Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 64: Chapter 64

Lena’s POV

She walked up to Dominic and gave his shoulder a light tap. "She looks kind of pitiful. You didn’t come here on purpose to see her, did you?"

"Of course not." He looked just as caught off guard as she felt.

"Dominic." Eliza came toward them, a faint smile sitting in her damp eyes. Tears shimmered there, making her look fragile, like she might crack if someone touched her too hard.

Dominic acted like nothing was weird. "You having dinner here?"

"You left so suddenly after lunch, I didn’t even get the chance to tell you. I’m hosting some friends tonight." Her voice was soft and careful, every word chosen on purpose, gentle as a breeze. "I really didn’t expect to run into you."

So he was with her this morning. Lena tucked that fact quietly into the back of her mind.

"Lena, hi." Eliza turned to her and smiled warmly.

Lena gave a small nod. "Hi."

"I honestly had no idea you were Dominic’s partner. If he’d told me, I would’ve invited you to the housewarming too." She sounded so sincere it was almost enough to make Lena buy it.

She had never been in a situation like this before. She couldn’t tell if Eliza meant it or if this was all one big performance.

"There’ll be another chance," Lena said softly. Then she bent a little and took Dominic’s hand, threading her fingers through his. She leaned into him, tipped her face up, and put on the gentlest expression she could manage. "Babe, I’m seriously starving."

His fingers brushed lightly against hers. This wasn’t the first time she’d said she was hungry, but tonight it landed totally differently.

"If you don’t mind," Eliza said, looking at Dominic, "why don’t you both come? Most of the guests are people you know anyway. It’s been a long time, and we’re all going to be living in the same place. Sooner or later, we’ll run into each other."

Lena toyed with Dominic’s fingers and said nothing, just waiting to see what he would do.

"Do you want to go?" Dominic asked her.

She bit her lip and made herself look reluctant. "Not really. But if you want to, then go ahead. I can eat by myself. It’s fine."

She had been with Dominic long enough for him to read straight through her. He knew part of it was an act. He knew she was testing him.

"I’m staying with her," Dominic said. He chose her.

Eliza’s hand tightened at her side, but she kept smiling. "This is my fault. They’re all people Dominic and I know, so Lena would probably feel out of place. Sorry, Lena."

Her tone was soft, almost polite, but it still hit Lena right where it hurt. Those people were all from Dominic and Eliza’s world. She was the only outsider here.

Now she got it.

Eliza was not harmless. Not even close.

"Don’t worry." Lena wasn’t buying any of it. She lifted her chin, puffed her lips a little, then looked at Dominic with that pitiful, sweet expression on purpose. Gently, she swayed his hand. "Babe, my stomach’s growling."

Dominic gave her hand a light squeeze, a silent warning.

Don’t push it too far.

"Let’s go," he said to Eliza, then led Lena inside.

Eliza followed a step behind them. Lena didn’t turn around, but she could still feel that gaze drilling into her back like needles. It was sharp enough to make her shoulders tense.

After they sat down, Lena placed her order, then sent Anna a text asking how her evening was going.

No reply came right away. She picked up her cup of black tea and studied Dominic over the rim of it. His face gave away nothing. She couldn’t read him at all. So she dragged out her voice on purpose.

"Babyyy~"

He frowned. "Cut the drama."

Lena let out a small huff. "Want to go see her? Say hi to her friends?"

"Don’t do that passive-aggressive thing."

"I’m not, seriously." She raised one hand like she was innocent. "She said they’re all your old friends. You should go say hi. Basic manners, right?"

He stared at her with a blank face, and that alone was enough to kill the idea.

"She’s really pretty," Lena said, still watching him. "So what exactly happened between you two?"

"Mind your business."

"It is my business? Well, kind of not. But if I know what your deal with her is, I’ll know how to act around her." Lena tilted her head, sounding almost reasonable. "What if I read the room wrong and accidentally offend her?"

Honestly, she thought that argument was pretty solid.

Dominic slid a hand into his coat pocket, took out a cigarette, and moved to light it.

"No smoking in here," Lena reminded him.

He paused, then put the cigarette away. His lips pressed into a thin, tight line.

Resting her chin in one hand, she tapped the table lightly with the other. "People always say men have this weird attachment to their exes. On and off, back and forth, but never really able to let go."

His gaze met hers, and something flickered in his eyes, quick and hard to read.

"So I’m talking about you and her, right?" Lena gave a small smile. "Then tell me this. Are you scared she’ll keep chasing you, or scared she won’t?"

"Are we eating or not?" His voice turned icy in an instant.

She lifted one shoulder. "Fine. You don’t want to answer, whatever. I gave you the chance. But if she still does something for you, I’m gonna be mad. And when I’m mad, I’m not exactly nice about it."

The food arrived. Lena picked up her fork, took a bite, then looked up.

Eliza was walking over from the booth toward their table, wearing a faint, apologetic smile.

"I’m so sorry to interrupt your dinner," she said to Lena first, then turned to Dominic. "Dominic, I accidentally mentioned you were here, and now they all want to come say hi. I told them you were busy, but they wouldn’t let it go. Could you come over for a second? Just a minute, then you can come right back to Lena."

She really did look conflicted, even embarrassed. Like she hadn’t expected this to happen at all and felt genuinely awful about it.

Lena kept eating and acted like she hadn’t heard a thing. She had already made herself clear to Dominic. If he wanted to go, she wasn’t going to stop him.

If Eliza was still on his mind, she wasn’t about to chain him to this table. Dominic picked up his fork, then set it back down.

There it was. He was going to leave.

Eliza caught that tiny movement, and her smile brightened at once.

"Eliza." Dominic’s voice came out cold enough to cut. "You’ve gone too far."

Lena’s fork froze halfway to her mouth. She looked up at him. His face had gone dark, so cold it felt like the air around them had dropped ten degrees.

"I..." Eliza’s smile stiffened. She clearly hadn’t seen that coming. Her lips parted, but no words came out.

"Your party is your business," Dominic said flatly. The words landed like stones. "You had no right to come over here and interrupt me and Lena."

All the color drained from Eliza’s face. The light in her eyes went dim, and tears began gathering under them, trembling on her lower lashes.

"I’m sorry for bothering you," she forced out, then turned and walked away.

Lena watched her retreating figure. Dominic had already picked his fork back up and gone on eating, like nothing had happened.

That tone. That kind of coldness. Even Lena couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for Eliza.

Was I wrong? Did Dominic really feel absolutely nothing for her now?

"That was kind of harsh," Lena said softly. Her chest was tight, nerves crawling under her skin. She was half-afraid he’d turn that cold temper on her next.

He shot her a glance. "Still not satisfied?"

She blinked. "What does that have to do with me?"

"You said if I didn’t make things clear with her, you’d be upset." His gray eyes locked onto hers, direct and unreadable. "So? You still think I wasn’t clear enough?"

"Oh, so you do like me?" she said with a sly little smile.

He frowned, looked away, and said nothing.

The food was great, but that whole exchange with Eliza left a weird taste in Lena’s mouth.

She couldn’t figure out Dominic’s attitude toward her at all. She wasn’t naive enough to buy that he rejected Eliza because of her. Ever since he’d shown up at her door and told her their agreement was still on, that strange, restless feeling inside her had been getting worse.

After they got back to the apartment, she lost all interest in talking. She went back to her room, and not long after that, Anna called.

"You will not believe it. That Alpha actually showed up at the restaurant!" Anna sounded annoyed and amused at the same time. "The guy took one look at Daniel and went totally pale. You know what Daniel did? He just sat there, didn’t say a word, and stared at him until the guy made up some excuse and bailed!"

"Yeah, that does sound like him," Lena said.

"When Daniel wants to intimidate someone, he’s seriously terrifying. Not gonna lie, it was kind of awesome." Anna laughed. "Okay, enough about me. How was your night?"

Lena didn’t mention Eliza. Her relationship with Dominic was nowhere near stable enough, and she didn’t want to talk about his ex. For all she knew, he might still have feelings for her. And anyway, the deal between her and Dominic could fall apart at any second.

They talked for another half hour before hanging up. Lena grabbed her clothes and headed for the bathroom.

The moment she pushed the door open, warm steam drifted over her face. Water droplets clung to the glass, and the rich scent of cedar hung in the air, deep and familiar. Dominic had already showered.

Her eyes landed on the men’s toiletries lined up neatly on the counter beside hers. How had she let this man move into her apartment, take over her guest room, use her bathroom, and leave his scent in every corner of her life?

After her shower, she dried off and stepped into the hallway.

Just then, Dominic’s bedroom door opened. He had his coat on, clearly on his way out.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked.

"Something came up."

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