Desire for you- ALPHA RYAN Book 1
Chapter 50

CATHERINE

I looked at Achira uncertainly. She had dropped the bombshell and both men had disappeared without saying a word.

They were neither pleased nor angry... I just wondered why they reacted like that. Ilay also said that we should go shopping and talk afterwards.

That unsettled me. I didn't know what to expect, which is why I was now restless and unconsciously grinding my teeth.

Achira sat down next to me and started eating her pancakes. "Eat, they're still getting cold." She said with her mouth full.

I nodded slightly "I can't understand her reaction... They disappeared without a word. Can you explain that to me? Because I can't figure it out..." I sighed and took a piece of the pancake.

"That, my dear, is men. Men are a special species that are unexplored. They're so stupid that you don't even want to look at them. It's the same with Ilay and Ryan. They are stupid. Don't take it to heart, sweetie, but we won't ever be able to understand Ryan or Ilay." She said, munching and taking a sip of orange juice.

It was nice that Achira was convinced that my two companions were stupid, but that didn't help me.

"Do you think they'll ever become friends?" I asked her uncertainly and sighed again.

Achira shrugged her shoulders: "I don't know, but Ilay knows that you care a lot about Ryan. I think he'll give in more quickly, but Ryan? Ryan's a tough nut to crack and as far as I can tell, he's not going to give up."

"Ryan's never been very good at giving up..." I whispered, poking at my pancake.

"Hey! These were made with a lot of love!" Achira said and grinned at me.

I laughed and shook my head: "I'm sorry, but I'm pregnant, I have TWO companions and a messy past, I died and I even met the Angel of Death. Achira, I'm through... I can't take any more of this." I said desperately. I didn't dare tell her the story about Arnor and James, she'd probably end up thinking I was the monster...

Achira rolled her eyes "Imagine, I've been waiting for my companion for over five hundred years... Two companions are better than none, maybe you need to put a little faith in the boys this time. It will all work out. Believe me!" Achira said with complete conviction and ate the last piece of the pancake.

At least someone was optimistic in this situation. I nodded and ate it all too.

"Come on, let's get ready, we have to go shopping after all." Achira said with a smile.

I nodded slightly and got up too. I walked down the large corridor and heard Ilay and Ryan talking to each other. As I walked through, I spotted them both in Ilay's office. I immediately turned my head away and ran straight up to my bedroom and got ready for the trip with Achira. At least a bit of normality... I mean, what could have gone wrong? Achira and I in the city. We would buy the decorations and come back home.

I had put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a thick black winter sweater. I put a black scarf around my neck and put on boots. I also took a thick winter jacket from Wellensteyn out of the closet, which fitted perfectly. I looked at the label on the inside, the model was called "Schneezauber" and Ilay had even bought it in XS.

I sighed softly and looked at myself in the mirror, my dark circles were clearly visible. My long hair was now also reaching above my hips. It was about time I cut it off again, but that would have to wait for the time being.

I finally ran out of the room and went downstairs, where Achira was already waiting for me.

"Shall we?" She asked me. I nodded slightly "Yes, I'm ready." I said and ran after her. We went to the exit of the house and walked through the area.

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked her, observing the area.

"Damons-Heaven is the name of the place." Achira said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Damons-Heaven?" I frowned.

She nodded and smiled at me "There's everything you could wish for, you'll love this town!" She said excitedly and walked on next to me.

"How far is it?"

"Well, when we reach the top of the hill, we can look down from the top." Achira said and we walked on.

A few minutes later, we had actually reached the top and had a view over the entire city. This world was different. It looked like the normal world, except that the sky was dark red and everything seemed darker.

We walked down the path and I marveled at how quickly we actually arrived.

"Well, I'd suggest we go to the depot, there's a huge amount of decorations there!" Achira said happily and ran ahead of me.

"Isn't it weird for a demon to celebrate Christmas?" I asked her, confused.

She laughed softly and shook her head: "Dear, even demons enjoy great presents, good cookies and nice decorations. You're right, the point of what it's all about is clearly being missed, but the main thing is that we have fun!" She said, completely convinced of herself, and ran into the store.

The store was completely overflowing with Christmas decorations and artificial trees.

Achira was already running towards the pink things, which wasn't really my thing.

I looked around me and thought the dark red baubles were beautiful. They came in all sizes, with glitter, matt and polished.

"Oh, they look great too!" Achira half-screeched in my ear and beamed "I think we'll decorate everything in red this year, what do you think?" She asked me. I nodded slightly. "Yes, that would fit." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

Achira grabbed several packs and made two flames appear to take everything from her. "Oh wow, that's service..." I said and looked at her in amazement.

She nodded "All demons can do that" she finally said.

I shrugged my shoulders "I can't really say the same for myself, I rather feel like she's fighting me." I was probably the most desperate demon in this universe, my own demon didn't like me and I knew nothing about the abilities of a demon.

Achira smiled gently at me and grabbed my shoulder, "Don't worry, all in good time. Ilay will teach you how to control them, but right now you have more important things to worry about."

I nodded and pointed to some red pompous bows "Those would still look smart at the entrance?" I asked her. Achira nodded eagerly and walked towards them.

"Bought!" She shrieked and took all the bows.

Shopping with Achira could be exhausting. Especially as she had a point. Ilay's "palace" was huge and there was a lot of work waiting for us. It was also good to deal with other problems and worries in between.

Once we had everything, we walked out and stopped at Damonsbucks for a coffee.

"A latte macchiato for me." Achira said to the barman.

He nodded to her and looked at me. "Cappuccino Doppio with lots of chocolate." I finally said and half-smiled at the barman.

"Coming right up," he said and wrote our names on our cups.

I sighed softly and caught sight of caramel waffles. "These too." I said, taking the packet and tearing it open. I offered Achira a cookie too, but she declined with thanks. I shrugged my shoulders and bit into it with relish.

That reminded me of Adam, our cook in the Crescent pack. He was convinced that soul food was better than that low-carb diet. I never understood the meaning behind it, but soul food was everything to me at that moment.

I poured a small packet of sugar into my coffee and sat down with Achira.

Any Italian would probably roll their eyes at the way I was 'mistreating' my cappuccino, but somehow I felt like it.

I took a sip and looked at Achira. "Have we really got everything now?" I asked her.

She nodded slightly and sipped her coffee. "I think so, the only thing we're missing is the typical Christmas clothes to chill out in all day. I think I'll knit our own sweaters this year." She said with a smile.

"That would be four sweaters, do you think you can do it that quickly?" I asked her in amazement. She nodded slightly "I can do it with my left hand!" She said with a smile. After we'd finished our coffee, we ran back out to make our way back, followed by Achira's flames, who had their hands full.

"Oh look how cute!" She said and walked closer to the window of a baby goods store.

I walked closer to her and caught sight of the tiny clothes.

"They're cute! I'll buy them for my niece!" Achira said and stormed into the store.

"W-wait! We don't even know what it's going to be..." I said quietly and my mood was just about to change.

She rolled her eyes "White, in the worst case a boy could wear it. I'll buy the clothes!" She said, holding a set of ribbed white baby clothes and knitted baby boots in her hands. She went straight to the cashier and had the clothes handed to her.

I waited for her at the entrance and sighed softly. My eyes wandered over all these baby things and I got a tingling sensation.

Achira ran up to me beaming: "We have to come back here, I think I'll set up a little room for the baby now!" Achira was incredibly happy for me, even though it was Ryan's child, she referred to it as her "niece". It was a nice feeling to know that at least someone was actually happy about it, because I still had a bad feeling about Ryan and Ilay and I didn't know what to expect.

The thought of the dream made my knees weak again and I had to pull myself together to keep my wits about me. They both wanted to talk to me... Both in the same room... Could I stand it?

I trotted along beside Achira, completely lost in my thoughts.

"Earth to Cathhhherinnneee," Achira said to me, waving her hand in front of my eyes.

I glanced at her, "Yes?" I asked her.

"I asked you what you would like to eat for dinner?" She repeated.

I bit my lower lip, because there was actually something I wanted to eat...

Alfredo's lasagna.

I still remembered the night we went to the Italian restaurant with Ryan. The lasagna was delicious.

"Hmm, how about a lasagna?" I suggested to Achira.

She nodded: "That sounds great, we'll definitely do that." She said and ran into the house with me.

Speak of the devil... Ilay and Ryan stood in front of the entrance and looked at us both curiously.