Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 85: Chapter 85

Lena’s POV

She’d won.

With a smug little smile, Lena looped her arms around Dominic’s neck and let him carry her straight into the restaurant like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The waitress led them to their table. Dominic carefully set her down, and Lena eased herself into the chair, lifting her injured ankle with extra care.

Dominic handed her the menu.

She shook her head. "You pick."

He lowered his eyes to the menu and studied it for a moment before placing the order.

"I’m going to the restroom."

Resting her chin in her hand, Lena gave a small nod.

After he walked off, her gaze landed on the phone he’d left on the table. A man who could leave his phone out in plain sight probably didn’t have much to hide. She had to give him that.

Still, she wasn’t the kind of girlfriend who snooped through someone’s phone. Whatever exactly they were, she had her own line and she wasn’t crossing it.

So she scrolled through her own phone and waited for him to come back.

Then his screen lit up. The vibration buzzed hard against the tabletop.

Eliza Vane.

That woman was basically a nightmare with a pulse, the kind that just wouldn’t go away.

Lena let it ring.

It stopped, then almost instantly started up again.

Her brows pulled together. That level of urgency usually meant one of two things: an actual emergency, or full-on obsession.

She picked up the call.

"Dominic—"

"This is Lena."

Silence crashed down from the other end.

Lena tapped her finger lightly against the table and arched a brow. "So? What do you want?"

"How dare you answer his phone?" Eliza’s voice came out sharp enough to cut, full of blame.

Lena let out a soft laugh. "Answering my partner’s phone is ’daring’ now? It’s not like I picked up some stranger’s cell. And as for being bold? Dominic and I are doing just fine. No bravery required."

She heard Eliza suck in a breath on the other end.

"Eliza." Lena’s tone stayed light, almost friendly, which somehow made it hit harder. "I’ve already told you before—don’t call someone else’s partner whenever you feel like it. It’s not a good look."

"What happens between Dominic and me is none of your business. You don’t get to interfere!"

"If this is about pack business or something actually important, sure, that’s different. But if you’re calling just to chat, hear his voice, maybe soak up that little feeling of closeness again?" Lena paused, her fingers idly brushing the edge of the phone. "Yeah, then I do mind. And if I start telling people you’re the she-wolf trying to break up a couple, then swing by your flower shop and make a scene, your grand opening might turn into a grand shutdown real quick."

Eliza didn’t say one more word. She just hung up.

Lena put Dominic’s phone back where it had been. The next second, he returned. His eyes landed right on her hand as she set the phone down.

"She kept calling," Lena said casually, like it was no big deal. "I thought maybe something urgent was going on, so I answered."

He glanced at the screen. Eliza’s first missed call was still marked in red. The second showed as answered.

Then the food arrived, breaking the tension for a beat. Lena picked up her fork.

"Can I ask what exactly is going on between you and Eliza?" she said while taking a bite, her tone easy, almost lazy.

"Friends."

"Friends with your ex-partner?" She gave a small laugh, but her eyes stayed on him. "Wow. That’s... pretty progressive of you."

"It’s not what you think between me and her."

Lena tilted her head, looking at him with open curiosity. "Then what is it?"

He met her gaze for a second. "You still have work this afternoon. Eat."

"Dominic, you don’t get to have it both ways." Her voice stayed calm, but there was a quiet pressure under it. "You stay in contact with your ex, and I can’t even ask about it. But my ex literally saved my life, and somehow I can’t even take him out for one dinner to say thank you?"

She chewed slowly, studying every shift in his expression.

"Doesn’t that feel a little unfair to you? And honestly, when I’m done with an ex, I’m done. Clean break. Full vanish mode. Not like you and Eliza—you two seem weirdly comfortable sitting in this messy gray area. Seriously, what is it with men? Why can you never just let go?"

Dominic looked at her in silence.

Across from him, Lena wore the kind of expression a student might wear in class—earnest, curious, almost innocent—like she truly wanted an answer, like she was just trying to understand.

"I already told you," he said evenly. "What’s between Eliza and me isn’t what you think. And if you don’t keep your distance from Reed, the one who gets hurt will only be you."

Lena gave a slow, thoughtful nod. "By that logic, your reasons for going after Eliza weren’t exactly simple either."

"I’m just speaking from a man’s point of view. About how men think."

"And yet every time I bring up Eliza, you dodge it." She smiled, but there was a little edge in it. "Kinda interesting, huh?"

He clearly had zero intention of answering. Every single time the conversation drifted toward Eliza, he shut it down on sight, like he’d hit some invisible emergency brake.

Lena didn’t press him again. Not today. She really wasn’t in the mood to make things worse.

After dinner, she pushed herself up from the chair and stood right away, pretending not to see the hand he reached out to her.

Dominic knew her too well by now. He’d already figured out her whole pattern. Half the time, her little flare-ups weren’t really anger at all—more like she was fishing for his attention. And annoyingly enough, he was always good at coaxing her back.

He caught her wrist, firm but careful. "Don’t force it."

"Fine," she said at once. "Then carry me on your back."

She was almost sure he wouldn’t do it. At least not this time. She’d thrown it out there more as a test than a real demand.

But before the last word had fully landed, her feet were already off the ground.

Dominic bent and lifted her onto his back, carrying her out as naturally as if he had already accepted that this—taking care of her, putting up with her, all of it—was just part of his life now.

Resting against him, Lena studied the side of his face as they walked. He really was ridiculously handsome. The dangerous kind of handsome too—the kind of face that made people forgive things they absolutely should not forgive.

"Dominic, do you know why I always forgive you?" she asked softly. "Every fight, every argument, every time you make me mad—I get over it way too fast."

He tilted his head slightly and glanced back at her.

"Because you’re too good-looking," she said with complete seriousness. "Pretty people get away with everything. It’s so unfair. And I’m good-looking too, okay? So why do you treat me differently?"

For a second, he looked like her logic was giving him an actual headache.

"Honestly, maybe you’ve already fallen for me and just haven’t realized it yet." The thoughts had been bouncing around in her head for too long, and she finally let them out. "You kissed me today, and you did it willingly. That means something, Dominic. Feelings don’t just pop out of nowhere."

Her smile grew brighter, eyes shining with a mix of teasing and stubborn certainty. "And if you deny it, then you’re basically admitting you just go around kissing people for no reason. If that’s the case, then you’re the shameless one—not me."

He stopped by the car and set her down, those gray eyes fixed on her face. "You already said everything you wanted to say. What else do you want from me?"

"Say you love me." She lifted her chin, a little stubborn, a little provocative.

He pulled open the car door. "I’ll take you back to the office."

She reached out and lightly pressed her fingertips to his chest, right over his heart. "Dominic, have you already fallen for me?"

His brows drew together at once.

Lena broke into a smug little grin and got into the car.

That afternoon, Reed sent her a text.

He had originally planned to stay a while longer, but after seeing her with Dominic today, he changed his mind.

He was going back to Mooncrest Pack, and before he left, he wanted to have dinner with her.

Dominic had warned her not to meet Reed alone, but Reed had saved her life. Whatever was still tangled up between them, she owed him a proper thank-you.

She picked a restaurant and sent him the address.

Then, because she wasn’t dumb, she called Dominic and told him Anna was back and had invited her to dinner.

After work, she took a cab straight to the restaurant.

Reed was already there.

She greeted him warmly, then sat down and flipped through the menu. "Order whatever you want. My treat."

"Does he know you came here with me?" Reed asked.

"I have my own social life. I don’t need to report every little thing to him." She kept her tone as casual as possible. "If you’re not ordering, I will."

She placed the order, then looked up. Reed was staring at her with an intensity so sharp it made her chest feel tight.

"Thank you." She straightened in her seat and spoke with complete sincerity. "Thank you for staying with me that night. I mean it."

"I don’t need your gratitude." His voice was rough and low. "You know what I want, Lena."

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