Page 16 of Claimed By Her Monsters

“None of us! Not Regis, not Fenriz, and definitely not me. We would never dare order such cruel actions.”

“Wow.” I almost wanted to laugh —actually no, I did end up laughing —because this was fucking madness. Those worshippers literally conned me to go through multiple sessions of torture daily for years with the purpose of being a ripe bride that was ready to be present to my dark gods, and in the end, it was nothing but bullshit.

“So you’re saying we were conned.” I laughed and shook my head. “Well damn. Isn’t this a good lesson on why it's important to communicate with your partners?”

“Nerissa!” he snapped. “This isn’t funny.”

“It’s hilarious,” I voiced and met his gaze with my own.

I watched as his eyes further widened at the sight of my tears. I gave him a smile that surely gave away all the layers of pain I’d buried within myself in hopes of never digging up again.

“If it's not being stolen from your birth mom and being offered to a set of dark gods you have no association with, it’s being tortured, ridiculed, mocked, and forced into every dark ritual in the bookthat would do the trick of leaving one mentally fucked up,” I voiced and tried to act cheery when I was nowhere close to feeling gleeful about confronting childhood trauma. “To think I simply went through all of that because your worshippers probably wished to kill me. Actually, take that probably out. Why am I trying to defend the truth when it's right in our faces?”

I shook my head as my tears fell before I forced myself to lift my head so I could stare into his eyes once more.

“Do you understand now? Did you get a grasp of why I did what I did? Why I tore myself away from everything I knew to venture into the wilderness that was even more dangerous in hopes of delaying you guys' loathing? Do you get it now?’ I practically pleaded as he let me see the pain in the depths of his eyes.

“Stolen…” he began as he slowly began to process what I’d just said, but I knew we didn’t have forever in this realm as I felt my consciousness beginning to be tugged by another power.

Being called to rise from my slumber.

“I’m not yours, Aloisium.” My voice broke at the admission as I fought hard to not look away from him. “I wasn’t your destined Bride. I wasn’t the one destined to love you three and keep your essences running. Your worshippers were desperate. They were greedy to have their wishes granted. So they stole me before the ritual was complete with the set of gods I was destined to. A set of gods that are the polar opposite of you all…which makes me even wonder if I was ever destined for the darkness, to begin with.”

He was left speechless as I sighed.

“Don’t ask for more...for I haven’t fully figured it out myself, but I don’t know what else to share that will make you understand the truth, Aloisium. That will let you stop searching all these books like they can lead you to the solution as to why everything is not going as smoothly as it should,” I explained. “How can a river run smoothly if there’s a big rock in the middle of it? I never fully submitted to each of you because I wasn’t meant for you to begin with. All of this torment and struggle wasn’t ours to bare, but due to the actions of your worshippers, who are now stuck in the bed they made.”

With a shake of my head, I fought the urge to return, knowing I needed to stay long enough that I knew Aloisium understood.

“If…If I stayed, your worshippers plotted to stop praising you all. They would do it slowly the moment I reached of age and you guys began to feast on me physically. You’d be so infatuated by the new bond that none of you would notice the drop in prayers and offerings until you became so weak that you’d hardly be able to function unless you fed on my sexual energy longer. Once I became a pure addiction for the three of you, they plotted to take me away. Like a favorite toy taken from a child as punishment. They would do so with the desire of asking for more in exchange for claiming me, but they would never give you what you desire. They would take everything they need and then dispose of me, so you’d be left with nothing but broken hearts as you approached your demises,” I summarized.

He struggled to find words as my admission of what was truly happening made him realize why I’d run away —why I abandoned them.

“Why…why didn’t…”

“I tell you?” I whispered and tried to smile, but I knew it wouldn’t reach my eyes, which showed how heartbroken I was on their behalf. “What would a sixteen-year-old say? The truth? A lie? A concoction of words that would make me sound sophisticated enough for your standards as I explained that your worshippers were plotting against you by using me as the ultimate bait?”

I let out a huff as tears streamed down my face.

“You would have never believed me and you know it. You…Regis…heck. Fenriz may have butknowing how you two are, you’d give every excuse until he was forced to agree with you,” I said. At least, I assumed that because that was how much I knew about each of them.

Despite all the years, I knew every bit of their personalities from my childhood and engraved everything into my mind so the day I’d be forced to meet them again, I’d never be at a disadvantage.

“But now you know the truth,” I whispered. “Do you understand now? Why Atticus is bonded to me? Why his men are also destined for me? Why all this fucking mess is happening?!”

All he could do was nod as his arms that blocked me from both sides lowered as if to encourage my departure.

“I don’t know where I am, but I’ll figure it out. When I do…well…” I didn’t know what to say because it wasn’t my place to find them. It was never my place to physically reach out to them. “We’ll let fate do its work.”

That was the best I could think of as I slid away from him and began to walk away. I took a few steps and stopped as if waiting for him to say something.

To argue with my sense of logic. To combat my words with scientific reasoning. To simply cause a fight so I wasn’t right…

The silence only strengthened, and all I could do was look back and see how lonesome he looked standing there.

Defeated.

It was the first time I’d ever witnessed Aloisium look so…vulnerable. As though what I’d revealed truly shattered his entire existence.

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