CHAPTER 156: SEPARATION OF LOVERS (2)

"Ahhhh! Let go of me."

The mournful scream of a woman echoed in the clearing as Inez and the rest of the pack trekked down the steep steps that led them to the heart of the forest. The high-pitched scream made the hair on their back and arms rise. Especially the men who wished they could rush forward and save the damsel in distress.

Even the mated men had a hard time holding themselves back, even though their mates were right next to them.

"They really caught a siren," Inez whispered to Killian, who hummed softly. She raised her head and looked at the man who was holding her hand and walking next to her. From the expression on his face, she knew that the man was aware of the siren living next to the territory but had not bothered with her.

Countless questions formed in her heart, but she didn’t voice them; instead, she continued to walk down to the place where the crowd had formed. Killian pulled Inez to a spot that was far but good enough to see what was going on. The guards had pulled the siren who was living in a small thatched hut that was built not too long ago.

"Don’t hurt her, don’t hurt her. She is my mate... don’t, please..." A man who was caught with the siren was pleading as he held Noah’s legs and sobbed silently. He turned and looked at his mate, who was being manhandled like she was a good that could be used and thrown at will, and his heart clenched.

He turned to look at the man who seemed to have the most authority in the group and besought, "I know that she is a siren, but she is only part siren. Her great-grandmother was one. Her blood is of no use to you."

However, the man’s pleading had no effect on Noah, who raised his foot and kicked the man on the chest, sending him down to the ground.

"Part siren or not, she is one of the rare species, and you should have handed her to us the second you found her. Why did you hide her here?" as he spoke, he raised his head and looked at Killian. "He is a lycan. Surely, he lives in your pack, Alpha Sokolov. Tell me, what should I do in this scenario?"

Killian glanced at the man who was pleading and hoping for a miracle to happen. But ever since he was a child, he knew that there was no such thing as miracles—he had once hoped for a miracle to happen, and it brought him nothing but endless pain and suffering.

He smiled and turned to look at Noah before saying to him, "If you were a man with a heart, I would have asked you to leave these poor people alone. You heard the man; the siren is his mate and lover. However, I know for a matter of fact that the ones in council are nothing but heartless beasts who put their interests above everything. So, of course, I know you will try to take this siren away and, at the same time, kill this lycan."

He added with a sigh, "No matter what I say to you."

Inez wondered if it was smart to call so many guards and their leader — heartless beasts. But it seemed like Killian had much more authority and strength than she had thought and expected for the men never made a move on him; the least that they did was send him a dirty scowl.

"You should watch that mouth of yours, Alpha Sokolov. It can cause you a lot of trouble," said the man with a hint of annoyance on his face.

"Then did I say anything that I shouldn’t have?" Killian questioned with a tilt of his head, and when Noah didn’t say anything, he smiled and said, "That’s what I thought."

Noah blankly glanced at the man before turning to look away. He turned to look at the man who was held down by the guards. He said to him, "You have sheltered a siren under your wing; do you know your sins!?"

The lycan who was pressed to the ground sniffed. He replied with a hint of rebellion in his eyes, "I only gave my mate a place to stay. In your eyes, she might be a siren, but to me, she is my mate. The mother of my child! The one who holds the other piece of my soul, she is not a commodity that you can use and exploit!"

As the man spoke, his voice turned sharper and sharper, and he became even more vociferous.

Inez felt her heart clench when she heard the words of the man, as she could see that the man truly loved the siren. Not because she was the most beautiful woman he had seen or because she was a rarity that he could accommodate and use. But because she was his and nothing else.

His love was the purest form of love.

Inez turned to look at Killian and said to him, "Why don’t you do something?"

"My hands are tied, Bubbles," said the man in a solemn voice. He was no longer as amused as he usually was as he looked at the sight in front of him. "I could have helped him, if he had come to me before, but now I cannot. The council takes these cases seriously because they are closely related to its interests. Unless we go to war with them, we cannot save these two."

He turned and questioned, "Do you want to go to war for them, sweetie?"

A part of Inez wanted to say that she was willing to, but at the same time, she knew that it was not feasible. Killian was the alpha of this lycan, but he was also the alpha of the rest of the pack members. He could never put the lives of his entire pack at risk for the sake of just one member.

As cruel as it was, it was the truth.

"AHHHH!!"