Danger in a Fur Coat (The Fur Coat Society Book 4) (4 page)

“See what?” Juno asked, trying to look around his shoulders. Wyatt tried to hold her back, but he was too slow. Juno immediately wished that she hadn’t been so curious. At the front of the lab were several cages full of rats and rabbits—test subjects, probably, but they were all dead due to being abandoned and unfed.

“Oh my god,” Juno said. “That’s awful. Those poor creatures.”

“Yeah,” Wyatt said, his voice quiet and angry. “I can’t believe they just left them here to die of starvation. Go on. Go look for whatever it is you need. I’m going to take care of cleaning these cages out.”

“No,” Juno said. “I don’t want to leave that to you. I’ll help.”

“It’s okay,” Wyatt said. “Go. It’s not going to be a fun job, and I’d rather you didn’t have to deal with it, okay?”

Juno couldn’t help but notice the tone of concern in his voice, and it melted her heart a little bit. Maybe he was obnoxious and a bit cocky, but he also seemed to genuinely care. If she wasn’t careful she was going to develop a little crush on him. She frowned as she nodded and walked away, heading towards the other side of the lab where more doors led to more parts of the virus and contagious disease department. The last thing she needed was to fall in love. She had too much other important stuff to worry about. Besides, even if she was a unique bear as a panda, what would a rare dragon like him ever see in a lowly bear shifter? He might be a nice guy, but that didn’t mean he was going to settle for a bear.

Juno jutted her chin out stubbornly and determined not to think about Wyatt.

Wyatt somberly pulled his clothes back on as he surveyed the smoldering pile in front of him. He’d taken all of the dead animals from the lab and piled them in what he hoped he had hoped was a fire safe area. Then he shifted into a dragon and essentially cremated them. It hadn’t been pleasant, but hopefully this was some sort of a dignified ending for the animals. Now, back in human form, he could feel his ears burning with anger. Full humans were a funny breed. Sure, some of them were okay—he had to admit that Juno was right about that. But there were a lot of them that were so uncaring and so entitled. They wanted to rant and rave about how dangerous shifters were, and yet they were the dangerous ones. They were the ones who treated living things with a complete lack of respect.

Wyatt kicked the wall in anger and forced himself to take a couple deep breaths. There was no point in letting his rage get the best of him. After all, the human race was pretty much on its way out. Maybe it was the universe’s way of paying them back for their many transgressions. Wyatt admired Juno’s determination to find a way to save the humans. She was right, of course. The decent human beings didn’t deserve to die just because so many others had treated shifters with contempt. Still, it was pretty selfless of someone being hunted by humans to be so determined to find a way to save them. Wyatt walked back into the area of the lab where Juno was, and smiled. She was flitting excitedly from one spot to another. When she saw him she let out a little clap, which made her look adorably like an excited child who had just been told she would be getting ice cream.

“There’s so much stuff here,” Juno said. “Everything I need! There are all these notes about all this research that they did on the virus. They did a bunch of tests! There are even vials of the bear flu virus here. They tested some potential medicines on bats and bunnies, and they thought that the medicines were effective. But the problem is that animals don’t seem to actually be affected by the bear flu. Which is funny, since it’s called the bear flu.”

Juno laughed, and Wyatt couldn’t help but smile at the way her eyes sparkled when she was happy.

“So, essentially, all of their work on testing these medicines was for nothing,” Juno said. “But they have some good information about how the virus behaves, and where it attacks the body.

She continued to explain, but Wyatt lost her a little bit. She was spouting off a bunch of medical and scientific jargon that he didn’t quite understand, but the gist of it seemed to be that she had found a lot of information that she thought would help her develop a cure quickly.

“We just need shifter blood,” she said. “And luckily I have plenty of it running through my veins.”

Wyatt frowned. “Well, how much do you need? Even though you have some running through your veins, you can’t just constantly be giving blood.”

“Yeah, not that much,” Juno said. “I just need little bits to test stuff.”

She seemed to be barely listening to him as she pored over the computer screen in front of her.

“Well, let me know if you need help. You can use my blood, too,” he said. “And I have plenty of shifter acquaintances. I’m sure I can find people to help you.”

Juno nodded, but already seemed worlds away. Wyatt felt a little out of place, and it only got worse when she donned a white lab coat that she found hanging in a closet. She looked professional and in control, and he felt a little awkward standing in the middle of the lab. It wasn’t that he was a dumb person, but he was not comfortable in this environment. He felt like he was going to knock something over, or make something explode. That’s what he had done in chemistry class during high school. Although, to be fair, that’s because he had accidentally breathed fire onto the experiment,  and, well, let’s just say that wasn’t a smart idea.

Wyatt felt awkward and he hated feeling awkward. It was an unusual feeling for him. Usually, he was in control, the noble dragon. He played that part well. The part of awkward sidekick to the scientist was a little outside of his comfort zone. Without a word, he inched toward the door. Juno didn’t seem to notice him go. She was already wrapped up in whatever it was she was doing. Wyatt made his way back to the main lobby, but he didn’t leave. He could have, sure. There was no reason for him to stay. Juno had wanted to get into the lab, and now she was in. There wasn’t much left for him to do. Still, he decided to stay. He couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her behind. Something about her pulled at his heartstrings and made him ache in a way he never had before. Was this what people meant when they talked about love? He’d never been the kind to worry about love or seek it out. He liked his independence. As a dragon, he naturally tended to be a little bit on the cocky side, but here he was sitting in a lab and waiting for a woman for no reason.

There was nothing left for him to do here, but still he stayed. Maybe she would need more shifter blood. That was as good an excuse as any, so he plopped himself down on one of the desk chairs. The chair immediately warmed, and he smiled. It had been a while since he sat in a computerized chair that actually worked. Chairs like this had been pretty much standard in offices around the city before the bear flu. Everything had become so computerized that even the chairs you sat in would adjust their temperature to warm you or cool you, depending on the temperature. Even though he was a tough guy, Wyatt had to admit that he did enjoy the luxury of a nice, warm chair. He leaned back and closed his eyes, and before he knew it he was asleep.

Several hours later, he woke with a start. Someone was shaking him. He jumped up and looked around frantically, immediately on alert and ready for a fight. It had been a while since he’d been woken up by anyone, and it took him a few moments to remember where he was. As Juno came into focus and he rubbed away the sleep from his eyes and smiled despite himself. She was so goddamn beautiful. Her eyes were green like emeralds. Her skin was smooth, silky and glowing. Her hair was dark and shiny, and he wondered how long it was. Right now, it was pulled up into a tight bun on the top of her head—a no-nonsense hairstyle. She seemed like a no-nonsense kind of person, and he liked that. He didn’t like it when people played games.

“How did it go?” he asked.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Juno said. “It went okay. I think that there’s a lot of good information here. I hope I can do this quickly, but I really need to get something to eat, and I left my backpack out here. It’s got meal replacement bars in it. I thought since I was here I might check on you and see if you wanted one, too.”

Wyatt wrinkled his nose. “That’s what you’ve been eating? he asked taking the bar Juno was offering in her outstretched hands.

Juno shrugged. “Yeah, well, there don’t seem to be too many restaurant options around. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re all looking a little run down these days.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “Smart ass,” he said. “Anyway, you need a break. You’ve been working a long time.”

He looked at his watch and gasped. “A really long time! It’s past seven p.m. You call this lunch?”

Juno shrugged again. “Yeah, I guess it’s a little more like dinner. But I got really wrapped up in what I was doing. I feel like I’m making good progress. There’s just still so much to do.”

“Yeah, I totally get it. Testing shit and calculating shit and science-ing everything up,” Wyatt said, raising an eyebrow. “I have to admit, it’s not exactly my forte.”

Juno smiled. “That’s okay. Your forte seems to be sneaking into places, which I will say has been a tremendous contribution to this mission.”

Wyatt smiled. “Well I have another trick up my sleeve which involves eating something besides meal replacement bars. You interested?”

Juno smiled. “Yes. Very interested.”

“Good. Then take a break and come with me. I’ll show you my dragon’s lair.”

Wyatt hopped up and headed for the door, and Juno followed him with a grin. Wyatt grinned back. He was going to show her where he stayed. He wasn’t kidding when he said it was his lair. This was a big step for him, because he hadn’t showed anyone his secret hideout before. But he wanted to spend as much time with Juno as he could, and he had a feeling that what he was about to show her would impress her. For the first time in his life, he actually cared about impressing a girl.

Get it together, dragon, he said to himself as they made their way toward the hallway. She’s here to work, and you’re a loner, remember? There’s no sense in falling in love. It’ll only make you weak, and this is a survivor’s world right now.

Still, he told himself, there was no harm in having a little fun. As soon as he made it back out to the lobby, he winked at Juno. Then he shifted into dragon form without even bothering to change out of his clothes. He would sacrifice a pair of sweatpants for the dramatic effect, and he wasn’t disappointed. Juno fell backwards from the force of his shift, and then looked up at him with a grin, shaking her head.

“You rascal,” she said. He turned his dragon lips up with a smile, and then gestured with his head towards his back.

“You want me to hop on?” Juno asked, her eyes widening. He nodded yes, and she stood slowly and stepped toward him. She ran her fingers gingerly across his scales.

“They’re so hard,” she said. “Like armor. And so beautiful, too. The colors on them are just amazing.”

Wyatt waited as she traced her hand across his back and then across his wings, and finally down his long tail, stopping to observe the spikes at the end of it. It gave him a lot of satisfaction to see her so impressed by his dragon, and his chest puffed out a little bit with pride.

“Alright,” Juno said. “I’ll hop on, but don’t do any crazy dragon maneuvers or anything. I can’t fall off and die. The world is waiting for me to save them, remember?”

Wyatt smiled again, and let out a snort as Juno climbed onto his back. He took off running through the front door, then launched up into the sky, his powerful wings flapping as they rose high above the city of Chicago together. His heart pounded with joy as he heard the sound of Juno squealing in delight. He knew he was falling for her. He knew he wanted her. And he knew he shouldn’t be doing this. He was playing with fire, but he
was
a dragon, after all.

Playing with fire was his specialty.

Wyatt knew that if there was one thing dragons were good at it, it was showing off. Humility had never been his strong point, nor the strong point of any other dragon he’d ever known. And nothing made you want to show off more than having a pretty girl on your back. He flew high, swooping up and down, and pushing the edge of what he thought Juno would be comfortable with—just so he could give her a thrill. She screeched, squealed, laughed, and held on tighter as he circled above Chicago. Even though he’d lived for months among the chaos, it still amazed him how desolate the city was. Buildings that had once been tall and mighty, lighting up brilliantly against the night sky, were merely ruins now. The lakefront, which used to always be full of people, even on cold winter nights like this, was perpetually empty. The air was filled with sadness and yet, somehow, in Wyatt’s opinion, there was a bit of beauty in the desolation. Silence had always appealed to him in some weird way. Maybe because he had dragon genes and was a loner. Whatever the case, he usually enjoyed being alone.

But Juno somehow seemed to improve the silence. It had been quite some time since he’d met someone who made him feel like he was better off spending time with them than being alone. He didn’t know what it was about Juno. He honestly had never believed in the concept of lifemates, thinking that if they did exist that was something for the more social shifters. But he couldn’t deny that something about Juno was drawing him in. He’d barely met her, and yet he already never wanted to leave her.

Wyatt breathed out a long stream of fire and snorted out a few puffs of smoke, then started circling down. He could fly for hours with Juno on his back, but he knew she was in human form and it was cold outside. He didn’t want her to freeze. He headed straight for his secret lair, which he had never shown anyone until now. With a gentle thud, he landed on top of what used to be known as the Hancock Tower. Located near Chicago’s lakefront, the tower offered a spectacular view, especially on a night like tonight when the moon was full. In the bright moonlight, you could clearly see what was left of the skyline. And because there were no more city lights, you could see the stars. They were brilliant tonight, and Wyatt thanked his owns lucky stars for the cosmic show. Juno slid off of him and landed on the rooftop with a thud. She was shivering, but smiling.

Wyatt shifted back into human form, but even in his naked human skin he was still hot from being in dragon form moments before.

“Sorry,” he said. “It’s a little chilly out tonight. I didn’t want to take you up for too long, but I did want to show you the city from a dragon’s point of view.”

Juno smiled despite her chattering teeth.

“Thank you,” she said. “It was magnificent, even though I’m freezing my ass off now. I didn’t want to stop.”

We can go again sometime if you want,” Wyatt said. “Maybe I’ll warn you a little better and you can dress a little warmer. Or maybe we could do it in the summer when it’s warmer. You know, if we still know each other then or if the world even still exists and all that.”

Wyatt felt a little foolish. Here he was making plans in his mind to be with Juno for a long time, when honestly who knew if anyone would be here next week. Things were crazy right now. But Juno smiled encouragingly at him.

“Yeah, well, if everything goes according to plan the world will still be here and humanity will still exist,” she said, her eyes still sparkling from the excitement of the ride through Chicago’s night sky.

“One day at a time, right?” Wyatt said. But he wasn’t exactly talking about the cure for bear flu. He was talking to himself, and telling himself that he needed to take things with Juno one day at a time. He was already desperate to get to know her better, and he’d hadn’t even known her for a full twenty-four hours at this point—several hours of which he’d been asleep in the lab. It was safe to say that he was hopelessly falling. Emphasis on the word hopelessly. He didn’t think there was much he could do to stop it if he tried. Suddenly, he realized that Juno was still shivering violently.

“Oh, shit,” he said. “Come on. Let’s head inside where it’s warm.”

He took her to the staircase and led her down into the building and into what used to be the Hancock Tower’s Signature Restaurant. Most of the tables were still there, but he’d pushed them aside to make room for a bed and an armchair. He’d also had brought in several new computers and other  various items he’d gathered from his explorations of the deserted city.

“Wow,” Juno said. “You’ve got quite a collection here. And, holy crap. What is that? A wall of liquor?”

“Yeah,” Wyatt said. “This place used to be a restaurant. It was a pretty fancy one, with expensive food and expensive drinks and all of that. When everything started to fall apart here in Chicago, this place was pretty much abandoned. But because the security was pretty high it was difficult to get in here. It was that way with a lot of the nicer restaurants. They were all starting to implement high-security eye scanners and such. By now, most of the other fancy restaurants have been broken into. But because this one is up so high and the security was so intense, nobody seemed to bother with it. We’re on the ninety-sixth floor, in case you were wondering. I came up here, hacked my way in, burned down their eye scanners, and then rebuilt a door and rigged a computer system to it. It’s pretty secure, and I don’t think anyone would really come looking for me up here. It’s hard to get in from the bottom floor with all the security scanners on every floor. But I can fly so it’s easy for me to just come in through the roof. Essentially it’s a perfect dragon lair, complete with the fully stocked bar. Would you like a drink?”

Wyatt felt like he was awkwardly babbling and he needed to force himself to stop.

“I would love a drink,” Juno said. “I haven’t had liquor in a long time. Sometimes we got beer in the wilderness, but even that’s gotten pretty rare as the situation in the outside world gets worse. When you’re struggling to make sure you have enough food to feed a bunch of shifters, alcohol tends to be pretty low on the priority list.”

Wyatt laughed. “Alcohol should never be low on the priority list.”

“I agree,” Juno said with a smile. So where is this drink you’re promising me?”

“Pushy, pushy,” Wyatt said. “What would you like to drink?”

“I’ll take the best whiskey in the house, please,” Juno said.

“Whiskey, eh?” Wyatt said, his eyes widening. “You’re one of those whiskey girls?”

Juno shrugged. “After a day like today, yeah, I’m a whiskey girl. Rum isn’t gonna cut it tonight, buddy.

Wyatt laughed as he went to pour her a drink. “That bad huh? I thought it turned out pretty decently, considering you did get into the lab. And you seem to be making progress.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not sure I’m making progress quickly enough. I need to get the cure figured out done sooner rather than later, before my clan realizes where I am.”

Wyatt stopped in his tracks. “They don’t know where you are?”

“Well, they probably do by now. I snuck out and stole a helicopter, which is going to make them pretty pissed. I came here on my own when I was supposed to be waiting for two of my clan members to come with me.

Wyatt paused with his drink in midair. “Wait. Say that again. You stole a helicopter? I didn’t know those even existed anymore! How did you do that? You can fly helicopters? And why did you sneak away instead of waiting for your clan members?”

“Well, to answer your first question,” Juno said. “Yes, I stole a helicopter. This guy that we’re hiding out with in Michigan has been hiding out for a while, and he’s collected quite an assortment of gas powered vehicles. He somehow knows where to get them and how to hide them. He had a helicopter, and I learned how to fly them when I was younger because my dad was a helicopter copilot in the Coast Guard. I was planning to come out with two of our other clan members later this week. They wanted to get a few things together first, but I didn’t want to wait. That’s something you should know about me. I never want to wait.”

Wyatt laughed, and Juno paused to take a sip of her whiskey before continuing.

“Besides, I felt like the other two guys in the clan were better off staying behind. They have lifemates, and it’s dangerous here. I don’t want them to get hurt or caught up in who knows what kind of trouble. I wasn’t even sure exactly what was going on in the city myself, and I thought it was better if I came alone. So I snuck out the middle the night and stole the helicopter. At some point today, they probably realized I was gone. Then they probably went looking for the helicopter and realized it was gone. By this point, they know that I’ve taken off to Chicago and they’re totally pissed at me, to put it mildly.

Wyatt wasn’t sure how to respond. “But they must be coming for you, if they know where you were going. And then what was the point of sneaking away?”

“It will take them a while to get here,” Juno said. “All of the supplies that we need have gotten harder to get, including gasoline. So even if though they have other gas-powered vehicles, they don’t have the gas to power it.”

“Can’t they just take a hover car?” Wyatt asked.

Juno shook her head no. “There aren’t any hover cars or anything electronic at the hideout. No computers of any sort. Drew, the guy who owns the place, has been living off the grid for a while. He’s pretty extreme. He doesn’t allow anything with a computer or anything remotely electronic that might send a signal where people could find us. It’s annoying, but I have to admit it’s been pretty amazing the way he’s taking care of us. I’ve never felt like I was in danger at any point when I was out there with him.”

Juno fell silent for a moment, staring down at her glass. Wyatt took a long sip of his own whiskey before replying.

“I thought you clan shifters never did that,” Wyatt said.

“Did what?” Juno asked.

“You know, went against your own clan members,” Wyatt said.

Juno laughed. “Haven’t you ever heard of clan wars? That’s a real thing, you know.”

Wyatt frowned. “Well yes, I’ve heard of clan wars. But isn’t that always between two different clans? Are there civil clan wars where you fight amongst yourselves? I thought it was all clan loyalty or death or whatever.”

Juno laughed again. “You dragons are funny,” she said. “Just because we bears aren’t solitary and we live in clans doesn’t mean we don’t fight. We fight all the freaking time. Bears can be pretty feisty too. I mean, yes, clan loyalty above all else. But we’re all still individuals and we all still go our own way on things.”

Wyatt shrugged. “Okay. I guess it just seems pretty extreme to leave without telling anyone, though.”

Juno looked annoyed. “Trust me, if I had told anyone they would never have let me go by myself.”

Wyatt knew he shouldn’t press the matter, and that he was only going to annoy her more. But he couldn’t help it. He was curious about Juno’s stubborn streak.

“But don’t you think you should let them decide for themselves what’s dangerous?” he prodded.

To his surprise, Juno didn’t snap at him. Instead she looked thoughtfully off into the distance. “I guess you’re right. But I just think that if you’ve found true love and you know it’s the person you’re meant to be with…why would you unnecessarily risk your life? They have someone. I have no one. Better for me to take on the danger than them.

Wyatt pondered the question for a moment. “I see what you’re saying. But I think you can’t live your life that way. Life is full of risks, and you can’t manage them all for someone else. Besides, just because you don’t have a lifemate doesn’t mean there aren’t people that love you. I’m sure your clan members love you.”

Juno didn’t say anything, so Wyatt pushed her a little bit further.

“Am I wrong” he asked, his voice holding a note of challenge.

“No,” Juno said quietly. “You’re right.”

“And do you have a family?” Wyatt asked. “Maybe a mom and dad?”

Juno nodded.

“I’m sure they would be devastated to lose you. Romantic love isn’t the only kind of love, you know. It’s not the only relationship that matters.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Juno said. “You’re a dragon. You guys don’t feel the same pull that we feel as bears.”

“What pull is that?” Wyatt asked.

“It’s hard to explain in words,” Juno said. “But it’s like I know deep within me that there is a part of me that’s missing something. I mean sure my life overall has been happy, notwithstanding the crazy events of the last few months. But hey, even that has turned out okay. I’m essentially enjoying a wilderness retreat with a bunch of my closest friends. So it’s not all that bad. But even with the happy, fulfilled life that I’ve had, I’ve always felt like there’s something missing within me. It’s like missing someone I’ve never met. I can feel him. I know that he’s there, and there’s this pull that’s always tugging at my heart. The lifemate bond. I might forget about it or it might be less strong for short periods of time, but other times it gets stronger. It’s just something that’s always been a part of me, and for a long time I didn’t even know what it was. I just knew that sometimes I was sad for no reason. Now I know that it’s the lifemate bond calling to me. I would love to find my lifemate and have that empty part of me filled, but there doesn’t seem to be any sort of roadmap to where he is. I’m just searching and searching and hoping that someday I’ll find him.”