Mated to Her Alpha Instructor Chapter 53

Eileen

After lunch, Regis insisted on carrying me upstairs. I protested weakly, but the truth was my legs felt like water and the stairs seemed impossibly steep. He lifted me easily, one arm under my knees and the other supporting my back, and I let myself relax against his chest.

"You don't have to do everything for me," I mumbled into his shirt.

"I know." His voice rumbled through his chest, vibrating against my cheek. "I want to."

He set me down carefully on my bed, then knelt beside it to help with my shoes. I watched him work, his movements gentle and precise, and felt something warm unfurl in my chest.

"Will you..." I hesitated. "Will you stay? Just until I fall asleep?"

He looked up, surprise and pleasure flickering across his face. "Of course."

I scooted over to make room, and he stretched out beside me on top of the covers, careful to leave space between us. But I didn't want space. I shifted closer, tucking myself against his side, and felt his arm come around me automatically.

"Is this alright?" I asked, suddenly uncertain.

"More than alright." His voice was thick with emotion. Through the bond I felt his wolf settle, content and protective, wrapped around the knowledge that his mate was safe in his arms.

I closed my eyes, breathing in his scent, letting it calm the last of my frayed nerves. "Regis?"

"Mm?"

"Thank you. For believing me. For fighting for me. For..." I swallowed hard. "For making me feel like I matter."

His arm tightened around me. "You do matter, Eileen. More than you know."

I wanted to say more, but exhaustion was pulling me under like a tide. The last thing I felt before sleep claimed me was his lips pressing gently against my forehead, and his whispered words: "Rest now, my brave mate. I've got you."

---

When I woke, the light slanting through the window had shifted to late afternoon gold. I was still tucked against Regis's side, his arm a steady weight around me, but something felt different. The quality of his stillness.

I tilted my head up and found him watching me, his ice-blue eyes soft and intent.

"You didn't sleep," I said, my voice rough with sleep.

"Couldn't." His thumb traced idle patterns on my shoulder. "I was too busy making sure you were really here. Really safe."

My heart clenched. Through the bond I felt the echo of his earlier fear, the terror of nearly losing control, of almost hurting me. "I was never afraid of you," I said firmly. "Not for a second."

"You should have been." His jaw tightened. "I could have—"

"But you didn't." I shifted so I could look at him properly. "You came back. Because I asked you to. Because you trust me as much as I trust you."

Something in his expression cracked open. Through the bond I felt a wave of emotion so intense it stole my breath—gratitude, wonder, and something deeper I wasn't ready to name.

"Eileen," he said hoarsely. "I need you to know something. What happened today... what I felt when I thought someone had hurt you..." He paused, searching for words. "I've been trained my whole life to control the wolf. To never let Valdor take over. But when I saw you in that office, when I realized what they'd tried to do to you..." His voice dropped to barely a whisper. "I wanted to kill them. And I would have, if you hadn't stopped me."

I reached up and cupped his face, feeling the tension in his jaw. "I know. I felt it through the bond."

"Does that frighten you?"

I considered the question seriously. It should frighten me—the knowledge that my mate was capable of such violence, such barely leashed savagery. But all I felt was safe. Protected. Chosen.

"No," I said finally. "Because I know you would never hurt me. And because... because I'm tired of being the one who always has to be gentle and good and understanding while everyone else gets to be angry. It felt good, knowing someone was angry *for* me instead of *at* me."

His eyes darkened. "You deserve to be angry too, Eileen. You deserve to have fangs of your own."

"I know." I smiled slightly. "You keep telling me that. Maybe someday I'll believe it."

"I'll remind you every day if I have to." He leaned his forehead against mine, our breaths mingling. "You're not weak for being kind. But you don't have to be kind to people who hurt you."

Through the bond I felt his absolute conviction, his determination to help me grow those fangs he kept talking about. And I realized something: I was starting to want them. Not to hurt others, but to protect myself. To protect this fragile, precious thing growing between us.

"Regis," I whispered. "About completing the bond..."

He went very still. "Yes?"

"I don't want to wait anymore." The words came out in a rush. "I know I'm tired and emotional and probably not thinking clearly, but I also know that I trust you. I choose you. Not because of the baby, not because Thaddeus said we have to, but because..." I swallowed hard. "Because I want to be yours. Truly yours. And I want you to be mine."

For a long moment he didn't move, didn't breathe. Then, very carefully, he pulled back just enough to look into my eyes.

"Are you absolutely certain?" His voice was strained. "Because once we do this, there's no going back. The bond will be permanent. Complete. You'll be tied to me for the rest of your life."

"I know." I held his gaze steadily. "I'm certain."

Through the bond I felt the exact moment his control shattered—not into violence this time, but into something else entirely. Joy. Relief. Desire. Love.

"Then," he said hoarsely, his eyes starting to glow gold at the edges, "I would be honored to complete our bond, Eileen Wylde. My mate. My heart."

He kissed me then, slow and deep and claiming, and I felt the bond between us flare brilliant and hot. This was different from that first kiss in his office—this was a promise, a vow, a beginning.

When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, he rested his forehead against mine. "I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret this choice."

"I won't," I whispered back. "I already know I won't."

And as the last light of afternoon faded into evening, as Regis gathered me close and carried me to his room instead of mine, as we moved together in the gathering darkness with the bond singing between us like a living thing—I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be.

For the first time in my life, I was choosing myself. And in doing so, I had chosen him too.

*My Alpha. My mate. My home.*