Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 174: Chapter 174

Anna’s POV

When Anna got home, she cleaned the apartment from top to bottom. Her talk with Lena Foster had shaken her, but there was still this hard knot sitting behind her breastbone, quiet and heavy, refusing to loosen.

She needed to talk to Daniel. At the very least, she owed him one real chance.

That afternoon, she sent him a text.

"Are you free tonight?"

"Yes."

"Come over for dinner."

"Okay."

She spent the rest of the day cooking. It had been a long time since she’d made a meal for someone else, and somehow, the chopping, stirring, and seasoning steadied her hands bit by bit.

Braised beef short ribs, roasted salmon, garlic mashed potatoes, a vegetable salad, roasted vegetables, and a pot of soup simmering at the back of the stove, bubbling softly like it had all the time in the world.

It was way too much food for two people, and she knew it. But she had to keep her hands busy. Otherwise, her thoughts would spiral and eat her alive.

Right on time, the doorbell rang.

She went to open the door. The second she saw Daniel standing there, her stomach tightened on instinct.

She picked up the slippers she’d set aside earlier and placed them by his feet. "Perfect timing. Dinner’s basically ready. Make yourself comfortable. I’m just going to check the kitchen."

"Okay." He changed into the slippers and walked in.

The table was already set. Anna was placing the last dish down when he appeared at the kitchen doorway.

"Need a hand?"

"No, I’ve got it. It’s almost done." She ladled the soup into bowls.

Still, he stepped forward anyway. "I’ll carry it."

"Careful, it’s really hot—" Before she could finish, he had already picked up the bowl.

She brought over the utensils and served the rest of the dishes. Six dishes and one soup. Nothing fancy, just simple homemade food, the kind that looked ordinary but took time.

"Try it," she said, sitting across from him, more nervous than she wanted to admit. "Tell me if it tastes okay."

She almost never invited people into her home.

Daniel cut off a piece of beef short rib, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly. He glanced at Anna, caught the tension on her face right away, and gave a small nod. "It’s good."

Anna let out a quiet breath. "Try the salmon too."

"Mm."

He sampled every dish on the table. He didn’t shower her with fancy compliments or lay it on thick. He just said, "Good," and kept eating. But somehow, that simple word hit harder than a whole speech full of praise.

While they ate, Anna kept rehearsing the conversation in her head again and again. She turned over every possible phrase, trying to find the right opening, the right angle, the right tone. But no matter how she arranged it, every version sounded weird and off.

In the end, she decided to wait until after dinner. If she brought it up now, neither of them would be able to finish the meal, and that would totally defeat the point of her cooking all this food.

Just thinking about what was coming next killed her appetite completely.

She set down her fork early. Daniel looked at her plate. "You done?"

"Yeah. Take your time."

He didn’t tell her to eat more. He just quietly finished everything on the table. Anna froze for a second, genuinely stunned. She had made enough food for four people.

"Are you really full?" she asked. A small part of her suspected he still wasn’t.

"I’m full." Daniel put down his fork. "Your cooking’s really good. Letting leftovers sit around would be a waste."

Anna got it then. He wasn’t putting on a show. When he said it tasted good, he meant it—and he proved it with actions, not words.

"That really means a lot to me." She smiled, and this time it came straight from the heart.

For anyone who cooked, the best moment was seeing someone clean every plate. It meant the time, the effort, all of it had landed. None of it had been for nothing.

Anna stood up and started clearing the table. Daniel rose too.

"Sit down. I’ll take care of it."

"It’s fine."

The two of them reached for the plates at the same time, and their fingers brushed against each other at the edge. Anna was just about to pull her hand back when Daniel’s hand closed around hers.

Her heartbeat skipped hard. She lifted her eyes and looked at him.

"The plate’s going to slip."

His face stayed unreadable, but his hand tightened around it.

The two of them carried the plate into the kitchen together. Only after setting it down on the counter did he finally let go.

When the dishes were done, Anna dried her hands, drew in a long breath, then carried a bowl of fruit into the living room. Daniel was sitting on the sofa.

"I want to talk to you."

She set the fruit on the coffee table, pulled a chair over, and sat down across from him.

Daniel sat on the sofa, noticeably taller than her. He glanced at the chair by the table, then reached over, dragged it closer, and sat on it instead so they could look at each other at eye level.

His frame was way too big for that little chair. His knees were practically up to his chest. Even so, he sat straight, quiet and steady, waiting for her to speak.

"Go ahead," he said, his voice calm.

Her palms were damp with sweat. Her fingers clenched hard against her knees. Back then, she could talk a difficult client into a deal without stumbling once, even if they had a terrible attitude.

But now, sitting in front of this man, she couldn’t get a single word out.

Daniel didn’t rush her. He stayed there on that almost ridiculous little chair, patient as ever, giving her space, letting her find her voice in her own time.

"Our relationship." Her throat felt dry and tight. "What do you want to do about it?"

"You want to end it?"

Her chest seized. She pressed her lips together and hesitated for a second. "I just... feel like this isn’t fair to you."

"That was my choice. It has nothing to do with fairness."

From the beginning until now, Daniel had stayed calm the whole time. All the chaos around them seemed like background noise in his eyes, like none of it could really shake him.

Anna forced herself to meet his gaze. "You’ve seen my family. You’ve seen what my parents are like, what they’ve done. Do you really want to be tied to someone who comes with all of that?"

Daniel looked straight at her. "The moment I marked you, I already thought about what would come after. As long as you stay, whatever happens, I can handle it. Take your time. Think it through. Stay or leave, that choice is yours. But if you choose to stay, then from this moment on, anything that has to do with you also has to do with me."

He laid it all out, no vague words, no dodging.

If she left, he would let her go without trying to trap her.

If she stayed, then he would go all in. As long as she was within his reach, the things her parents had done to her would never happen again.

That night, Anna lay in bed staring at the ceiling for hours, sleep nowhere in sight.

His words kept looping in Anna’s head, over and over, like they were on repeat. The way Daniel had sat on that little chair. The way he had finished every single dish she made. The way his hand had wrapped around hers and rested it gently on the table beside the plate.

She had always been scared that the second someone saw her family, saw where she came from, saw the parts of her past she hated most, they would bolt. In her heart, she had been so sure Daniel would eventually see the whole messy truth and decide it was too much, too expensive, too exhausting.

But he hadn’t.

He had seen everything. He had witnessed it all, and still he stayed in her living room, quietly eating every bite she placed in front of him.

Maybe she wasn’t as broken as she had always believed.

Maybe the damage done to her wasn’t as deep, or as permanent, as she had thought.

Three in the morning.

Anna picked up her phone and sent Daniel a text.

“I’ve made my decision. I want to continue this relationship.”

She set the phone down and let out a long breath.

The weight that had been pressing on her chest for weeks finally loosened and slipped away. Then, all of a sudden, she heard a knock at the door.

She froze, wondering if she had imagined it. Right then, her phone started buzzing. Daniel was calling.

She answered as she climbed out of bed. “You’re still awake?”

“Open the door.”

Anna blinked. “Was that you knocking?”

“Yeah.”

Phone still in hand, she walked to the front door and pulled it open.

Daniel was standing in the hallway. His coat was zipped all the way up to his chin, and the tip of his nose was red from the cold.

She stared at him, caught off guard. “You didn’t go home?”

“No.”

“Then where did you go?”

“I’ve been sitting in my car the whole time.”

The temperature outside was below freezing, and he’d been sitting in that dark car for hours, just waiting?

"Come in." Anna grabbed Daniel by the arm and pulled him inside, then turned to pour him a glass of hot water. "Why didn’t you leave?"

"I was waiting for your answer."

He took the cup from her hand, then pulled out his phone and opened her text. He lifted the screen so she could see the message she’d sent with her own eyes.

"Anna." His voice was low, almost gentle. "After this, there’s no going back."

Her stomach clenched hard.

He had given her a choice. She had made it. And now that decision was real. Locked in. No undo button.

"We should live together." He glanced around the apartment, calm and steady. "We still don’t know each other well enough. That takes time. And time means being close, every day."

She nodded, still trying to process everything, like her brain was lagging behind what had just happened.

"Do you want me to move in here, or do you want to come to my place? Or we can find somewhere new and start over from scratch."

He wasn’t deciding for her. He was asking.

She kept nodding, almost on autopilot. Her mind was still stuck on what he had said seconds ago.

"A new place, then." Daniel reached into his coat, pulled out a card, and handed it to her. "When you have time, go look around. Don’t stress about the price. If you find a place you like, just get it. If you’re unsure, I can go with you."

She stared at the card in his hand. If they were really buying a home, there was no way she would let him pay for all of it. She would sell this apartment and put in her share too.

"Take it." He pressed the card into her palm.

She held it between her fingers. Just a few hours ago, they had felt like two people drifting apart. Now they had a joint card and were already talking about buying a house. It was honestly kind of insane.

Daniel glanced at the time. "It’s late. Get some rest. I’m heading out."

Her lips parted. She wanted to ask him to stay, to not go back out into the freezing wind at three in the morning.

But when the words reached her throat, she swallowed them back down.

"Okay. Drive safe."

After he left, she was completely awake.

She looked at the card in her hand and ran her thumb over it again and again. If it hadn’t been right there in front of her, still carrying the warmth of his touch, she would’ve thought everything from last night was just a dream.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!