Mated to Her Alpha Instructor Chapter 92

Regis

Dinner had been peaceful—lamb stew with roasted vegetables, nothing too heavy for her stomach. I'd watched Eileen pick at her food with small, careful bites. She seemed content, if tired, the earlier tension from our conversation about the border assignment slowly fading into comfortable domesticity.

I was clearing the dishes when she spoke, her voice carrying a note of careful determination that made me pause mid-reach for her plate.

"I want to start packing the things I'll need to bring..." She started, watching my reaction. "It'll take a few days to organize everything properly. Better to start now than scramble at the last minute."

I straightened, studying her. There was something deliberate in her tone, almost... rehearsed. And beneath it, through our bond, I caught flickers of nervous anticipation mixed with an emotion I couldn't quite identify. Planning anxiety, perhaps. Or something more.

"Already?" I couldn't help the slight smile that tugged at my mouth. "My eager little healer. We still have over a week before departure."

She flushed slightly, fingers fidgeting with the edge of her napkin. "I've never been away from the academy for so long. I want to make sure I have everything I might need. And"—her chin lifted with endearing stubbornness—"I want to do this properly."

The pride that surged through me was fierce and warm. "Of course. You're right to be thorough." I set down the dishes I'd been holding, moving around the table to press a kiss to her forehead. "Take your time. Make your lists. If there's anything you need that we don't have, we'll get it tomorrow."

She relaxed slightly under my touch, but that strange flutter of concealed excitement remained in her scent. Sweet apples and chamomile, yes, but underneath... something almost mischievous.

"Actually," she said, voice determinedly casual, "why don't you go look at those tactical maps in the study? The ones showing the border terrain. It would help you prepare too."

I pulled back slightly, searching her face. Her expression was perfectly innocent, but it stirred with interest in my mind. *She's planning something for me.*

I tamped down on the spike of heat that thought triggered. "You want me out of the way?"

"Not—not out of the way." She stood, smoothing her hands over her skirt in a nervous gesture. "I just thought... we'll both be busy these next few days. It makes sense to divide tasks."

She wasn't wrong. And yet, the way she avoided my eyes, the slight tremor in her fingers—there was definitely something she wasn't telling me.

But if she wanted space, I'd give it to her. Even if curiosity and something more primal urged me to stay close, to discover what had her scent sweetening with barely suppressed excitement.

"All right." I kissed her temple, lingering just long enough to breathe in her scent. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything. Don't overexert yourself."

"I won't." Her relief was palpable, though she tried to hide it. "I promise."

I forced myself to leave her, descending to the study with my mind churning. Spread the maps across the desk, marked key positions, noted potential danger zones—all while Valdor paced restlessly in my thoughts.

My hand stilled on the map. I'd been trying not to notice that particular undercurrent in our connection, not to presume or push. But Valdor was right—there was something warm and wanting threading through Eileen's emotions, growing stronger as the minutes passed.

*Patience. She'll call when she's ready.*

"Regis?" Her voice drifted down from upstairs, soft and tentative. "Could you... come up for a moment?"

I was moving before conscious thought, taking the stairs two at a time while trying to maintain some semblance of control. Whatever she'd been preparing, she wanted me to see it now.

I paused outside our bedroom door, heart pounding. Through the bond, I felt her—nervous, yes, but also excited. Waiting.

I pushed the door open.

And froze.

The room was transformed. Candles—dozens of them—cast flickering golden light across every surface. Their glow caught on scattered flower petals across the bed, pale and luminescent. And in the center of it all stood Eileen, her back to me, wearing one of my shirts.

But not as I'd ever seen it worn before.

The linen hung loose on her smaller frame, the neckline pulled down to expose her shoulders and the elegant curve of her collarbones. Below, the shirt's hem barely covered her thighs, leaving her legs bare. And through the thin, candlelit fabric, I could see everything—the shadow of her curves, the dark outline of lace underwear, the way the material clung to her skin.

My breath stopped. Valdor surged forward with a possessive snarl, and it took every ounce of control I possessed not to cross the room and claim her right then.

The scent hit me next—my cedar and mint mingled with her chamomile and sweet apple, woven together on the fabric of the shirt. It was intoxicating, that blend of us, a declaration written in scent: *This is ours. This is us.*

Heat flooded through me, immediate and overwhelming. Images crashed through my mind unbidden—her beneath me, gasping my name. Her on her knees, lips parted. Her bent over the bed, looking back over her shoulder with those luminous eyes—

I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek, using the pain to anchor myself. *Control. She deserves more than an animal lunging at her.*

But gods, the sight of her. The knowledge that she'd done this, planned this, chosen to offer herself to me in this way as a gift—

She turned slowly, and the movement made the shirt shift, exposing more of her thigh. Her cheeks were flushed deep pink, but her eyes met mine with shy determination.

One step toward me. Then another. Each movement made the shirt sway, revealing tantalizing glimpses of more skin, more softness, more her.

I stood frozen, every muscle locked tight, hands clenched into fists at my sides to keep from reaching for her. My cock was already hard, straining against my trousers, and when her gaze dropped and caught on the obvious evidence of my arousal, her flush deepened.

But she didn't look away.

She stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from her skin. Her scent was overwhelming here, wrapped around me, making my head spin and my control fray at the edges.

"I hope you don't mind," she whispered, fingers rising to toy with the top button of my shirt—the shirt I was wearing now, the twin to the one on her body. "I found this in the back of your closet. I... altered it a little."

*Mind?* Valdor was practically howling. *We're going to die. This is how we die. This is—*

"I love it," I managed, voice coming out rougher than intended. "Eileen, you look—" Words failed. Perfect? Beautiful? Like every fantasy I'd tried so hard not to have about her, brought to devastating life?

Her fingers found the first button of my shirt, slipping it free with trembling hands. Then the second. The third.

Each time her fingertips brushed my chest, fire streaked through me. My breathing grew labored, ragged, and I couldn't tear my eyes from her face—the concentration in her expression, the determination warring with shyness.

When she reached the fourth button, her hand dropped lower, hovering over my belt. Through the fabric of my trousers, she could undoubtedly feel the hard, thick length of me, already leaking and desperate.

*Please,* Valdor begged. *Please let us touch her. Please—*

Her fingers found my zipper, began to lower it with agonizing slowness. The sound of metal teeth parting seemed impossibly loud in the quiet room. My cock jumped at her nearness, at the promise of her touch, and I had to lock my jaw to keep from groaning.

But when she would have continued, I caught her wrist. Her eyes flew to mine, wide and uncertain.

"Are you sure?" The words scraped out of me. "Eileen, you don't have to—"

"I want to." She pulled her hand free, then cupped my face in both palms, rising on her toes to bring her mouth close to mine. "I want this. I want you."

She kissed me—soft at first, then deeper when I couldn't help but respond. My hands found her waist, gripping probably too tight, but I needed something to hold onto as she pressed her body against mine and made those little sounds that drove me insane.

When she pulled back, we were both breathing hard. Her pupils were dilated, lips swollen and wet.

"I'm not done," she whispered against my mouth. Then, before I could process what she meant, she was sinking down.

Down to her knees in front of me.

The sight of her there, looking up at me with those trusting hazel eyes while candlelight painted gold across her skin, nearly undid me completely. Valdor was a roar of need in my head, urging me forward, demanding I mark her, claim her, make her ours in every possible way.

My cock was fully exposed now, jutting toward her, the head flushed dark and already wet at the tip. I was bigger than most wolves in this form, I knew—thick enough that her hand could barely close around me, long enough that the idea of her taking me in her mouth seemed almost impossible.