6. Asterion

After mating with Isabella, I carry her back to her bedroom. By my horns, she is a fierce and needy woman.

A perfect match for me.

Tradition dictates that I should wait for the mating ceremony to claim her body as mine, but she simply cannot wait for that.

Truth be told, neither can I.

And as the last Minotaur alive, does tradition really matter? We can make new ones. No more Mating Ceremony. How about Mating Week? Mating Month!

I tuck her into bed and plant a soft kiss on her forehead. I check her vitals using the bracelet around my wrist, and sigh a breath of relief when I see she is perfectly fine; just exhausted from our rough mating.

Humans are not designed for coupling with Minotaurs. That she is able to take me is a small miracle.

The way she looks at me makes my heart race. If only she knew the truth… would she still look at me like that?

I find Emma, the other human, in the living room, lounging on the sofa and playing a game on her tablet. She looks up at me, an amused grin on her face.

"Did you leave her in one piece?" She asks. "I don't think I've ever heard her scream like that."

"She is perfectly safe."

I sit down across from the red-haired woman. A drone brings us two glasses of red wine. The liquid swirls in my chalice, my powerful nose picking up all the subtle, complex notes.

"In that case, cheers," Emma says as she takes a large sip. "I could get used to being served like this. How do you control those drones, anyway?"

Emma seems very interested in Minotaur tech.

I can see why: Our technology is beyond anything humanity is currently capable of. My city is hidden, protected and shielded from their primitive scanners.

The only reason why Isabella and Emma are still alive is because I picked up Isabella's alluring scent before the automated security drones vaporized them both.

Even in my dormant state Isabella's scent roused something inside of me. I struggled to understand it at first: a human? Here?!

When I went to sleep all those years ago, humans were nothing.

But then I saw her, and I understood.

She is my true mate.

"That's not for you to know," I answer the inquisitive human.

I haven't quite figured Emma out. She's Isabella's best friend, and that is why I allow her to roam my castle freely, and haven't kept her confined to her room.

None that it really matters where the human wanders around. If she knew the truth, it would change nothing.

This hidden paradise has become their prison, whether they like it or not.

I simply cannot let them go.