. My face burned. Around us, whispers ignited.

"I *knew* something was off—"

"She was always following him around—"

"Did you see her in the healing wing, acting like she knows what she's doing?"

I tried to find Derek in the crowd, to make him speak, to make him tell the truth. "Derek, tell her—tell them—we're not—"

But he'd edged back into the press of bodies, his face carefully blank, and I realized with dawning horror that he wasn't going to say anything. He was going to let Celeste destroy me while he slipped away untouched.

My hands shook as I fumbled the communicator from my pocket. The screen lit up, showing Regis's contact right at the top. *Please,* I thought desperately, even though I knew he couldn't hear me. *Please just look at your messages—*

I managed to tap the screen, to pull up a message window. My fingers trembled so badly I could barely type.

*Help. Dorm Quad. Celeste—*

A hand shot out from the crowd—I didn't even see whose—and snatched the device from my grip. It clattered to the cobblestones, screen cracking.

"No—"

"You don't get to call your way out of this," someone sneered.

"Give that back!" I lunged forward, but Celeste blocked my path, her clawed hand catching my shoulder.

"You're not going *anywhere*," she hissed.

Celeste advanced, and I was dimly aware of more students flooding the quad, drawn by the spectacle. Their faces blurred together, a wall of accusation and contempt. I could feel the baby stirring in distress, that golden thread of connection flickering with unease, and my arms wrapped tighter around my middle.

"Celeste, *please*—" My voice cracked. "I never—Derek and I aren't—"

"Liar!" She was close enough now that I could smell the aggression rolling off her in waves. "I saw the way you looked at him. The way you followed him around like a kicked puppy for *years*. And now you're what, playing hard to get? Pretending you've moved on?"

"I *have* moved on!" The words burst out of me, desperate and too loud. "I don't want Derek—I never want to see him again—"

"Then why was he in the storage room where you work?" Celeste's voice dropped to something deadly soft. "Why did he lie about where he was last night? This morning? Why does he reek of that place?"

The crowd's murmur grew uglier. I could feel the narrative taking shape, the story they were already telling themselves. *Wolfless girl seduces taken Beta. So predictable. So pathetic.*

"Mira—" I tried to push through the bodies, to find my friend, but hands shoved me back. Someone's elbow caught my ribs and I gasped, curling protectively around my stomach. "Mira, please—"

"She's not here to save you," Celeste hissed. "It's just you and me and the truth you've been hiding."

Through the bond, I felt something shift—Regis's steady focus suddenly sharpening into something more alert. Had he felt my fear? Could the bond carry that much, even if I couldn't send words?

*Please,* I thought uselessly. *Please notice something's wrong—*

"Get out of my way!" Mira's voice, high and furious, cut through the noise. I caught a glimpse of her red hair as she shoved her way through the crowd. "Back *up*, all of you—"

She broke through and immediately planted herself between me and Celeste, smaller but fearless. "What the hell is wrong with you? Attacking her in front of everyone—"

"She's been sleeping with Derek!" Celeste's voice rose to a shriek. "Ask her! Ask her where he really was last night!"

"I don't know where he was!" The words ripped out of me. "I didn't—we didn't—I was *home* with—"

I cut myself off, but too late. Celeste's eyes narrowed.

"With who, Eileen?" Her voice dripped venom. "Who were you home with, if not stalking my boyfriend?"

The crowd pressed closer. Someone jostled Mira from behind, and she stumbled into me. I tried to steady her, my hand instinctively curving over my belly—

And a female student, maybe trying to help, maybe not, reached out to catch my arm and her hand pressed flat against my stomach.

For a frozen second, we both went still.

Then her nose twitched. I realized too late—my panic had made my scent flare too strong. The masking herbal balm couldn't mask it anymore.

Her eyes widened. Her hand jerked back like she'd been burned.

"She's—" Her voice cracked with shock. "She's *pregnant*."

The world tilted.

The whispers exploded into outright chaos.

"—pregnant?!"

"—oh, I smell that too. She's been using some ointments to hide her scent—"

"—who's the father, Derek?! Or another man—"

"—disgusting, a wolfless breeding—"

"No—" I shoved the girl away, both arms wrapping around my belly now. The baby's distress pulsed stronger, frightened by my terror, and I felt tears streaming down my face. *I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll keep you safe—*

Celeste stared at me, her expression shifting from rage to something worse. Triumph.

"A baby." Her laugh was jagged, horrible. "Oh, this is perfect. This is *perfect*. You're not just a mistress—you're a pregnant wolfless *slut* who doesn't even know who the father is!"

"That's not true!" Mira screamed, trying to push people back. "Don't touch her—get away—"

But they were too close, too many, a wall of bodies and hostile faces. Someone shoved Mira and she nearly went down. I grabbed for her, terror obliterating thought.

Through the bond, I felt Regis's emotions spike—alarm, then confusion, then something sharper. He knew. Somehow, he *knew* something was wrong.

But he wasn't here. And I had no way to tell him where I was, what was happening—

"You need to leave the Academy," someone in the crowd shouted. "We don't want your kind here—"

"Breeding without a bond—"

"—probably seduced a professor for grades—"

Celeste raised her hand, claws fully extended now, and Mira threw herself in front of me, arms spread wide.

"Touch her and I'll report you to the Council myself!"

Everything was spinning. The voices, the accusations, the hate. My vision blurred at the edges. The baby's distress pulsed through our fragile connection, and I couldn't tell where my fear ended and theirs began.

*Hold on,* I whispered silently to the tiny life inside me. *Just hold on. Please.*

Celeste's hand drew back—

And then, cutting through the chaos like the toll of a bell, came the heavy, deliberate sound of boots on stone.

The crowd went still.

Through the bond, I felt him before I saw him—a wall of fury so intense it nearly drove me to my knees. Not rage *at* me, but rage *for* me, protective and absolute and terrifying in its intensity.

I looked up, tears blurring my vision.

And there, at the edge of the dorm quad, eyes blazing gold and every line of his body screaming lethal intent, was Regis.