Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 134: Chapter 134

Lena’s POV

"It’s true," she said.

If Lena wanted to be a hero, she needed power to back it up. So yeah, she had borrowed Dominic’s.

"How did you even get there?" he asked.

Only then did it hit her. His question snapped her right out of her thoughts.

Anna had sent her the address. But why would Anna send her the location of a private club?

She hadn’t known Morgan was going to run into trouble. She didn’t even know Morgan. So this wasn’t about Morgan.

This was about Dominic.

"Who tipped you off?" He caught the shift in her expression. A faint, mocking smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Whoever sent you probably wanted you to catch me doing something shady. Too bad for them. I’m not that easy to trap, and I don’t go around putting my hands on people."

Her stomach clenched hard.

When he saw she wasn’t going to answer, he let it drop.

They went back home. Dominic headed for the shower. Lena called Anna, but there was no answer.

A few minutes later, a text came in.

"Baby, I’m at a client dinner. Can’t call, can’t text much. These men are straight-up animals."

"Did you find Dominic? I saw a bunch of she-wolves go into his private room. I’m not trying to stir the pot, but you seriously needed to check. That many pretty she-wolves in one room with your man? Nope. Go make sure nobody’s touching what’s yours."

As she read the messages, the tightness in her chest eased almost instantly.

She’d been so on edge that, for one ugly second, she had actually wondered if Anna was trying to wreck her relationship. Now that thought made her feel sick. Anna had only been looking out for her. That was all.

She didn’t tell Dominic it had been Anna.

When he came out of the shower, he didn’t ask again. She had thought he might take things further, maybe pick up where they’d left off that morning. But he didn’t. He just pulled her into his arms, wrapped both arms around her, and closed his eyes.

A few minutes later, his breathing turned slow and even. She glanced up at him.

He was actually asleep.

Carefully, she shifted and slipped out of his arms. Then she turned onto her side and sent Anna a text.

["I’m home. He went to a business dinner. That’s it."]

["Lovely. God, those dinners are the absolute worst. Business should just be business, but it always turns into booze and she-wolves. That’s all men ever want."]

Lena felt the same disgust curling in her chest, but that was their world. A rotten old culture, buried too deep to dig out overnight.

["You done yet?"]

A photo popped up from Anna.

The city at night looked blurry and distant. Streetlights smeared into soft halos, cars rushed past like restless shadows, and under one lonely lamp, a single figure walked by herself.

["Had too much. Threw up. Came out for some air, then I’m heading home."]

Just reading that made Lena’s heart sink.

Once night fell, every kind of hardship seemed sharper, more obvious, like the dark had a way of peeling the gloss off everything. Anna worked harder than anyone Lena had ever known, and she had seen it with her own eyes.

All Anna wanted was to break free from her family’s grip, to get enough money, enough status, enough leverage to speak for herself and never be crushed under anyone again. For that, she pushed herself like crazy.

Even now, even after becoming mates with Daniel, she had never slowed down. She refused to lean on anyone. Not her parents, not her mate, not even her pack. Her independence was rock solid.

["Where are you? I’ll come get you."]

["No need. I’ll sit a bit longer, then go home. Go sleep. Night."]

Anna’s POV

I sent Lena a good-night emoji and put my phone down.

I sat hunched on the steps outside the restaurant, all dignity basically gone. I’d already thrown up everything in my stomach, and this gross mixed taste still clung to my mouth.

My mind was weirdly blank, half sober and half gone, which was honestly the worst kind of drunk. If it weren’t for locking down this contract, I wouldn’t have touched a single drink.

Over the years, I’d drunk until my stomach bled, gone glass for glass with men twice my size, and never backed off.

When people already think you can’t do it, this is how you earn their respect. I hated every second of it, but yeah, it worked.

A coworker once asked me why I pushed myself this hard. I’d asked myself the same thing more than once.

The answer was simple.

I wanted to live on my own terms.

Money meant I got a say in my own life. Without it, my parents would be back in control, micromanaging every move I made, and I’d be stuck under their thumb again with zero room to choose anything for myself.

Daniel understood all of that. Still, he’d never once asked me to quit working. He’d never hinted that just because I had him now, I could stop trying. That was one of the reasons I loved him so much.

I pushed myself to my feet, but my legs suddenly gave out, and I tipped to one side.

A hand caught my arm.

I steadied myself and looked up. My mate was standing there in his coat, car keys hanging from his other hand.

"What are you doing here?" I blurted out, startled, then my tone softened.

He caught the smell of alcohol on me and wrinkled his nose. "Had something to take care of."

"This late?" I frowned. "Did Dominic send you out in the middle of the night to do errands?"

"No. Personal stuff." He walked beside me, calm as ever. "Let me drive you home."

I waved him off. "I’m fine. I just need to walk a bit."

He didn’t argue. He just stopped by the car and let me go first.

I made it a few steps before my body swayed again.

Daniel’s whole frame tightened, ready to move. I threw my arms out and barely managed to catch myself.

I heard him laugh. Soft, super faint, almost not there, but yeah, I heard it.

I turned around. He was smiling.

"Fine." I dropped the act. "Drive me."

He did. I refused to sit in the front, and instead sprawled across the back seat barefoot, my hair a total mess.

When we got to my building, Daniel parked and glanced at me through the rearview mirror.

My eyes were closed. I could feel him looking at me.

"We’re here," he said.

I forced my eyes open, looked around, grabbed my bag, and somehow pushed myself to my feet.

He got out of the car first, walked around to my side, and opened the door for me.

"Thanks." I swung my legs out and stood up.

The second my feet touched the ground, my knees buckled. I pitched forward, and if he hadn’t caught me around the waist in time, I would’ve gone straight down.

For a second, I was basically hanging there, half draped over his forearm. The sudden movement made my head spin even harder, and my legs turned to jelly.

"You okay?" He lowered his head to look at me, his brows pulled tight.

"I’ve got, like, zero strength left." I breathed out shakily. Those men at dinner had seriously been trying to drink me under the table.

Daniel frowned. Then, without another word, he scooped me up, one arm under my knees, the other around my back.

Inside the elevator, I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"What detergent do you use?" I asked, my nose brushing against his collar.

"What?"

"You smell really good. Is it cologne?"

"I don’t wear any."

"I like it."

He didn’t say anything, but I could feel the slight rise and fall of his chest, like he was quietly laughing.

The elevator doors slid open. He carried me to the door and set me down.

I leaned against the doorframe, pulled out my key, and tried to fit it into the lock. But the keyhole kept wobbling around. I tried three times and still missed.

Daniel took the key from my hand and unlocked the door.

"Everything comes in doubles now." I flashed him a sloppy grin. "Thanks."

"You sure you’re okay?" He sounded genuinely worried.

I waved a hand. "I’m fine."

I kicked off my shoes, tossed my bag aside, and started shrugging out of my coat.

Daniel watched me peel off layers one by one, that familiar, helpless look already sitting in his eyes like he’d seen this movie way too many times.

"Come in," I said, flinging my coat onto the couch. "And shut the door."

He stepped inside and closed it behind him without a word.

Still in my slip dress, I padded over to the fridge and pulled out two beers. I held one out to him.

"You’ve had enough." The look on his face said the rest.

"I’m home now. Drinking at home doesn’t count." He didn’t take it, so I set the extra bottle on the coffee table, dropped down onto the rug, bit open my own bottle cap, and chugged half of it in one go.

I took another sip, smaller this time. "How long was he with Eliza?"

"I don’t know the exact details."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "And by ’don’t know the exact details,’ you mean more than five years?"

He didn’t answer. That was answer enough.

"Oh my God." I set the bottle down. "They were together that long, and she still left him? And he’s still not over her?"

I clenched my jaw, a fierce protective instinct for Lena surging up on the spot. "Daniel, be real with me. Does he love Lena?"

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