Page 66 of Stripe Theory

“You’ll watch her die!” Leeta’s words gurgled around blood as his claws found her throat.

An agonized cry pierced his heart. Through Alora’s fading vision, Rehan saw more enhanced soldiers converging on the lab. One grabbed for the cure vials she desperately tried to protect.

His moment of distraction cost him. Leeta’s claws raked down his chest, viral corruption burning in their wake. The infection spread like fire through his veins, trying to force mutations his body rejected.

“Can you feel it?” Leeta’s voice distorted further as her form destabilized, flesh rippling with unchecked viral power. “We’re becoming something greater. This is the future!”

“This is madness.” Rehan fought through the burning pain, refusing to let the virus twist him like the others. “You’re destroying everything we are.”

“Better destruction than weakness!” She lunged again, her movements becoming more erratic as the mutations consumed her. “Humans make us weak. Your mate makes you weak!”

The accusation sparked something primal in Rehan’s chest. A memory flashed through his mind: Alora dancing in her lab, brilliant and beautiful. Alora standing up to shifter council members, defending her research with fierce passion. Alora’s fingers in his fur, accepting both man and beast without hesitation or fear.

His tiger surged forward with a roar of pure rage. “She makes me stronger!”

The battle that followed was brutality incarnate. Rehan and Leeta smashed through walls and support columns and brought down ceiling panels, leaving destruction in their wake. Their enhanced strength decimated everything in their path as they fought with primal fury.

Leeta’s viral mutations made her nearly unstoppable, but her attacks grew increasingly erratic. The virus was consuming her from within, pushing her body past its limits. Foam flecked her distorted muzzle as she threw herself at him again and again.

Alora’s life force dimmed. The surge of panic gave him fresh strength even as the viral infection from Leeta’s claws burned through his system.

“Sir!” Hunter’s voice cut through the chaos. “The lab?—”

A new scent cut through the smoke and blood - familiar butchanged. Sierra stepped through the rubble and destruction. She was definitely his sister, but she wasn’t the same tiger as shewas. The virus had mutated and enhanced her shifter traits just like Leeta’s soldiers.

Sierra’s eyes blazed with righteous fury as she took in the scene.

“Get to Alora,” she ordered, fixing her gaze on Leeta. “This bitch is mine.”

“Sierra, you’re not strong enough-”

“She used me to test her virus.” Sierra’s partial shift rippled across her skin, more controlled than Leeta’s twisted mutations. “Made me a guinea pig. Nearly killed me to further her ‘evolution.’ Pretty sure that makes this personal.”

Hunter moved to her side, reloading his specialized weapons. “We’ve got this. Save your mate.”

Another wave of agony crashed through him, nearly bringing Rehan to his knees. He met his sister’s eyes, saw the same protective fury that burned in his own chest.

“Make her suffer,” he growled.

Sierra’s smile was all teeth. “With pleasure.”

Rehan turned and ran, following the bond’s pull to his mate. Behind him, Sierra’s roar of challenge shook dust from the ceiling. The sounds of combat resumed - but this time Leeta faced an opponent whose rage matched her own.

The lab was a war zone. Enhanced soldiers lay scattered across broken equipment and shattered glass. The air burned with viral contamination, making each breath dangerous. And there - barely conscious behind an overturned lab bench - Alora clutched the cure vials with bloody hands.

“Your timing’s improving,” she whispered as he reached her. Her attempt at a smile turned into a grimace of pain. “Only somewhat dying this time.”

“Stubborn, impossible woman.” His voice broke as he gathered her close, careful of her injuries. The virus spiraling inhis own system made his movements jerky, fighting his control. “You couldn’t just stay safe?”

“Please.” Blood stained her teeth as she grinned up at him. “You love... that I keep you... on your toes.”

FIFTY-ONE

Rehan saw his mate fading faster. The wounds Leeta had inflicted were too severe.

“Stay with me.” He pressed his forehead to hers, pushing every ounce of strength he had through their connection. “Don’t you dare leave me, love. Not now. Not ever.”

From somewhere below came the sounds of Sierra’s battle with Leeta. Glass shattered. Metal screamed. A roar of pure rage echoed up through the building - but whether it came from predator or prey was impossible to tell.

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