Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 71: Chapter 71

Lena’s POV

Lena stared at the text on her phone and silently cursed Dominic out.

Seriously, could he not just leave her alone for once? He was clearly sitting there with Eliza, yet he still had to come over and poke at her like this.

She had already pretended not to see him. Wasn’t that obvious enough? She didn’t reply.

"He’s coming over," Anna said, lips twitching like she was this close to laughing.

Lena frowned.

"Hey." Dominic greeted Anna first, not her.

Anna gave him a polite nod.

He stopped beside Lena’s chair and looked down at her. She kept her eyes fixed on the menu, not moving an inch.

"I’ll pick you up after work," he said to her.

Lena acted like she hadn’t heard a thing. He waited a moment, then lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hi. Can I help you with something?" she asked, sounding as distant as if he were a complete stranger.

He obviously knew she was in a bad mood, but he still repeated himself. "I’ll pick you up after work."

"No need." She tried hard to keep her voice steady. "I don’t want to trouble you."

"I’ll take care of the bill."

"No thanks. I can pay for my own lunch."

He bent down, his lips nearly brushing her ear, his voice dropping so low only she could hear it. "We’ll talk when we get home tonight."

His breath grazed her ear, warm and maddening, sending a shiver outward like a spark catching dry grass. A numb, tingling heat spread through her, and she instinctively leaned back. She wasn’t used to him being this close.

"Miss Vane is waiting for you," she said.

His face tightened at once. He saw the distance in her eyes. He saw the wall she had put up between them.

He left. The second he was gone, Lena grabbed her glass and drained it in one go.

Anna finally lost it and laughed. "I seriously do not get you two. From one angle, he seems kinda decent. From another, he’s just... a total mess."

Lena took a deep breath and touched her ear, like she could still feel the warmth of his breath there. "How is he not a mess?"

Anna tilted her head. "He walked straight over here and talked to you right in front of his ex. That takes some nerve, not gonna lie. But now he’s back over there having lunch with her like nothing happened, so what is that even supposed to mean?"

"I don’t know. Go ask him yourself."

Dominic and Eliza left first. When Lena and Anna went to pay, the server told them the bill had already been taken care of.

"Who asked him to pay?" Lena rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt.

Anna looped her arm through Lena’s as they headed for the elevator. "Let him pay. He probably feels guilty, so just take it and don’t overthink it."

"I don’t need his money."

"No, you don’t." Anna tugged her into the elevator. "So when you get home tonight, give him hell for real."

Lena let out a cold little scoff. "He’s not worth it."

Anna grinned. "I swear, I don’t think your agreement is ever getting called off."

"If it can’t be called off, then how is he supposed to explain it to his ex?" Lena said. "She says one word and he’ll throw everything away. That’s the power of an old flame."

"If he really wanted out of the agreement, he would’ve done it already." Anna’s voice stayed calm, steady, almost annoyingly rational. "He’s not the type to drag things out. Maybe he really doesn’t feel anything for her anymore."

Lena gave a small laugh, dry and bitter.

"If he actually cared about me, then after dropping Eliza off, he would’ve waited here for me." She lifted a brow, her voice flat. "But he didn’t. At the end of the day, he just doesn’t care about me like that."

Anna fell silent. There was nothing she could say to that.

Back at the office, the receptionist handed Lena a package. She carried it to her desk and opened it there, and only then did she remember what it was.

The couple rings she had ordered two days ago.

At the time, she’d been caught up in the moment, thinking she could post a photo on Instagram and one-up Eliza. But now, sitting alone at her desk, the whole idea felt ridiculous.

Dominic was out having lunch with Eliza, while she was here buying a pair of couple rings for a man who might not even spare her a real glance. Eliza was probably somewhere laughing so hard she could barely sit straight.

Lena shoved the ring box into her drawer and forced herself back to work.

Half an hour before clock-out, Dominic called.

She didn’t pick up. A second later, a text came through.

“I’m waiting downstairs.”

She hated herself for it, but those few words still made her heart kick hard against her ribs. She could picture him so clearly it was annoying—leaning against the car, white shirt, black trousers, that unfairly handsome face, speaking in that low, calm voice like he owned the air around him.

It was hard not to react. She knew it made her look ridiculously shallow.

The last thirty minutes dragged like torture. When the clock finally hit six, she grabbed her bag, pushed back her chair, rose to her feet—then froze.

After a beat, she pulled open the drawer, took out the two rings, and slipped them into her bag.

She didn’t go out right away. She deliberately waited a few more minutes before crossing the lobby and stepping through the front doors.

His car was parked across the street. She spotted it instantly.

She was still standing there, torn over whether to walk over, when Dominic got out.

White shirt. Black dress pants. The visual impact was honestly kind of insane. Every casual movement of his carried that effortless authority that made people on the street glance over without meaning to.

A few months of recovery had made him broader, stronger. He was no longer the man she had first met—the one trapped deep inside that curse, carrying that dark, frightening edge around like a second skin. Now his features looked sharper than ever, more striking, more dangerous in a way that hit even harder.

Those gray eyes lifted across the road and locked straight onto her. Then he started walking her way.

Lena had to admit it—watching him close the distance step by step made her pulse go absolutely wild. The nearer he came, the faster her heart beat, like it was trying to break out of her chest.

This man really did have that kind of pull. The kind that messed people up.

A grim thought flashed through her mind: with a face like that, of course women would throw themselves at him. Honestly, it almost made sense.

She needed to get a grip. Her judgment was getting steamrolled by what was right in front of her.

“Dinner at home,” he asked, “or are we going out?”

I shoved that stupid thought out of my head and asked, all sharp edges and sarcasm, "So, you’re really free tonight? No other plans? Nothing else lined up?"

He got what I meant right away. "I’m sure."

"Fine." Lena turned and started walking. "You know, Dominic, you don’t have to force yourself to make time for me."

He moved up beside her without saying a word. She had, stupidly, kind of hoped he’d say something softer, something that might smooth the whole thing over. But no. Nothing.

That just wasn’t him. It never would be. Most likely, he was only here because Eliza didn’t need him tonight. That was all. She was the backup plan, the one he slotted in when his schedule had a gap.

Her wrist jerked back hard, and she stopped so suddenly her whole body stiffened.

"Watch it." Dominic yanked her into his arms, his voice harsh and cutting. A car tore past where she had been standing a second earlier, horn blaring so loud it made her ears ring.

She had almost stepped straight into traffic. It wasn’t even the car that shook her. It was him—his voice, loud enough to hit like a slap.

His face had gone dark, jaw locked tight, eyes hard and mean.

That was it. The anger she’d been bottling up for days blew sky-high. "Don’t yell at me."

He froze, obviously not expecting that answer.

"Who told you to grab me?" she shot back, voice rising. "Even if I got hit, that would be none of your business."

His brows pulled together harder and harder, and something dangerous flickered in his eyes. "Say that again."

It was brutally hot. The sun still hung overhead, pressing down on everything, and the air felt heavy enough to choke on. Bad weather, bad mood, and now they were fighting on the sidewalk like this. Lena felt like she was one second away from losing it completely.

She looked him straight in the eye. "I said, even if I got hit, it would have nothing to do with you."

His expression turned glacial, his anger plain now, with that warning edge underneath it.

But she didn’t back down, because as far as she was concerned, she hadn’t done anything wrong. They stood there locked in place, staring each other down, neither one willing to give an inch.

"Thanks for picking me up." Her voice came out strangely calm. "But I don’t need it."

She wasn’t trying to be cruel. She just didn’t want to keep pretending everything was okay. Dominic’s behavior these past few days had pushed her way past her limit.

The lies. The disappearing acts. That cozy little lunch with Eliza. And then afterward, coming to her side and dropping soft, sweet words in her ear like none of it meant anything.

I really couldn’t take this kind of sudden hit anymore. But she knew one thing clearly—they still weren’t at the point of having a real fight.

There was no love between them. They weren’t even honest with each other. So what was the point of arguing?

Lena didn’t want to stand there another second. She turned to leave, but his hand shot out and clamped around her wrist. The harder she tried to pull away, the tighter he held on.

"Let go of me!" She twisted her arm, struggling hard. The skin under his fingers was already turning red.

Without saying anything else, he dragged her across the street to the car and pulled open the passenger door.

"Get in yourself," he said, his voice cold and final. "Or I’ll put you in myself." Pure Alpha energy. A straight-up command.

She lifted her face and looked right at him. "No."

"Lena." He narrowed his eyes, his tone dropping. "I’m out of patience."

"So am I." Their eyes locked again. It was rush hour. People were walking past nonstop, glancing over at them, and even the cars nearby seemed to slow down just to watch.

A tall, ridiculously handsome man, and a woman refusing to get into his car. The whole thing looked like some over-the-top drama playing out in public.

What really made her crack wasn’t even him. It was the people watching.

In the end, she still got into the car. He shut the door for her, then walked around to the driver’s side.

The whole ride was silent. She stared out the window. He kept his eyes on the road. The two of them looked exactly like a couple fresh out of a fight, acting like the other person didn’t exist.

Then his phone rang.

The second Lena heard the ringtone, Eliza’s name flashed through her mind.

She’d bet anything that if Eliza spoke right now, Dominic would dump her on the side of the road without a second thought and go straight to her.

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