Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 59: Chapter 59

Lena’s POV

She’d slept till the afternoon, then threw on something decent, grabbed her laptop, and headed out.

She found a café with a big oak tree out front, its shade falling neatly across the patio tables. The weather was perfect—warm, soft, not too bright—basically made for sitting outside with coffee and pretending life wasn’t a mess. She ordered a cup, opened her laptop, and texted Anna to ask if she was free.

Anna texted back right away: give her half an hour, and she’d be there.

When the coffee arrived, Lena snapped a photo. She was zooming in, adjusting the framing a little, when something in the picture made her pause.

Through the café window, at one of the tables inside, sat a figure she knew.

She zoomed in more. If she wasn’t seeing things, that was Dominic. She couldn’t make out who was sitting across from him.

The second she saw him, last night’s dream came rushing back so fast it made her chest tighten. In the dream, she’d been standing under moonlight, walking slowly toward Reid. He’d been smiling at her, soft and gentle, like some stupidly perfect fantasy. Their hands reached for each other, fingertips almost touching.

Then Dominic had stormed in out of nowhere, eyes blood-red, like some beast was clawing its way out from under his skin. “How dare you betray me? I’ll tear you apart!”

She’d jolted awake drenched in sweat, heart pounding like crazy, barely able to breathe.

She’d sat on the couch until sunrise, drank three glasses of water, and kept telling herself it was just a dream. Dreams were nonsense. No logic, no meaning.

Her with Reid again? Ridiculous. Dominic crashing into some bond ceremony like a feral lunatic? Even more ridiculous.

She took another photo of the café and sent it to Dominic. Through the window, she saw him glance at his phone, then lift his eyes toward the patio. Lena raised a hand and waved at him, extra obvious, just in case he wanted to pretend he hadn’t noticed.

He looked right past her like she was air, then turned and walked back to his table.

Lena sat down again, lips pressing into a thin line. Okay then. They’d once been allies. Last night he’d even used her bathroom. And today? Apparently she was invisible. Cool. Love that for her.

She took a sip of coffee and scrolled through her phone. Then a shadow fell across her table.

She looked up. Reid was already pulling out the chair across from her, sitting down like he’d been invited.

“Lena.” He smiled. “For a second I wasn’t sure it was you.”

“It is.” She didn’t smile back. “And I didn’t ask you to sit.”

He ignored that completely, leaned forward, and launched into a speech about how he understood what she was going through, but wanted a chance to explain. Lena tuned out after the first sentence.

I closed my laptop, grabbed my things, and got to my feet. "I’m leaving."

"Lena, wait—" Reed shot up in a panic and hurried after me from the table.

She walked straight ahead without slowing down once. Reed stayed at her side, still talking, still completely missing every signal she was sending.

Right then, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and turned slightly. Across the room, Dominic was staring right at her, eyes locked on her like he wasn’t even trying to hide it.

She answered the call. "What is it?"

"Come here." His tone was flat and absolute, leaving zero room for debate.

She lifted a brow. Then she noticed the woman sitting beside him.

The woman wore a fitted black dress that made her glowing skin stand out even more. Wow. So that was how it was. She and Dominic had only just made their deal, and he already had a stunning woman by his side.

"Come over for what? You look pretty occupied." She kept her voice light on purpose. "By the way, she’s gorgeous."

Dominic’s expression darkened at once. She flashed a grin.

Then a woman’s voice drifted through the phone, soft and curious. "Dominic, who is she?"

That sweet little "Dominic" told her everything she needed to know. This wasn’t some new girl. Nope. This was old history coming back around.

With his personality, there was no way he’d moved on that fast. This had to be his former partner, Eliza.

Now that Dominic was free of the curse, of course she’d come back. No one willingly gave up a perfect, powerful Alpha like him.

Lena knew exactly where she stood. If it had been anyone else by his side, maybe she would’ve kept teasing him for fun. But his ex was right there, and she had zero interest in being the person who made things messier.

She turned away and said, "Don’t call me again. I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea about us. I’ll delete your number later. Take care, Dominic."

She meant it. She honestly wanted him to be happy. New love or old love, it didn’t matter. As long as there was someone in his life who cared about him, that kind of warmth could make everything feel less cold.

She ended the call. Reed frowned immediately. He had seen Dominic too, and he had heard the whole conversation.

"Who was that?" he asked stubbornly. "Someone you know?"

She had almost forgotten he was still there. Lena fixed him with a stare. "How much longer are you going to keep this up?"

"Let’s give it one more shot, Lena." His voice came out rushed, almost breaking on the edges. "What happened before is over. It’s in the past."

"Yeah, exactly. It’s in the past, which is why I don’t feel anything for you anymore." Her patience was hanging by a thread. "I liked who you used to be, but I’ve grown up. My standards changed. You’re not my type anymore, okay?"

She was so done with all of it. The back-and-forth, the hope, the way some men acted like a breakup was just a minor inconvenience instead of the end.

Across the street, Anna’s car finally came into view. Lena stepped closer to the curb and waved.

The second the car rolled to a stop, she yanked the door open, slid inside fast, and slammed it shut with a bang. "Drive. Now."

Anna leaned a little to look past her and glanced at Reed on the sidewalk. His face was a mess of hurt and longing. "Rejected again?"

"I seriously don’t like him anymore." Lena dropped back into the seat like her bones had given up. "Why are men so obsessed with getting back with their exes?"

"Men?" Anna lifted a brow. "Who else are we talking about?"

Lena hadn’t wanted to get into it. But it was true. This weird fixation on exes was everywhere. Ethan was like that. Reed too. And obviously Dominic Voss hadn’t escaped it either.

"Whatever." She flicked a hand in the air. "I was gonna buy you coffee and take some cute photos. Mood’s dead now."

"Fine by me." Anna merged smoothly into traffic. "Then buy me a massage instead."

Lena nodded. "Sure. But you’re paying for dinner."

They did the spa first, took a half-hour to chill afterward, then headed out to eat. Anna picked one of her favorite places, low lighting, nice atmosphere, decent wine list.

But after that Christmas dinner at Voss Manor, every restaurant felt a little underwhelming. Lena kept that thought to herself.

"Lena!"

She turned, and sure enough, Samuel Clarke was standing near the entrance, smiling at her like this was the most natural thing in the world.

If Samuel was here, then Dominic had to be here too. And yeah, there he was, walking toward them from the other side with Daniel and a woman in a black dress.

Dominic’s gaze landed on Lena instantly, sharp and direct, and she looked away at once.

"What a coincidence." Samuel grinned, way too pleased with himself. "Here for dinner? Come sit with us."

Lena smiled and shook her head. "We already have a table reserved."

"We booked a private room. It’s pretty roomy."

"Seriously, we’re good."

Eliza’s gaze landed on Lena. "Samuel, do you know her?"

Samuel glanced at Dominic, then grinned. "Yeah. I do."

Eliza’s expression warmed at once, polite but friendly. "Any friend of Samuel’s is welcome. Dominic, you don’t mind, do you?"

"Why would he mind?" Samuel said, half-joking, clearly stirring the pot. "Come on, Lena. The more, the merrier."

Lena saw right through him in a second. He wasn’t being sincere. He just wanted front-row seats to the drama. Eliza clearly had no clue about Lena and Dominic’s history, and Samuel was absolutely living for the mess.

Yeah, no thanks.

"We really can’t." Lena smiled lightly. "My boyfriend will be here soon."

Samuel lifted a brow. Behind his glasses, his eyes gleamed with pure amusement. "Oh? You’ve got a boyfriend now?"

Dominic’s eyes locked onto her, sharp and unblinking.

"That’s right." Lena kept the smile on her lips, though it didn’t reach her eyes. "It took me forever to find a good partner. I’m not about to let anything ruin that."

Samuel laughed and stepped back. "Alright, alright. We won’t interrupt."

Lena grabbed Anna by the arm and walked straight past them without sparing Dominic a single glance. The second they got into their private room and Anna sat down, she immediately latched onto Lena with excited curiosity.

"Who exactly was that woman?"

"Honestly, I don’t know if she’s his new girlfriend or his ex-partner." That was the truth. Lena really wasn’t sure.

"Oh, come on. Please tell me she’s not the ex who dumped him and ran when his curse got worse." Anna narrowed her eyes. "And now that he’s better, she suddenly pops back up? Seriously?"

Lena flipped through the menu. "Maybe that’s what true love looks like."

"Please. Don’t even joke about that." Anna gave a dismissive snort. "If it was real love, would she abandon a man who was basically handed a death sentence? That woman is trouble. I could tell in one second."

"You don’t know her. Don’t say that."

"Trust my instincts." Anna pointed at her own eyes. "I have scary-good radar for this stuff. Good thing there were never real feelings between you and Dominic, or that woman would’ve wrecked whatever you had for sure."

"I already ended the agreement with Dominic," Lena reminded her.

"Exactly. Good riddance, honestly." Anna picked up the wine list and flipped it open. "We should just cut that whole crowd off. Well, except Daniel. He’s my partner, so yeah, not like I can uninstall him." She flashed a wide grin. "Anyway, you’re paying for dinner."

Lena stared at her. "Two seconds ago, you said you were treating me."

"I changed my mind."

Lena shook her head, smiling anyway.

After they placed their order, she excused herself and said she needed the restroom. She stood by the sink, drying her hands, when a stall door behind her suddenly clicked open.

Her eyes flicked up on instinct, and her hands paused.

Eliza stepped out and moved to the sink beside her.

"Hi." She didn’t dodge Lena’s gaze. Her smile was soft and warm, and everything about her felt polished and graceful.

Lena hadn’t expected that. She gave a small nod back.

Eliza washed her hands slowly, almost effortlessly elegant, her long fingers slim and delicate.

"I’ve been away for quite a while," she said, flicking the water from her fingertips before pulling out a paper towel and patting them dry, the smile still resting on her lips. "I didn’t expect Samuel and the others to have met such a pretty girl. So how do you know them?"

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