Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 131: Chapter 131

Lena’s POV

She stopped in her tracks.

Luke drew in a deep breath and stared at her back. "She came to see you last night, didn’t she? Eliza."

Lena turned around. "You were the one who hit her?"

"Yeah." He didn’t dodge it. "I’ve dealt with enough women to know exactly what kind she is. She’s good at getting into people’s heads, and she’s desperate. I seriously don’t get why Dominic still cares so much about a woman like that. She’s just a—"

He caught the look in Lena’s eyes and swallowed the last word.

"She came to me first." Luke leaned against the car, his tone sharp. "She threw herself at me and wanted me to use my connections to tank your company, to make the higher-ups kick you out. All of this? She did it."

Lena hadn’t seen that coming. So Eliza had been the one behind her firing all along.

But what was even the point of getting her fired?

A job was a job. If she lost one, she could just find another.

"Such an idiot. All she knows is cheap little tricks." Luke curled his lip, full of contempt. "I’ve seen too many women like her. I know she’s not done yet. This? This is just the appetizer. She’s definitely planning something bigger."

Lena said nothing. Luke studied her face closely. "Back then, every time you saw me, you smiled. Your whole face lit up."

She looked at him, but there was nothing there anymore.

"Now the way you look at me is the same way you look at him. Cold."

"Are you done?" she asked.

"I pissed you off. I know that. But I’m not as calculating as Dominic." Luke’s voice dropped, quieter now. "Lena, I’m telling you this as someone who knows you. Dominic isn’t as simple as you think."

He stepped closer, his gaze fixed on her. "You want love. Real love. There’s gotta be someone in this world who can give you that. But Dominic? Do you honestly think he can give you what you need?"

The words landed like needles, stabbing right into the wound she had been trying so hard to protect.

Her expression didn’t shift in the slightest. "That’s none of your business."

"Fine. None of my business." He let out a dry little laugh through his nose. "But when he leaves you completely wrecked, and you’ve got nowhere else to go, don’t come crying to me."

I lifted a brow. "Done talking?"

"You know that? Sometimes you really make it hard for people to like you." He couldn’t stand the look in her eyes. Her indifference hit him harder than anger ever could.

She said nothing. She just turned and walked off without looking back.

Behind her, she heard him kick a tire, curse under his breath, then slam the car door hard enough to make the whole parking lot echo. The engine roared, and a second later, he was gone.

Lena went back upstairs and cooked herself some pasta.

Luke’s words stayed stuck in her head. She couldn’t pretend they hadn’t gotten to her, but she pulled herself together fast.

No matter what kind of man Dominic was, she would take him as he was.

As long as life stayed peaceful, that was enough.

At least right now, he was good to her. That much was real. Stressing over things that hadn’t even happened yet would only mess with her head, and she had more important things to deal with.

She snapped a photo and sent it to Dominic. In less than a minute, her phone rang.

"Looks good," his warm voice came through the line.

She smiled. "Obviously."

"Want to go out for lunch? I’ll have Daniel pick you up."

"Maybe. I’ll let you know later."

"Alright."

Neither of them spoke after that. The call stayed connected. She could hear the faint scratch of his pen moving across paper.

"Are you busy?"

"Yeah."

"Then hang up."

"Okay."

Dominic’s POV

He was swamped.

Several contracts were waiting for his signature, and every single one mattered. There was no way he could just skim and sign. He had to go through each document carefully before putting his name on it.

Samuel sat with his glasses on, surrounded by the legal team, checking every clause line by line, word by word, like he was trying to catch a snake in the grass.

They had been grinding the whole morning without a break. After the last file was finally reviewed, Samuel pulled off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Making money is brutal. Seriously, being alive is exhausting.”

Dominic glanced at him. “You say that like you’ve personally run the experiment.”

Samuel slid his glasses back on. “Figure of speech. Don’t get dramatic.”

Dominic signed the final page and set his pen down.

A knock came at the door, and Daniel stepped in. “Alpha Dominic, Alpha Mercer from the Stonewall Pack is still waiting for you in the conference room.”

Dominic’s brows drew together.

Samuel let out a cold little laugh. “The Stonewall Pack’s finances are in complete freefall. That guy’s been planted in there all morning. Gotta admit, he’s stubborn.”

“Tell him I’m busy.” Dominic got to his feet and grabbed his coat.

“Where are you going?” Samuel looked up at once.

“To pick Lena up for lunch.”

Samuel opened his mouth, shut it, then opened it again.

He stood up fast and followed Dominic toward the door. “Hold on. I spent the entire morning in here helping you review contracts worth billions, and you’re not even feeding me? You’re seriously ditching me to pick up Lena? So what, I just don’t matter at all?”

Dominic kept walking.

Lena’s POV

She had barely finished lunch when Eliza texted her and asked to meet.

First Luke this morning, and now Eliza.

Wow. She was really in demand today.

She went.

She was sitting in a coffee shop downtown, wearing way more makeup than usual. The foundation was thicker, the lipstick darker, covering the split at the corner of her mouth. If someone didn’t look closely, they’d never notice the swelling underneath.

"This is yours." She slid a shopping bag across the table. Inside was my coat, washed and folded neatly. "Thanks for last night."

I took the bag and set it on the chair beside me. "You okay?"

She forced out a tight little smile. "I’m fine."

"You got lucky last night, running into us on the mountain." I took a sip of my coffee. "Luke’s bad news. If he’d gotten his hands on you, I don’t even want to think about how that would’ve ended."

Her expression went stiff all over again.

"I’ll be straight with you," I said. "Luke came to see me this morning."

Eliza’s lips trembled, and her gaze started darting away.

"Eliza, you and Dominic have history. That’s exactly why I’m saying this—stay away from Luke. Whatever reason you have for getting close to him, it’s only going to blow up in your face." My voice stayed calm and even. "He’s not going to give you what you want."

She hated the whole women-playing-games thing. It felt pointless, honestly.

A man knew who he wanted and who he didn’t. Most of the time, you could tell without anyone saying a word. Fighting over a man was just wasted energy. Even if you won, that didn’t mean you’d actually get a happy ending.

I didn’t say any of that out loud. But Eliza was smart. She caught the subtext just fine.

"Thanks for the advice." Eliza steadied herself. That mask slipped right back into place. "But I’d like to give you some advice too. Maybe you’re in too deep to see what’s really going on. I’ll say it again. If I can’t have him, neither can you."

I didn’t flinch. I stirred my coffee slowly, a faint smile touching my lips. "That’s funny, because I already do."

Eliza drew in a deep breath, her chest rising slightly. The jealousy in her eyes was impossible to hide, no matter how hard she tried to play it cool.

"Dominic is my mate. We live together, we sleep in the same bed, and he chose me." I set my cup down. "Sounds to me like that means I already have him. Eliza, your persistence is honestly impressive. But some things you have to let go. He is never going to be yours."

Her face went rigid.

My phone rang. It was Dominic.

I answered right in front of her, and my voice turned soft without me even trying. "Hey, babe."

Dominic’s hand froze on the car door. I could hear the smile in his voice through the phone. He got into the car. "Where are you?"

“Eliza invited me out for coffee. I’m literally sitting right across from her now.”

Lena watched Eliza’s face twitch the second that nickname landed. Nobody called her that. She’d made it up on the spot, and honestly? It worked way better than expected.

“Send me your location. I’ll come get you for lunch.”

“Okay.” Lena switched on speaker so Eliza could catch every single word, then opened her messages and sent Dominic a quick pin. “How long?”

“Ten minutes.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“Mm.”

She ended the call and looked up at the woman across the table. At this point, Eliza’s jealousy was impossible to hide.

“Want to come have lunch with us?” Lena asked, tilting her head a little.

“Of course.” Eliza forced out a smile, and it looked painful. Like, physically painful.

Dominic showed up fast. The moment Lena saw his car pull in, she lifted a hand and waved from the sidewalk.

The car came to a stop. Lena rose to her feet and glanced at Eliza. “Come on.”

Eliza took a deep breath, grabbed her bag, and followed.

They walked toward the car one after the other. Lena pulled open the front passenger door and leaned in slightly. “I invited Eliza to lunch with us. You don’t mind, do you?”

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