Desire for you- ALPHA RYAN Book 1
Chapter 23

CATHERINE

Suddenly the air was thick and I saw my father, Ryan, looking at me askance.

'Is everything good between you and him?' My father asked me.

'Yes, it's never been better, why do you ask?'

'Can you explain why you haven't been marked yet?'

My cheeks turned pink, I was embarrassed to talk to my father about such things.

'We met under bad circumstances and we decided to take things slowly...'

'I beg your pardon? Take it slowly? I can't hear you properly. You doubt the Moon Goddess's decision? Are you aware that he could settle for other women on the side? If you were marked, you'd at least realize you were being played, but like this? That's everything else we've taught you, Cate.... I'm disappointed in you.' He said crisply and my heart sank.

All my life I had always tried to make my father proud and to hear those words... it hurt.

'Dad, you mustn't take this the wrong way... He would never betray me...'

'Oh yeah, are you very sure about that? He's known for being anything but faithful.

I had to swallow again at his words.

Everyone stared at the two of us and no one dared to say a word. It was good that no one had to know what he and I were talking about through mind communication.

'If I ever replace out that he hurt you, be sure that he will be the next one to be found dead.

And always remember, blood is thicker than water.' He preached.

Even Rose seemed visibly disappointed and was saddened by his harsh words. After all, he wasn't entirely wrong.

I didn't say anything more, it was pointless. I looked over at Ryan. He was right, he could have marked me that night, why hadn't he?

'Don't let his words affect you, Ryan would never betray you...' Rose said, angry with Alexander.

'It's hard...' I whispered to Rose and had to pull myself together to keep from crying.

I couldn't take this scene anymore and ran away.

"Cate wait!" Ryan called after me and followed me.

I shook my head and walked on defiantly. In my father's eyes, I was just a weak she-wolf who couldn't get anything done.

I felt a hand grab my wrist and pull me towards him. It was Ryan. He hugged me tightly.

A few tears rolled down my cheek and I tried to withstand it all.

In the distance, you could hear my mother and father arguing loudly.

"Cate... I don't know what you were talking about, the only thing I can tell you is that you are my everything... Cate I don't want to lose you because of some allegations that belong to my past.... Do you understand me?" He said. I said nothing and just nodded.

"I didn't think you were ready after everything that's been going on to tie you down.... I really don't want to pressure you into anything. But if it's what you want, then I'm definitely game. I want it, Catherine..." He grabbed my chin and forced me to look him in the eye.

"I have to hold Onyx back with all the strength I have to not mark you right here and now..." his eyes turned black and his wolf glared into my eyes.

"You have to believe me Cate..." he whispered softly.

I nodded again, not knowing what to say. I was torn. After everything that had happened, I was probably still pretty unstable in terms of my feelings.

'He was the one who was there for us the whole time, Catherine... You can't take Dad's words too seriously. He doesn't even know what we've been through. He probably only said the whole thing because he wants to make sure Ryan means it... He wants to protect you,' Rose said quietly and backed away again.

'Protect me. Sure, that was another dad classic, being home at 9pm sharp, yeah right.

Ryan picked me up in his arms and carried me into the pack house.

He went straight up to his room and closed the door behind him.

There was a plate of food on the table. He headed straight for it and sat me down on the chair.

I shook my head "The last thing I want to do is eat..." I mumbled to myself.

I had lost my appetite.

He shook his head "Nothing there, you will eat" he said with conviction and before I could say the next words, the fork was in my mouth. I paused and slowly chewed the contents in my mouth.

Riz Casimir, I would smell like curry, but it tasted so good that I had an appetite again.

I looked up at Ryan, who grinned at me. "Tastes good, doesn't it?" He asked, holding the next fork out to me.

I just nodded and picked up the fork myself.

Ryan was good at distracting you.

When I'd finished, I leaned back in my chair and looked out of the window into the garden.

Ryan was still sitting next to me and didn't say anything, which was fine by me.

My mom tried to connect with me, but I rebuffed her. She did it again. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

'Catherine, it will probably be best if we leave. We don't want to cause any trouble between you two. Get in touch, dear, anytime.'

Wow, no sooner were they here than my father was causing such chaos inside me and now they were going to leave as quickly as they came.

I felt like I had been dropped in a way and I was disappointed. Disappointed that my family couldn't support me better.

I didn't respond to my mother and looked sadly out of the window.

"Is everything okay?" Ryan asked me quietly.

I nodded slightly "You're going to go back to the Crescent, I think it's best for now." I ran my fingers through my hair and watched as the first snowflakes fell from the sky.

He didn't say anything. Kilian had probably already told him. I glanced at the bed, which had been made up in the middle of the room.

I got up, walked over to the bed and lay down in it. I pulled the covers up to my neck and sighed in frustration. I didn't want to be exposed to all this any longer. I finally wanted peace and quiet.

Ryan watched me from the table and remained silent. Almost too quiet...

What was wrong with him? I looked over at him and it was Onyx's eyes that were watching me.

I didn't dare say anything, but I could feel my pulse quickening in an unpleasant way. As if danger was lurking...

"Ryan?" I whispered softly and suddenly his eyes changed from black to brown.

"Yeah?" He said and came closer to me.

"Nothing, you were just so quiet..." I said and looked up at him.

He walked to the other side and lay down next to me. His arms wrapped around my upper body and I automatically moved closer to him, my back to him.

"Don't worry about me sweetie, the only thing I want is for you to be okay. I can understand if you tell me you need some rest." He grabbed my hand and ran his fingers over mine. His body radiated an insane heat that made me feel really warm.

A light went on in my head. I had completely forgotten to ask my mother what would happen to Daeva now? Would she just slumber inside me again now, not that such chaos would break out...

There were so many things going through my head that I could hardly think straight.

Constantly this question... What if?

RYAN

'You stupid dog, now you've scared her even more! I snapped at Onyx.

'Mark her and we'll have peace. Full moon, tick tock tick tock...' he grunted.

Grrrrrrr, that damn wolf was driving me mad, the more the time ticked towards evening, the more restless Onyx became. I had to put him on a lead to stop him taking control of me and marking Cate.

After that drama with her dad, I could understand her not wanting to get straight to the point. With all she's been through.... God knows what her father said to her that she had such an outburst right away.

He'd given me a dark look before I went after her. You'd have thought he was about to rip my head off. Not that I couldn't have defeated him, but getting into a fight with my companion's father? That wasn't really a good idea. If it had been anyone else, I would have torn him into ten thousand pieces.

I sighed softly and stroked Catherine's beautiful hair. I was cursed, every day someone had to spark between us. Didn't fate want us to just live a happy life?

'MARK!' Onyx growled again.

Damn, now I couldn't even think straight without someone interrupting me.

I sat up again and paced back and forth around the room.

'Mark, mark, mark...' Onyx barked in my head.

Catherine had sat up and looked at me. "Ryan, are you sure you're okay?" she asked me quietly.

I ran my fingers through my hair and just nodded. "Yeah, it's just Onyx, he's robbing me of the last nerve I have left..." I smiled slightly at her. "Listen, Tristan is calling for me, apparently it's an important pack matter..."

'Lie.' Onyx hissed at me.

I had to swallow at his words. He was right, but I couldn't help but lie to her.

She looked at me uncertainly, then finally nodded.

I went to the closet, grabbed a fresh shirt and pulled it over.

I walked over to Cate and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Call me if you need anything. I'll send Maya up to you, you can go shopping or something, what women do..." I looked into her eyes. This heat, damn it. It was driving me crazy. Her smell, her eyes, just HER.

'Asshole, I'm going to give you hell today.' Onyx growled, clearly giving me something to feel.

"No, no need, she doesn't need to come," Cate said. I just nodded. Damn it, I had to get out of the room.

I stormed out of the room and ran down the stairs. Tristan and Michael met me on the stairs, and I almost rammed into Michael.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Michael asked, looking at me in confusion.

"I've got to get out of here, I'm losing it." I mumbled to myself and kept walking.

Tristan just grinned "What's so hard about just marking them?" he called after me. I turned to him and glared at him.

Apparently they couldn't understand that Cate was in a bloody unstable state and ambushing her with a mark would be a disaster.

'What if that mark is your key to everything, you douche?' Commented Onyx.

'Not if we want it, she has to be ready for it and she didn't tell me she was earlier.' I hissed at him and walked into the garage.

'You know you can't keep me in check, don't you?'

'You're going to spend this night chained up, dog.' I hissed at him.

He just laughed at me. 'We'll see who's chained up.'

'I'm going to take what's rightfully mine tonight.'

I got on my Harley-Davidson, pulled my helmet over and rode out. Far away from here.