Chapter 10: Ryan

Catra’s story was the most bizarre thing Ryan had ever heard, and he had once lost a blackjack game to pixies while high on dragon shit.

He was also confused, though he refused to distress Catra any further by contradicting her story, and instead helped her to get in the shower and then to the bed where she promptly passed out. Catra was a powerful witch. One of the most powerful witches he had ever met. That was how they had met after all.

Ryan’s parents had always been bleeding hearts. The Cashel pack was known for its diversity, simply because Ryan’s father, Cillian, and Nora had been unable to say no to any lone or stray wolf who needed shelter.

There was no discussion to be had when they found an abandoned baby girl in the woods near the compound.

Nora carried the little one home and nursed her back to health. Molly, when they found her, was a newborn and would have frozen to death if Nora hadn’t sensed something dying nearby,

They discovered quickly why Molly was abandoned. Her birth defects were obvious.

Molly was born with Cognitive Muscular Dystrophy, among other disabilities, and there was no cure for the disease, and she was destined to have a very hard life. Whoever her parents were, they had decided, at some point, that they could not care for their baby girl.

But Nora did not care, and Cillian had never said the word “no” to his wife and mate, ever.

Nora used Fae magic and werewolf medicine to keep her adopted daughter alive, but eight months ago, the entire pack had come to realize that Molly’s health was quickly failing.

They would need magic much stronger than what Nora could manage. They would need a witch.

The Cashel pack, as diverse as it was, rarely mixed with other species of magical beings. They were quite isolated, even though the Cashel werewolves had lives beyond the pack.

Finding a witch had been difficult. Until Ryan went to the Palace of Souls, the supernatural world’s one-stop shop for everything magical.

Evans gave him Catra’s card, the card of a witch who performed both death and life magic. She was powerful and conversed with Gods and Spirits on a regular basis.

She seemed perfect for the job. Those who were so close to death often knew how to sidestep it.

It was when they met that Ryan and Catra realized that they were mates.

The knowledge that they were mates was impossible to deny, even though both of them wanted to. Ryan found Catra irresistible, but the thought of a witch for his Queen, and the Luna of the pack was unthinkable.

But Catra proved her power by halting the progression of Molly’s disease and reversing some of the damage that her body had endured. His sister would always be physically disabled, but her quality of life was greatly improved.

That was why his mate’s story about messing up a spell did not make much sense. Ryan knew how meticulous and hardworking Catra was. There was no way she would have messed up a spell without outside influence.

Ryan’s answers lay with the Angel, and he had to find out what happened.

The pack doctor, Melina, waited for Ryan outside the infirmary. She was a young werewolf and a brilliant physician. “Melina, what can you tell me?” He asked, rolling up the shirt sleeves of a clean shirt.

“You mean, what can I tell you about a whole ass Angel you just dumped on me?” The doctor clearly wasn’t in a good mood. She turned and he followed her reluctantly. Melina ran a tight ship and Ryan knew a tirade would follow soon.

“You know, even though I went to medical school for humans, and have studied the biology of many, many creatures, expecting me to treat a literal Angel is going too far, Ryan. What do you think I am? A miracle worker? Because guess what, I’m only a doctor!” Melina slammed a pile of folders onto the infirmary’s reception desk.

She reached up and gathered her dark braids into her hands before twisting it into a loose bun.

Ryan waited quietly. She would calm down soon and then give him actual details.

He was used to her process, especially because he had brought her a variety of creatures to treat already.

Dragon shifters. Fae. A horse that one time.

“Anyway,” she exhaled slowly, “Your patient is male, although possibly he identifies as something else. We’ll find that out when he wakes. There are signs of humanity on him, meaning that he has only recently been an Angel.”

She sounded more engaged and less upset, and Ryan exhaled with relief.

“The signs of magic are overwhelming though. The magic is practically oozing off him. You could probably bottle it and sell it.”

“You’re always worried about the pack finances, aren’t you?” Ryan said good-naturedly and followed Melina into the examination room.

The Angel lay prone on one of the larger examination beds. Having him on his stomach was the only way they could get him flat.

Melina had indeed started an IV, and he was also hooked up to a heart rate monitor and had an oxygen pulsometer on his right ring finger.

His wings weren’t flexed anymore as they had been when Ryan had first seen him. Instead, they were almost limp, and looked like luxurious white silk that hung off either side of the examination bed. The Angel’s breathing was steady, and his eyelids fluttered slightly in his sleep.

Ryan couldn’t help but notice how delicate his eyelids were. He could see slight shadows underneath the Angel’s eyes and could see the muscles in his bare back flexing and relaxing.

“Do you know what his name is?” Melina asked, coming to stand next to him, holding a clipboard to her chest.

“No,” Ryan murmured, still mesmerized by everything about the Angel, “I’ll need to find out though. I can’t keep calling him Angel, can I?”

“Hmm,” Melina exhaled reflectively, “He’s cute though. I wonder if he’s taken, whoever he is.”

The sudden mad streak of jealousy that burned through Ryan was the most irrational thing he had ever felt.

Why did he care if Melina was interested in the Angel? It was none of his business if the Angel became conscious and immediately fell in love with the doctor, who was, admittedly, quite beautiful.

“Well, his prognosis looks good. That is, if he actually ever wakes up. His physiology is mostly human, but there is so much magic coming off him that it is interfering with my machines.”

Ryan nodded curtly at Melina before turning and stalking out of the room. Nothing made sense anymore.

His mate, who he loved more than life itself, lay asleep in a nearby building, while Ryan was lusting after an unconscious, beautiful Angel. Ryan was still deeply attracted to Catra, that had not changed, and he knew it never would. So why did he want the Angel as badly as he wanted Catra?

It did not make any sense!

And the rest of the world did not make any sense either. The universe was ripping apart and now there was too much magic in the world. All because Catra had created an Angel by accident.

They would have to fix this problem. And they’d have to do it soon. Otherwise, they’d have a whole army of demons coming directly for the pack.