CHAPTER FIVE

ARNOLD'S POV

"Do you know with whom you speak?"

I demanded harshly.

She wrinkled her nose.

"You would be more sensible if you were an important person."

She replied. She was quick with words and I felt myself drenched in humiliation.

"You don't follow a stripper out of her workplace. My job ends in the club!"

She snapped. I stepped back. 

"I take it you do not recall who I am?"

"There are so many of you and you do not expect me to remember you. I will not even if I could!"

The words were enough to tell me that she saw me as one of the many men who visited the club to watch her, but I was determined to have a better reception from her. She was not even looking at me, I started to reach for her hand as a cab pulled to a stop before us. She stepped away, kicked me hard in the thigh, and jumped into the cab.

" Stay away From me, bastard. Don't ever come close or you will be beaten!"

She yelled from the cab as it took off. I stood nursing my thigh, finding it difficult to believe that I had just been humiliated the way she had done.

***

" Luke, I have to speak with someone at the club."

I told my beta the following day. I did not miss the look of surprise on his face.

"I thought you did not even like being there? What are you going there to do?"

He asked. There was no time to give lengthy explanations so I told him as briefly as I could,

"My mate, the girl I met at a club years ago and later rejected is a worker at the club and I have to find a way to reach her."

I said.

"She works there?"

He asked. I did not have to reply to that. I walked out of the hall he had been sitting alone, waiting for me to join him over a bottle of drink to discuss what we had both found out from our previous investigations.

"I reckon I have a job to tackle alone!"

He called after me as I reached the door. I nodded because I trusted him and I knew that while I was trying to get the woman whose body had never really left my mind, he would be working at getting down enemies of the Moonstruck pack.

It was revenge that I wanted to take on her first for treating me like crap, but there was no way I could do that if I could not reach her in the first place. And I needed to reach her. I needed to have peace.

I needed to sort out whatever unfinished business I had with her.

When I reached the club, no one seemed to know the woman I described. I did not even know her name. But when I finally met a blonde who was a stripper too, she got some bucks from me and offered a bit of information.

"She does not say much about herself."

She whispered as she glided over me erotically.

It was one hell of a time having to sit under that atmosphere and have a blonde I did not even like rub all over me over a bit of information.

But the moment I decided to chase after her and be certain that I was dealing with the same mate from four years back, my pride had begun to suffer.

"Tell what you know about her. Don't keep anything back."

I ordered the blonde.

"Well, she is Anna. You don't seem to know her name. But she uses a stage name here to protect her identity. She has a best friend named Ella."

"How can I reach her?"

"She will be at the dance studio down the Maryland Avenue tomorrow so you can go there and meet her."

She supplied.

I gave some more money to her.

"Get off me."

I ordered grimly as she started to glide down my thighs again.

She turned to look at me with eyes huge with surprise.

"You want me to leave you? You don't want to have some more fun?"

She asked.

"No. That's enough. Thank you for the information."

ANNA'S POV

"Hey Ella, mind opening the door for me? I don't want to knock and risk waking the kids," I said.

Ella mumbled a sleepy "yes" over the phone and hung up. It seemed like she was half asleep. I let out a sigh, wondering when I would ever come back home at a normal hour like other parents.

I vividly remember Cooper  asking why I always came home when they were already asleep, while his friend Martin's parents came home earlier. I couldn't give him a satisfying answer then, and I still couldn't now.

The door creaked open, bringing me back from my daydream. I forced a smile as I saw my best friend.

"Ella," I greeted her.

"Bestie, you look like shit. Was today really that bad?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Ahh! Don't even remind me. I hate this job," I sulked, feeling the weight of the day on my shoulders.

I kicked off my shoes and headed straight to the kitchen to put away the groceries I had picked up on my way home. Ella went to the freezer to get juice.

"Hey, could you pour me a glass of juice too, please? I could really use a refreshing drink right now," I requested.

"Sure thing," Ella replied, pouring the juice into a glass.

"So, spill the beans. What happened? You look like you encountered your arch-nemesis today," she said, chuckling.

"You betcha!" I exclaimed, relieved to have someone to share my frustrations with. "There was this loser who followed me after work. I don't know what it was, but something about him gave me a really bad feeling."

Ella giggled and said, "You always have bad feelings about those perverts who follow you after work."

I nodded, acknowledging the truth in her words. "Well, it's true, but hear me out. I usually feel disgusted by them but this guy felt different. I didn't see his face since it was dark, but he reminded me of someone."

Curiosity piqued, Ella asked, "Who?"

I hesitated for a moment, realizing how crazy it sounded. "You know what? Forget it. It's not important," I said, brushing off the thought.

I put the last onion on the pantry and turned to unpack another item.

I met Ella staring right at me.

“What?” I asked, trying to look in innocence.

“Who does he remind you of, Anna,” Ella pressed, her eyes fixed on me.

I stared at her for a while, feeling uneasy. It was like she could read my mind at that moment.

"Who?" she prodded further.

I nodded my head slowly, confirming her suspicion. "Arnold."

Ella's eyes widened, and she let out a gasp. "You mean Arnold, as in your mate, your baby daddy?"

I nodded again, my heart sinking. "Yeah, exactly."

Ella's face turned serious. "This is not good, Anna.