Page 65 of Stripe Theory

She slid to the ground, exhausted. The lab was an apocalyptic scene and she could no longer feel her arm. “Well,” she told the eerily quiet lab, “at least it can’t get worse.”

“Oh, yes it can,” Leeta said, walking through the broken-down door. “I no longer need you alive.”

FORTY-NINE

Alora’s scream shattered through him like broken glass, driving Rehan to his knees in the middle of the command center. Raw agony ripped across his consciousness - not his pain, but hers.

Through their connection, the images slammed into him: Leeta’s claws tearing into Alora’s side, the sickening crunch of ribs breaking, precious cure vials scattering across the lab floor as his mate’s blood painted the tiles crimson.

The world turned red.

His tiger roared to life beneath his skin, claws extending involuntarily as monitors cracked under his grip. The beast wanted blood. Wanted revenge. Wanted to tear apart anything between him and their mate.

“Rehan!” Hunter’s voice cut through the haze of rage. His security chief grabbed his shoulder, eyes sharp with understanding. “We’ve got multiple hostiles incoming. Two dozen enhanced soldiers on the lower levels, more rappelling down from the roof. You need to-”

Rehan caught another flash - Alora dragging herself behind an overturned lab bench as more of Leeta’s enhanced soldiers poured in.

The acrid scent of smoke filled the air, mixing with something far worse - the metallic tang of Alora’s blood carried through their connection.

“She’s dying.” The words emerged as a guttural growl, his voice distorting as his tiger clawed for control. “Leeta’s killing my mate.”

Hunter’s expression hardened as he checked his tactical display. “Team Alpha, converge on the lab’s position,” he barked into his comm. “Beta team, secure those hallways at all costs. No one gets near that lab.” He turned back to Rehan, eyes fierce. “We’ll make the bitch pay. But we do it smart, or we lose everything.”

Rehan forced his tiger back just enough to think tactically. “Status report.”

“Thirty-plus enhanced hostiles between us and the lab.” Hunter’s fingers swiped on his tablet’s screen.

As if to prove his point, the reinforced doors exploded inward. Enhanced Genesis Corp soldiers poured into the command center, their movements a horrifying blend of human and beast. Viral modifications from stress overload had pushed them beyond normal limits - muscles bulging unnaturally, partial shifts rippling beneath their skin, eyes glowing with unnatural power.

Rehan tore into them without mercy. His tiger’s strength fueled each devastating strike as he carved a path toward his mate. Bodies flew as he snapped bones and crushed throats, barely registering the wounds he collected in return.

“East corridor secured,” Hunter reported, his own attacks precise and lethal. A burst from his modified rifle took down two enhanced soldiers, the specialized ammunition designed to counter accelerated healing. “But we’re picking up more signatures converging on- shit!”

He ducked as another enhanced soldier crashed through a concrete wall, viral mutations granting impossible strength. The thing that emerged barely looked human - muscle and bone restructuring themselves in real-time as the virus rewrote its DNA.

“They’re evolving,” Hunter snarled, emptying his clip into the monstrosity. “The virus is adapting to our tactics.”

Alora’s determination warred with fading consciousness. Leeta was gone and his mate was trying to reach the scattered cure vials while holding pressure on her wounds. Blood soaked through her lab coat, each movement sending fresh waves of agony through their connection.

Hold on. I’m coming. Stay with me.

Her response came weak but stubborn:There’s enough cure here for the entire building, but ithas to reach all the vents. She has to be stopped. No matter what happens to me.

“Like hell.” The words emerged in a tiger’s roar as Rehan snapped the neck of an enhanced soldier who got too close. His partial shift rippled stronger, features becoming more feline as rage fed his power.

The hallway ahead erupted in flames an explosion shook the building. Metal groaned as support beams buckled. Through the inferno stepped Leeta, her form a nightmare of failed evolution.

The virus had twisted her shifting ability, leaving her caught between forms - lioness muzzle distorting human features, claws extending from elongated fingers still stained with Alora’s blood.

“Your mate bleeds beautifully.” Leeta’s voice distorted around too-long fangs, madness gleaming in her mutated eyes. “Such pretty screams when I showed her what true evolution looks like. How a real predator hunts.”

FIFTY

The last threads of Rehan’s control snapped.

His roar shook the walls as his partial shift exploded outward. Muscles bulked and reformed as his tiger’s fury lent him impossible speed. He charged through the flames, claws extended for the kill.

Leeta met his attack with equal savagery, her viral mutations making her nearly as strong as an alpha. They crashed through walls in a blur of claws and fangs, tearing into each other with killing intent. Blood sprayed as they ripped and slashed, neither willing to yield.

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