Page 13 of Pawsitive Data

“Unauthorized access to the restricted labs” screeched over the intercom. Near where Emma was...

Lucas was moving before the alarm finished, his panther surging to the surface. Emma’s scent hit him stronger now, tinged with surprise but not fear. Never fear, even when she should be terrified.

He found her in the corridor outside the genetics lab, facing down an intruder with nothing but scientific curiosity in her expression.

“Your muscle density is fascinating,” she said to the man who had her cornered. “The way you move suggests enhanced strength, but the mass distribution isn’t consistent with normal human anatomy. Are you part of the same genetic line as?—”

The intruder moved with inhuman speed, but Lucas was faster. Much faster.

He had the man pinned to the wall before his panther could emerge.

“Oh!” Emma’s voice held more excitement than fear. “Your enhanced reflexes are even more impressive up close. The acceleration rate alone defies several limits of anatomy. Is it a genetic modification or an inherited?—”

“Dr. Greene,” Lucas managed through partially elongated fangs, “perhaps we should discuss this somewhere safer.”

“But the data—” She actually pulled out a notebook, “the way you moved just now, it suggests an entirely different muscular structure, and combined with the eye color changes and elevated body temperature...”

The security team arrived to find their CEO barely maintaining human form while a tiny redhead attempted to measure his muscle density with what appeared to be a paper clip.

“If you could just hold still for one moment,” Emma said, “I can calculate the force required for that wall impression you just made. The structural damage hints at a strength coefficient that’s statistically impossible for normal human physiology.”

Lucas caught Zayne’s smirk as his second-in-command led the security team in. The intruder had gone limp in Lucas’s grip, looking more confused by Emma’s scientific analysis than afraid of the nearly-shifted panther holding him.

“Dr. Greene,” Lucas managed, his voice rougher than usual as he fought his beast’s urge to throw her over his shoulder and get her somewhere safe. Somewhere that smelled like him. “Perhaps we should continue this discussion in my office.”

“But—”

“Now.” It came out as more of a growl than a word.

Emma’s pulse jumped, but not in fear. The spike in her scent – attraction mixed with scientific fascination – made his claws flex dangerously.

“Fine,” she sighed. “But I’m keeping my notes on your enhanced musculature. The density ratios alone could revolutionize our understanding of genetic potential in... what I assume is a very unique family line.” Her eyes sparkled with that dangerous intelligence.

Zayne coughed to hide what sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “I’ll handle this,” he said, taking the intruder. “Try not to destroy any more furniture while explaining things to Dr. Greene.”

EIGHT

The elevator ride to Lucas’s office was torture. Emma’s scent filled the small space, mixed with leftover adrenaline and that razor-sharp curiosity that made his beast want to crawl from his skin. She kept sneaking glances at him, her brilliant mind visibly cataloging every inhuman detail he’d revealed.

“Your pupils are dilating non-uniformly,” she observed. “And there’s a golden corona effect that doesn’t follow normal iris patterns. Is that consistent across your family line or specific to certain genetic expressions?”

“Emma.” He didn’t mean to step closer, to crowd her against the elevator wall like he had yesterday, but his panther was still too close to the surface. Still reacting to the threat to their... to his employee.

“Yes?” She tilted her head back to meet his gaze, utterly fearless. “Are you going to try to explain away the physically impossible things I just witnessed?”

His brain had melted into mush. His cat pushing him to claim their mate didn’t help.

“Look,” she said. “I’m trying to tell you that I know you’re not human. Well, not entirely. The genetic evidence suggestssome kind of hybridization. It’s actually relevant to the fertility research we discussed last night, because the same genetic locks that?—”

Lucas couldn’t help it. He laughed. Here he was, barely containing his shift, pressing her against an elevator wall while his beast demanded he claim her immediately, and she was trying to solve their fertility crisis.

“You’re extraordinary,” he said before he could stop himself.

Emma blinked, a pretty blush coloring her cheeks. “Why? Did I figure out you’re something impossible?”

“Because you’re more interested in helping us than fearing us.”

“Fear is pointless when there’s science to be done.” She straightened, which somehow brought them even closer together. “Besides, you’re not scary. Well, you are, but in a fascinating way that probably involves recessive genetic traits and enhanced adrenal response and... why are you looking at me like that?”

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