Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 57: Chapter 57

Lena’s POV

Anna and Daniel helped her find a place to live. It was a quiet one-bedroom apartment on the third floor of an old building, close enough to the office that she could just walk to work.

Daniel handled the boxes, all sweat and no complaints. Anna stood in the kitchen arguing with the landlord over a stain on the ceiling like she was fighting for her life. By the time the sun went down, Lena had the key in her hand, a bed set up, and an empty fridge waiting to be filled.

To thank them, she took both of them out for drinks.

They sat by the window. Halfway through their second round, Anna’s phone buzzed.

Anna glanced at the screen, typed back a few words, then looked up at Lena with guilt practically stamped across her face.

"So," she said, sliding her phone across the table, "Reed texted me. He said you blocked him and he can’t reach you."

Lena flicked her eyes to the screen, then looked away like it annoyed her on sight. "Don’t talk to him."

"I seriously don’t want to, but Moonborn Pack’s company works with ours." Anna let out a tired sigh. "And Reed’s the Alpha now. I can’t exactly pretend he doesn’t exist."

"Their business is really that big?" Lena frowned. Reed had mentioned before that their companies overlapped, but hearing it again still made her chest tighten a little.

Anna shrugged. "After Reed became Alpha, he built most of it himself. Ever since he came back, he’s been crazy powerful."

Lena said nothing. She just held her glass, her fingers tightening around it.

Anna leaned forward, eyes wide. "If he comes to see you again, you’re really not going to give him even one chance?"

"No."

Her answer landed clean and cold.

"So many years have passed, and he still found you," Anna said softly. "That obviously means he never got over you."

Lena’s face didn’t change. "I got over him."

Anna bit her lip, but still didn’t give up. "Maybe you should at least hear him out. He was young back then. His mother made that decision for him. But now? He has power. He has resources. He can protect what he wants."

Lena set her glass down and looked straight into Anna’s eyes. "Did he offer your pack something to make you speak for him?"

"Of course not!" Anna threw both hands up at once. "I swear. I just think... you two really loved each other. And now that life handed you a second shot, it’d be such a waste to let it go."

"First," Lena said, her voice flat but sharp, "you said it yourself. Loved. Past tense. Second, what happened between us wasn’t some tragic missed timing. It was his choice. Third, there is no second chance."

Anna went quiet.

Beside her, Daniel hadn’t said a single word the whole time.

"He’s calling," Anna said, lifting her phone. "Should I answer?"

"It’s your phone. Not my business."

Anna picked up anyway. As she talked to Reed, her eyes kept flicking to Lena’s face, like she was trying to read every tiny reaction. But Lena gave her nothing. Not even a crack.

Then Anna glanced past her toward the entrance and nudged her with an elbow.

Reed was standing near the door, looking straight at them.

Anna covered the phone with her hand. "He just wants to come over and say hi. Honestly, Lena, he’s always respected you—"

"Anna." Lena looked her dead in the eye. "There is absolutely no chance for me and Reed. None. Zero. If you’re really my best friend, then stop telling him anything about me."

Anna’s face went white. "I’m sorry. I just thought he really loved you. I didn’t want you to miss out. I swear, this is the last time."

Lena drew in a slow breath. "A relationship that ended because of real problems is not something worth starting again. Time doesn’t magically erase what broke it."

Anna nodded quickly. "Got it."

Lena grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the back door. Daniel followed behind them in silence, saying nothing the whole way.

It was after ten by the time Lena got back to the apartment.

She sat on the couch with the TV on low, the screen glowing softly in the dim room, but she wasn’t really watching. Not even close.

Reed showing up had stirred everything up inside her. Whatever they once had was long gone. All that remained were old memories, faded around the edges but still annoying enough to scrape at her thoughts. When she and Reed broke up years ago, she had cried for days. Anna had cursed him out so hard it had felt like she might lose her voice.

A first love was still a first love. Lena had handed him the rawest, truest version of herself. No filter. No armor. But time had washed it all away. Seeing Reed again didn’t make her heart race. Didn’t make her chest tighten. Didn’t spark even the faintest flutter.

On the TV, the lead couple had just reunited and fallen into each other’s arms like some big emotional moment. Lena stared at the screen, completely blank.

Then the doorbell rang.

She looked through the peephole. Reed was standing outside with a paper bag in his hand. So yeah, Anna had still given him her address. Great.

She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should just ignore him and let him stand there.

In the end, she opened the door.

The second he saw her, he smiled. "I honestly thought you wouldn’t answer."

"What do you want?" Lena kept one hand on the door, ready to shut it at any second.

"Can we talk?"

"There’s nothing to talk about. I opened the door to tell you that showing up at someone’s place this late is seriously rude."

The smile slipped off his face. "You’re right. I’m sorry. But I still wanted to give you this."

He held out the bag.

"Please," he said softly. "Just look at it."

Lena took the bag from him. "Anything else?"

He shook his head. "Get some rest. Good night."

The second he turned to leave, she shut the door before he’d even taken more than a couple of steps. She tossed the bag onto the table and dropped back down in front of the TV. But honestly, she couldn’t stop thinking about whatever Reid had brought over.

A few minutes later, curiosity won. She opened the bag and found a stack of old papers inside, the edges faintly yellowed with age. She pulled out the first one and unfolded it, her fingers starting to shake before she could stop them.

They were love letters. All of them. Letters from when they were together. His messy, rushed handwriting was all over the page, packed with the kind of things people say when love still feels easy, when nothing seems complicated yet. Back then, they’d fold little notes and sneak them into each other’s bags like it was their own private game.

He had kept them all this time. After all these years.

At the very bottom was a brand-new envelope, her name written across it in a steadier, more mature hand.

She opened it and started reading. By the time she finished, her fingers were pressed hard against the tabletop, her mind dragged back into a flood of old memories.

Then the doorbell rang again. She thought Reid hadn’t left yet, and irritation spiked instantly.

She yanked the door open, only to find that the man outside wasn’t Reid at all.

"What are you doing here?" she blurted out.

Dominic Voss stood in the doorway, his eyes narrowing at once. "What? Were you waiting for someone?"

She caught the edge in his voice right away. Leaning against the doorframe, she gave him a small smile. "Definitely not you."

His gaze darkened.

"What do you want?" She hadn’t planned on letting him in. Come to think of it, Dominic had never once stepped inside this apartment before.

“No,” he said.

I tipped my head. “Then why are you here? Miss me or something?”

For a second, he looked like he was about to turn around and leave. But in the end, he stayed.

He seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment before saying, stiff as a board, “I just needed to use the bathroom.”

Lena stared at him. Wow. That excuse was painfully bad.

She stepped aside anyway. He walked past her, his gaze sweeping across the living room before stopping on the table. Old letters were scattered all over it, Reed’s new envelope lying open beside them. He paused, drew in a breath, then kept moving.

“Down the hall, left side,” she said.

He disappeared inside. Lena leaned against the wall outside and waited.

When he came back out, she was already standing in the hallway, arms folded across her chest. “You found my address, drove all the way here, just to use my bathroom? Come on, Dominic. Be real. Did what you said before start eating at you?”

“You talk too much.” He headed for the door.

She followed right after him. “Dominic, do you regret it?”

He glanced back at her.

“Ending our arrangement.” She kept her arms crossed. “Do you regret letting me go? Because, honestly, I’m a pretty great catch. You know that.”

His eyes drifted toward the letters on the table. Those letters. Yellowed sheets in faded colors, ink gone pale, envelopes torn open.

“Love letters?” His voice was flat. “Cheesy.”

Lena let out a small scoff. “Oh? Then how did you chase women before? I’d love to hear about your classy methods.”

He ignored that completely and asked, “Who was it?”

She frowned. “What?”

“The one who wrote those.” His gaze lifted from the letters to her face.

One of Lena’s brows arched. “We don’t have an arrangement anymore, Dominic. You don’t get to ask me that. Of course, if we were still together, then yeah—you’d have every right to be jealous.”

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