Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Dominic’s POV

The moment the shower started running, I was still a little out of it. My head was packed full of Lena—her eyes wet when I pinned her to the couch, and that tiny, stubborn smile she forced out at the end.

The heat in my chest wouldn’t settle. I grabbed my jacket and walked out without a backward glance.

On the way to Samuel Clarke’s private bar, my mind kept yanking me back to the moment I saw Eliza again.

Two days ago, she called me. Our first contact in three damn years. I didn’t even tell Lena. Honestly, I just wanted to see if Eliza would regret everything she’d done to me.

So I went to the airport. Flew straight to the hotel she picked.

She was still beautiful—hair loose, framing the face I’d traced in the dark more times than I should admit. The second I stepped through the door, she threw herself at me, arms locked around my waist, cheek pressed to my chest.

"Dominic..."

I froze completely. Instinct kicked in—I grabbed her shoulders and shoved her back.

"Don’t touch me."

She stumbled, making a cracked sound in her throat. Her hand flew to her left ribs like it was pure reflex. That look she gave me—wide-eyed, trembling, glassy with tears—made something twist uncomfortably in me.

Then she silently rolled her sleeve up.

Bruises covered her arm from wrist to elbow—purple, stacked over each other, brutal and ugly. All of it laid bare.

"I want to break the bond with Marcus. I can’t take it anymore." Her voice was wrecked, scraped raw. "But he won’t agree. I’ve tried everything, Dominic. He just won’t let me go. You’re the Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack. If anyone can help me, it’s you. Please... please help me."

My chest tightened hard. This was Eliza?

The she-wolf who used to walk into a ballroom and make every Alpha in the room forget how to breathe.

The same woman who tossed my heart on the floor, crushed it under her heel, then looked at me like I was pathetic—like I needed saving—and left me alone in that dark study.

That proud, untouchable woman.

And now she stood in front of me, covered in bruises, her once flawless face distorted with pain, lips quivering, pride burned to ash.

She stepped toward me again, slower this time, hooking her fingers into my jacket, resting her forehead against my collarbone.

"Please, Dominic..." She was rambling, voice shaky, stripped clean of the elegance she used to weaponize. There was only raw, humiliating pleading. All that spine-straight pride she used to carry was just... gone. "Please, help me. Please."

I didn’t hold her, but I didn’t shove her away either. I just stood there and let her cling to me.

Whatever I’d felt for Eliza once—she had shattered it beyond repair. But I’d tangled three years of my life with hers. Three years of believing she could be the one to save me. And the version of me that once loved her couldn’t look at those bruises and walk away.

"I’ll take care of it," I told her.

That was all I said.

Daniel’s voice cut straight through the haze in my head. "We’re here, Alpha."

I blinked hard. The bar’s neon lights smeared across the rain-streaked windshield like a bad memory.

When I walked into the private lounge, Samuel was sitting alone in a booth, scrolling on his phone. Hearing me come in, he lifted his eyes just a little.

"Wow, you look like hell." He put the phone down and poured me a drink, dragging out his words on purpose, like he was afraid I might miss the fact that he was mocking me. "What’s wrong? Fought with your destined girl again? So you came here to vent?"

I grabbed the glass and knocked it back in one shot. The burn clawed down my throat, giving me a second of numbness. My voice came out rougher than I expected. "I almost lost it. Samuel, she has a lethal pull on me. It’s dangerous."

Samuel raised a brow, clearly not expecting that from me. His gaze behind the lenses sharpened, as if he were dissecting my expression.

Finally, he said, "Dominic, she’s the key to breaking your curse. You’re drawn to her—that’s instinct. Why are you fighting it so hard?"

Instinct. The same damn instinct that made me want to claim her completely, rip away every bit of distance. That instinct was what scared the hell out of me.

I clenched my jaw and refilled my glass instead of answering.

Reason was supposed to be my anchor. I couldn’t just fall for a she-wolf I barely knew.

"That’s enough. You’re done drinking."

Samuel reached over to take the glass, but I shot him a look that froze him mid-motion. He watched, helpless, as I tipped the whiskey back again.

"Think about the curse, Dominic!" Samuel’s face—usually carrying that punch-me smirk—was now full of frustration and helplessness. "Are you trying to die early?"

I ignored him and poured another.

"Daniel, do something!" Samuel snapped, practically barking at him.

But Daniel stayed in the shadows, still as stone—he only moved when I said so.

"I swear, I’m gonna lose it." Samuel yanked off his glasses and pressed his fingers hard against the bridge of his nose. "Forget Lena for a second. I’ve got another question. Eliza. You went to see her, didn’t you? I just don’t get it—why bother? She’s got nothing to do with you anymore! Don’t forget she mocked you, trashed you, then dumped you like you were nothing!"

Judging by the rapid-fire accusations, he was really pissed.

I put the glass down. The sharp clink against the table made Samuel flinch. When I lifted my gaze, the air between us dropped a few degrees.

We stared each other down for a few seconds. Then he slid his glasses back on, his tone softening just a little—but still blunt. "So you saw her. And then what? She’s got a new partner now."

"She wants to dissolve the bond." I cut him off. "Her partner’s been treating her like crap. You’re going to help her handle it."

Samuel froze, eyes widening behind his glasses. "Come again?"

"She needs a lawyer." I took another slow sip of my drink. "You. You’re taking this case."

He let out a short, humorless snort. "Yeah, right. And why would I do that? She’s not my ex."

"Consider it a well-paid job," I said.

Samuel leaned back, arms crossed, looking way too amused. "So you’re actually planning to pay me? Guess you still have a conscience. Then what? You help Eliza with this and... what’s your next move?"

I lit a cigarette and drew in a long breath. "My curse might not even let me live that long."

I didn’t sugarcoat it. That deadline was probably closer than I wanted to admit. Samuel went silent, and the room instantly felt heavier, the smoke drifting upward under the warm lamp like it was the only thing still moving.

When I finished the cigarette, I crushed the butt out. "There’s something else," I said. "Draft a gift agreement for me."

"A gift agreement? You’re transferring assets? To who?" Samuel straightened up, suddenly on alert. He stared at me, clearly terrified I’d drop Eliza’s name.

"Lena."

Samuel and Daniel both turned to me, identical looks of disbelief on their faces.

I’d said before that Lena wouldn’t get anything from me except a title on paper. Now I was planning to leave her something real.

"Dominic, what’s that supposed to mean?" Samuel finally reacted. The second he realized the recipient wasn’t Eliza, his shoulders relaxed and he even sounded relieved. "Didn’t you just say a few days ago that she’s just an opportunistic Omega who’s nothing to you?"

He was teasing me again.

But Lena’s face suddenly flashed through my mind—sitting on the couch, lips red and swollen from my kiss, eyes shiny, still trying to act tough and joke that I wasn’t good at kissing.

"She’s... not that bad." The words slipped out before I could stop them. Even I was thrown for a second.

"Hey, I never said she was! That was all—"

Samuel tried to defend himself, looking genuinely wronged, but when he saw my expression getting colder, he swallowed the rest and shut up.

Talking to Samuel was pointless anyway. This playboy wasn’t going to understand any of this mess, so I got up to leave. Daniel followed right away. Samuel blinked, then let out a low chuckle behind us.

On the way back, I cracked the window open. The winter wind rushed in, slicing right through me. The car rolled onto the bridge spanning the valley, the rows of streetlights casting a pale, washed-out glow over everything.

I glanced toward the stretch of Black Forest nearby, and out of nowhere, this old memory hit me—years ago, I drove across this same bridge with Eliza.

Back then, right at the cliff’s edge inside that forest, I spotted a she-wolf standing there like she’d already given up on life, ready to throw herself off. I remember slamming on the brakes.

Only someone who’s been shoved into a dead end, someone hurting so bad they can’t even see a way forward, would think about ending it all. But taking your own life never actually solves anything. It just... ends things, without meaning.

So I told one of my pack guards to stop her and get her away from the cliff.

What happened after that? I honestly have no clue. Because right then, Eliza tugged my sleeve lightly, telling me to hurry up. "Staring at other people’s tragedies is just asking for nightmares," she’d said. She couldn’t care less about anyone else’s pain. Looking back now, she didn’t care about mine either.

So what did it matter?

I’d reached out, tried to help, done the so-called right thing—but the curse still landed on me anyway. Fate... seriously loves its twisted jokes.

When I finally got back to the tower, Lena was already asleep. She was curled up on the very edge of the bed again; she always seemed hyperaware of boundaries.

That restless heat in my chest still wouldn’t settle, but I kept my movements quiet. I lay down, leaving enough space between us for two people.

I needed that distance.

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