Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 145: Chapter 145

Samuel’s POV

She stared straight ahead at the mirrored wall of the elevator. He was a full head taller than her. Standing beside him, Aria looked so fragile it felt like she could snap at any second.

The whole way up, her hand had rested on his arm, but the heat of his skin obviously made her tense. She never really relaxed for even a second.

The elevator opened directly onto his floor. Samuel stepped past her and scanned his fingerprint. The door clicked open.

Aria stayed where she was outside. "You should get some rest. I’m heading back."

"You’re not coming in?"

She shook her head.

To her, he was still basically a stranger. Meeting a few times changed nothing. Honestly, that kind of caution was smart. Respectable, even. But right now? It was useless. Way too late.

"Do you realize how pointless your guard is right now?"

"What?" She blinked, clearly caught off guard.

He turned and walked toward her, one step at a time. Instantly, her whole body went rigid. She took a step back. Behind her, the elevator doors had already slid shut.

"Samuel, what are you—"

Her back hit the wall. Her heartbeat was pounding so hard he could hear it, fast and messy, like it was trying to break out of her chest.

"If I wanted to do something to you, I could’ve done it in the car. The second you got into the elevator, you already had nowhere to run. And now, standing here, there’s nothing stopping me."

He braced one hand against the wall beside her head and leaned in.

He watched the color drain from her face in an instant, and just like that, the thought in his head vanished too. Samuel stepped back, putting space between them again, then looked at her quietly.

"I’m making a point. Having boundaries is smart. But you started defending yourself way too late. The best time to protect yourself was before you got in my car, before you stepped into the elevator, before you walked down a hallway with no exit."

She was still pressed against the wall, swallowing hard, frozen in place.

He lowered his voice. "I’m not going to touch you. But remember this. When you’re alone, don’t trust strangers. Especially men. Any man who makes excuses to bring you back to his place, or tries to get into yours, is not thinking about what’s best for you. The second a man wants something, his brain goes offline. Got it?"

She finally seemed to come back to herself. She had heard him. Understood him.

She nodded.

"Good girl."

She held her breath. Her eyes flew wide for a split second, then she quickly looked away.

In a lot of ways, she still felt like a little puppy. A little puppy he wanted to protect, and a woman he wanted to keep by his side.

Samuel pressed the elevator button. “I’ll go down with you.”

“No need. I’m fine.” She waved him off, and the second the elevator doors opened, she rushed inside like she was escaping a fire.

She’d forgotten one thing—if he really wanted to follow her, there was no way she could stop him.

He stepped in after her. She immediately backed up against the far wall, body stiff, refusing to even glance at him.

He stood beside her, hands in his pockets, catching his own reflection in the mirrored wall.

His wolf was basically laughing in his face. Nice one, Samuel. Real smooth. Scare the hell out of the girl you like.

“What would you do,” he asked suddenly, “if I kissed you right now?”

Her eyes snapped wide, and she stared at him like he’d lost his mind. He held the look for a beat, then let out a short laugh. “Relax. I’m kidding.”

The alcohol had made him act like an idiot. Before tonight, he’d never been this reckless, this out of line.

He let the silence drag on. In the mirror, he watched her curl into herself in the corner, eyes locked on the changing floor numbers like they were her lifeline. He pulled out a cigarette and set it between his lips, but didn’t light it.

The doors opened. Before they had even fully slid apart, she bolted out.

He followed right behind her. “Slow down. You’re gonna get lost.”

She didn’t know this building well. Running around blindly was only going to make things worse.

He caught her by the arm. She flinched hard, but he didn’t let go. He kept a firm hold on her and guided her toward the main entrance.

At the curb, he glanced around, then finally released her.

“I called you a car. It’ll be here any second.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice shaking.

He looked at her, the corner of his mouth lifting a little. “I scared you half to death, and you’re still thanking me?”

She bit down on her lip.

Samuel’s expression shifted, all trace of ease gone. He turned serious. "When you get back, take good care of your mom. If you need anything, contact me anytime."

Something flickered across Alia’s face. It was polite, but distant too, like she’d already decided this was where things ended.

"The second you leave, you’re planning to delete me, right?" he said casually.

Her eyes snapped to his, wide with shock.

Samuel frowned. "Yeah. That means I guessed right."

She parted her lips, like she wanted to say something, then stopped herself.

He shook his head, a laugh almost slipping out. "Relax. You’ll go back. You don’t have to text me. Just don’t delete me. That’s not too much to ask, is it?"

She lifted her head and looked at him. After a moment, she nodded. "Okay. I won’t delete you."

Samuel let out a slow breath.

Headlights appeared across the street. He raised a hand and waved the car over.

The car pulled up. He opened the back door and waited for her to get in. She thanked him again, then ducked into the car.

He stood there with one hand on the door, looking at her. Something sharp and messy rose in his chest, too tangled to name.

He wanted to drag her back out of the car and kiss her until neither of them could breathe. But he couldn’t do that. If he did, he’d become exactly the kind of man he had just warned her about.

She looked back at him. The fear in her eyes still hadn’t fully faded.

Samuel drew in a deep breath, gave her the gentlest smile he could manage, and said, "Have a safe trip."

"Thank you." She had said that at least ten times tonight already.

He closed the door. The car drove away. It felt like something inside his chest got yanked hard. His wolf wanted to tear after her.

Lena’s POV

The next afternoon, Alia left. Lena didn’t even know until she got a text from her at the terminal.

"Samuel’s going to be down for a while." Lena stared at her phone, a dull ache spreading through her chest. She had really liked having Alia around.

Dominic Voss didn’t care in the slightest how Samuel Clarke felt. He hauled Lena Foster closer, his arm heavy around her waist like he had every right to keep her there. "You still got energy to worry about some other guy?"

Lena honestly felt like her whole body had been taken apart and put back together wrong. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gotten out of this bed for anything besides showering or grabbing food.

Dominic’s stamina was straight-up inhuman. He worked her over again and again, and every single time she thought, okay, surely he’s done now, he just... wasn’t. She spent entire days sprawled across the mattress, staring at the ceiling, wondering if she’d ever walk normally again.

"I’m exhausted!" Her voice came out rough and wrecked. Her lower back had gone so numb it didn’t even feel capable of complaining anymore.

"You don’t look exhausted." He rolled over her without hesitation, pinning her beneath him. His fingers slid through hers and pressed her hands into the pillow above her head. His gaze hadn’t changed since the first round—locked in, hungry, ruthless. "You look like you’ve still got plenty left."

She was completely drained, way too worn out to fight him off.

She had been dodging Anna for days. Anna had asked her out three times, and every time, Lena had come up with some excuse to cancel. There was no way she could actually tell her that Dominic had worn her out so badly she could barely get off the mattress, let alone leave the house.

"You’re harder to book than a business deal." Anna finally cornered her at a coffee shop. The second Anna got a good look at her face, her eyes narrowed. "Your skin is glowing. You look like a woman getting premium maintenance."

Lena’s eyes flicked away at once.

Anna caught that, and her whole expression cracked with disbelief. "Lena, don’t tell me you’ve been blowing me off because you’ve been too busy having the time of your life in bed?"

Lena gave an awkward little laugh.

Anna rolled her eyes so hard it looked like they might stay there. "Seriously. I don’t even know you anymore!"

Lena pressed her lips together, then said quietly, "You told me to enjoy the moment."

"I meant enjoy life, not lose your mind over sex!"

"I’ve never been this happy." She meant it.

Anna had no comeback for that. She took a sip of coffee, drew in a deep breath through her nose, then kept going. "If you two are that crazy about each other, are you actually in love now?"

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