Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 67: Chapter 67

Lena’s POV

"Do you have feelings for him?" Lily asked.

"No." Lena answered without even a second of hesitation.

Lily blinked, then gave a small, knowing smile.

Lena frowned right away. "What’s so funny?"

"Nothing." Lily shook her head lightly. "I just think it’s kind of wild that two people who supposedly feel nothing for each other have managed to keep a contract going for this long."

Lena lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "A relationship without feelings usually lasts longer. Nobody gets hurt over caring too much. Between us, it’s just an agreement. That’s all."

Lily studied her face carefully, like she was trying to read what sat behind her eyes. "You really don’t care about him at all?"

Lena did care about Dominic, but not in the way Lily meant. Not in that soft, romantic way a woman cared about a man.

What she cared about was the fact that he had once stopped his car by the edge of a cliff and saved her mother’s life. That debt had never left her. It sat quietly in her chest, heavy and permanent, impossible to erase.

Their mate contract was still in place because neither of them had chosen to end it. The moment one of them truly wanted out, it would be over.

The chicken soup was finally done. Lena ladled a bowl out for Lily.

"Wow, that smells amazing." Lily lifted the bowl under her nose and took a deep breath, looking almost comforted by the steam. "Funny, isn’t it? At a time like this, the person I trust most is actually you."

"Should I feel honored?" Lena said flatly.

Lily took a sip, then looked at her again, her eyes soft and warm. "I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m saying it one last time. Thank you."

Lena waved her off. "Enough already. We’re not even close to settled."

She had lunch at Lily’s place. It was her day off, and honestly, she had zero desire to go home.

If Dominic was there, he’d get on her nerves. If he wasn’t there, she’d be irritated in a completely different way. Either way, it was annoying, so she just stayed put.

Lily was still weak, her face pale with that washed-out tiredness of someone recovering. They talked for a while, but before long, Lily drifted off to sleep.

Lena lay back on the couch and scrolled through her phone in the quiet room. Then a notification popped up.

Someone had followed her on Instagram.

She tapped it open.

Eliza.

Lena straightened up at once, every nerve going on alert.

What was this supposed to mean? And more importantly, how had Eliza even found her account?

She backed out first, then killed another half hour watching random videos, only after that going back to accept the request.

Eliza’s profile picture was a photo of herself. Pretty. Soft features. The kind of face that made people instinctively want to shield her from the world. Her bio had nothing but her name. No gimmicks, no fake mystery, no hiding. It all looked painfully real.

Lena tapped into her posts.

The first one had been posted last night.

"The last time I drank this much was Christmas. If my heart didn’t feel this heavy, would the wine taste sweeter?"

The photo showed a hand wrapped in bandages, clearly treated by a healer.

Christmas. Lena scrolled down. Sure enough, there was a post from Christmas Day.

"I miss him. I want to see him. I want to be with him. If only he were beside me right now."

The picture was a glass of red wine shot from above, lonely but polished, like sadness dressed up to look classy.

She kept scrolling. Every emotional post, every sad little line, pointed to the same man. Dominic. Eliza never actually said his name, but come on, the meaning was obvious.

There was another one from a few months ago.

"I want to go back to him. No matter what it costs. I won’t let this chance slip away again. Even if it means standing against the whole world, this time I’ll be brave."

Lena could only see the posts from the last year. Everything older had been hidden.

It was pretty clear what this was. These posts were meant for Dominic. And if Dominic was supposed to catch the subtext, then yeah, Lena could read between the lines too.

Eliza had followed her, but she hadn’t sent a single message.

Lena would bet money Eliza wanted her to see all of it. A soft-launch warning, basically. A polite little way of saying that she and Dominic had history, deep history, and that she had no intention of disappearing.

Lena wasn’t going to message her first.

That just wasn’t her style.

So Lena logged into her own account and typed out a new post.

"I swear, my Alpha makes the best tomato pasta I’ve ever had in my life. Tragic part is, I forgot to take a picture, so I just grabbed one online as a stand-in."

She attached a random pasta photo and hit post.

At four in the afternoon, Dominic sent her a text.

"I’m making steak. Come home."

Lena stared at the message, and something in her chest went soft and tingly, like someone had poked her there with the tip of a warm finger.

She took a screenshot of the text and posted that too.

"Seeing as someone has clearly been trained this well, I’ve decided to forgive him. Heading home for steak."

A few minutes later, Anna texted her too. "What happened to your account? This is so not your usual vibe. Who are you? What have you done with Lena?"

Lena slipped quietly into Lily’s bathroom so she wouldn’t wake her up, then called Anna.

"His ex-partner followed me on Instagram," she said under her breath. "She wanted me to see her posts. Every single one was basically a love letter to Dominic. She wanted to shove their past right in my face."

"And you fired back with the pasta post?" Anna burst out laughing. "Oh my God."

"She started it. If she’d been decent to me, maybe I would’ve even helped her. But that passive-aggressive nonsense? Yeah, no. I’m not letting that slide."

"Good." Anna’s voice sharpened right away. "As long as the agreement still stands, you’re his partner. She’s the outsider. Don’t give her even an inch."

"Obviously." Then Lena hesitated. "But what if this pisses Dominic off? What if he feels bad for her and decides to actually end the agreement?" Anna went quiet.

"Whatever," Lena muttered, answering her own question a second later. "If he really likes me, then fine, he likes me. If not, I’ll find someone better."

"Or," Anna said, "you could make him fall for you. Remember when you first agreed to this? You were ready to do anything—have his pups, stay by his side, the whole package. Use that energy. Make him yours. Then nobody can compete with you."

"That was just talk."

"Then stop talking and make it real."

Lena didn’t tell Anna that she and Dominic had barely even properly kissed. Saying it out loud was way too embarrassing.

"Enough," Lena said. "I’m not letting you put wild ideas in my head."

If Anna kept going, Lena really might start believing Dominic liked her. And yeah, that would be bad news.

She ended the call, then glanced back at Lily. Still asleep.

Moving as quietly as she could, Lena slipped out of the room and eased the door shut behind her. After that, she called a cab and headed home.

In the back seat, she opened Eliza’s profile again. No new posts.

A small smile tugged at her lips as she put her phone down.

Overkill? Maybe.

But hey, it worked.

The second she pushed open the front door, the smell of steak hit her full force. Rich, savory, mouthwatering. She kicked off her shoes and walked inside.

Dominic was in the kitchen, phone pressed to his ear, talking to someone.

Hearing her come in, he turned and looked at her.

Lena leaned against one of the dining chairs and gave him a faint smile.

He ended the call and started plating the food.

"Dominic," she said, watching him move around the kitchen, "are you trying to win me over or something?"

He set a plate in front of her. "Are you mad?"

Lena narrowed her eyes. "Can’t you tell?"

"No."

Seriously, she wanted to throw something at him.

But the smell of the beef was way too good, and wasting food this perfect felt like an actual crime.

Truth was, she wasn’t really angry.

She was confused.

This morning he’d been all cold and distant, like a wall of ice. Now, out of nowhere, he was making her dinner and telling her to come home.

What was that supposed to mean?

She sat down and picked up her fork.

The steak was cooked just right, pink in the middle, topped with a buttery garlic sauce that smelled ridiculously good.

She took a bite.

It was amazing.

So good, in fact, that the irritation sitting in her chest started melting away on its own.

Then Dominic’s phone lit up on the table.

Lena’s eyes flicked to the screen.

Eliza.

Her chewing slowed.

That name was an appetite killer. Didn’t matter how good the food was—seeing it was enough to make her stomach turn.

Dominic didn’t answer.

He declined the call.

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