Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 121: Chapter 121

Lena’s POV

Monday morning, the second Lena stepped into the office, she could feel it—something was off. People were gathered in little clusters, heads bent together, voices dropped low, faces tight like they were all bracing for impact.

The boss had collapsed over the weekend. The vice president had gone to stay with him, and his partner had already taken the money and bailed.

Word was spreading fast that his condition might be permanent. And if that was true, layoffs were basically knocking at the door.

“We’re screwed. They’re already talking about cuts.”

“New management, new favorites. People like us? We won’t survive that.”

“Honestly, I don’t even care. If they fire me, I’ll just go home and settle down.”

“Easy for you to say. Your partner owns three companies. The rest of us actually need a paycheck.”

Lena stood there listening to the break room fill with bitter complaints, and her stomach twisted hard.

New leadership was always ruthless. The only real question was who would get hit first.

“Oh, relax. Just do your job today and panic tomorrow. Why stress over something that hasn’t even happened yet?”

Morgan Hale clicked in on her heels, hips swaying, looking completely unbothered, and poured herself a cup of coffee like none of this had anything to do with her.

Technically, she wasn’t wrong.

Reality, though? The anxiety still clung to Lena like a shadow.

Morgan turned, then walked straight toward her. “Honestly, you’ve got the least to worry about. Even if they dump you, you can just go home and play Luna’s little games all day. Sounds way better than being stuck in this office anyway.”

Every eye in the room landed on Lena.

She had no idea why Morgan had suddenly decided to come for her. This wasn’t even the first weird thing. Before this, Morgan had already thrown a few odd comments her way—asking if she kept her guard up around friends, poking her nose into business that had nothing to do with her.

They weren’t close. Before last month, they’d barely exchanged more than a few words.

Lena knew how people got when they were scared. Petty. Sharp. Especially when they thought someone else had a safety net.

She leaned back in her chair and met Morgan’s gaze head-on. “Are you jealous?”

“Some people just aren’t born lucky.” Morgan took a slow sip from her cup, then flicked a glance at the others, clearly trying to get them on her side.

"Then I guess you’ll just have to stay jealous." Lena didn’t look away for a second. She’d always gotten along well with the people in the office, and Morgan’s little attempt to freeze her out? Yeah, she saw right through it immediately.

She didn’t need to explain herself, and she definitely didn’t need to rally a crowd. She knew this playbook. When someone tries to stir drama and leave you standing alone, the worst thing you can do is panic and flail.

Either people would eventually see Morgan for what she was, or they wouldn’t. Either way, Lena wasn’t about to back down.

"What was that just now?" After Morgan left, the coworker at the next desk leaned over, glancing in her direction. "Does she have some kind of issue with you?"

Lena gave a small shrug. "I barely know her."

"Maybe she’s into your partner." The woman instantly realized she’d said the wrong thing and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Kidding. Seriously, I’m kidding."

Lena just smiled and didn’t dig any further.

After the woman walked off, Lena took out her phone and sent Dominic a message. "Do you know someone named Morgan Hale?"

His reply came almost right away. Just a single question mark.

Lena lifted a brow at the screen, then left it there without answering.

At noon, he called.

"What was that about?" Dominic asked.

"Nothing. I was just asking."

"I don’t know her."

"Okay. Got it."

She was just about to head out for lunch when a notification suddenly popped up on her screen.

A new internal email. She opened it, read it once, then read it again. Her heart dropped straight to the floor.

No warning. No conversation. Nothing.

She’d been fired.

"Lena?" Dominic’s voice came through the phone again. She stayed quiet for a long moment.

"Something came up. I’ll call you back later." She ended the call, shut her laptop, and went straight to Human Resources.

The HR manager sat behind her desk. She glanced up when Lena walked in, then dropped her eyes right back to the computer like this was just another item on today’s to-do list.

“Why am I being fired?”

Lena wasn’t naive enough to think she was untouchable. She knew how brutal office politics could get. But she also knew her numbers, her performance, and her record. If layoffs were really happening, there was no way she should’ve been in the first batch.

“That decision came from senior management,” the woman said without even looking up. “You’ll receive the standard severance package. And it’s not just you. More people will be informed.”

Lena had always known the workplace could be ice-cold. She just hadn’t expected it to hit this hard, this fast, like a slap with zero warning.

She didn’t take it out on the HR manager. The woman was just doing her job, reading from the script like a machine.

Lena turned and headed downstairs. She had no appetite at all. Lunch was out of the question. She forced herself to breathe slowly, trying to shove the bitterness back down where it couldn’t choke her.

One by one, her coworkers came back from break. They saw her standing there. They saw the look on her face too, and the mood shifted instantly.

A few people came over and asked if she was okay. Lena pulled out a thin, tired smile and shook her head.

By the afternoon, everyone knew. The layoff rumors had barely started making the rounds before management made their move, and Lena was the first one they cut. Brutal. Straight-up brutal.

She accepted it for what it was. Spent the whole afternoon handing off her work, clearing out her desk, and packing her things into a box piece by piece.

Morgan Hale walked over and looked at her. “Your partner’s loaded and powerful. You didn’t need this job anyway. The rest of us aren’t that lucky. If I got cut, I’d have to scramble for another job that same day.”

Lena stopped packing and looked up at her.

She still couldn’t figure out what she’d ever done to deserve this kind of energy from Morgan. The woman kept coming at her like there was some private grudge Lena had never been let in on.

“Do I owe you something?” Lena asked. “Is there some issue between us I don’t know about?”

Morgan lifted a brow. “No.”

“Then why do you keep coming for me?”

“Do I owe you an explanation?” Morgan let out a short laugh. “Don’t think so.”

Lena held her gaze for a second, then lowered her eyes and went back to packing. “Fine. It doesn’t matter. This is the last time we’ll see each other anyway.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that.”

My hand froze on the box.

Lena looked up. Morgan Hale shot her a glance she couldn’t read at all, then just turned and walked off like nothing had happened.

She packed the rest of her things, stepped into the elevator, and then her phone started buzzing. A name she hadn’t seen on her screen in a long, long time: Reid Calloway.

She could pretty much guess why he was calling. She stared at the screen and let it ring out.

Then he called again.

This time, she picked up.

"Why didn’t you answer the first time?" His voice carried a trace of urgency, like he’d been waiting for this exact moment.

She frowned. "What do you want?"

"I heard what happened. I’m looking into it already. For now, just take a break. I’ll handle everything for you."

"No." She knew exactly where he was going with this. Crystal clear. "I’ve been working nonstop for years. I’ll treat this like an extended vacation. When I’m ready, I’ll find something on my own."

"Lena, your record speaks for itself. Everyone knows what you can do. Come to Moonborn Pack. There’s a position here waiting for you."

She was exhausted, drained down to the last thread, and had no energy left to keep this going. "Thanks, but my life is none of your business. I’m hanging up."

She ended the call before he could finish.

A text came in right away.

[You turned me down, and I respect that. I’ve let the past go. But this is about work, and I mean that. If you want to come here, there’s a place for you. The moment you ask, it’s yours.]

Her eyes skimmed over the message once, then she put her phone away.

No reply was the clearest answer.

The cab came to a stop. She picked up her box and walked into the apartment building.

On the way home, one thought kept looping in her head like a broken track. How did things end up like this?

She wasn’t arrogant. Not really.

But she had honestly never imagined she’d be the one getting fired.

She stepped inside, set the box down, and the empty apartment seemed to open its mouth and swallow her whole.

A sharp pain twisted through Lena’s chest. Losing her job hurt worse than losing a relationship. At least with heartbreak, you could cry and call it grief. This, though? This was just... empty.

She curled up on the couch, hugged her knees, and let out a long, shaky breath.

Texts from her coworkers kept coming in, one after another. They told her everyone’s turn would come eventually, and being the first one cut loose wasn’t even the worst part. At least the waiting was over. No more suspense. No more guessing.

Reading their messages, she felt a little less like she was drowning.

She wasn’t really sad about losing the job itself. What she couldn’t stop obsessing over was why it had happened.

At 4:50, a text from Dominic Voss popped up.

“I’m downstairs at your office.”

She stared at the screen for a second, then called him.

“Working late?” he asked.

“I’m home.”

“Which home?”

She heard his engine start on the other end.

“My place.”

“Wait for me.”

Twenty minutes later, he walked through her front door.

She had already started cooking, and the counter was covered with food. He washed his hands and stepped into the kitchen, then paused and looked at the scene in front of him. “Did you invite Anna over or something?”

“No.”

“Then why are you making this much?”

“Because I want to eat.”

She pulled the roast chicken from the oven and set it on the cutting board, then spooned the pan juices over the top. The fat crackled softly, and for one brief moment, the sound drowned out the noise in her head.

She drizzled the dressing over the salad. "Take these out, will you?"

Dominic carried the plates to the table while Lena brought over the rice and the rest of the dishes.

Roast chicken, slow-braised beef, garlic butter shrimp, mashed potatoes with gravy. Caesar salad, cornbread, roasted asparagus, tomato soup.

From across the table, Dominic watched her. Lena pulled out her chair, sat down, and picked up her fork.

"So, you finally quit?" he asked, blunt as ever. He must’ve seen the cardboard box sitting by the coffee table.

She tore off a piece of cornbread and took a bite. "I didn’t quit. I got fired."

A short laugh slipped out through his nose.

Lena looked up at him. "What’s so funny?"

"Your boss clearly has zero clue how to judge people." Dominic reached for a piece of cornbread. He never used to touch the stuff before. Guess she’d rubbed off on him.

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