Page 13 of The Minotaur's Motivation

For the first time since we met, I saw him flinch.

"You gave it to me to blindfold me. It was your idea."

"You didn't give it back."

"You didn't ask, and honestly my love, I forgot until you had already left."

"You could have returned it later."

He hesitated.

"I could have. But it smelled of you."

A long moment of silence drew out between us. I felt vulnerable, and I suspected he did too. The urge to run away flitted through my mind.

"So, you've been… smelling my scarf."

He looked guilty, and it took me a moment to realize why.

"Oh! You've been… Oh. Okay…"

"You are my mate, Cerys. I've known it since we first met. It's hard to be away from you. The scarf helps."

"Well… I. Well."

I was flustered now. Warring emotions battled inside me. I should be offended. Insulted, surely. It was incredibly inappropriate. I’d never wanted a monster mate. But my body was responding with desire and need. It was kind of hot. I was confused.

"That is an inappropriate way to behave, Cam."

I tried to sound stern, but it came out weirdly high pitched.

"My apologies. Don't you want me, Cerys?"

I took a step away from him and ran my hands through my hair. I didn't want to have this conversation. But part of me wanted to tell him everything. My mind fought with itself for long minutes before I gave in. I couldn’t keep pretending that this wasn't happening. He needed to understand. The words started before I could stop them.

"My parents were killed. Because of me."

Tears filled my eyes, and I knew there would be no way of stopping them from falling freely, so I didn't even try. Cam sat forward as though to reach for me, but one hand was cuffed to the bed with a large, heavy shackle. He growled faintly at being held back. I didn't move closer to him though. I didn't even look at him. My body was jittery and cold. I needed to move about as I talked. I needed to pace and not feel constrained as I faced the story I always hid away from. That I never told anyone.

"My hometown was very… purist. It's a designated monster-free town. There are a lot of people there who fear what they don't understand. I was raised to believe that monsters are dangerous and to be avoided. When the seer came and declared that I had a monster fated mate, I was shunned. It was the worst thing that could have happened. Everyone looked at me suspiciously. My parents were devastated. It was horrible. And honestly, I hated myself. Something had to be wrong with me to be fated to a monster.”

I was talking fast now, too fast as all the pent-up feelings caught up with me. I was suddenly desperate to get it out.

“All the other girls got told that they were free to choose their partner or, for a few, that they had human fated mates. So, they started calling me a monster. Just teasing at first. Then a rumor started. Someone said that you could only have a monster fated mate if you were part monster yourself. My parents tried their best to prove their human ancestry. They wanted to stay, for things to go back to normal. But I’d ruined it."

I stopped to take a few breaths. To gulp down air and wipe my face.

"Well, some in the town refused to believe it and… well… one night a group broke into our home and attacked us. My parents fought them while me and my sisters escaped. They paid for that with their lives."

I sucked in air desperately and tried to breathe it back out slowly. Images crowded my mind. Blood. Screaming.

"One of them caught me while the fighting was going on and… but I got a good kick in the balls at some point and got away. That’s why I can’t do this. I can’t do us. It’s the thing that destroyed my life."

Cam leaned forward, his eyes glinting dangerously.

"What did he do to you?"

I turned away and unzipped my dress to show the scars from whip marks on my back, before breaking down into sobs.

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