Chapter 30
ILAY
I damned myself for reading his mind, because that memory of Ryan made me feel how bad he really was.
He pretended to be the macho, go-getter, but deep down he had a soft core that cried out for love.
"Do you know anyone we can rip their heart out?" He finally asked me, after doing his best not to cry in front of me.
I shrugged my shoulders "That Maya seemed quite friendly to me"
'No way, it can't be anyone we know!' Protested Ryan, draining his glass.
"Hmm, who could have a pure heart? A woman?" I thought aloud and frowned.
"I'll leave the part about ripping out the heart to you, after all, you're already condemned to burn in hell." Ryan chuckled and looked up at the ceiling.
"What are you afraid of, Ryan? Burning in hell with me?" I had to smile at the thought of being in hell with Ryan, in fact, if I didn't know any better, we already were.
He shrugged and finally sighed "The only fear I have right now is losing Catherine forever. So yes, I'd prefer the option of being in hell with you.
When do we want to start?"
"Now?"
He nodded "My pack might be able to help us find a wife. Even if they were disturbed by the idea, they'd do everything they could to get Catherine."
I thought about it for a moment and had to think about Michael and Tristan "As long as it's just your beta and your gamma, fine by me."
"Now the only question is how we're going to do it. I hardly think a pure woman can be at a party and how the hell do you know a woman is kind-hearted?" Ryan frowned, causing me to ponder.
"I don't know, the only thing I was ever after was finding my mate. I never gave much thought to other women." I said with a shrug and looked at Ryan.
"You're seriously telling me that you've never had a woman in bed?" He looked at me in astonishment.
Damn, I was kind of embarrassed now. I was embarrassed and scratched the back of my head. "Well, no, how should I put it?" I babbled on.
Ryan burst out laughing "The evil snake has never had sex? Oh God, we need to change that fast..." he shook his head.
"Nominal shit I'm going to change that, got it? At least I was decent enough to wait for my mate, you fucking dog." I hissed at him, annoyed with him again.
"If your mate, ever accepts you in bed, remember, I was there before."
His grin would fade...
"Is that supposed to be a bet? If so, then I accept the challenge." I said, shrugging my shoulders. Especially as I now had the marker on my side and the feelings between Catherine and me would be intensified a hundredfold.
He rolled his eyes "May the best man win..." he held out his hand to me and I took it.
A grin formed across my lips.
"With pleasure"
RYAN
It was the middle of the night. Ilay teleported me and himself outside my pack house.
I walked in ahead of him and looked around me. It was all empty, not a soul was in here.
'Tristan, where are you?' I asked over my comm.
'RYAN? Are you the right Ryan?' He asked, startled.
'Yes, damn it, Ilay is with me. Where are you?'
'Well we're with Kilian... we have a Chiara problem, she claims Catherine died...'
Damn, the mother-child bond. How could I have forgotten that... Chiara was certainly freaking out. No wonder, my pain wasn't exactly pleasant either and especially as she didn't know that she was actually still alive...
'Kilian? Listen, you have to tell Chiara that Catherine is still alive...'
'Where have you been Ryan, we've been looking for you for half an eternity?'
'I've been kidnapped by a demon, listen, we've got a bigger problem here. Catherine is in some kind of coma, we have to look for Ragnol.'
'Are you crazy? You don't mean Ragnol the warlock, do you?' Kilian asked me.
'Yes, that's the one, listen, you have to hold the fort with Chiara, I need Michael and Tristan back here, I don't have time to explain everything to you, when Catherine is well again, your problem with Chiara will be solved.'
'Listen, they're on their way, but the one with Ragnol is a suicide mission, the vampires won't let you out alive unless you have...' he said, stopping in mid-sentence. 'You're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you? Or?' he asked uncertainly.
'If you're thinking about the heart of an innocent, yes, that's exactly what we're planning...' I replied, almost too quietly.
He remained silent for a moment...
'Is it worth it to you Ryan? You kill an innocent woman for your companion who has decided to take her own life? Do you think Catherine would be happy about that? Because if I know Catherine... she wouldn't want that,' he said cautiously.
Was it worth it to me? Definitely! Was it the right decision? Moon Goddess have mercy on me, but I can't help it... I have to do it.
My silence was enough of an answer for Kilian.
'Take care of yourselves...' he said and broke off communication.
Now we just had to explain to Tristan and Michael that we had to kill a woman...
I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. Ilay was standing in the kitchen, helping herself to the tiramisu that Maya must have made. "Oh God, I've never eaten anything so good in my life." He groaned.
Not two seconds later, Maya stood in the room and slapped his fingers.
"AU?!" Ilay visibly startled and looked at Maya in confusion, who looked like she hadn't slept for nights. The dark circles under her eyes were visible, her hair was disheveled and she wasn't dressed as smartly as usual.
"Hands off, you monster, or I'll chop them all off for you." She threatened and growled at him. Suddenly she caught sight of me and ran towards me.
She hugged me so tightly that I thought she was going to crush me.
"I-I thought we'd lost you... We were all looking for you..." If I didn't know better, she was about to cry. I patted her back "Hey, I'm fine. Everything's going to be fine..." I said to her and looked at her uncertainly.
She nodded and bit her lower lip "W-What about Catherine?..."
I smiled sadly "Well, she'll be fine, I hope." I croaked out softly, feeling like I had a frog in my throat.
Catherine was my pain point. Every time her name came up, a bleeding wound appeared in my heart.
Less than five seconds later, Tristan and Michael also stormed into the house and looked at me, stunned.
"Can someone explain what's going on here? We thought you were trapped... And this guy is here too?" Michael said and looked suspiciously at Ilay, who showed no emotion.
I wanted to explain to them what had happened, but I didn't dare open my mouth.
Ilay beat me to it: "I'll do it for you," he said, shrugging his shoulders, and walked towards Michael and Tristan, who both still seemed suspicious of Ilay. Ilay held his index finger to both of their heads and showed them what had happened.
He finally took his distance from Michael and Tristan again. They both looked at us, stunned.
"C-Catherine's in a coma now?" Said Tristan
"And we have to..." said Michael, turning pale at the thought.
I nodded slightly "You have to help us find a kind-hearted woman... The four of us are faster." I said, sensing the disappointment in Tristan and Michael.
They both looked at each other and finally nodded, "Only because you're our Alpha..." they replied at the same time, but the look on their faces only said how bad they felt about this whole thing.
Was it selfish of us to drag them into this? Perhaps.
But we had no choice, Catherine deserved better, she was too young to die.
"How would we like to proceed?" Michael asked and we sat down at the kitchen table.
Tristan gestured for Maya to leave. This was a man's business. Reluctantly, she left "I'll kill any of you who so much as touch my tiramisu, understand?" She said goodbye with those words and went up to Cynthia.
"Well, I figured we'd split up into the city and aimlessly search for a suitable person." I said, playing with my fingernails.
"The big question is, where do we find a woman with a pure heart? Certainly not in church, they all go there to confess their sins." Michael said and grinned at us.
I shook my head "I don't know, I was thinking of a hospital, a nurse."
"Hm, that's a good idea, I was thinking of the library, the good little mice usually hide behind the books." Tristan broke in.
Ilay looked at us, frowning, "What about speed dating? If that's still practiced at all?" He seemed to be completely serious. Michael burst out laughing, "Good luck buddy, you can give it a try and tell us about it. Maybe I'll find my companion that way." He grinned and took a slice of tiramisu, even though Maya had warned him. "Oops, sorry Maya... but I need these calories more than you right now..." he mumbled to himself and shoveled his mouth full with the spoon.
I rolled my eyes," where are you going to look Maison?"
He smiled at us, "I'm going to a fucking strip club, that's where most of the girls with a heart of gold are." Apparently Michael wasn't very interested in helping us... "I'm serious, I'm going there." He said with conviction.
"It's late at night... We should start in the morning." Tristan said.
"Well, the hospital and the strip club are open now. I guess it would be a good time to go there. Maybe we'll be successful tonight, but if not, the other half will start tomorrow." Michael said and we all agreed.
"Anyone else want to go to the strip club? I've heard that the girls there are insane." He said with a grin.
I couldn't help myself "Take Ilay with you, he really needs it." I said, giggling and grinning at him.
He rolled his eyes. "If you do, I'm only going with you to intervene if the situation escalates, like a joker." He said, putting his hands to the back of his head and looking at us indifferently. Michael nodded "Well then, get dressed up, we've got some chicks to pick up." he said and stood up.
A snap of Ilay's fingers and they were changed. He grinned amusedly and looked at Michael "We really don't have time, I think the outfit looks good on you."
Michael was wearing a black shirt by Armani and matching black trousers, adorned with a Hermes belt. Ilay, on the other hand, was wearing a white shirt and dark blue suit trousers.
"Okay... well then," said Michael, looking down at himself, "of course you can do it like that." He looked at me uncertainly.
'Are you sure I'm not the next one to be kidnapped? I mean, do you really trust this guy?" he asked me in our mind-to-mind communication.
Ilay had to smile at this comment from Michael, apparently he was reading his mind too and seemed to be making fun of us.
"You can trust me more than your alpha, I'm not as bad as you think," Ilay said with a grin, running his fingers through his hair.
"We have a strip club to visit, do it now." Ilay urged. Michael just looked at him in shock "You can read our minds?" he asked, confused.
"I can read your mind, teleport you to the other world with a snap of my fingers, transform into other creatures and much more." Ilay smiled at him and flicked them both away.
I looked at Tristan "Well, I'm off to the emergency ward then, maybe something will come of it. A nice nurse or something..." I said and got up from the table.
He nodded slightly "I'll scout the library tomorrow, even if Maya doesn't enjoy it. So I hope you're successful today." He winked at me and ran up the stairs.
I got up and went to the garage. I looked at my bike and shook my head with a grin. First the asshole made a pass at my girl, and now he was taking my bike. I revved the engine and drove off towards the hospital. After a fifteen-minute ride, I finally arrived.
You usually need a good reason to get to the hospital.
I bit my lips and extended my claw. I scratched my forearm and went in with the bloody wound. I could only hope that it wouldn't heal up again straight away.
I went to reception and looked at the lady who worked there. She was chewing her gum with relish and gave me an annoyed look. Her glasses were hanging low on her nose and her gray hair was standing on end.
"What can I do for you?" she asked, just as annoyed as she looked.
Oh, nothing for me at all, stupid cow...
"I fell off my bike and need someone to tend to my wound here... Preferably a nice nurse." I said and grinned cheekily at her.
She rolled her eyes "You can go to the waiting room as soon as you've filled out the paperwork for me."
She handed over a few sheets of paper, but instead of giving any details, I glared at her with my wolf eyes and performed an alphabet command on her. "I want the nicest nurse they have in the next cubicle right now," I said and her eyes widened for just a moment. She finally nodded.
"You can go to cubicle B, I'll be right with the nurse," she said and walked away from the counter.
That's how it works. I walked to the cubicle and waited for a moment. Not another five minutes later, a nurse finally came into the room. "Hello, my name is Nadine Jeffrey, I'm the shift manager today and I'll be looking after you," she introduced herself, took a chair and sat down in front of me.
My breath caught in my throat and I had to squeeze my eyes shut. This woman was so much like Catherine... She also had blue eyes, black hair tied back in a ponytail and her facial features were similar to Catherine's too.
Did Catherine have a sister that I didn't know about? No, she would certainly have mentioned something like that...
I swallowed hard and held my arm out to her. "Ehm, I fell off my bike and all I really need is a simple bandage," I breathed out, remembering Kilian's words. Taking the life of an innocent person... and that this person had to look like Catherine, of all people, was just a sign from the moon goddess not to do it. The bitch really wanted to get one over on me.
She nodded and grabbed a bandage cart. "We'll have this done in five minutes, but I think it would be wise to have another doctor look at it.... I don't want them to go home with the dressing and end up here on the ward with sepsis..." She smiled warmly at me and really meant it in a benevolent way.
I bit my lower lip, I really wanted to get out of here quickly. "You look a lot like a friend of mine..." I began. She listened and looked at me "Oh yeah? Should I know your friend? Maybe she worked here somewhere?" she said. I shook my head "No, unfortunately she's not from this town... Especially as she's in a coma at the moment." I said and shrugged my shoulders.
She looked at me sadly and put her hand on my shoulder "I hope for her sake that her friend gets better quickly... That must be terrible for her."
Terrible, indeed...
"If you need someone to talk to, I've got all evening," she said and took out her phone. She informed the duty doctor about my wound, which was healing almost too quickly...
This was going to be fun... Hopefully Ilay and Michael were luckier than me, because I certainly wasn't going to rip that woman's heart out tonight....