Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 92: Chapter 92

Lena’s POV

This restaurant belonged to Eliza.

Lena glanced at Dominic. Dominic looked over at Daniel. Daniel just gave a confused shake of his head. Neither of them had a clue.

Eliza served the dishes herself, graceful down to the smallest movement. Every man at the table watched her with open admiration.

She was that kind of she-wolf—pretty, polished, the type people naturally wanted to get close to.

Then she turned to Dominic. "Dominic, your body is still recovering. You really shouldn’t be drinking."

In an instant, everyone’s eyes shifted to him. What she meant couldn’t have been more obvious. She knew about his curse. She cared about his condition.

They were close.

Way too close.

"Please don’t get the wrong idea, everyone," Eliza said with a soft smile. "Dominic and I go way back. He had surgery not long ago, and he still can’t drink. So tonight, go easy on him."

She paused, then added lightly, "And if anyone insists on making a toast, I’d be happy to drink for him."

Just like that, she appointed herself his spokesperson—right in front of his allies, right in front of Lena.

The whole table froze for a second. Lena caught the shift immediately. Some people were already looking at her with thinly veiled contempt, their polite smiles hiding the usual little calculations.

"Well, this is interesting." Lily’s boss let out a low chuckle, swirling the wine in his glass as he shot Lily a sideways glance. "Your sister’s in trouble."

Lily clearly hadn’t expected Eliza to pull something like this. She looked at Lena with worry in her eyes. It was a straight-up slap in the face, gift-wrapped with a smile and a bottle of wine.

And yet—

Lena started clapping.

She rose from her seat, turned toward Eliza, and broke into a bright, dazzling smile like Eliza had just won some huge award.

"Eliza, you are seriously amazing. Really. So generous. So thoughtful." Lena walked toward her, warmth overflowing from her voice. "Right, babe?"

She looked back at Dominic and casually rested a hand on his shoulder. "I’ve told you a hundred times, a woman like Eliza deserves someone special. We really should introduce her to a good man."

Dominic said nothing, but he didn’t stop her either.

Lena turned back to the table, the smile still fixed on her face. "Everyone, since we’re all here, and now that you’ve all met Eliza, don’t be shy. If any of you have a single friend, we’d be more than happy to play matchmaker, right?"

Lily pressed her lips together, trying so hard not to laugh.

Her boss let out a laugh.

That was all it took. Eliza’s calm cracked on the spot, and that polished, confident-hostess mask of hers started falling apart right in front of everyone.

Lena walked over and slipped an arm around her shoulders like they’d been besties for ten years. "Sweetheart, I keep telling you, stop worrying about us and start thinking about yourself."

Her fingers tightened on Eliza’s shoulder, warm enough to look sisterly, firm enough to make it hard to breathe. "Don’t let your past chain you down. Plenty of people find real love the second time around. Some even get lucky on the third. You just had one trash relationship. That’s hardly the end of the world."

She gave her a light pat. "Come on. Be brave. Go after what you deserve."

Eliza was shaking now, barely holding her temper together. She couldn’t say what she really wanted to say, couldn’t drop the act, couldn’t snap back without basically confirming what everyone was already starting to think.

Lily looked like she was one second away from standing up and applauding.

Eliza pulled out of Lena’s arm, her smile stretched thin and stiff. "Thank you for your concern. I should get back to work now. Enjoy your evening."

"I’ll keep an eye out for a good man for you, sweetheart!" Lena called after her, waving at her retreating back.

Eliza hurried out. Lena turned around, glowing like she’d just done something charitable, and returned to the table. "She’s shy," she said to everyone.

Lily’s boss laughed again. "For a second there, I was honestly worried. I thought you and Eliza didn’t get along, but turns out you’re actually good friends."

Lena caught him flicking a glance at Lily, his hand casually giving her ass a familiar squeeze. Something clicked in Lena’s head then and there, but she shoved it aside for the moment.

"Of course we’re close." She slid back into her seat beside Dominic. "Why else would we come to her restaurant? You can’t just throw money at random strangers."

The tension eased after that. The others followed the lead, trading polite compliments, and a few of them even asked whether Eliza was available.

Lena shot Dominic a quick look. He didn’t seem angry. But with him, not looking angry didn’t always mean what she wanted it to mean.

Halfway through dinner, Lena excused herself to go to the restroom, and Lily followed her in.

"You are unreal." Lily grinned. "I seriously thought she had you cornered back there."

Lena adjusted her hair in the mirror. "I just gave back what she was serving."

"If I didn’t know the actual story, I’d swear you two were best friends. All that ‘sweetheart’ stuff, the shoulder rubbing..." Lily shook her head. "Where do you even learn that?"

"I almost threw up while touching her shoulder." Lena rinsed her hands, then turned to face her. "Your boss—that’s the guy who set himself up on a date behind your back, right?"

Lily’s face went stiff. So yeah—I’d guessed right.

Lena pulled a paper towel free and slowly dried her hands. "That day at the therapist’s office, I heard his voice on the phone."

Lily kept staring at the floor, like there was something down there worth looking at.

"What’s his name? And what exactly is going on between you two?" Lena asked.

Lily’s fingers twisted together so hard her knuckles nearly went white. "Nathan Cross... the alpha of the Gaoyue Pack."

"He was planning to find a mate, Lily. He was looking at other she-wolves, and you’re still with him." Lena’s tone turned firm, sharper now. "Do you even get what that means?"

"He never bonded with her!" Lily suddenly snapped her head up, eyes red and defensive. "I’m not the other woman!"

"But he’s not going to bond with you either." Lena met her gaze without backing off. "So what, you’re just going to keep trailing after him while he treats you like a backup plan and fools around wherever he wants?"

Lily lowered her eyes again.

"I love him," she said in a small, shaking voice. "I loved him first. We were together first. So why am I the one who ends up being called ’the other woman’?"

"If he loved you too, he wouldn’t be messing around with other women. He wouldn’t be preparing to hold a bonding ceremony with someone else either." Lena kept her voice level, but every word landed hard. "And he definitely wouldn’t leave you to deal with losing the puppy all by yourself."

Tears instantly filled Lily’s eyes.

"Your puppy." Lena’s voice softened, but only a little. "He never wanted it in the first place. And you still think this is love?"

After what happened at the therapist’s office, Lily had sworn she would cut Nathan Cross off for good. Start over. No turning back.

But she hadn’t done it.

"If he really finds a mate," Lily said through a sob, "I’ll leave. I swear! I won’t be the other woman!"

Lena was genuinely angry now, the kind that burned hot in her chest. "I seriously want to slap some sense into you right now. Wake up already. What are you even doing? He’s not the last man on earth."

Lily pressed her lips together and said nothing.

"He’s trash, Lily."

Silence dropped between them.

"Do you know what you’re going to turn into?" Lena said as she walked toward the door. Then she stopped, turned back, and looked Lily straight in the eye. "Eliza. That’s what you’ll become. Everyone pities her, but nobody respects her."

Lily visibly shrank back.

"Or even worse." Lena’s voice went flat, cold enough to sting. "Think about your mother."

A tear slid down Lily’s cheek. Lena let out a quiet sigh, gave her one last look, then pushed the door open and walked out.

When she got back to the table, she sat down and fixed her eyes on Nathan Cross. Her stare was icy, sharp, almost cutting. Dominic noticed right away, and he also noticed exactly who she was staring at.

He caught her hand under the table and leaned closer, lowering his voice. "Do you have some kind of issue with him?"

"No."

He frowned, clearly not buying it. "Then why do you keep looking at him like that?"

Lena forced herself to look away, took a sip of water, and said coolly, "I was just getting a closer look at what trash actually looks like."

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