Fighting for Love

Chapter 24

Anthony’s POV

2 years! It’s been 2 years since we have been looking for our mate. And then that b***h made it so we couldn’t recognize our mate even if she was right in front of us. What’s the point of looking, of doing everything right when people keep putting things in front of you to stop you? I just want my mate. I want to spend a few months getting to know her, and then we can take over the pack from my parents. That’s it. I am not asking a lot. But right now I am so frustrated with everything, I feel like I am going to bust.

“I can’t do this anymore”

“What are you talking about?” Antoine asks

“We stopped dating and the amount of s*x we have now is way less than before because we need our mate. Now I can’t even scent my mate. I want to punch someone”

“Let’s go train. You can get rid of this frustration”, he suggests.

“I want a woman. I want our mate, but we can’t find her. And the women in the pack are using magic on us” I growl

“I understand. We will look harder for our mate. Besides the ball that mom suggested, we really haven’t gone out there looking for our mate. Maybe we need to put more energy into it instead of thinking she will just fall from the sky. And remember only Tina tried that magic s**t. The other women were not involved. I know Brenda wouldn’t mind sucking you off.”

“Nah man, I don’t know if I trust women anymore. And Brenda is clingy. I just don’t want to deal with this s**t. I agree we need to make more of an effort to find our mate, but tonight I just need to get out. I am having a hard time dealing with what Tina did. That b***h used magic on us? What if another one of them tries the same thing? Do you know how stupid I feel that she was able to trick me? I fell right into her trap. What kind of alpha am I if I allowed this to happen to me?”

“It happened to me too. No one was expecting her to use magic on us. This is an outlier. Our mate is out there, and we will have her soon”

“I don’t see the point. I am so ……, I gotta get out of here” I scream

“Anthony the magic will clear your system in a couple of weeks. Luckily, Desiree was able to save us from a life with Tina. Just be patient, our mate will be with us soon.”

“I’m out”. I grab my keys and leave

“I am not going to let you leave alone. You are not in your right mind” he yells, and follows behind me.

We jump in my car and drive for a while. We end up at a human strip club in Greenville. I don’t know why I feel this is right for me, but I need this right now. I park, and we pay our fee to get in. I have never been to a strip club, but I plan on having a good time.

Antoine’s POV

I don’t know what is going on with my brother. This whole Tina using magic thing is really getting to him, but I don’t know why we are at a strip club. We never go to strip clubs. I wish he would just talk to me or fight it out, but I really don’t want to be here. I am just supporting my brother, but I see no good coming from this. We are sitting in a booth in the back. It’s a Monday, so not busy. We have been here an hour, he’s had 5 glasses of whiskey and 2 lap dances. I don’t know what he is trying to achieve. It takes a large amount of liquor for shifters to get drunk because of our metabolism, and we have a mate, so why is he letting these women dance on him?

“Anthony, what are you trying to achieve here? You can’t get drunk, and I don’t think you want any of these women. So, can we leave now?”

“Antoine, I just need a release”

“You plan to find a release with one of these women? We have a mate out there.”

“But I don’t have a mate now. It’s not like we haven’t been with other women before.”

“Anthony, you are better than this.”

“Am I? Am I better than this? Better at what? Not being an alpha because a f*****g b***h put a spell on me. I was not smart enough to know what she was doing to me, so how can I be a good alpha?”

“You have to get over the Tina thing. It just happened. We were saved. The same way we save others, we were saved this time. Now we know not to take strange drinks from people”

“It’s more than that. You questioned her actions. I just went along with them. She fooled me, not you.”

“Okay, can we go home and have this conversation? This is not the place for us to talk about this.”

“No. I’m not ready to go yet”

“How much longer? I’m bored”

“I don’t know Antoine, not yet,” he says. I get up to make a call

“Hello?” Wesley says

“Wes. Everything at home going okay?”

“Yeah. Where are you guys?”

“Anthony is going through something. Right now, we are at a strip club”

“What? Why a strip club?”

“I don’t know. He was all upset, then said he needed a release. Grabbed his keys and left. I followed him to make sure he didn’t get hurt. He drove us to a strip club, and we have been here for the last hour ”

“There is nothing positive to find at a strip club. Get him home”

“I’ve tried, he won’t leave.”

“Do you need me to come help you?”

“No, he’s fine. We’ll be home soon. I’ll call you if I need you”

We hang up, and I go back to the club. I go to the booth and Anthony is not there. After about 10 minutes, I get up to look for him. He’s not at the stage, the bar or the restroom. I try and call him but no answer. I asked the bar tender, and she said he went out the back. I follow the direction she points in and go out the emergency door. I find my brother f*****g a stripper doggie style in the back alley. He was so focused on getting his release he didn’t even know I was there. Don’t think he would have stopped even if he did. I go back inside and close the bill. As soon as Anthony comes back inside, we leave.

“Now we f**k strippers Anthony?”

“It was a one-time thing, Antoine. Damn, it was just s*x. I’m not hurting anyone”

“Hello?” I say, answering my phone

“Antoine, what the hell are you guys doing?” David yells.

“What? We're on our way home”

“Hurry up and get here, we have an issue” he says.

Desiree’s POV

After eating lunch by the pool, I go to afternoon training. 3 hours of solo training helped work off the frustration. After, I took a long bath to relax my muscles. I then go to the library to start researching white wolves. I pulled out about 4 books to review. I find a nice loveseat in an alcove area to sit in. After about an hour of reading, I get an excruciating pain in my chest and abdomen. The pain causes me to scream. I scream so much there’s no sound coming out. I fall to the floor crying and creaming from pain. I have never felt pain like this before. Then it’s just darkness.

The next thing I remember is waking up in the pack hospital. I hear machines beeping and people talking. I sit up and realize I need to pee. I go to the bathroom and then hear Leticia yelling my name.

“Leti, I’m in the bathroom”

“Oh goddess. I thought something happened to you” she said as I walked out the bathroom, laughing

“What happened to me? How long was I out for?” I question

“I don’t know what happened. David heard you screaming in pain and by the time he reached you, you had passed out. You’ve only been out for 2 hours. Let me go get the doctor”

Doctor Hall along with the Alpha and Luna come into the room, followed by Leticia, Sharon, Wesley and David.

“Ms Maxwell, how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. A little sore and tired. What happened?”

“First, let me ask, have you found your mate”

“Why?”

“Ms Maxwell, when a wolf finds its mate and the mate has s*x with someone else willingly, it causes extreme pain. The pain can be so bad it can cause you to pass out. That is what I think happened to you” he says.

“Could it be something else?” I ask

“This is what Dr Hall thinks it is. Desiree, have you found your mate?”

“No, I have not found my mate. So, it must be something else. I’m fine now, can I leave” I say

“Yes, Desiree. You can leave when you are ready”, Dr Hall says.

The nurse comes in and removes the connectors to the machines, and I am discharged. Leticia and Sharon walk with me back to the packhouse. When we walk in, the twins are having a very loud conversation with David and Wesley. They stop talking when we walk in.

“Desiree, we heard you had to go to the pack hospital. Are you doing okay?” Antoine asks

“I’m fine” I say

I took a sniff and walk over to Anthony. I take a big sniff of him and turn up my nose. I look him up and down, then walk to my room. I close the door and cry. I hate the mate bond.

Sharon’s POV

“I know as alpha’s this is going to come off as rude. But what the f**k is wrong with you? You guys have waited for your mate for 2 f*****g years and now all of a sudden you wanna f**k some hood b***h human” I yell

“Who are you talking to like that?” Anthony yelled at me.

“You! I am talking to you. You hurt my cousin and put her in the hospital”

“How did I do that, Sharon?”

“Think about it. You are a smart man. Look at the whole situation and figure it out. I can’t believe this s**t”

“Come on Sharon, Desi needs us” Leticia says.

We kiss Wesley and David good night and go to Desiree’s room. As we leave the packhouse foyer, we hear

“I don’t know what the f**k is going on, but I’m tired and don’t have time for this s**t!” Anthony yells.

We get to Desiree’s room, and we can hear her crying. We open the door to sit with her.

“Maybe I wasn’t meant to find love. I have the love of my family and I think I will just stay with that. I can’t seem to find love the human way or the werewolf way. I am destined to be alone. This hurts so bad. The mate bond sucks” she cries.