MY ASSASSIN IS MY MATE

NIA

You know that feeling when life turns upside down faster than you can breathe?That was me now in the bed of the man I was supposed to kill, who’d somehow become my mate.The night’s chaos hadn’t even settled. The smell of blood and smoke still clung to the penthouse. Knight had insisted on cleanup. I’d insisted on pacing until the carpets were nearly worn through.

He was leaning against the balcony door now, arms crossed, eyes tracking me like I was some fascinating creature he couldn’t quite decide whether to tame or tease.

“You really know how to ruin a quiet night, Reyes,” he said finally, voice smooth enough to scrape my nerves raw.

“You were the one they came for,” I shot back. “I was just collateral damage.”

“Semantics,” he said, smirking. “We make quite the team, don’t we? You dive at me. I nearly die. We bond. It’s practically romantic.”

“Romantic?” I scoffed. “You’ve got a weird definition of that word.”

“Occupational hazard,” he said. But there was something underneath the teasing, a faint tremor in his tone. His wolf was close to the surface—I could feel it humming against mine. The room felt smaller, air heavier. My wolf pressed at my control. I turned away, needing distance. The last thing I wanted was for him to see how rattled I was. But Knight never could let me walk away easily.

“You’re bleeding,” he said softly.

“It’s nothing.”

He stepped closer. “You were hit with glass. Let me—”

“Don’t,” I said, but the word came out weaker than I meant.

He was already near enough for me to catch his scent. My pulse stuttered. My wolf surged, pressing hard against the walls I’d built around her.

“Knight,” I warned.

He tilted his head, eyes gleaming gold under the dim lights. “You keep saying my name like that and I’ll start thinking you actually care.”

“I’m thinking of ways to strangle you.”

He chuckled, low and dangerous. “See? Progress.”

The air between us snapped tight. I could feel it—the pull, the inevitability. I hated how my heartbeat synced to his, how my body recognized him before my mind would. I turned sharply toward the hallway, needing to get out before I did something stupid. His hand caught my wrist—gentle but firm.

“Nia, wait,” he said. “You don’t get to shut me out.”

The contact sent fire racing up my arm. The bond flared. I felt everything at once—his pulse, his warmth, his restraint. The line between enemy and mate extremely thin now .

“Let go,” I breathed, but I didn’t mean it.

He didn’t. His fingers tightened, not possessive, just steady. “Tell me you don’t feel this.”

I opened my mouth to lie, to throw another wall of sarcasm between us—but the words died. His eyes were gold and molten, his scent flooding my senses until thought became useless.And then it happened.

One breath.

One heartbeat.

Instinct took over.

I didn’t know who moved first. One second there was space between us, and the next I was in his arms, his mouth on mine, the world reduced to heat and heartbeat.

The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was chaos—every bottled-up emotion, every denial, every hidden truth erupting all at once. His hands gripped my waist; mine fisted in his shirt. The mate bond roared like a storm.It wasn’t love. Not yet. It was need. Claim. Fate dragging us both by the throat.

For a moment, the world stopped. The city, the blood, the Crow—all of it faded. There was only him. Then I shoved him back, breathing hard, my lips tingling, my heart pounding out of control.

“That—” I gasped. “—wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Knight’s grin was slow and infuriating. “You say that like you didn’t start it.”

I glared, heat rushing to my face. “You wanted it to happen.”

He tilted his head. “Maybe. But so did you.”

I hated that he was right. I hated how my pulse still skipped, how my wolf purred instead of retreating.

“Don’t read into it,” I said sharply. “That was instinct, nothing more.”

“Instinct,” he echoed, taking a slow step toward me. “Interesting excuse. Should I be offended or flattered?”

I backed up until I hit the wall. “You should shut up before I remember why I tried to kill you.”

He laughed, low and rough. “There she is. My Silent Blade.”

The words made something in my chest twist. He shouldn’t be able to say it like that—like it meant something tender, not deadly.

Silence stretched between us. The tension didn’t break; it shifted.

I grabbed my jacket from the chair, desperate for an exit.

“Nia,” he said, quieter this time. “You can run all you want, but the bond doesn’t care.”

I froze halfway to the door. His voice wasn’t mocking anymore. It was honest. And that scared me more than any assassin ever could.

I didn’t turn back. “I didn’t ask for this,” I said. “Fate doesn’t need my permission.”

And I walked out, the taste of him still on my lips, my pulse refusing to calm.

The elevator doors closed behind me, sealing in the silence I needed to breathe again. But when I stepped out onto the rooftop, the night hit like a wave—cold wind, city lights, the smell of rain.

I leaned against the railing, staring at the skyline.

I told myself it was just instinct. That it didn’t mean anything. But my wolf didn’t believe me.

The kiss had changed everything.And nothing. Now, every breath felt borrowed.

Knight would joke about it tomorrow, I knew.He’d smirk and pretend it was nothing. And I’d pretend I didn’t care.

But deep down, I knew the truth.I could kill him a thousand times in my head and still, the bond would bring me back to him.