Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 163: Chapter 163

Lena’s POV

When Lena woke up, the other side of the bed was empty. Her lower back was sore, and when she reached out to touch the sheets, they were cold. She called his name, but the room stayed quiet.

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and saw an unread message from Dominic.

"[Samuel got drunk and started a fight. I went to deal with it. Dinner’s ready. If it’s cold, just heat it up. Eat first. If you want to wait for me, then wait. If not, go to sleep.]"

That last line made her laugh under her breath.

Dragging her tired body out of bed, she made her way to the kitchen. The soup in the clay pot was still a little warm. The dishes on the counter had already gone cold, so she reheated them one by one.

It wasn’t until the smell of food rose into the air that she realized how starving she was. Her stomach twisted hard, like it had finally woken up too.

She ate alone at the table and texted Dominic, asking how Samuel was doing.

No reply.

Samuel was one of the most disciplined people she had ever met. What kind of mess could make a man like him drink himself senseless and then throw punches in a bar? Work stress? No way. And he didn’t even have a girlfriend.

After dinner, she washed the dishes and called Dominic. It was almost midnight.

The phone rang for a long time before someone finally picked up.

"Dominic—"

"Miss Foster."

Lena pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. Dominic’s name. Dominic’s number. She hadn’t called the wrong person.

Her stomach clenched all at once, but she forced her voice to stay even.

"Where’s Dominic?"

"He’s changing."

Lena leaned back against the kitchen counter, folding her arms over her chest.

She knew Eliza well enough by now. Every word out of that woman’s mouth was carefully picked, like she was trying to leave a mark on purpose. The way she talked always nudged people into imagining the worst. Every. Single. Time.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"At a hotel."

Lena froze for a beat, then let out a laugh. She seriously couldn’t help it.

She ran her tongue over her teeth. "Which hotel?"

"Are you coming?"

"Yeah."

That answer clearly caught Eliza off guard. The line went dead quiet.

"What?" Lena asked, calm as ever. "Bad timing now?"

"No." Eliza gave her the hotel name, but the smug edge in her voice was gone.

Lena never went.

She walked over to the couch, dragged a blanket across her legs, and turned on the TV. Then she opened a bag of pistachios and started eating them one by one. A few minutes later, Dominic called again.

"Are you here?" he asked.

"Where?" she said, even though she already knew Eliza had told him.

"You didn’t come?"

"Nope."

"I’m on my way home."

"Okay."

She hung up and cracked open another pistachio.

She wasn’t angry. If anything, she almost felt sorry for Eliza. The woman was trying every trick in the book just to get Dominic to look her way, and every single time, it flopped. Punch after punch, nothing landed.

So how much did Eliza love him?

Apparently enough to keep humiliating herself over and over again.

I didn’t know why. And honestly, she didn’t need to.

Eliza’s POV

Dominic set his phone down and looked over at her. His eyes were ice-cold, the kind of cold that made her skin crawl even from across the room.

"Whatever you did before, I’ve already let it go." His voice stayed calm, controlled, almost too calm, and somehow that hurt worse. "From now on, stop."

She’d heard that line before. He’d drawn that boundary before too. And every single time, she’d found a way to step right over it.

"She called, and I told her the truth." Eliza clasped her hands together so tightly her fingers ached, trying hard to keep them from shaking. "What she does with that is on her. If she really trusts you, she wouldn’t be suspicious of us."

With every word she said, Dominic’s expression darkened a little more.

"If you want to keep staying here, then do what I said."

The color drained from her face in a second. Her chest felt hollow, like something inside had been ripped out and left empty.

"Is that a warning?" she asked, her voice catching. "Or a threat?"

He didn’t answer. He just turned and walked out.

Eliza stood in the hotel hallway with the door hanging open behind her, and the tears came all at once.

She couldn’t understand how he could be this heartless with her. He used to protect her, used to look after her every time, even if he never loved her the way she wanted. So what changed?

Had he really fallen for Lena?

"If I were you, I wouldn’t keep testing his patience."

Samuel’s rough voice drifted out from inside the room. He was slumped on the couch, pressing hard against his forehead with one hand. He’d thrown up earlier, and the nausea had sobered him up a bit—at least enough to talk.

Eliza turned around. "Does he hate me because I was with someone else?"

Samuel let out a dry laugh without even opening his eyes. "Why can’t you just accept that he doesn’t love you? He never did. At least not in the way you wanted."

His words hit like knives, sharp and brutal.

Samuel leaned his head back against the cushion. "You brought me to this hotel for a reason. I know exactly what that reason is. Still, thanks for not leaving me passed out on the bar floor."

Eliza clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms.

"If he doesn’t love me, then why did he protect me for so long?" Her voice came out hoarse and frayed. "Why was he always there taking care of me whenever I needed him?"

"That’s between you and him. I don’t have your answer." Samuel’s voice stayed flat, tired. "But you already know the truth. You’ve known it the whole time. You just didn’t want to believe it."

My ears were ringing, and everything in front of me looked blurry.

"If you want to stay on good terms with Dominic, quit pulling tricks." Samuel didn’t even open his eyes. "And shut the door on your way out."

Lena’s POV

She heard the lock click. It was already past midnight.

Dominic walked in and saw her slumped on the couch, pistachio shells scattered across the coffee table, the TV still glowing in the background. She looked up at him.

"How’s Samuel?" she asked.

He kicked off his shoes and came over. "Wasted. Totally smashed. Threw up all over my shirt."

Her gaze swept over him. He’d changed into clean clothes, but his hair was still damp, like he’d just washed it in a rush.

"Why did he drink that much? Work’s not crushing him, and he’s not even seeing anyone." She really wanted to understand.

"Probably Aria." Dominic pulled off his shirt and tossed it onto the chair, then sat down beside her bare-chested. He dragged the blanket over both of them, reached for a pistachio on the table, and started cracking it open for her.

She frowned. "What does this have to do with Aria?"

"While you were asleep, he called me about the Stonewall Pack investment. I approved it. After that, he probably called Aria to tell her the news."

Dominic dropped the pistachio kernel into her palm. "You do the math."

She got it instantly. She popped the pistachio into her mouth. "He still can’t let her go."

"Yeah."

She let out a soft sigh. "Once somebody falls that hard, getting out is basically impossible. He probably wants her even more now than he did at the start."

"But he’ll deal with it. He won’t cross the line. If Aria’s doing well now, he’ll keep his distance."

"Do you think life would be easier if people just... never fell in love?"

"Maybe."

"Dominic."

"Hm?"

"Oh, right. I forgot to ask you something."

He looked at her. "What?"

"When did you unblock Eliza’s number?"

Lena remembered it clearly. A few months ago, she had taken his phone herself and removed every path Eliza could use to reach him. Calls blocked. Texts blocked. Every single line cut off, clean and simple.

Dominic pulled out his phone and held it in front of her. "She got a new number."

Lena didn’t even bother looking at the screen. "Wow. She seriously does not know when to quit."

He put the phone away and went back to shelling pistachios, calm like none of this mattered. "I’m not interested in her. Not even a little."

"I know." Lena broke into a bright grin, the kind that lit up her whole face. "I trust you."

He set the pistachio shells aside and wiped his hands. Then he cupped her face gently, making her meet his eyes. "I know you do. So..."

His gaze dropped to her lips.

The next second, his mouth was on hers.

Lena had honestly thought they had already used up all their energy that afternoon.

Yeah. She had been very, very wrong.

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