Desire for you- ALPHA RYAN Book 1
Chapter 43

CATHERINE

What was that again?

"If you're already on the ropes, you can swing for the first time."

These weren't just ropes, these were steel chains I was hanging in and I was too entangled to get out of them.

I went weak at the sight of Ilay, just as I did at the sight of Ryan. Was this normal? I hadn't been conscious for twenty-four hours and already there was another man in bed with me and I was on the verge of kissing him with desire. My whole abdomen was tingling with desire and I didn't know what had gotten into me.

Was it a full moon? Because if it was, then I had pulled the ass card. I was marked and she wasn't. Neither him nor Ryan. It was going to come down to me going at her like a madwoman, even though I loathed Ilay to some extent. Right now, in this moment, I damned the woman who gave birth to him with his hot looks. My whole body was tingling. Fuck Catherine?! Come back to your senses.

Ilay sensed all this and grinned broadly and cheekily. "D-Don't even think about it..." I gasped out, feeling somehow warm to have him near me. "We don't have a full moon... just by the way, that's the companion bond eating away at you so much..." he said softly, glancing at me.

Where was Ryan when he was needed? Oh god... Ryan... and Ilay. My whole uterus did somersaults at the thought, which I pushed out of my mind as quickly as possible before Ilay got wind of it...

He raised his eyebrows in amusement, still looking me in the eye with his emeralds.

"Apparently you're the one thinking about it..." he smiled seductively at me and ran a hand gently through my hair. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"You know... we can do that some other time, or at least we can talk about it, but I would prefer to claim you for myself for the first time..." He breathed on my lips and kissed me...

Catherine, you bitch in heat, stop it! My head screamed, but my heart forced me to give in to his lips.

No... no... no! How am I supposed to explain this to Ryan? Damn it!

Ilay broke away from me, amused, and smiled at me. "No need to regret that kiss, Catherine. Gentleman that I am, however, I'll spare you the rest. I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of your current situation..." he ran a hand over my cheek and looked me in the eye.

I had to swallow hard and just nodded hastily. This situation was making me damn uncomfortable. Luckily, there was a knock on the door and Achira came in with a tray and food. The thought of Ryan biting her shoulder when he found out I was dead made my blood run cold and I couldn't help but stare at her. I felt sorry that this had happened to her.

What was wrong with me? My emotions were on a rollercoaster. Achira put everything down without a word and looked over at me "I've made you some vegetable soup, I hope you feel better soon." She said and smiled slightly at me.

I just nodded "Thank you..." I said.

"By the way, I'm Achira. The cousin of that dumbass who can't even introduce me." She finally said and pinched Ilay's arm.

"That hurt!" Ilay yelped, holding her shoulder. "It's supposed to." Achira replied and grinned at him.

Oh, I know very well who you are... I thought to myself and just barely refrained from saying it. Ilay gave me a worried look, but I managed to avoid his eyes. Why could he read my mind? Was it because Rose had somehow vanished into thin air? Where was she anyway...

"Your she-wolf is taking a little longer to get on her feet.... Especially since she was also trying to avoid your death." Said Ilay. "It's not her thoughts, it's you..." he bit his lower lip seductively and ran a hand through his hair. He rolled up his sleeves and gave me a look at his tattoos. Why were both my companions adorned with tattoos? Especially as I've never been keen on them, but in hindsight I'm not so averse to them.

"I'd like to eat the soup before it gets cold..." I said quietly and looked down at my stomach, which was grumbling. Ilay nodded and made room for me to sit on the edge of the bed. "I have to get going, see you later, you two." Achira chirped and disappeared out of the door.

I picked up my spoon and began to eat my soup. It tasted delicious and I felt like I hadn't eaten for weeks.

After I had eaten the last spoonful, I looked at Ilay, who must have been watching me eat non-stop. "What, you've never seen anyone eat before?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head "No, it's all good. I'm just wondering what else Azrael told you, because funnily enough, I don't have access to it in your mind." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I told you that he told me everything, what else do you want to know?" I asked, irritated.

He shook his head "Nothing, it's all good. Forget it." He said and finally smiled at me.

No sooner said than done, because I felt sick again and just managed to grab the clean bucket that Achira had also put down.

RYAN

It wasn't Chiara who was the problem, it was Catherine. Yes, I was an Alpha, but I didn't have a clue about the woman's biology.

I felt as if, in addition to Catherine's pulse, I could hear a second, almost too-silent beating, which must have been a hundred and twenty beats a minute.

The first time, we had used contraception... But this in the shower? That number went all wrong. Damn, the chance that she could be pregnant was very high and her nausea could be explained by that... Still, I needed a woman's advice and I knew no one better than Cynthia. Cynthia was my lifesaver when it came to medical matters.

I ran inside the pack house, "CYNTHIA?!" I yelled after her, searching every room.

Her head peeked out of the office and she gave me an irritated look. Her hair was pinned up in two buns to the side and a strand of hair was falling out. She was wearing her typical nurse's uniform and looked at me in confusion.

"Has something happened?" She asked me, irritated.

I didn't know whether to nod or shake my head.

"I need your medical advice." I said and walked into her office. I sat down in the chair and waited for her to come over.

"Well, fire away then, tell mom." She said with a grin and looked at me.

"If Mom knew, she'd be turning in her grave..." I said, rubbing my temples.

"Well, I think there's something I'm not sure actually exists. It's a hunch." I bit my lower lip.

"How can you tell when a woman is pregnant, Cynthia?" I asked her directly.

She frowned, "Are we talking about Catherine here?" She asked me. I nodded slightly "I heard a finer, faster beat next to her pulse.... Ilay couldn't seem to detect it, but Onyx practically stormed out of me, wanting to confirm everything. I couldn't let him out in that situation though, I don't want to know what would happen if Ilay found out. That guy is going to go crazy." I said and rubbed my temples again.

"Why are you so scared of this guy?" Cynthia asked me.

"It's not fear, we're both bound to Catherine.... I'm also unnaturally bound to him and he to me... Do you understand where this is going if we were at each other's throats?"

She nodded understandably "Catherine, would suffer... I understand, but it becomes inevitable to tell him the truth, because if you really heard the beating.... Congratulations! You're going to be Big Daddy!" Cynthia said, screeching.

I sat frozen, unable to move for the first time.

"How sweet... Ryan is going to be a daddy, the bad wolf is going to end up playing with his princess and her Barbies.... HOW CUTE IS THAT?" Cynthia squealed and hugged me with joy.

"We don't even know what it's going to be..." I croaked sheepishly. Cynthia's joy was damn contagious. I grinned and returned her hug.

"It's the magic of the underwear I bought for Catherine." She said with a grin and winked at me. I had to roll my eyes "Hell yeah, she was sexy as hell." I said with a laugh. Suddenly we heard a throat clearing from behind. We both turned and looked at Michael, who was standing at the door, completely irritated "Sorry to disturb you, boss... I think my business can wait... Apparently you're tougher when it comes to women..." he said sheepishly, scratching his head and smiling at the same time.

I wonder what he'd noticed. We fools had also forgotten to close the door.

"You're both going to keep your feet still, do you understand me?" I looked at them both, frowning. They both nodded.

"Oh so cool, now I can finally organize a proper baby shower!" Cynthia shrieked and ran off in leaps of joy.

Michael punched me in the arm and grinned "So everything worked out with the heart?" He asked me. I nodded slightly "Yes, she's awake again...".

"You really were a big help, you idiot. You just left Ilay there?" I asked him with a laugh.

He let out a snort and nodded "Sorry, boss, but I found my companion that night of all nights and the exit afterwards... it was hot." He ran an embarrassed hand over his hair "But there's a catch, Ryan. She used to belong to the Ice pack of Arnor and she's rude now..." he finally said.

I looked at him, stunned, and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Where was she when we stormed Arnor's territory?" The next problem was inevitable. I had expected everything but this. I could only hope that Catherine and she didn't know each other, otherwise we'd have a real problem...

"She was probably on vacation, when she came back, everything was gone..." he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh damn... Listen, I've really got other things on my mind right now "We'll have to talk about it some other time, but we'll work it out somehow." I promised him and ran out the door. The anticipation of having a baby puppy was huge, although I would never have expected to become a father so early or so quickly.

Now the question was whether I should tell Catherine and Ilay directly or continue to play innocent, because if I told them, the terror with Ilay would start again and demons could be really annoying.

I decided that I would keep it to myself until some doctor of Ilay's would clear the air. Plain and simple.

Now that I had my answer, I could go back to Catherine.

'Ilay, you can conjure me back here.' I told him over our mind communication.

'Seriously? That quickly? Now it was getting really cozy...'

'What are you talking about? I asked him, frowning.

'Well... Our companion is really into me, imagine I'm already lying next to her and she's sleeping in my arms...'

Don't make me laugh. The guy was obviously just trying to provoke me...

'Hahaha how funny. We both know that she doesn't even like you, Ilay.'

'Oh yeah, she doesn't like me? It was different when we kissed...' My face darkened and I was about to lose it. The thought of him kissing her made me white hot.

'You're lying...' I said.

'Ryan, you know I never need to lie. I can bring you here, but whether you'll like the sight... Well, that's another question.

'So much for your talk of "Truce, for Catherine's sake". But hey, I've got some wonderful news too...' I was bursting with jealousy and couldn't believe that Catherine had seriously kissed him... So much for 'I'll keep it to myself', because it didn't take long.

'Tell me...' said Ilay, completely clueless.

Now I had to grin and couldn't wait to see his face.

'I'm going to be a father, because MY mate is pregnant. I burst out laughing with glee. I probably looked like a madman too, especially as I was standing in Cynthia's office room and someone could have walked in at any time.

There was now a spark of silence between me and Ilay. I didn't get any more answers. Well Ilay, if you think you can provoke, ME, Ryan, the Alpha of the Black Moon pack, the asshole of the universe.... Yeah, then you're wrong. For once, the moon goddess was on my side and reached out her hand in the sky for a high five.

'Well, have you lost your tongue?...' grin.