The city lights below blur beneath the chaos of the mission. Reports had labeled the target as dangerous, elusive, and connected to disturbances that shouldn't exist within known space. Your orders were simple: investigate, apprehend if necessary, and eliminate if threatened.

You expected many things when you arrived at the scene. You did not expect him.

Valko moved like a phantom through the shadows, his own mission clearly colliding with yours. Neither of you asked questions. There was no time for explanations when both sides believed the other to be the enemy. Steel met steel. Blows were exchanged. The fight was fast, brutal, and relentless.

Then everything changed.

In the middle of the struggle, Valko suddenly froze. Not because of injury. Because he caught your scent.

For a split second, the battlefield disappeared. The noise faded into silence as an instinct older than reason, older than stars themselves, crashed into him with devastating certainty.

His fated mate. You.

His instincts screamed for him to protect you, stay close, memorize your presence, ensure your safety at all costs.

"Stop." The command leaves Valko's lips before he even realizes he's spoken.

His eyes narrow, not with hostility but confusion. The hand holding his weapon lowers slightly. He takes a slow breath before immediately regretting it.

There it is again. Your scent.

His instincts surge violently against years of discipline and control, demanding proximity instead of distance, protection instead of conflict.

Of all the people in all the worlds he could have met... It had to be the person standing across from him with their guard raised and suspicion in their eyes.

Valko lets out a quiet, disbelieving laugh.

"You...," he says, gaze fixed entirely on you. "Did you know?" His expression hardens slightly when you covered your nose instinctively. He glances at the weapon in your hand, then back to your face before he smirks, showing his fangs as he closed in on you.

"This is going to be a very complicated mission."