The Morgan Lore - 9. Chapter 9

Kiyo Takeda’s Research Lab

Rory heard Kiyo Takeda’s return as he sat holding Milan’s hand.

“Can I give you my phone number?” Rory asked.

He reached for Milan’s phone on the table with the remote not waiting for Milan’s answer.

Milan pressed his thumb on the screen, unlocking it.

Rory smiled, typing in his number, adding his name just as Kiyo parked his car at the front. Rory heard Kiyo pause by Rory's car before walking to the front door where Marie met him.

Rory dialed his private number and ended the call after two rings.

“Do we have a visitor?” Rory heard Kiyo ask Marie as he removed his shoes, changing into house slippers.

Rory placed Milan’s phone next to the remote, and tightened his hold on Milan’s hand.

“Yes, a boy came in claiming he’s from the party in town. Brought a pie and wanted to see Milan. They met in town yesterday.”

“Hmm.” Kiyo sounded skeptical. “Milan’s drips are about over. We need to make sure he’s comfortable before he falls asleep tonight. It might be a rough couple of hours as I don’t know how he’ll react to this new formula. Make sure his room is set up, Marie.”

“Right away,” Marie nodded and hurried off.

Kiyo headed in their direction.

Rory debated whether to move back to his chair, and decided against it. He wanted to keep holding Milan’s hand a second longer, leaning closer to Milan to breath in his delicious scent. A smile curving his lips when Milan looked up at him with nervous brown eyes.

Kiyo Takeda appeared at the door, and his first reaction to seeing Rory sitting so close to his son was shock as he stopped, gaping at them in disbelief.

“Hey, you’re too close,” Kiyo said. “Get away from Milan.”

When Rory didn’t move fast enough, Kiyo huffed.

“Right now.”

“Papa!”

Milan sounded surprised, a deep blush coloring his pale cheeks. It was cute.

Rory fought the urge to kiss Milan, otherwise, and Kiyo might really kill him with that glare.

Squeezing Milan’s hand to reassure him, Rory stood and turned to face Kiyo Takeda.

“I’m sorry to intrude into your home Dr. Takeda,” Rory said, clasping his hands behind his back. “My name is Rory Morgan. I came to visit Milan and welcome your family on behalf of the town.”

Kiyo entered the lounge, bringing the humidifier he held to the table next to Milan’s chair.

Rory refused to move just yet, still waiting on Kiyo to acknowledge him. His body blocking access to Milan, making Kiyo straighten to his full height.

“Move,” Kiyo said, the one word dripping with annoyance.

Rory crouched down to help Kiyo plug in the humidifier, moving out of the way, allowing Kiyo access to Milan.

“Thank you,” Kiyo said, then sat on Milan’s chair, exactly where Rory was sitting before. “Cucciolo, how is the headache?”

Milan dodged Kiyo’s hand when he started to check Milan’s forehead.

“You’re being rude to my friend, Papa.”

“Am I?” Kiyo sighed, looking at Rory who remained crouched next to the table with the humidifier. “Are you going to sit? Or do you like crouching down there?”

“Papa.”

“What?” Kiyo winked at Milan.

Rory sat on the chair he had been using earlier, hoping to impress Kiyo a bit. He watched Kiyo check Milan’s pulse, then make sure the IV drip was working right. When Kiyo was satisfied with what he found, he remained sitting on Milan’s chair and turned to Rory.

“How do you know Milan?”

“We met at the grocery store yesterday,” Rory answered, his tone respectful. “I helped him find bottles of wine. Before he left, he promised to come to the town party today. When he didn’t show up, I came over to visit.”

“Ah,” Kiyo nodded. “That’s nice of you.”

Rory smiled, hoping to seem more likable. Kiyo Takeda looked as though he wanted to kick him out any second. Milan clutched his father’s hand tight as though to stop him from being rude to Rory. Kiyo squeezed his son’s hand.

“Well, Rory Morgan,” Kiyo said. “My son gets fatigued from his treatment. Marie tells me you have been here a while. We should let Milan rest now. Don’t you think?”

Rory looked to Milan, searching his dear face for signs of fatigue. Sure enough, Milan looked pale, paler than usual if that was even possible, his brown eyes too bright, and the sheen on his forehead was back. His right hand clenched his father’s in a tight grip. It was not because Milan worried about Kiyo being rude. No, it looked like Milan was trying to draw strength from Kiyo.

Why hadn’t he seen that before?

“Please,” Kiyo said, his tone pleading.

The sound of it hurt Rory. He didn’t mean to cause distress here, but it was frustrating having to leave when all he wanted was to stay and help take care of Milan.

“Yes, sure.”

Rory stood.

Milan gave him a strained smile. Rory archived it in his heart.

“Thank you for visiting us,” Kiyo said, not moving from Milan’s side.

“Anytime, Dr. Takeda.”

“Call me, Kiyo.”

“Kiyo,” Rory smiled. He waved at Milan, who gave him another ghost of a smile.

“See you at school tomorrow,” Rory said, his voice sounding rough even to him.

It killed him having to walk away, especially when Milan let out a soft pain-filled moan when the front door closed behind Rory.

“What hurts, Milan? You have to tell me so that I can help,” Kiyo said

“My head is killing me,” Milan murmured, pain clear in his voice. “I didn’t want Rory to see my like this. Why is it not getting easier?”

“Remember, I changed the formula,” Kiyo said, apologetic. “Your system needs time to get used to it. I'll also need to make adjustments to make sure you are fine next time. For now, I’ll give you something to manage the pain after the drips are over.”

Rory closed his eyes, unable to take a step to his car. He listened to the two in the lounge until Milan's therapy ended. Kiyo gave Milan a painkiller to manage his persistent migraine, then worked on getting Milan comfortable. Rory listened as Kiyo wrapped Milan in a blanket, and sat next to him, singing a broken lullaby hoping to sooth Milan to sleep.

Rory rubbed his eyes when, finally, Kiyo went silent, some thirty minutes later. His gaze rested on Kiyo’s black Audi. Kiyo’s medicine while helpful to Milan, seemed almost like an enemy. Remembering his father holding a folder thick with information on Kiyo Takeda, Rory walked fast to his car.

Minutes later, his red mustang was parked in a discrete clearing not too far from the Takeda compound. Rory changed into his white wolf and now walked the forest following Kiyo’s scent, a mix of oranges and almonds, determined to find Kiyo's lab. He came to a stop when he reached the edge of the pack lands forest. There was open land, about a forty-feet wide strip that led to high concrete walls that closed off Biosense main facility from the rest of the forest.

Kiyo’s scent led a trail into the compound.

Rory stood on the tree line staring at the high wall, which boasted heavily fortified gates.

Where are you?

Topher’s voice filled his head. His Beta sounded close. Topher was on the way to meet him.

“Biosense wall.”

“I figured, June Vadisi is freaking out. You’ve set off the sensors her team installed along our forest edge. I told her you were checking the perimeters. Don’t cross the line. The barrier they set up to protect our lands from Biosense is working overtime. Apparently it is losing power with too much strain.”

“I saw the reports,” Rory said, walking along the tree line careful not to cross into the open space between the Biosense wall and the trees.

The invisible barrier keeping their lands safe from Biosense was a mystery to him. It was installed by June Vadisi and her husband. The council refused to say who had created the barrier and why it worked so well against curious Biosense staff. As long as he stayed inside the barrier, no Biosense surveillance, or staff could see him. Once he stepped out, they would see a man, and not the wolf. It was a great invention, especially when dealing with the younger kids, who were more adventurous.

Rory really wanted to meet the genius behind the barrier, but he had to wait until he was Alpha.

“I was curious about Kiyo Takeda. I wanted to see if I could find his lab.”

“What about Milan? Did you meet him?”

“Yes. It was good and bad.”

Rory paused on his slow stroll on the forest edge. He discovered a new dirt road in the forest leading parallel to the Biosense wall. The dirt road had a fresh trail of Kiyo’s scent.

“Got something.”

“I'm almost there,” Topher assured him.

Rory followed Kiyo’s scent. It clearly diverted away from the Biosense compound and deeper into the parts of the thick forest allotted to Biosense. They had yet to build here, and there were no open spaces to worry about. Rory imagined Biosense liked the added security provided by the tall trees. The new dirt road led back to the Takeda home, but not quite. Rory stayed in the safety of the trees until he found a small house that could have passed for a cottage standing in a small neat clearing.

“This place reminds me of that Hansel and Gretel story." Topher came up on Rory's left also in his wolf form. "I came from the other side of the property. No sensors here, as we've seen with the Biosense wall. There is no surveillance either.”

“Looks like a new addition though. Biosense is sure making themselves at home. I want to check inside,” Rory said, going around to the back of the house, using the trees as cover.

“I’ll watch your back.”

Topher knew him too well to try and stop him.

It took him a minute to find a discrete route into the little house. Once inside, he was cautious, but not because of surveillance. There was no sense of being watched. The cottage had an open plan: efficient kitchen with counters and a small table with three chairs, one couch against the wall by the front door and a bed in the opposite corner. There was no sign of life. The stove was cold, the cup in the rack clean, another used one sat in the sink.

Kiyo’s scent filled the place. Rory stood in the middle of the house where the scent was thickest. He shifted back to his human form, studying the floor. Narrowing his gaze, he crouched on the floor, running his fingers over the smooth wood floor.

“Someone’s coming,” Topher interrupted him. “Two people in a pickup with a Biosense logo.”

Rory gave the floor a last glance and slipped out the window next to the bed. He was careful not to leave any trace of his visit. The two parked their car and came into the house carrying boxes.

“What do you think Dr. Takeda is doing out here?” One of them asked his friend.

The boxes they carried looked like supplies, though Rory couldn’t tell what they were for.

“I heard Dr. Takeda and the boss are close,” the answer came. “His research should have to do with his last kid. Takeda is so secretive about his work, no one really knows what he is doing but the boss. Researchers.”

A sigh reached his ears, and Rory peeked into the room to see one of the guys flip the switch on a lamp near the bed. A section of the floor where Rory had stood minutes ago lifted up, and slid to the side revealing a set of stairs going underground. The two men walked down the steps. Rory shifted to the kitchen window, looking down the hole in the floor. There was a steel door at the bottom of the stairs. The two men left the boxes on the floor. They didn’t open the steel door. None of them seemed to have the authorization.

When they were done, they closed the floor space by flipping the switch on the lamp again.

“Want a coffee before we go back? We won’t have free time like this until tomorrow.”

“Yeah sure.”

Rory frowned. It looked like he was going to have to come back to see what was inside Dr. Takeda’s lab.

Rory crouched on the ground changing into his wolf, he left the two Biosense men drinking coffee, careful to keep out of their sight. He met up with Topher and they ran the rest of the way to Rory’s car.

“What did you see?” Topher asked as Rory opened his trunk to get them clothes. He kept extras in his car just in case.

“Dr. Takeda's lab is under the cottage. There is a steel door under the floor. I imagine only Dr. Takeda can open it. No wonder he doesn’t care about surveillance.”

“Now what?”

“We wait for an opportunity,” Rory said, pulling on a white t-shirt and shorts. Leaning on his car, he crossed his arms against his chest. “I really hope he’s not fucking up in there. He’s my father in-law now. Milan would not thank me if he got hurt.”

“Not that he knows it. What happened with Milan anyway?” Topher asked, closing the trunk, as he buttoned his jeans, opting to go without a t-shirt. “You said it was good and bad.”

Rory smiled wide.

“We talked for like ten minutes or so, I even got to hold his hand. He’s so interesting. He draws and loves Anime. I got his phone number.”

“Where is the bad in that?”

Rory sighed, staring at the ground.

“He was getting some sort of treatment in preparation for school tomorrow. He wouldn't tell me what he's sick with. Before I left, he was having a serious headache, clinging to his dad in pain. They wouldn’t let me stay.”

“I’m sure it’s not easy for him to show you that side of him. He needs time.”

“I might lose my mind waiting,” Rory murmured, shaking his head.

“Should we report to your father about Takeda's lab?” Topher asked. “Labs underground is serious shit. We should get the security office involved.”

“Not yet.” Rory had this need to discover that Dr. Takeda was good for himself. He needed Milan's father to be good, for Milan, for him. “I need time.”

“Fine, but we can’t wait too long. Chancellor Lechter is already pushing the main families on a vote against Biosense operating in the town. My mom says he is visiting them one by one. He’s a pretty strong crusader with this stuff. Just a heads up.”

Rory cursed under his breath, and pushed off the car. He opened the driver’s side and wondered how quickly he and Milan could mate. The faster the better, as that would keep Lechter away from Milan.

No wolf had a right to fuck with another wolf’s mate.

“Let’s go home,” Rory said to Topher. “I need to show face for a while before I head back to Milan’s house.”

Topher chuckled.

“Your obsession is cute to watch.”

“Fuck you, Toph.”

***