We’d only been walking for ten or fifteen minutes, and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Halo congratulated me on completing my mating bond. When I asked her how she knew, she pointed out my markings where Kenzo bit me and mentioned the mixing of our scents. At first, I was kind of embarrassed, but Halo assured me I had nothing to be embarrassed about.
“Here,” Tiny called out before stopping in front of two dark wooden doors that looked like skyscrapers. The doors were connected to walls just as high that stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions.
“How the hell didn’t we see this before?” Cree asked in amazement while gazing up at the doors.
“The mind cannot perceive the unimaginable when it is clouded by the worries of the world,” Tiny answered absentmindedly as she looked around for something.
“What are you looking for?” Halo asked what I was thinking.
Just as Tiny opened her mouth to speak, a gust of wind passed, knocking us all down. A loud roar echoed loudly, making us cover our ears. Tears of pain rolled down my face from the pain ringing in my ears. Only Tiny stood unaffected. She was standing looking up at a giant figure in a fearless manner.
“Enough!!!”Tiny’s voice echoed over the screeching that was coming from the giant figure.
Another gust of wind picked up, and I watched in amazement as the hulking figure shrank down to a smaller size, though it was still bigger than most, easily standing over seven feet. The man had the body of a human, a very sculpted muscular man with the head of a lion. His skin was made up of stripes like a tiger going down his right side while he had cheetah spots going down his left size.
“Cahlian. We come in peace. Fate has sent us here,” Tiny spoke fearlessly; however, her body language seemed to say the exact opposite.
“Peace is never present when you are around.” The lion headed man’s voice thundered loudly. The look he gave Tiny was that of a scorned lover, and it piqued my interest.
“Now isn’t the time. Fate has ca?—”
“The time is never right because all you care about is Fate.” He ice-grilled Tiny while stalking around her body.
“Please… I don’t want to fight you. Fate wouldn’t be pleased,” Tiny responded with a straight face.
“You’d lose. It wouldn’t be a fight.” He looked down at Tiny’s small frame that looked even smaller next to him. He snarled at Tiny, and a cloud of smoke blew out of his nose. “You and yourshifters can pass… for now,” he grunted, and then a gust of wind blew up, and he disappeared.
A loud drum began playing as the two giant doors opened. A thick fog seeped out the doors, the wider they opened. It was impossible to see through the thick fog. I glanced over at Kenzo, and he was just as puzzled as I was.
“We supposed to go in there after that big-ass lion mutha fucka just swooshed in here damn near stepping on us? Fuck no. I’ma wait out here.” Cree shook his head at Tiny like she was crazy.
Tiny turned, glaring at Cree. Raising her hand, she lifted Cree off his feet.
“Unt uhn. Tiny, what you doing? Put me down,” Cree begged while looking around with regret on his face.
“You talk too much,” Tiny calmly replied. Then she threw her hand forward and sent Cree flying headfirst through the fog-covered doors. “Now does anyone have anything else to say or are we going to walk through the doors willingly?” Tiny asked in a threatening tone.
“No, ma'am. We're going now,” Hendrix answered quickly while grabbing Millan’s hand and leading them through the doors next.
Tiny nodded while floating behind them as the last of us followed behind her. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but once we made it inside the doors, they slammed shut. The fog slowly cleared, revealing a small town. Cree was sitting on the ground, his face balled up as he shot daggers at Tiny’s back. A crowd was beginning to form at the entrance. Faces of all sorts were staring at us like we were aliens while they whispered to one another.
“What now?” Kenzo asked no one in particular.
“Halo?” A younger, light brown-skinned man yelled as he broke through the crowd of shifters.
“Dad!” Halo yelled before running toward the man full speed. She leapt into his arms, and he spun her around. “Oh, my goodness. I can’t believe it’s really you,” Halo cried in happiness once he sat her down on her feet. “Cree, get over here!” she screamed at Cree, who was already halfway to her.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this day? Mikiyah, come here. This is my pup from my past life.” Halo’s dad excitedly turned, pulling a beautiful lightly toasted woman forward. “Halo, this is my mate, Mikiyah.”
“Hi. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Mikiyah said while shaking Halo’s hand.
“Likewise. This is my mate Creeland, but you can call him Cree,” Halo gleefully responded.
“Who opened the doors of the Sanctuary of Life?”a loud voice yelled as the crowd of shifters parted, allowing a man to walk through.
“Alonzo?” I asked with squinted eyes while trying to make out his face. When I tried to walk forward, I was halted by Kenzo’s grasp on my hand. I looked back at him with a small frown.
At first, I was annoyed with him stopping me from going forward. However, I began feeling his insecurities, and I understood Kenzo’s worries. Thinking back to how I felt when seeing that bird bitch on Kenzo made me realize I needed to protect my mate’s feelings during this process. Tightening my grip on Kenzo’s hand, I looked back at him with a reassuring smile. Then I tugged him along with me.
