Mated to Her Alpha Instructor Chapter 127

Regis

The road from the medical station to the training camp stretched before me in the pale morning light, but my mind was already racing ahead, assembling pieces of a puzzle that grew more ominous with each passing mile.

Nina's terror at Silas's appearance had confirmed what I'd suspected from the moment I'd seen him hover over Eileen with that calculating gaze—the man was a predator. But the full scope of his depravity, revealed through Nina's broken confession last night, went beyond anything I'd anticipated. He'd imprisoned a witch, forced her to use her gifts under torture, and kept a child in a cage like an animal. The cruelty was methodical, purposeful.

Which meant his current scheming had purpose too.

The question was whether he acted alone or as part of Cornelius's web.

I'd sent word to Kieran last night the moment I'd gotten Eileen asleep, asking him to come at first light. The situation had escalated beyond border politics into something that could threaten not just my mate, but the peace we'd been fighting to implement. If Cornelius's faction had been using someone like Silas as their instrument, if they'd known about his methods and deployed him anyway—

Valdor growled low in my chest at the implications.

The command tent came into view, and I felt a flicker of relief when I spotted the familiar black gelding tethered outside. Kieran had arrived, which meant we could begin unraveling this properly.

I pushed through the tent flap to find him already bent over the tactical maps, several sealed reports spread across the command table. He looked up at my entrance, his expression grim.

"You look like you haven't slept," he observed.

"I haven't." I moved to the opposite side of the table, scanning the documents he'd assembled. "Tell me you have something."

"More than something." He pushed forward a report bearing the Council's seal. "Cornelius's faction went into crisis mode after you filed the assault charges. They couldn't publicly refute the evidence without looking complicit, but abandoning Silas would expose their entire network."

"And Silas himself?"

"Vanished within hours of your accusation. Professional extraction—someone with resources pulled him out before the Council could issue a formal warrant." Kieran's jaw tightened. "He's gone to ground, but he'll surface again. Men like him always have contingency plans."

I nodded slowly, the confirmation settling like lead in my gut. "What about the supply situation?"

"That's where it gets interesting." Kieran pulled out a different file, this one marked with Commander Garrick's seal. "I dug into the timeline like you asked. Garrick's been solid for years, then suddenly supply discrepancies start appearing four months ago."

"What changed?"

"His second-in-command died." Kieran's voice took on an edge. "Lieutenant James Hartley. Killed in what was officially ruled an accidental encounter with rogue wolves during a routine supply run."

I picked up the incident report, my tactical mind immediately flagging inconsistencies. "Routine runs don't go through contested territory."

"Exactly. And here's the pattern—" Kieran spread out a series of documents. "Six weeks before Hartley's death, he'd been pushing Garrick to bring in additional support for supply management. Said he was overextended, recommended Silas's man. Garrick refused in a public staff meeting."

The manipulation crystallized with ugly clarity. "Create friction between commander and second. Arrange an accident that validates the second's concerns. Let guilt do the rest."

Kieran's expression turned dark. "Everything pointed to tragic accident. The investigation found nothing suspicious."

"But Garrick blamed himself."

"And delegated exactly what Hartley had requested—though he spread the responsibility across three junior officers instead of giving Silas full control. That rotation system is probably what allowed us to catch the discrepancies."

I studied my old friend's face, seeing the same cold fury I felt building in my own chest. This wasn't opportunistic theft. This was systematic infiltration, psychological warfare designed to compromise our defenses from within.

"There's more." Kieran unrolled a schematic that made my blood run cold. "We found how they've been moving the supplies."

The map showed the eastern depot and the terrain beneath it, marked with a network of passages that shouldn't exist. Professional construction, reinforced tunnels, multiple exit points—infrastructure that would have taken months to build.

"How long has this been operational?" I asked quietly.

"Unknown, but the engineering suggests at least half a year." Kieran pointed to marked locations. "Two exits—abandoned mines in neutral territory, and cave systems near the contested border."

"Surveillance?" I asked, my voice coming out rougher than intended.

"Already in place. I positioned teams at every exit last night." Kieran met my eyes. "But Regis, the scale of this operation, the resources required—"

"Someone with significant backing orchestrated this." I finished his thought, political dimensions clicking into place. "And Silas was just one piece of a larger apparatus."

"Cornelius." Kieran said the name with quiet certainty. "The timing is too perfect. Undermine border security, create instability, position his faction as the solution. And now you've publicly challenged him by exposing Silas—"

A knock interrupted us. "Sir, Commander Garrick is here as requested."

I exchanged a glance with Kieran before responding. "Send him in."

Garrick entered with the rigid posture of a man expecting censure. Grief had carved deep lines around his eyes—a commander who'd lost not just a subordinate but a friend, and blamed himself for it.

"At ease, Commander." I gestured to a chair, letting authority soften into something more human. "I know about James Hartley."

The name hit him visibly, careful control cracking to reveal raw pain underneath. "Sir?"

"I know you lost your second four months ago. I know there was tension between you before his death." I paused, watching him process. "And I know you've been carrying that weight, believing his concerns about being overextended were valid."

Garrick's throat worked. "He was right. I should have listened—"

"He was manipulated." Kieran placed the file in front of him. "And so were you. Hartley's recommendation of Silas, the public disagreement, the 'accidental' death that seemed to prove his point—all orchestrated."

I watched Garrick's expression transform from grief to shocked comprehension as he scanned the evidence. "Someone... targeted him?"

"Targeted both of you." I met his eyes, letting him see the certainty in mine. "They needed a commander with your authority and integrity. Someone they could break with guilt and manipulate into creating security gaps."

"I investigated Silas," Garrick said hoarsely. "I suspected, but could never find proof of evil."

"Because you weren't looking for this." Kieran turned the tunnel schematic toward him.

Garrick's face went white. "Moon's mercy. That's directly under—"

"Areas you delegated after Hartley's death, yes." I kept my voice neutral. "But you maintained his rotation system. That decision probably saved us."

"I couldn't change it." Garrick's voice was barely audible. "It was the last protocol he'd designed. I thought I owed him that much."

The bitter irony—loyalty to a dead friend had inadvertently thwarted the conspiracy that killed him. "Your integrity may have saved lives, Commander. Don't let them turn it into a weakness."

Garrick's hands clenched, his wolf rising as grief crystallized into rage. "What do you need from me?"

"Full accounting of every supply transfer for the past six months. Every person who touched those materials, every transport route, every requisition." I leaned forward. "This wasn't your failure, Garrick. You were targeted because you're good enough to be worth destroying."

He straightened, military discipline reasserting itself. "It won't happen again, sir. You have my word."

After he left, Kieran and I stood in heavy silence over the maps marking not just stolen supplies but a calculated assault on everything we'd built.

"Coordinated attack," I said finally. "Undermine security, compromise supply lines, position their people as solutions to problems they created."

"And Silas was just the visible piece." Kieran's voice was grim. "What else have they set in motion?"

I stared at the tunnel schematic, a cold realization settling over me. "Eileen told me Silas imprisoned a witch over a decade ago. Silas and his allies might have extracted her magical abilities. They've just never used it for some reason. Maybe they're waiting for the right moment."

Kieran's eyes narrowed. "You think they were trying to weaponize witch abilities?"

"The stolen supplies, the underground construction, a captive witch for years..." I met his gaze. "What if that's the real goal? Not just destabilizing the border, but creating something using magic we thought extinct?"

"Moon's mercy." Kieran's hand flattened on the table. "If Cornelius has found a way to harness that kind of power—"

"Every pack in the region is at risk." I straightened, decision crystallizing. "Double the guard at the medical station. Keep eyes on Nina, but subtle—she's been through enough. And Kieran, if Silas surfaces anywhere near there, you capture it."

He nodded once, understanding. "Where will you be?"

"Riding back to confront Cornelius." I rolled the maps with sharp movements. "He's going to answer for this. And I need to warn Eileen exactly what we're dealing with."