Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 100: Chapter 100

Lena’s POV

"...You okay?" I studied him from head to toe.

His eyes were clear, bright even. His hands were steady on the wheel, not a hint of pain on his face. He did not look like someone who had just passed out.

He smiled. "If I hadn’t dropped right then, you would’ve been in a pretty awkward spot."

My eyes went wide. "You faked it?"

"Yep." He rested his wrist on the steering wheel, looking way too relaxed about it. "Wasn’t hard, either. Your Alpha mate had been leaking bad vibes the second he sat down. I just took one for the team and collapsed before that mood could flatten the whole room."

Then he tilted his head and looked at me. "Weren’t you supposed to leave with him? Why are you out here alone this late?"

I flashed him a grin, bright on the outside, fake enough to fool nobody. "Just doing some sightseeing. Figured I’d find a good place to watch the sunrise."

He laughed, open and real. "Get in. I know a spot."

I hesitated. His fingers tapped lightly against the steering wheel.

"When you picked me at the club, you weren’t nearly this cautious."

When I still didn’t move, he gave a small, approving nod. "Honestly? Solid choice. Most she-wolves would’ve been in the car already, so I’m guessing you’ve seen enough hot creeps that charm doesn’t work on you anymore."

That caught me off guard. I hadn’t expected the compliment, and I definitely hadn’t expected that level of self-awareness.

"Wow," I said. "You’re confident."

"You picked me out of a whole crowd." His mouth curved slightly. "That says enough about both of us."

He was good. Smooth, but not slimy. Funny, but not trying too hard. Easy to talk to without acting like he was performing. No wonder the club kept him around.

Dominic’s cold face flashed through my mind, followed by those even colder words. A spark flared in my chest, hot and sharp.

"That sunrise spot," I asked, "is it actually good?"

"Yeah. I go there all the time." He shifted in his seat and glanced at the passenger door. "Come on. Totally safe. Pinky promise."

"Can I take a picture of you first?"

He laughed so hard his shoulders shook. "Want me to pose for it?"

He turned to face her and flashed an easy, no-pressure smile.

Lena took the picture.

"You should grab a shot of my license plate too," he said. "It’s registered under my real name. Not stolen, promise."

The sheer honesty of it made her feel a little bad, like maybe she’d been overthinking this whole thing. Still, she snapped a photo of the plate and sent everything over to Anna.

Anna was probably asleep by now. She’d see it in the morning.

Then Lena got into the car.

"Smart move," he said as soon as she clicked her seat belt in, pulling away from the curb. "You sent it to your friend, not your mate, right?"

"My best friend."

"Good." He gave a small nod. "That’s the right call."

The car was spotless. No weird smell, no random junk tossed around, nothing sticky or gross. Everything was neat and in place. Kind of like him.

"What’s your name?" she asked.

"Jace Whitfield." His eyes stayed on the road.

Honestly, that was part of why she’d picked him. He looked clean, normal, not sleazy, not trying too hard. She wanted to ask why he did this for work, but she held it back.

They’d just met. His story wasn’t hers to dig through.

The car left the city streets behind and started winding up the mountain road. About half an hour later, he finally pulled over.

"We’re here."

Lena stepped out. The edge of the sky was already turning pale. A cool breeze moved through the treetops, fresh and sharp against her skin.

Jace opened the trunk and pulled out a thermos, two paper cups, and a loaf of bread wrapped in plastic. He set everything down on the hood.

Then he twisted open the thermos and poured a cup of coffee. The rich smell of black coffee rose at once, cutting clean through the chilly mountain air.

"You brought coffee?" Lena froze for a second, genuinely caught off guard.

“I grabbed them from the club on the way out,” he said, handing me a cup. Then he tore the bread in half and passed one piece to me. “Coffee, bread, and sunrise on a mountaintop. Not a bad way to start the day.”

I took the coffee and bread from him. “Do you come here a lot?”

“Yeah.” He leaned against the car and took a sip of coffee. “This place makes everything go quiet.”

I got what he meant.

From up here, you could see almost half the district below. The horizon was brushed with a faint wash of gold, a thin line of light sketching out the edge of the world.

That was where the sun was coming up.

I had never watched a sunrise before. And my first one was with a stranger I’d met three hours ago.

He drank his coffee and looked at the sky slowly turning brighter. His gaze was steady, and there was this natural calm about him, like he didn’t need to try.

I sipped my coffee and chewed on the bread. We stood side by side against his car, waiting in comfortable silence.

The golden line grew richer, then light spilled out all at once, like someone had poured a jar of honey across the horizon. One building after another lit up like it had caught fire, glass and steel flashing with amber light. The whole world looked painted over. So beautiful it almost felt fake.

Standing here felt like stepping outside my own life and looking back at it from far away. The city under our feet was waking up, stretching, slowly coming back to itself.

“The world isn’t actually that bad,” Jace Whitfield said after finishing his coffee. “Sometimes you just need a different angle.”

“Maybe that’s exactly why people try so hard to stay in it,” I said.

He glanced at me. “Your mate isn’t worried about you?”

“Who knows?” I really didn’t. “Probably not.”

I probably didn’t matter that much to him anyway. Whatever.

Dominic Voss hadn’t called. Not once.

Anna, on the other hand, called the second she woke up.

“Who is that guy in the picture?” she demanded without even saying hello. “Why did you get in his car? Are you okay? Did he do anything to you?”

I looked over at Jace. He was cleaning up the cups and the bread wrapper, neatly stuffing everything into a bag to take back down with us. “If something had happened to me, I wouldn’t be answering your call.”

"Where did you even meet him? And you were with this guy all night?"

"You seriously don’t know who he is?"

"What?"

"The guy from the club last night. The one we picked."

Anna cursed under her breath. "You brought that guy home? Wait, wasn’t Dominic there too? What the hell happened after I left?"

There was no way I could unpack all of that right now. "I’ll tell you later."

"What exactly happened after I slipped out?"

I let out a dry laugh. "Wow, you really have the nerve to ask? You ditched me. Traitor."

"I already said I’m sorry, okay? I’ll make it up to you. Dinner’s on me. Anywhere you want, my treat."

I couldn’t be bothered arguing with her. "We’re heading down the mountain. I’ll call you."

"You went up a mountain? For what?"

I ended the call and sent her the sunrise photo. A golden skyline, amber light spilling over everything, and the silhouette Jace had taken of me. Against the break of dawn, I was only an outline, but somehow it looked stunning, like something straight out of a photography exhibit.

Anna instantly spammed the chat with heart-eyes emojis. "That is gorgeous!"

"Ready?" Jace had already packed everything up. He stood by the driver’s side door, waiting for me.

"Yeah."

On the drive back down, I opened Instagram and posted the pictures.

The skyline. The sunlight. My silhouette. People are overrated, but views never let you down.

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