Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 82: Chapter 82

Lena’s POV

The next morning, Lena limped into work, one step shallow, one step stiff. The second she reached her desk, her coworkers noticed and came over right away, all of them wearing the same worried look.

Usually, they were at each other’s throats over projects, arguing back and forth like it was a daily sport. But once work was out of the equation, they were genuinely decent people. No fake concern, no performance.

At lunch, she glanced at her phone and saw Dominic’s chat icon. Instantly, the food in front of her lost all appeal.

That coward. He bailed at the very last second. Honestly, he’d better just go home already.

Then a new message popped up. She tapped it open.

It was from Eliza.

["Lena, are you free? I’m downstairs. Can we talk?"]

She frowned. Eliza hadn’t managed to lure Dominic away last night, so now she was coming straight to her instead.

That pretty much confirmed Lena’s guess. After Dominic left, he hadn’t gone to see Eliza. Interesting. Very interesting.

She didn’t reply. Eliza wanted to see her? Fine. She could wait.

One by one, her coworkers came back from lunch. One of them stopped by her desk. "Lena, someone’s here to see you downstairs."

"A guy or a girl?"

"A girl."

"Then I’m not in a rush," Lena said with a grin. "If it were some hot guy, I’d already be in the elevator."

Her coworker laughed. "Same, honestly."

The whole row burst out laughing.

That afternoon, Eliza sent two more messages. Lena ignored both of them.

When it was time to get off work, one of her coworkers helped her to the entrance. Eliza was still there.

She stood with perfect posture, calm and elegant, patient as ever, like a marble statue that had decided not to move.

Lena had to give her credit. That level of persistence was kind of impressive.

"She’s still waiting for you?" her coworker asked, eyes practically popping out.

"If a guy waited around for me like that, I would’ve said yes ages ago," Lena called out on purpose, loud enough for Eliza to hear every word.

She said goodbye to her coworker, then limped forward a few steps on her bad ankle before stopping.

Eliza clearly had no other play left. She had to walk over to her.

"So," Eliza said bluntly, her voice cold and flat, not even trying to fake warmth, "Dominic didn’t come last night because you hurt your ankle?"

Lena ignored that completely. "What do you want?"

"Nothing special." Eliza forced a smile, stiff and awkward. "Just wanted to talk."

"About what exactly?"

"Dominic."

She kept saying his name in that casual, overly familiar tone, again and again, like she was trying to make a point without saying it straight—that her history with him ran way deeper, way messier, than Lena’s ever could.

Lena tipped her head back and looked up at the sky, then let out a small laugh. "He’s my mate. Talking about my mate with another she-wolf feels kind of weird, don’t you think?"

"We were together for years. You’ve only known him for a few months. You probably don’t understand him the way I do."

"A few months doesn’t stop me from getting to know him. I’ve got plenty of time." Lena’s tone stayed light, but her eyes didn’t. "And honestly? I’d rather get to know my own mate myself than hear about him from some outsider."

Eliza looked her over from head to toe, then barely managed to squeeze out a smile. "You and Dominic aren’t together because of love. I heard you were the one who pushed for this."

Lena kept her face blank. She already knew where this was going.

"So?"

"You and Dominic won’t last."

"If you’re so sure about that, then why are you scared?"

Eliza’s smile froze on her face. "I’m not scared."

"If you weren’t scared, you wouldn’t be standing here in front of me right now." Lena tilted her head, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Eliza, if you want him by your side, then keep waiting. Or better yet, go tell Dominic yourself and ask him to end the agreement. Talking to me is useless."

Her smile widened even more. "You said it yourself just now. I insisted on being with him. Back when everyone thought he was basically dying, I still chose him. Now that he’s alive, do you seriously think I’d let go? Come on. Not happening."

Eliza’s face went white in an instant. Lena had never been some soft-hearted saint. She didn’t go around starting fights for fun, but if someone came looking for trouble, she wouldn’t hesitate to end it.

She turned to leave, then stopped mid-step. Looking back at Eliza, she spoke again.

"One more thing. Stop calling my partner in the middle of the night. It’s rude." Her eyes locked onto hers, sharp and steady. "You came back to chase a man you dumped when he was half-dead and being torn apart by a curse. Do you seriously have no shame?"

Eliza’s hands clenched hard at her sides. Her eyes turned red, and her breathing grew fast and uneven.

Lena didn’t care. She wasn’t a man. Those tears did nothing for her.

If Eliza hadn’t shown up at her workplace, Lena wouldn’t even have bothered having this face-to-face clash. They could’ve just kept sniping at each other on Instagram like normal. That was the unspoken rule between rivals, plain and simple.

But Eliza had ripped the curtain open herself, so now she had to deal with whatever was behind it.

Just then, a familiar car pulled up. The second Dominic got out, Eliza’s tears showed up right on cue.

Two perfect tear tracks rolled down her cheeks. Lena almost laughed. Honestly, impressive. The timing was elite.

Dominic walked over, glanced at Eliza, and frowned. "What are you doing here?"

She sniffed, her voice trembling. "I was passing by Lena’s office, so I thought I’d invite her out for coffee."

Lena was almost amazed by the audacity. Eliza was lying straight to his face while Lena stood right there. She didn’t bother correcting her. What was the point?

"Did she bully you?" Dominic asked.

Of course. That was his first thought. Protect the crying woman, assume Lena was the aggressor. Classic.

Eliza shook her head.

"Then why are you crying?" He frowned harder, irritation creeping into his voice. "Anyone who doesn’t know what’s going on would think she attacked you. You’re older than her. Standing here crying in front of her like this—aren’t you embarrassed?"

Eliza froze. Tears hung on her lashes, and disbelief spread across her face.

Lena hadn’t expected Dominic to say something that harsh. Colder than she would’ve been. More cutting. She had thought, at least deep down, that he would still care about Eliza.

Maybe it was because she was standing right here.

Maybe he was putting on a show for her.

Maybe he wasn’t.

Dominic stopped looking at Eliza and dropped his gaze to Lena’s ankle. "Still hurts?"

"Hurts," Lena said. She tugged up her pant leg, showing the angry red swelling, then put on the most pitiful voice she could manage. "Look. It’s still this red."

He stared at her with a blank face. Her over-the-top tone was obviously getting on his nerves. "Can you walk?"

"No." She was absolutely playing it up. Eliza was standing right there, so why wouldn’t she?

Dominic saw straight through her little act. By now, he knew her way too well. He bent down and scooped her up into his arms.

Lena had been secretly hoping he would do exactly that, but she hadn’t been sure. And now he actually did it, right in front of Eliza. Her heart gave a hard, sharp thump.

She wrapped both arms around his neck, smiling so wide her cheeks actually hurt.

Leaning in, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Baby, you’re the best."

He shot her a fierce glare. She didn’t care. Today was a good day.

She could forgive last night’s dodging. She could even let everything slide for now, because Dominic had just picked her up in front of Eliza, and Eliza had stood there and watched it happen. That look on her face made every second Lena had endured this past week feel totally worth it.

Carrying her, he walked over to the car and settled her into the passenger seat.

The door shut. Eliza was still behind them, watching. She had seen him lift Lena into his arms with her own eyes. She had seen Lena kiss his cheek. She had seen him accept it without pulling away at all.

Dominic walked around the front of the car. Before getting in, he gave Eliza one last glance. She stood there quietly, tears glinting under the lights, her lashes trembling just a little.

Then he got into the car and started the engine.

"She looks really pretty when she cries," Lena said, staring straight ahead. "Pretty enough to break my heart."

"Then maybe you should go comfort her," Dominic said as he pulled the car into traffic.

"Comfort a woman trying to steal my partner? Yeah, no way."

He pressed down on the gas. Lena turned to look at him. "Do you believe her? That she just happened to pass by and wanted to grab coffee with me?"

"Doesn’t matter."

"She came at noon. I just didn’t see her, so she waited all afternoon. If some guy chased me like that, I would’ve folded ages ago."

Dominic looked genuinely caught off guard. So yeah, he clearly had no idea Eliza had been planted there since noon.

Lena shifted a little in her seat and turned to face him. "Dominic, you said you don’t love me. Then why did you almost lose control last night?"

The light turned red, and he slammed on the brakes.

The car jolted forward so hard it nearly kissed the bumper of the car in front.

The seatbelt bit harshly across her chest. Her body lurched ahead, then snapped right back into the seat.

She pressed a hand to her chest, took a quick breath, then laughed softly. "See that? You really think that’s a normal reaction?"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!