Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 153: Chapter 153

Lena’s POV

No one saw Dominic coming.

He’d been completely off the grid for ten whole days, and now here he was, standing in the yard like nothing had happened, moonlight skimming over the hard line of his jaw. Lena just stared at him. “Surprised” didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Alpha Dominic?”

Anna’s father froze on the spot. Her mother took a small step back behind him. This was their home, their own yard, but the way they stood there, you’d think they were the ones trespassing.

“This is my mate,” Lena said. She had to introduce him, even if his timing was honestly terrible.

“Oh. Your mate.” Anna’s mother forced out a stiff little smile. “You two look very well matched.”

But her tone gave her away instantly. She clearly meant the exact opposite. She just couldn’t wrap her head around how the two of them had ended up bonded.

Dominic’s gaze stayed on Lena a beat too long. She glanced at him, then looked away. “Sorry for showing up unannounced,” he said, his voice low, and somehow the chill in the air eased a little.

Anna’s father waved both hands quickly. “No, no, not at all. Any guest is welcome here, as long as you don’t mind how simple the place is.”

“Of course not.”

Daniel stood off to the side, looking awkward and apologetic.

Anna came out of the kitchen carrying an extra plate. She set it down in front of Dominic. Lena could tell she was pissed that Daniel had brought him here.

Dominic sat beside Lena. Through the entire meal, she didn’t say a single word to him.

Five minutes earlier, dinner had been warm and easy. Now it had gone dead cold. Anna’s parents barely spoke. The whole yard felt like it belonged to Dominic now, and no one seemed to know how to take the space back.

After dinner, Anna and Lena cleared the table and washed the dishes. Neither of them rushed. Lena definitely wasn’t in a hurry to go back.

“He seriously just showed up like that?!” Anna scrubbed a plate so hard it looked like the pattern might come off with it. “Ten days, zero contact, and then he just strolls into my parents’ yard like he owns the place!”

“That’s just how he is.” Lena dried the dishes and stacked them neatly.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Tonight? Nothing.”

After we finished the dishes, Anna’s mom sorted out the sleeping arrangements. Dominic and Daniel were supposed to share a room.

"I’ll sleep in the car," Dominic said.

Anna’s mom blinked, clearly thrown off. Her eyes went from me to him, then back again, looking totally confused.

I didn’t tell him to leave, and I didn’t ask him to stay either. I just said, "Do whatever you want," then headed upstairs.

A little later, Anna came into the bedroom with her hair still damp, then dropped onto the bed like all her energy had been drained.

"My parents are seriously losing it," she said, staring up at the ceiling. "The second they saw Dominic, they started acting like Daniel suddenly wasn’t good enough. A Beta ranks below an Alpha, and they just can’t deal with the fact that their daughter’s mate is somehow beneath yours."

I turned to look at her. "They actually said that?"

"My mom cornered me and asked if Daniel worked under Dominic." Anna’s voice stayed weirdly calm, but that only made it hit harder. "A Beta from the Bloodmoon Pack carries more weight than all the Alphas around here put together. She didn’t want to hear any of that. Not even a little."

She let out a bitter breath. "Yesterday they were praising him like he hung the moon. Today, just because your mate showed up, everyone suddenly feels small, and now Daniel’s not enough."

"I’m sorry."

"This isn’t on you. It’s on them." She rolled onto her side. "People always say parents love their pups more than anything, right? Then why can’t I feel it? This place is supposed to be the safest place in the world, so why does it feel like I can’t even breathe here?"

Moonlight slipped through the curtains, pale and thin. In that soft light, I caught the shine of tears at the corners of her eyes.

"The way they love you is wrong," I said, resting my chin on my hand. "They don’t know how to love without trying to control everything. We can’t change how they think. The only thing we can do is keep living the way we chose."

She understood that. She just couldn’t make peace with it.

"I’m leaving tomorrow," she said, turning to face me. "Sorry. I know I said we’d stay a few more days."

"Don’t apologize." I really didn’t mind. "I’m going to my grandmother’s village tomorrow."

"By yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Let me go with you."

"No. Go home and get some rest. You need it."

"You really shouldn’t be alone." Anna paused, then said quietly, "Dominic’s here. Whether you want him there or not, he’s going to follow you."

I hadn’t really thought about that before.

“He tracked you all the way here and drove straight over,” Anna said. “At the very least, he owes you an explanation for why he vanished for ten days. If mates can’t be honest with each other, then what’s the point of the bond?” The corner of her mouth lifted. “Half of me wants to tell you to sit down and talk it out with him. The other half wants to tell you to break the bond and be done with it.”

Lena laughed softly. Honestly, both takes made sense.

She lay there in the dark, staring into nothing, thinking about Dominic outside in the truck. Dominic Voss, Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack, curled up in his beta’s passenger seat, parked in the yard of some small farm on a minor territory, all because the she-wolf he’d ignored for ten straight days wouldn’t speak to him.

If that wasn’t consequences, then seriously, what was?

“You’ve always been like this,” Anna said, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “You can never fully make up your mind.”

Lena knew exactly what she meant. “When he’s good to me, I want to protect what we have. But when he acts like I don’t exist, it all feels pointless.”

Anna let out a long sigh. “If love is this hard to hold together, why is everybody so obsessed with it? Mating is basically just one reckless choice people make when their blood is running hot.”

“More or less.” Lena stared into the dark. “Adrenaline goes through the roof, and then you’re left with some kind of mark that won’t go away.”

“You stayed by him through the curse because you felt grateful,” Anna said, turning her head to look at her. “He still doesn’t know, does he?”

“No.”

“Of course not.” Anna pulled the blanket up and shut her eyes. “Only you would do something like that. Stay or leave, whatever. At the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is surviving. Everything else is negotiable.”

Morning came.

Before Lena was even out of bed, Anna had already packed. Lena zipped up her suitcase and followed her downstairs.

The moment Daniel saw them, he stepped forward and took their bags without a word.

Anna’s mother was standing by the door, looking like she wanted to say something. Anna walked right past her, not even slowing down.

“Thank you for having me,” Lena said, stopping in front of Anna’s parents. She reached out and shook her mother’s hand. “I really had a good time these past few days.”

Anna’s mother glanced toward Anna, who was standing by the truck with her jaw set tight and her arms folded across her chest. Then she tightened her grip on Lena’s hand. “Lena, you’ve been good for her. Help her think about what’s truly best.”

“I will.” Lena smiled. “Don’t worry about Anna. She’ll be okay.”

Her mother sighed and let go of her hand.

Lena really did not want to ride with Dominic, but Daniel had already loaded her suitcase into the truck. Anna was in the same boat. Neither of them had a say in it.

"Just take us to the station," Anna said flatly. There was no way she wanted to be stuck in a car with Dominic for hours. She’d rather take the train.

Daniel glanced at Dominic. Dominic looked over at Lena.

"I’m taking the train too," Lena said. "I’m going to my grandmother’s village."

"Where?" Dominic asked.

"Home."

At that, he told Daniel to drive to the station.

There were four people in the truck, and not one of them spoke. The silence sat there like a rock, heavy and suffocating. By the time they reached the station, Lena was already short of breath from it. She pushed the door open and got out. Dominic got out right behind her.

He pulled her suitcase from the back of the truck, then said to Daniel, "Take Anna back."

Anna looked at Lena, then at Dominic, her expression full of questions.

"Okay." Daniel didn’t press.

Lena reached for her suitcase, but Dominic held on tight.

One hand stayed on the suitcase handle. The other closed around Lena’s hand, firm and impossible to ignore, as he led her straight into the station.

Anna stood beside the truck, watching the two of them disappear into the crowd. A second later, Lena’s phone buzzed with a text from her.

"He’s going with you?"

After they went inside, Dominic handed money to the ticket clerk and came back with two tickets.

"What are you doing?" Lena asked, staring as he slipped them into his pocket.

"Going with you."

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