Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 171: Chapter 171

Lena’s POV

She wasn’t angry. Honestly, she’d seen this coming from a mile away.

She almost laughed.

"I told you this would happen." She grabbed a fistful of his hair and smacked his shoulder lightly. "Get up."

Dominic was still sprawled over her, his cock pressed hard against her thigh, breathing rough, face buried between her breasts like he meant to stay there forever. He didn’t move.

The knocking kept going. Then came her voice. "Dominic, can you come out for a second?"

"Ah—"

Without warning, Dominic’s mouth closed over her nipple. His teeth grazed the sensitive tip, and a sound nearly slipped out of her before she could stop it.

She slapped his shoulder again. "What the hell are you doing?"

The knocking stopped.

Dominic looked absolutely pissed, like there was no way he was backing off now. He hooked her thigh over his hip, shifted his position, and drove into her in one hard thrust.

She sucked in a sharp breath and bit down on her own hand. He slammed into her with a punishing rhythm, hips snapping hard, thrusting so deep her back arched clear off the mattress.

Every movement carried the frustration of being interrupted. There was nothing gentle about it.

She couldn’t make a sound. Eliza was right outside the door. Just imagining her hearing her come made Lena’s cheeks burn hotter than anything Dominic was doing to her body.

She clenched her teeth and swallowed every noise, even when he angled his hips and brushed that spot that usually had her crying out his name on reflex.

Her nails dug deep into his shoulders. Her thighs trembled around his waist. She bit hard on her fist, leaving teeth marks, forcing every sound back down until he buried himself fully inside her and finished with a low groan against her neck.

When it was over, her eyes were damp.

Dominic let out a long breath and looked at her.

He pulled her into his arms. "I’m coming to your place too."

She sniffed once and said nothing.

"With someone else in the house, you can’t enjoy anything." He kissed the corner of her eye. "Neither can I."

She pinched the inside of his thigh hard enough to make him flinch. He twitched, but he took it.

He knew he had it coming.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Aren’t you worried she’ll follow us?"

Dominic pulled her closer, arms tightening around her. "Your space is your space. You’re allowed to say no at your own front door."

Lena knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted out of this mess just as much as she did.

They stayed like that for a little while. There was no way she could walk out of this room with him. Her face was burning, her eyes puffy and red, and she looked exactly like someone who’d just been wrecked so hard she couldn’t even talk straight.

Dominic went to shower first, changed into fresh clothes, then stepped out. She could hear him in the hallway.

"Did Daniel leave?" His tone was casual, almost too casual.

"Yes." Eliza’s answer came back stiff and flat.

He went into the kitchen, poured a glass of water, then brought it back to the bedroom.

When Lena came out of the bathroom, he handed it to her. "You want to leave together, or separately?"

He was asking how she wanted to make her exit. He was literally planning how they should leave his own house. Technically, their house. And now they had to hand it over to his former mate because she’d been dumb enough to let Eliza in to begin with.

"I’ll go first." No chance was she walking out that door beside him. Eliza would latch onto him instantly, and then Lena would be stuck wasting another half hour trying to shake her off. Hard pass.

Dominic ran his tongue over his lower lip, the corner of his mouth lifting. "You’re really going to leave me alone with her?"

"I trust you." Lena slipped on her coat and picked up her bag. "I trust you to keep your hands to yourself. And everything else too."

"Because you trust me."

"Because I trust you." She tilted her head and shot him a grin. "Bye."

She walked out.

The second Eliza saw her, her gaze snapped over and locked on.

Then she noticed the bag. "You’re leaving?"

"Going home." Lena didn’t slow down. She even gave Eliza a warm, easy smile. "Stay as long as you need. Take care of yourself. You’ve still got a long way to go."

Eliza looked confused, like she had no clue what Lena really meant.

Dominic stepped out from behind Lena, and their eyes met mine at the same time. Lena lifted one brow, shot Eliza a brief look, then headed straight for the front door. "Bye."

Eliza’s POV

Lena left without even turning back. Eliza stood there, frozen for a second, trying to process what had just happened.

She looked at Dominic. "She went home?"

"To her own place."

"Did you two have a fight?"

Through the door, Eliza had heard them having sex. Clear as day. And one look at their faces confirmed it. Their cheeks were flushed, and both of them had that loose, satisfied look people got after being wrapped up in each other.

So no, they definitely hadn’t been arguing. Then why had Lena left?

"No."

"Then why—" Her gaze dropped. "Is it because she doesn’t want me here?"

Dominic glanced at the clock on the wall. "She doesn’t care whether you’re here or not. I’m the one who doesn’t want you here."

The words hit like ice water. Cold. Sharp. Instant.

Eliza looked up, but he had already turned to leave.

"Stay as long as you want. The house is yours." He walked toward the door. "I’ve got things to do."

"You’re not coming back?"

"No."

"Dominic." Tears spilled out before she could stop them.

He paused at the doorway and turned around.

Her chin trembled. She pressed her lips together so hard she could almost taste blood. "I need you. You’re the only person I trust. Are you seriously going to leave me here by myself?"

"I let you into my home because of what happened to you. If you really saw me as a friend, you wouldn’t ask me for something you already know I can’t give." His voice was flat, cold enough to cut. "If you hadn’t been attacked, you wouldn’t be standing in this house right now."

I was the one who got stabbed. I really thought after everything that happened, he’d soften up a little.

I thought he’d stay. Sit beside me. Hold my hand and help me get through the worst part.

He gave me a few hours, and now he was leaving.

This was all Lena’s fault. She let me come in on purpose, then dragged him away. She made me look pathetic, while she played the calm, generous one and walked off like she was above it all.

Hatred churned in my stomach, getting heavier and hotter. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug crescent marks into my palms.

I looked at Dominic’s face. Cold. Blank. Like he’d already shut every door inside himself. So I pulled out my last card.

"For Gemma’s sake... can’t you stay?"

His eyes shifted.

It was the first time I’d ever said Gemma’s name in front of him.

"If it weren’t for Gemma, why do you think I spent all these years taking care of you?" His voice dropped, rough and heavy. "What did you think this was for?"

My mouth fell open. I knew. Deep down, I had always known. But hearing him say it out loud with his own lips—yeah, that shattered every excuse I’d been clinging to. In an instant, all that was left was me standing in the wreckage.

"If it were Gemma," I said, my voice shaking, "if Gemma had gone through what I went through, if she begged you to stay... would you?"

Dominic narrowed his eyes. Whatever patience he had left was gone. "Gemma would never be this greedy."

Everything before had felt like little needles. This? This was a blade. It sliced from my throat straight down to my stomach, like it wanted to split me open and force me to look at everything ugly inside.

Through my tears, I stared at him, and something in me finally cracked into place. I gave a broken, painful laugh.

"So that’s it. Everything was for Gemma. Everything you did for me. Every time you showed up. Every time people thought we were together and you never corrected them. All of it... was for her?!"

"Every bit of it."

Dominic didn’t deny it. Didn’t flinch either.

"One last question." I stepped closer, close enough to see the patterns in his irises. "Gemma or Lena. If you had to choose."

"I don’t do hypotheticals."

"Answer me! Once I’m gone, I’ll disappear from your life for good. You won’t see me again."

"I only care about what’s in front of me."

She stood there, frozen for a long moment, turning his words over and over in her head.

What was in front of him.

Lena. She was what stood in front of him.

Not Gemma. Not the shadow of the woman who vanished eight years ago.

And definitely not her.

Eliza gave a small nod. The bitterness in her chest kept rising, crawling all the way up her throat like something sharp and burning.

"I get it." She forced out a smile and walked toward the door. When she reached him, she stopped and lifted her eyes to his face one last time. Every line, every edge of him—she had been hopelessly hooked on all of it for years.

"Sorry for causing you trouble. I won’t get in the way of you and Lena anymore."

She stepped past the doorway, then turned back. "If Gemma hadn’t disappeared, the two of you would’ve been happy together. You loved her that much. You would’ve given her everything."

Dominic clenched his jaw and said nothing.

Eliza smiled faintly. "She would’ve been so lucky."

She drew in a deep breath, then slowly let it out. "Goodbye, Dominic."

She turned and walked away. Her vision started to blur, and it felt like her chest was caving in, but her legs kept moving anyway. One step. Then another.

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