Page 8 of The Minotaur's Motivation

"Do you?"

The question wasn't what I had expected. She was watching me intently. I met her eyes. There was steel in them that hadn’t been there yesterday. Her vibration sounded more erratic too. It put me on edge. Did she have any idea how connected we were?

"Yes."

"You initially tried to avoid the authorities after the killings."

"Yes. There's no point in going to prison if you don't have to."

"Is that accepting the consequences of your actions?"

Annoyance flared in my stomach. This wasn't what I thought therapy was. Wasn't it supposed to be all feelings and wishy-washy stuff?

"Why does this matter?"

I shifted in the small chair. She flinched ever so slightly. All the air left me. Her fear was like a punch in the gut.

"I'm just trying to figure out what sort of man you are."

I turned this over in my head for a moment. Maybe this wasn't entirely therapy. She wanted to know who I was. And she called me a man, not a monster. A tiny glimmer of hope blossomed in my chest.

"I'm a monster whose ideals don't always match up with the laws of this world. Perhaps they are old-fashioned now. But I live by those ideals, and I act in the best interests of the people I care for. But if the laws of wherever I am catch up with me, then I’ll accept the consequences that they deem suitable."

She nodded, and her eyes never left mine.

"Do you think that the consequences for what you did were fair?"

"Decades in prison? Then at best a hybrid camp, kept away from society? No. I think what I did was bring justice for my family when the authorities failed to." The words fell out of me with an intensity that I hadn’t planned on.

Cerys leaned back in her chair, her eyes still on me. After a moment, she looked away, that nose scrunching up again, before turning back to me.

"It's hard when justice doesn't work. Having to live with that is… a burden. I think every society needs laws, but they are never a hundred percent effective."

This surprised me. I sat up straighter in my seat. She understood why I had done what I had done. And she wasn’t judging me for it.

"I would do anything for those that I love."

I held her gaze as I spoke. She needed to know that I would do anything for her. I wanted to tell her she was my priority now. I was certain she was my mate. I would burn the world down for her. Or save it. Anything she asked. But I didn't want to scare her. Having a human for a mate wasn't typical for a monster. But it happened. It was more complicated, though. Monsters understood the concept of mates and how it worked. I'd heard tales of humans running away from their monster mates and trying to avoid it. I needed to tread carefully to win her human heart. As a big clumsy monster, I wasn't good at the delicate stuff. It was more important to be in control than ever.

"I can believe that. I can see how much you care, your passion when you talk about it. About your family."

Passion. I certainly felt a lot of that. And certainly, right now. She looked beautiful. I had never thought humans beautiful before. But here she was. Her curves pulled me in. She tried to tidy a strand of hair behind her ear, but the hair bounced straight back out. I wanted to grab that hair in my hands. My cock twitched.

Control yourself.

I needed a few moments to pull myself together. I was only wearing a traditional loincloth and it wouldn’t hide much. While this wouldn't matter in monster company, humans were more restrained.

"Tell me about your family, Cerys."

"Oh. Well, there isn't much to tell, really. I grew up with two sisters. Fairly standard family situation…"

Her voice fell off, and I saw her swallow before continuing.

"And then I was offered a place on a training course to become a therapist. So, I left them behind as soon as I was sixteen. I don’t really see them now…"

She trailed off and fiddled with her hair.

"Is that normal? To leave home at that age?"

---