Page 10 of The Accidental Assassin's Mate

I thought they smelled like the laundry soap they used. “I’ll get you some things from the warehouse when I can, but I have clean clothes for you. They might swallow you, but they’ll work for now.”

He accepted the bundle I handed him along with my body wash and shampoo and stepped into the bathroom. I listened intently while he stepped under the spray and moaned a bit. Who knew how long it had been since he’d had a hot shower or clean clothes. Even the basics in life. Damnit, that other alpha had truly done a number on him. If he weren’t dead already, he would be on my list.

The water shut off, and I found myself waiting for him to get out. I wanted to see him eat and bridge this gap between us.

The broken bond wouldn’t be fixed overnight, but I wanted to hear it from his mouth.

“That was the best shower of my life,” he said, coming out of the bathroom. Billows of steam filled the space but quickly dissipated. The weather outside was turning cold, and it seeped into the thin walls of this cabin.

I would have to keep my omega warm. What an imposition. Not.

“Good.” I stood, intending on asking him to eat something, but I couldn’t get over the sight of him long enough to form a word in my mouth.

“What?” he asked, tugging at the hoodie that was clearly too big for him.

“You, um…” I said, scratching the back of my neck. “You look good in my clothes.”

“Oh,” I imagined the redness in his cheeks was from my compliment but it had been there. Probably caused by the hot water. “Thank you.”

“Why don’t you sit down and eat?” I asked.

“Sure. Thanks.”

We sat across from each other at the table. I wasn’t hungry at all and offered him my plate once he was done with his. He ate all of mine too.

“How did you know I was your mate?” I asked. “I mean, if you are bonded to another?”

The omega shrugged and pushed his hair out of his eyes. “I scented you. My jackal pushed me toward you.”

“But the other bond…”

Tears welled in his eyes, making me feel like a grade-A asshole for blurting it out like that. “The other bond was forced. I didn’t have a choice. The healer tried to break it, but instead he fractured it, making the pain worse than ever. It drains me. I don’t even remember the last day I had without excruciating pain. Sometimes I black out from it.”

My heart ached. The others had choice words for him, and I realized he’d done something very wrong to Ryan and the others in the process, but wasn’t that what we were all doing? The team did morally gray things for the greater good of all omegas but, in the end, we were murderers. Assassins. Hitmen.

I couldn’t help him if I didn’t know everything.

“I want you to start from the beginning, Raven. Tell me everything. The good. The bad. The ugly. The terrifying. The evil. It’s the only way we are going to figure this out.”

Chapter Eight

Raven

. I thought telling Sutton would somehow make everything feel better later. And while it was great to not have secrets between us, seeing the hurt on his face as he heard what happened to me—from the moment I was taken to the day in the clearing when they tore the chip from me—it was like I was inflicting my torment onto him.

And I hated it.

I hated that his friends didn’t trust him because of me—or maybe they did trust him, but not when I was there.

I hated that he felt like he might have to give up everything important to him for me.

I hated the way my words hurt him, knowing they weren’t going to just bounce away when the conversation moved on. It wasn’t like I was telling him about a poem I’d read, where he might only half listen. No, these words—the ones I shared with him—were going to stay with him for a long time, maybe forever.

And through all of this, he was being so nice to me, as if my well-being was what mattered. He made sure I was fed, clothed, and felt safe. He even slept in his beast form beside the bed to comfort me.

He did so much for me without asking for anything in return.

And what did I do for him? I hurt him. I made his life harder.

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