Desire for you - ALPHA ILAY

RYAN

As most people already know, I'm Ryan Hamilton, the Alpha of the Black Moon pack. My story was a little bumpy when you compare it to Ilay's story. He gave me hell and karma made sure he's in his own hell now.... In hindsight, I feel bloody sorry for him. I'd love to undo everything, but there was no solution for us.

Our lives were more or less back on track and Catherine was back to her senses. She had practically been forced into it because Henry, our son, was not coping well on his own and was very attached to his mum.

The two of them were inseparable in that respect. Henry was the only thing that kept Catherine going. I mean, there have been wolves who have been rejected and then taken their own lives. The pain was enormous. Because I was also connected to Catherine, I could feel it myself for a while.

I had also resumed my role as Alpha as normal. That fell by the wayside after the stunt with Arnor and Ilay. I was grateful to be able to get back down to earth. Even though I was a tough guy, it had taken a lot out of me.

While I was taking care of pack business, Michael stormed into my office. "RYAN?!" he half shouted at me.

I looked up at him in irritation "What's going on?" I asked him straight away and was already on my feet again.

"Look at that!" he said and had already stormed off towards my computer. Michael was my gamma and Tristan my beta.

He switched sides to the security cameras, which he kept watching, and rewound.

I saw a man and a woman... as the man turned to the camera and winked at me....

I forrowed my brow and moved closer to the screen "Rewind," I told him, and he did as I told him.

I clicked stop and took a closer look at the man... Shit, it was Ilay.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking? There's a room reserved in the Privé Suites in the name of Ilay Edevane..." Michael asked me, giving me a dirty look.

"What the hell is Cate doing there and how the hell can she stand next to him without feeling pain?" I asked him irritably and stormed out of the office.

I jumped on my Harley and sped straight into town without paying much attention to the traffic. Luckily, the hotel wasn't far away, so I caught Ilay before he entered his room.

I stormed into the lobby and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Catherine standing next to Ilay.

Okay. That was a twist. I never thought Ilay would have a brother who was even more provocative than he was. He had cheekily booked a room under Ilay's name and winked at me challengingly into the camera.

He really had a knack for drawing people out.

After everything he told me, I was speechless...

How was it possible for Ilay to go off the rails like that?

I still remembered the situation in which we had lost Catherine. The oppressive feeling of wanting to help her... Wanting to save her was there.

And I now had the same oppressive feeling about Ilay...

Going to Dimitri again was damn dangerous and I seriously considered calling the witch Helena rather than turning up at Ragnol's again.

But according to Nael, only Ragnol knew the laws of demons...

I thought about how we could have avoided everything, but there was nothing that could have prevented this act. We would have had to kill someone again, and last time Ragnol hadn't exactly been co-operative... He just told me that the solution was right under my nose. Helpful, right?

I propped my elbows on the table and put my head in my hands.

"Your brother... Ilay... Can he actually do anything other than cause trouble?" I asked Nael, tilting my head and looking at him.

Nael shrugged his shoulders "Well, since he's back in Daemon-Heaven, he's been up to no good," he said, grinning slightly.

"You should have seen him here..." I muttered to myself.

"Oh yes, Achira told me a few things... I know," Nael said and sighed softly.

"So what now? Are you going to help us or not?" he asked me.

Would I help him? "I'd love to help you, but do you know what you're asking me to do? We'd have to kill someone again..." I finally replied and sighed.

"All you have to do is help me find a suitable candidate, you don't have to do the killing part," he said, which got me thinking.

"Shit, why can't Ilay just pull himself together?" I asked him, glancing at Nael.

"Do you actually realise what this is about? It's much more about you being happy again... If there's a way out, we'll find it," Nael said and I slowly realised what he meant.

He wanted to make the relationship with Catherine possible again...

I thought about it and bit my lower lip... I had come so far with Catherine that I would have to throw everything overboard...

If Catherine got wind of this, she'd probably go looking for a heart herself...

"I have a demand here... I don't want Catherine to get wind of this and I don't want her to run into Delilah either," I said, looking at him seriously.

Nael nodded slightly "Agreed, we'll stay away from your pack, that will be the least of your problems" he confirmed to me.

"She can't see you either... She'll probably get suspicious if she sees you," I replied. The resemblance between them was already confusing me, let alone her...

Nael nodded, "Of course," he finally said.

"Good... I'll sort it out with my boys, the last time they found each other was in a strip club..." I said to him, to which he gave me an irritated look: "Seriously? In a strip club? In a strip club?" Nael asked me in amazement, which made me grin, "Oh yes... a strip club," I laughed and shook my head.

"Well, let's go to Delilah's then, she's waiting for us," he finally said and we got up.

The longer I thought about it, the easier the solution seemed. I remembered Ragnol's words. "The answer is at your feet."

What if, as Nael had said, his father was just against it? Then we didn't need a potion for Ilay, we just needed to "get rid" of his father.

I paused and looked at Nael: "I'm sorry to put it this way, but what if your father is just the problem? What if there is no spell? What if he's just the influence of all this?", I asked him and at that moment I questioned everything.

He stayed quiet and said nothing, as if he was thinking about that possibility.

"Even if it was, we'd have to figure out how to kill him," Nael said coolly, staring off into space for a moment.

Okay, that was pretty intense. It seemed the brotherly love here went far beyond love for the father.

"I'm all for justice, Ryan, and if my father really did this, then it's a terrible crime. He would have tampered with Ilay's fate without authorisation," he finally said.

I nodded in understanding and ran my hand through my black hair.

'Are you sure you want to give up your peace and quiet with Catherine just because someone came up with such a crazy idea? What if it's all true? Then you'd have pulled another arse card,' Onyx, my wolf, insisted. He wasn't entirely wrong.

There were three possibilities in this story:

One: Ilay's father was a liar and we have to kill him.

Second: Ilay's father was right and it had to be so.

Three: Ilay's father had partly lied and wouldn't tell us how to get round it all.

Those three options ended with the risk of Catherine, Delilah, or even me going crazy at the thought of having to kill someone.

It was a bloody vicious circle. We couldn't just go to Ilay's father and say, "Hey, you lied to us," we had to provide proof.

I remembered the imprisonment of Ragnol all too well. What if we stormed the Capitol and got him out of there?

We'd have a massive problem vampire-wise, but it wasn't something that couldn't be solved.

"We'll talk about it again tonight, I can only hope that your men succeed before mine do," I said to him, thinking about how to break the news to everyone. Especially as Kilian and Milena were also there to see Henry... I would just bring it up on the off chance and hope they would help me find him.

Nael finally nodded "Agreed, we'll stay here until then. I can only hope we can get this done today so we can move on tomorrow," he finally said, making me freeze.

"Today?" I asked him seriously.

Nael nodded again "Yes, today? Do you think Ilay is waiting for us? If he realises that I've disappeared with Delilah, all hell will break loose here," he said.

Somehow he was right and I wondered if it was my fault that Ilay had freaked out so much after I had put the pictures in his hand... I guess it backfired.

Achira and I had rather hoped that it would help him deal with his pain. That was probably not the case.

We ran to Delilah, who was waiting for us. "So, I'll see you around, you can have my mobile number if anything," I offered Nael, who took it.

Delilah just looked at us and it was true that she bore a strong resemblance to Catherine.

"I'll see you later," I said goodbye and was already on my way out again.

Okay, take it easy... It has to work out somehow... Somehow.

I just have to teach them gently... Damn