CHAPTER 356: SIDING WITH THE TRUTH

"Are you okay, Inez?" Sitting in the conference room, Tao looked at the woman in front of him with a complicated look in his eyes. His eyes flicked from Killian, who was spooning Inez as if he was worried that someone would snatch her away, to Dominic, who hadn’t stopped snarling ever since he found out that his mate had been snatched away by the very man he doubted from the beginning.

"She is fine," Tracy replied as she snatched a slice of pizza from the box. They had been served freshly baked pizzas and hot chocolate, courtesy of Seth, the head of the council. After taking one look at Inez, he said that she needed something hot and delicious to get back on her feet.

When Tao turned to look at Tracy, the witch raised a brow and questioned, "What? Did you think that you could talk like old friends after all that?"

Inez’s lips twitched. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that Tracy was her mate instead of the man beside her. Killian was angry alright, but that anger was nowhere close to Tracy’s, whose entire existence seemed to be oozing nothing but bloodthirsty rage.

Tao, sensing the gravity of the situation, turned silent. He gathered a slice of pizza and then retreated without much argument. Even Ajax was silent, for she knew that the situation was not one where he could play around.

But Inez didn’t touch her slice. The fear that had been hovering over the top of her head had disappeared, but she was nowhere close to calming down. Even with Killian sitting next to her. What she wanted was to return home and bury herself in the arms of her mate, but no, Dominic insisted that this matter of Killian ’snatching’ his mate should be brought in front of the council and cue the current situation.

"So, you are the one causing trouble," and as if not seeing the awkward tension that was stretching in the room, Seth turned to look at the little demigod sitting beside Tracy. According to Tracy, even though Veronica was not the one who caused the majority of the troubles, she was indeed indirectly related to twisting her fate around with her godly powers. Inez had no idea what she meant, but in Veronica’s words, she was bored and wanted to do something fun.

How in the world was her getting imprisoned in the prison cell fun? Inez was yet to find out.

Veronica turned pale. She looked a bit scared of the current situation, but she still bit her lips and nodded. "I was just playing around... I am sorry." She raised her head and looked at Tracy while apologising.

Inez realised that there was something amiss with the gaze of the young woman and turned to look at Tracy, who rolled her eyes and stated, "I didn’t do anything."

"But—"

"I just turned her into a rat for a few seconds. Since she was bored, scattering around happily should have taken care of her boredom." Her cotton candy-haired friend rolled her eyes and remarked as if she were talking about how the weather at night had turned really beautiful. "She is afraid that I will turn her into another rodent. Honestly, do I look that unreasonable?"

"So that’s what you are scared about?" Killian glanced at his beta.

Finn’s face flushed red with shame. "That is not the case." But given how frequently his gaze flickered while he was looking at Tracy, it did seem like it was the case.

Veronica paled as well.

Tracy rolled her eyes and stated coldly, "I just wanted her to stop causing trouble for you. In my defence, I asked her nicely to stop causing trouble, but the woman didn’t listen to me. I had no other choice but to turn her into one. Don’t worry; I only turned her into one for like three or four minutes, not more than that. If she had been eaten by one of the dogs running around the lands, I would have turned into a murderer. I don’t want that."

She tilted her head and looked at the two men who were staring at Inez. "But I don’t think it’s time for us to talk about that yet."

Inez stiffened, and she dropped her gaze. "Thank you very much. I thought the two of us were supposed to be friends."

"We are best friends, sweetie, but we cannot deny the fact that we need to talk about whatever this is going on."

She was so sweet and a little bundle of happiness and innocence, even when she was part siren, just like her father. Unfortunately, she was destined for a fate way heavier than what she was carrying on her dainty shoulders for the time being.

Tracy could see that the destiny ahead of Inez was beautiful, but before reaching the end goal, she would have to face many, many obstacles. The ending of her life was beautiful, filled with so much love that it would feel like a dream, but at the same time, the pain that she had to suffer to reach that destiny would make her question if it was all worth it.

But then again, this was how most of the destinies were written. The three fates said that it was how balance was achieved, but Tracy never agreed with their words.

"She is right." The man, who was a bundle of nothing but sheer rage, turned and looked at the head of the council. "He stole my mate from me."

"Careful with your words, Alpha Cheirth. Is it really considered stealing? If you already rejected her?" Killian tilted his head to one side. He turned to look at Inez and softly asked, "Did I steal you?"

Inez’s face turned an endearing pink again. "Of course not." She sucked in a breath, realising that it was time for her to end this mess once and for all. "He didn’t steal anything; I chose him on my own."

The sound of the chair being pushed back, followed by a dangerous snarl, erupted all over the room.

Inez sat up straighter. The fear in her eyes was not fake, and it made Tracy wonder how the mating bond even worked. Dominic didn’t seem to have the smallest gratitude for the mate he was destined with. Sure, he liked her. Tracy knew that he liked Inez. But his trust in her was way too easy to crumble. But then again, Killian was also destined for Inez.

While her wolf was mated to Dominic, her siren was destined for Killian.

A good thing that Inez had a steady head on her shoulders and didn’t choose the destiny with Dominic, or else the pain would have doubled; however, she wondered when the two of them would be able to realise that they were destined for one another.

Even though Killian didn’t realise that Inez was not just his chosen mate but his destined one, his eyes still looked at her as if she were his entire universe.

Mate bonds. That was how they worked. Others couldn’t sense it, and even those involved couldn’t do it, but the mate bonds would make them known in one way or another. Unfortunately, Killian and Inez’s situation was a bit complicated. The two of them had mates before they met with one another, and having lost them, they wouldn’t be able to sense that they were destined for one another.

Veronica was right. This situation was going to be really amusing to watch when it unfolded.

She turned and looked at Dominic, whose face was scrunched up. What she could see, he could see too. The raw emotion on the face of the man was so compelling that the naked vulnerability could be seen with just a glance.

And while it did make many go ’aww’ when they saw it, it certainly didn’t make Dominic feel all giddy.

He turned to look at Seth and questioned, "Are you not going to do anything about this?"

Seth sighed. The part-angel and shifter sighed. He placed his hands on top of the table and said to Dominic, "Speaking about the current situation, I do not think that Alpha Sokolov had done anything wrong. You rejected Miss Sinclair, which means that she has the right to choose another mate if she wants to—"

"Are you really siding with him?" Before Seth could finish, Dominic interrupted him. His eyes popped out of their sockets as if he could not believe that someone had dared to talk sense in front of him.

He was acting like a child who was way too spoiled and annoyed, and honestly, for a second, Tracy wanted to turn him into a frog with how much he was hopping.

"I am not siding with anyone but the truth," Seth spoke in a commanding and imperative tone. "You rejected your mate, didn’t you? Is it the truth or not?"