Desire for you - ALPHA ILAY

CATHERINE

Ryan had accompanied us to the playground, which was pretty rare for him. I held Henry's hand and breathed in the fresh air.

"I have something to tell you," Ryan began, making me pause for a moment.

"You have something to tell me?" I asked him, confused, as I looked him in the eye.

Those words always triggered a certain panic in me. Rightly so, the last time I had heard them, Ilay and I had broken up. I swallowed at the memory of it, because I didn't really like the thought of it. It made me long for Ilay.

Ryan nodded again and looked at me sheepishly "Actually, I have a confession to make..." he said, leaving me standing in place.

"What have you done? Did you cheat on me?" I asked him, confused, to which he laughed out loud and shook his head.

"No, never," he replied. He relieved me of one of my biggest worries.

"No... I was in Italy because there was a problem with the vampires," he began to explain.

I nodded in understanding and yes, he had told me about it, but what hadn't he told me? He seemed nervous and he never used to be. I could feel his nervousness even through our tape.

"The reason we were there and why we had problems was because of Ilay."

My eyes widened involuntarily and I had to swallow.

"Has something happened to him?" I asked quietly, looking at him with an unsettled expression as I took Henry in my arms.

He shook his head and started to tell me: "No, Ilay's brother, Nael was in Hamilton the other day and pretended to be him. He had a friend with him who looked just like you and that made me curious.

He and her were looking for a solution, Ilay didn't take it all as well as you did, even though he promised he would. He caused chaos in Daemon Heaven and that was the reason they wanted to help him.

We travelled to Ragnol in Italy."

"Wait, you killed someone innocent again?" I asked him uncertainly, unable to believe what he was saying.

He shook his head hastily: "No, no... Kilian knew the son of Alpha Robert, the pack Silvestre. Dimitri owed Robert something, so we were allowed to go there.

There were further complications there, which is why Michael was also injured. It turned out that Nael's mate was a mix of demon and angel, which is why Dimitri was after her blood. This could have brought him out into the open - a disaster for us. Nael rejected it all and yes... chaos broke out and a fight ensued."

My knees suddenly felt weak and I was overcome with anxiety "Oh God..." I muttered to myself, biting my lower lip. I had to process what Ryan had said because it didn't sound normal. I hadn't even realised that Ilay had brothers...

"And what's the result?" I asked him uncertainly.

"The result is that her blood is the solution to our problem... It worked," Ryan said and waved to the playground. I looked ahead and saw Ilay standing on the playground.

I couldn't believe my eyes and was speechless. My heart skipped a beat and butterflies fluttered in my stomach like I was a little girl in love.

"Are you okay with this?" I asked Ryan quietly and looked at him.

He smiled at me and nodded "He's family Cate, I told you that then and I'll tell you again" he replied and now my heart really dropped.

"How are you going to explain this to Henry... I mean, it's fine now, but how are we going to explain it to him in the future?" I asked him uncertainly, looking at my little dwarf.

"It's not our decision Cate, it's the Moon Goddess's decision, you're meant to have two mates, why do we always have to make everything so complicated? Now give me Henry and go... Your heart is already jumping for joy," said Ryan and took Henry from my arms.

I looked at him uncertainly, whereupon he nodded at me, "Go now," he told me with a grin and I didn't need to be told twice.

I practically ran towards Ilay and threw myself into his arms. He picked me up and spun me around. 'Ilay...' I said quietly and looked up at him. It was him, my Ilay.

"Catherine," he said, taking my face in his hands.

"Oh God... Catherine," he breathed again and hugged me tightly.

It was a long, tight embrace and I felt the need to kiss him and never let go. Not a second later, he did just that. He kissed me passionately and I kissed him back.

I felt a tugging inside me, a longing that I hadn't felt for a long time. It was the connection to him, the desire to recognise him as my mate again.

He finally broke away and looked me in the eye "I still can't believe it," he gasped, pressing a kiss to my forehead as he continued to hold me and stroke my hair.

"Tell me about it," I whispered softly as he suddenly shook his head, laughing.

"I would rather have died, Catherine... I couldn't take it anymore... I was so desperate," he said to me and hugged me even tighter, as if his whole life depended on it.

I didn't know what to say because I almost had a bad feeling that I had got my life back on track and he probably hadn't.

"I'm so sorry," I said desperately, looking at him with tears in my eyes. He shook his head and wiped the tears from my eyes. "I'm sorry, Cate... I should have looked for a solution and not relied on my father's words."

"I have something for you," he said quietly, handing me a rose.

I looked at the rose and looked up at him again. A smile formed on my lips "The best present is you..." I replied and hugged him tightly again.

"Nice to have you back, Ilay... It was getting boring," Ryan said with a grin as he held Henry in his arms.

"I did indeed miss that," Ilay replied, looking at him with a smile.

ILAY

I hadn't expected Catherine to run straight towards me. A flood of emotions overwhelmed me and I still couldn't believe she was here.

I breathed in her lovely rosy scent and never wanted to let her go. "This is Henry...", Ryan said and looked at me with a smile.

I had to smile: "He's got quite big...".

Henry looked at me with big eyes and beamed.

Ryan put him down so he could run around the playground, but he was still quite wobbly and mostly played on the floor.

I was just speechless and overwhelmed by the whole situation.

"I nearly killed Nael earlier...", I mumbled to myself and looked askance at Ryan, who could only laugh.

"That would be unfair, you should have seen him give Dimitri hell," he replied with a grin.

"You have a brother?" Cate asked me, to which I nodded "Three, to be precise... Nael, Richard and Jay," I replied and watched Henry walk towards me.

He came up to me and sat down at my feet. He looked up at me and beamed at me as he held his hands out to me.

I frowned, "Isn't he shy?" I asked Catherine and took Henry in my arms.

She shook her head and looked at me with a smile "No, Henry would even go with his kidnapper voluntarily," she said and gave Henry a kiss on the cheek.

"Mummy mummy," Henry babbled to himself and looked Catherine in the eye. He stretched out his little arms towards her and I handed them to her.

"He's mummy's son..." Ryan grinned at me and slapped me on the shoulder while I hugged him too.

"I've got a bone to pick with you... Leaving me pictures of her... I've almost gone mad," I whispered to him quietly so that Catherine didn't notice much.

Ryan just grinned at me and said nothing.

"The important thing is that you're here, isn't it?" he said with a grin, making me laugh.

I nodded slightly, "Yes, you're right and you'll never get rid of me, you know that, right?" I assured him and he nodded. "We don't mind," Ryan said, to which Catherine smiled even wider.

"I'd suggest we go for a pizza at Alfredo's and get cosy," Ryan suggested, to which we agreed.

Eventually we set off together, it wasn't far and we could walk well.

It was incredible, I was back with Catherine and she welcomed me as if nothing had happened. She ran into my arms and her embrace was the most beautiful thing I had felt in a long time.

My demon had gone wild at the sight of her and I could clearly feel that she was the one I wanted. Wanted and would never let go.

It was clear to me that if I had to reject her again, I would rather die than go through that misery again.

Catherine was everything to me and I would accept her with everything, I would never let her go again. Looking back, I felt stupid, how reckless I had been to just blindly trust my father, I should have questioned everything.

Nael's words came back to me... It had been a challenge from the Moon Goddess, and I probably wouldn't have been able to come up with a solution when my father had forced me to turn her down.

In the end, our dirty little Laylah was the key to success... Who would have thought?

I remember all too well how she comforted me that night. She had been the only woman in my bed who had done nothing but comfort me.

Oh Catherine, if you knew everything... I'd probably be a head shorter. The amount of shit I'd allowed myself to do in the past wasn't normal. I felt guilty myself.

We went into the Italian restaurant and sat at a table while Catherine put Henry in the baby seat.

She sat down next to me and I took the liberty of putting my arm around her while Ryan rolled his eyes with a grin.

"What, I'm back in the game, did you say so yourself?", I said with a grin, although I felt a little uneasy - I took his girl away from him again.

"It's okay, you're allowed today, from tomorrow it's back to sharing out," he said with a laugh and looked at us.

"No, seriously. I couldn't stand your moods any longer. I'm really grateful that you're back together now," Ryan said and Catherine and I laughed.

It was just nice again.