Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 88: Chapter 88

Lena’s POV

She gave up trying. When Dominic was in a mood, talking to him was basically useless. Nothing got through.

At the apartment door, he unlocked it and went in first. She stood right behind him. It was her place, but he moved around like he owned it, all casual and familiar.

He walked inside, tossed the keys onto the table with a dry clack, then turned as if he was about to leave again.

Lena was changing her shoes when her eyes caught a bunch of sunflowers on the counter. They were already starting to droop.

Flowers.

Yeah, flowers always made her think of Eliza now. That woman had seriously ruined the whole concept of gifts for her.

"You bought flowers," she said with a small laugh. "Honestly, living alone kind of suits you."

Dominic looked straight at her. "Do you want to get back with Reed?"

Her smile froze on her face. "What?"

"Last night. You were with him. You met his family."

It clicked almost instantly. So that was why he had been off all day, distracted, weirdly quiet. Her brows pulled together. Had he seen it himself, or had someone run their mouth to him?

"What do you mean, ’met his family’?"

"So you admit you weren’t at Anna’s last night. You were with him."

Now it all lined up. His mood. The silence. The cold shoulder. All of it.

"I didn’t go looking for him. He came to me," she said, doing her best to keep her voice steady. "He said he was leaving town, and I thought... the least I could do was buy dinner for the guy who saved my life. Maybe one last meal before he left."

"I wanted to tell you, but I knew you’d stop me, so I didn’t. But I did stay at Anna’s afterward."

"And what about meeting Reed’s family?"

Lena almost laughed, the whole thing was so ridiculous. "Who told you that was some family meet-up?"

Dominic’s gaze stayed fixed on her, sharp and unreadable.

She let out a breath. "His mother showed up out of nowhere while we were eating. She thought I was chasing Reed. It was not some warm family introduction. It was an ambush."

He frowned.

"If Reed and I had really gotten to that point—I know, yeah, not what you want to hear—we probably would’ve bonded years ago."

Lena dropped back onto the couch, grabbed a cushion, and hugged it to her chest as she looked up at him. "So who told you Reed and I had dinner together? And that I was going to meet his family?"

His throat bobbed.

Her eyes narrowed as the pieces clicked into place. "It was Eliza, wasn’t it?"

His gaze flickered. Lena almost wanted to laugh and lose it at the same time. "Seriously, how is that woman everywhere? I finally manage to sit down for one meal, and boom, she just appears out of nowhere. If it was her, then yeah, I totally get why she spun it like some family dinner."

She had to admit it—Eliza had really put in the work.

Dominic said nothing, and Lena arched a brow.

"Your ex has a serious character problem, Dominic. If she saw me having dinner with Reed and saw his mom show up too, then there is no way she missed the part where his mother slapped me." The smile on Lena’s lips turned bitter. "But she left that part out on purpose, right? Twisted the whole thing."

Dominic’s brow tightened. "She hit you?"

Lena stayed quiet, clutching the pillow.

He stepped closer. "Where did she hit you?"

Lena looked up at him. "What, are you planning to go hit her back for me?"

"Then why didn’t you tell me?"

"What was I supposed to say? It’s not exactly something to brag about." She shrugged.

His gaze slid across her right cheek. The mark had almost faded completely, but there was still just enough left for him to catch it. Something dark and dangerous moved deep in his eyes.

Lena tilted her head. "Dominic, do you even care? If someone hurts me?"

His Adam’s apple moved again.

"Probably not." She let out a hollow little laugh. "You probably think I had it coming."

Before he could answer, she tossed the pillow aside, pushed herself up, and walked toward the bedroom.

When Lena came out in her pajamas, Dominic was already out on the balcony, his back to her, phone pressed to his ear. Probably Eliza again.

The next morning, she walked into the living room. The sunflowers were gone.

In their place sat a small red velvet box on the table.

She stopped and stared at it.

Dominic came out of the guest room. He caught her looking. "It’s for you."

"What is it?"

"Open it and see."

He headed into the bathroom. Lena picked up the box. It was the kind made for jewelry, soft velvet brushing against her fingers.

She flipped it open and forgot to breathe for a second.

A ring.

Silver. A woman’s ring. One half of a matching pair.

She lifted it out of the box, her pulse instantly going crazy. It was real, solid, with a weight to it. Nothing like that cheap set she’d bought before just to clown on Eliza.

Dominic came out of the bathroom and glanced at her.

"Try it on," he said. "See if it fits."

"When did you buy this?" Her voice came out softer than she meant it to.

"Don’t remember." He went into the kitchen. Toast was popping in the toaster, eggs were sizzling in the pan, and the coffee machine was doing its thing.

She slid the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand. Perfect fit.

Lena looked up at Dominic. He was standing in the kitchen with his back to her.

Then she noticed his left hand wrapped around the spatula.

On his ring finger was the same ring.

Her smile slowly opened, warm and bright, like sunrise spilling across the sky.

"Dominic," Lena called.

He turned, and she lifted her hand. "Fits perfectly."

"I bought it for you," he said, setting breakfast down on the table. "It’d be weird if it didn’t fit."

By then, everything from last night had already been pushed out of her head. The argument, the coldness, the whole ugly mess—gone, like it had never happened.

She sat down, smiling so wide her cheeks actually hurt.

And the smile stayed.

It stayed while she got ready for work. It stayed in the car. Every few minutes, she’d lift her hand again and angle the ring so the sunlight could hit the silver band just right, watching it catch the light and flash.

This wasn’t some cheap fake ring she’d bought to one-up Eliza.

This was from him.

Before getting out of the car, she turned to him and said, "Dominic, let’s just leave all the crap from before today behind us, okay?"

"I’ve got something to do at noon. I’ll pick you up this afternoon." He didn’t take the opening she gave him.

"Okay." She didn’t push.

She opened the car door and stepped out, then suddenly paused.

Through the window, she looked at him for a second, then walked around to the driver’s side. He rolled the window down, his brows slightly knit, clearly confused.

She crooked a finger at him. "Come here."

He leaned closer, still not getting what she was doing.

Lena bent down and kissed the corner of his mouth.

Soft. Quick. Barely there.

His heartbeat kicked up so fast she could almost hear it.

"See you this afternoon." She stepped back and gave him a little wave.

Then she headed into the building with a spring in her step, glancing back twice and smiling at him both times.

Her mood was so ridiculously good it seemed to brighten everything around her, and the whole workday flew by.

That afternoon, she lifted her cup and took a picture. The ring on her finger sparkled under the light, bright and impossible to miss against the white cup.

She posted it on Instagram.

No caption.

The ring said enough on its own.

Anna spotted it almost instantly.

"[New ring?]"

Lena smiled and typed back:

"[He bought it.]"

Anna sent a shocked emoji. "Wow, you two are moving crazy fast. What, are you getting a puppy next?"

The second Lena saw the word "puppy," she burst out laughing.

"Easy there. We’re just doing things by the book."

She put her phone down, then picked it up again a second later. Dominic had liked the post.

Her heart started thudding hard against her chest. Under her own photo, she typed, "My Alpha has seriously good taste. I love it."

Every word was real.

And this time, it had absolutely nothing to do with Eliza.

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