Chapter 159

Theo's POV I was reviewing some files from my never ending meetings when my wolf first began to stir, a restless agitation that had no apparent cause. Claire had been working late in the basement archives, organizing the final documentation for our synthetic protein research, and I'd been waiting for her to finish so we could head home together. The building had grown quiet around us, most employees having departed hours ago, leaving only the distant hum of security systems and cleaning crews. But something was wrong. My wolf paced beneath my skin with increasing urgency, his distress bleeding into my consciousness in ways that made concentration impossible. The reports spread across my desk became meaningless numbers as every instinct I possessed screamed that something was threatening what belonged to me. Through the mating bond, I felt the first flutter of Claire's unease—a subtle shift in her emotional state that immediately sharpened my attention. She'd been content just moments b